Gaming on an Ultrawide monitor

• Thanks to the 21:9 ultrawide and 32:9 super ultrawide aspect ratio, you can see more of your games, which is useful for shooters like Battlefield 1, MOBAs like League of Legends, and grand strategy games like Total War: Warhammer.

• With 33% more screen space, you only need 1 screen for gaming, work, and entertainment.

Widescreen, ultrawide, it's all the same, right? No, not at all. There are a few important differences between 'regular' and ultrawide monitors. The largest and most relevant difference is the aspect ratio, which is the ratio between the horizontal and vertical dimension of a monitor. An old, almost square monitor, has an aspect ratio of 4:3, a regular monitor has an aspect ratio of 16:9, an ultrawide monitor has an aspect ratio of 21:9, and a super ultrawide monitor has an aspect ratio of 32:9. This way, an ultrawide monitor has about 33% more screen space than a regular monitor. Due to the size and the properties of the panel, ultrawide monitors do often have a longer response time of 5ms or more. That's a downside for gamers, because you want to see your input in your game as fast as possible.

With an ultrawide monitor you see, provided the game supports it, more of the playing field than on a normal screen. You notice this especially when a game has a customizable Field of View (FoV) option. The higher you set it, the wider your field of view. With a field of view of 90 degrees you can see the same on a normal and ultrawide monitor, but with an ultrawide monitor you can set the FoV higher without distorting the image. In games where you see the playing field from above, you can see more of the battlefield horizontally. If your game does not support ultrawide resolutions, the image is stretched or shown with black bars on the side.

If you want an immersive gaming experience when you play racing games, an ultrawide monitor is the right choice for you. Thanks to the larger screen, everything looks more realistic, especially when you play a first-person shooter. The ultrawide monitor provides a wider field of view, so you can see what's happening around you more clearly, like an enemy driving past you.

The monitor really comes into its own when shooting shooters. In games like Battlefield 1 you throw the FoV up a bit. With the regular monitor you play around the 85 FoV, but with the ultrawide you still play with 110 without visible fish eye effect. As a result, you see considerably more of the playing field in the corners of your eye. This makes it harder for other players to stalk you and it feels like you have a panoramic view of the battlefield. If you lie on a hill as a sniper, it makes it a lot easier to spot a lone opponent. This works less well in competitive games such as Counter Strike. The menus and HUD elements do not always fit well and you do not see more than normal. It is also not surprising that competitive shooters prefer not to tolerate hardware-related advantages.

In MOBAs too, the horizontal field of view helps to improve the overview of the playing field. The broader image obviously does nothing against the fog of war that conceals parts of the field. Still, if you use your wards and other vision mechanics well in League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm, you still have a big advantage. So in League of Legends you have a view of the bushes of the bottom lane. So if you place wards here, it is a lot harder for the enemy jungler to surprise you. Sometimes it is handy for MOBAs to have a second monitor, especially if you like additional information about items and champions while playing.

In grand strategy games such as Total War: Warhammer and Civilization VI, it is also about overview. The giant armies of the Old World are marching across your screen. Instead of zooming out further, you can enjoy the detail of your units on an ultrawide gaming monitor while you keep an overview of the battle. So you see the cavalry of your opponent arrive earlier and you get your spearmen in time to protect your archers. If you see the enemy shaman throw a spell on your right flank, you respond in time by having your own wizard intervene. Unfortunately, some strategy games are also limited. For example, the popular competitive RTS StarCraft II does not support ultrawide screens to prevent one player from seeing more than the other.