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UltraWide vs. 4K – a relatively harder choice to make! Our guide will familiarize you with both UltraWide and 4K’s positives and negatives, which will ultimately help you choose the best monitor.
Could not decide between the UltraWide and 4k monitor? We understand it’s a hard choice, the one that had stumped many. But don’t worry, we will help you in the process.
You could have heard conflicting thoughts for both UltraWide and 4k monitor. Some might be true as both monitor types have their fair share of advantages and disadvantages. Only by knowing the different aspects of both UltraWide vs. 4k will you be able to make the right decision.
So Let’s fill you up with every information that you need to decide which is better, the UltraWide or the 4K.
Table of Contents
- What is UltraWide?
- What is 4K?
- UltraWide vs. 4K: For Everyday Use
- UltraWide vs 4K: For Gaming
- UltraWide vs. 4K: For Professionals
- Bottom Line
What is UltraWide?
Basically, the UltraWide monitors are a display with a much larger size than traditional monitors. They are wider in size, hence the name UltraWide. The idea is to get more screen space. The UltraWide display comes with a 21:9 ratio rather than the more standard 16:9 ratio. Size is its most distinguishing feature, and you will easily recognize an UltraWide monitor just by its look.
To keep the display output sharp and clear on such a wider size, UltraWide monitors generally come with 3440×1440 or 2560 x 1080 resolution. While it’s still low compared to the 4k, the display quality is often remarkable, and visuals are usually crisp and rich in colors.
UltraWide monitors are all about screen space. The larger size is often complemented with a curved design. While you can enjoy the immersive visual experience on an UltraWide monitor, its real benefits become more evident in professional use. All the screen space can be put to multitasking, thereby enhancing productivity.
What is 4K?
Resolution is the most talked-about aspect of monitors. Possible due to brands emphasizing extensively on the resolution of their monitors in marketing campaigns. That is why generally, people are more aware of the 4k resolution than UltraWide size. Ok, let’s fill you up with more details.
A 4k monitor is basically the one that boasts a UHD resolution of 3840×2160 pixels. Therefore 4k monitors have 3840 pixels along the horizontal line and 2160 pixels vertically. That’s four-time more pixels than the standard full Hd resolution. More pixels mean extra sharp images and better clarity. Higher picture quality is the driving factor for people going for the 4k resolution.
Although a higher number of pixels could compensate for a larger screen size without the loss of image quality, the 4k UHD is still more preferred on the smaller displays. You will find only a few 4k monitors that go beyond the 27-inch screen size.
The primary allure for the 4k UHD monitor is the resolution, which promises ultra-crisp visuals. If you love watching content in greater detail, the 4k monitor will be perfect for you.
See our recommandations for Best 4K Gaming Monitors and Best 4K 144Hz Monitors.
UltraWide vs. 4K: For Everyday Use
Movies typically are produced in the UltraWide 21:9 aspect ratio. So if you want to have a theatre-like experience watching the movies in their native aspect ratio, UltraWide monitors are the right fit.
Moreover, the curvature of the UltraWide monitor extends the field of view, thereby supporting peripheral vision. You will have highly immersive, closer-to-life visuals which could greatly enhance your viewing experience. However, transiting from a standard monitor to an UltraWide display will take some time to get used to.
Further, the 4k UHD resolution will also produce visuals of stunning quality. However, the higher pixel density will make everything look smaller on the screen. It will be more evident if you read something on the screen as the text will appear smaller. You will have to scale the display interface, or you will be left with screen elements too tiny and hard to discern.
For watching movies in the native aspect ratio of 21:9, UltraWide monitors are no match. However, there is no shortage of 4k content too. Watching content in a 4k UHD resolution with sharp and highly detailed visuals will also be a delightful experience.
UltraWide vs 4K: For Gaming
4k resolution monitors could churn up visuals of unmatched quality, but the same can’t be said for gaming performance. As the resolution increases, the load on your GPU also increases in the same fold. It has more pixels to render, which could hit the frame rate. Lower gaming performance won’t be much appealing to gamers. You will have better quality visuals, no doubt, but at the expense of gaming performance.
On the other hand, with their curved design, UltraWide monitors provide a highly immersive visual experience. The immersive experience combined with decent gaming performance more than makeup for slightly lower picture quality than the 4k.
However, there is a catch too. Games are mostly produced for the 16:9 aspect ratio. When you play them on the UltraWide screen, you get black bars or stretched images.
The gist is if you have a powerful GPU, you can go for the higher 4k resolution. But the truth is, if your GPU is capable of 60 frames per second for 4k, it can easily go 100 FPS for 1440p. Performance is the determining factor when it comes to gaming. Higher performance with slightly lesser image quality is better than the high-quality visuals but at the expense of gaming performance.
UltraWide vs. 4K: For Professionals
In a professional environment, more screen space is always good. So it might seem that the UltraWide monitor could be better than the 4k, as they have more screen space. However, 4k resolution with higher pixel density also provides extra screen space. You could cram up more tabs and windows on a 4k monitor, making multitasking easier, but the catch is you also have to adjust the display scale.
On the other hand, UltraWide monitors provide enough screen space to open multiple windows side by side without the need for scaling. It makes multitasking much easier than on the 4k display. But the curvature of the UltraWide display poses a problem. It could lower the color accuracy and distort the straight line. Both could impact the work greatly, especially for programmers, designers, or video editors.
Bottom Line
It always comes down to the intended use of the monitor, which will determine the choice. You can choose between a 4k or an UltraWide monitor depending upon the use you will put it to.
Playing games on an UltraWide monitor that does not support the 21:9 ratio could be off-putting. Similarly, a 4K UHD monitor not supported by a powerful enough GPU will waste all the high-quality visuals that it has to offer.
