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21:9 and Widescreen Gaming Era, Still Active?

Jeremiah

Jeremiah

Member
Oct 25, 2017
774
Have not seen a general widescreen gaming thread here, you guys around?

Courtesy of MRORANGE, here is an image depicting the benefit of 21:9 gaming:
n2ZLcb.gif


I've hacked together a solution using a 55 inch 4k OLED. Using the Nvidia CP, I set the resolution to 3840 x 1700, giving (slightly less than 21:9) me the effective size of a 52 inch widescreen panel. Here are a few pictures I took just now:

55 inch 4k Widescreen Hack
jP7V2Kqh.jpg
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In the dark, bezels disappear
S9scwp9h.jpg

vBaYhOFh.jpg

szet66Th.jpg

bO9vfrsh.jpg
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I don't play all my games this way, mainly RTS and FPS games -- the immersion is really incredible and gives me about a 30% performance boost compared to native 4k. 21:9 is also great for work, as I can have 3 windows open simultaneously. Having a native 16:9 display is nice as well due to more content supporting that aspect ratio.

Resources

http://www.wsgf.org/
http://www.flawlesswidescreen.org/
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/ultrawidemasterrace#curation
https://www.reddit.com/r/WidescreenWallpaper/ (wallpaper)
 
Tecnniqe

Tecnniqe

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,743
Antarctica
Yes, we here.

3440x1440 since start of this year and never been happier. Absolutely adds so much to the games, and with g-sync none the less it makes for a amazing experience.
 
BLLYjoe25

BLLYjoe25

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,969
i would love a widescreen monitor but i read so many issues with it. it looks so good but i always see people say it doesn't work in games so it's kinda put me off.
 
Trisc

Trisc

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,489
So many games lack support for ultrawide setups, and often times it can be a pain to configure. I'd love to have an ultrawide monitor, but as it stands it's simply not practical for someone with my budget. If I could afford to have a 21:9 monitor specifically because of ultrawide gaming, I'd absolutely go for it. But on top of the limited support (and having to use external programs when a game doesn't have said support), finding a good 1440p 120hz ultrawide display with Gsync sounds nightmarishly expensive.
 
UnbornApple

UnbornApple

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10
BLLYjoe25 said:
i would love a widescreen monitor but i read so many issues with it. it looks so good but i always see people say it doesn't work in games so it's kinda put me off.
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Most modern games support it, including some surprises like Stardew Valley. I upgraded from a 27" 16:9 to a 34" 21:9. The monitors are the same height, the 21:9 is just wider. So when I play a game that doesn't support 21:9 it just feels like I'm playing my old monitor. It doesn't feel like I'm missing out or getting cheated, although it would be obviously nicer if it supported it.
 
UnbornApple

UnbornApple

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10
Triscuitable said:
So many games lack support for ultrawide setups, and often times it can be a pain to configure. I'd love to have an ultrawide monitor, but as it stands it's simply not practical for someone with my budget. If I could afford to have a 21:9 monitor specifically because of ultrawide gaming, I'd absolutely go for it. But on top of the limited support (and having to use external programs when a game doesn't have said support), finding a good 1440p 120hz ultrawide display with Gsync sounds nightmarishly expensive.
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I don't understand how it's a pain to configure. The game either supports it or it doesn't. Unless you are trying to hack in support for unsupported games. It's supported widely enough that I don't think that is necessary.

The price is for sure a good point. My ROG Swift PG348Q cost as much as a gaming PC itself.
 
VaporSnake

VaporSnake

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,603
Yeah I haven't had a single problem all year with any games not supporting 21:9, the majority of big releases this year had support built in.

PUBG was kinda janky for a while there, but there was always a workaround.
 
Zephy

Zephy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,170
I'd be interested in getting a curved 34" monitor but probably won't for several reasons :
- It takes more processing power for the same vertical resolution so I'll be forced to upgrade my PC sooner or lower the settings.
- Some games don't support it.
- I also do photography in Lightroom, and curved monitors are a big no no for that.
- It's super expensive.
- I'm getting a Pimax 8K, and hoping to use it in big screen mode with a satisfactory IQ, in which case having a bigger monitor would be redundant (I'll concede this point does contradict my first one a little).
 
alosarjos

alosarjos

Member
Oct 27, 2017
364
I'm here with a 2560x1080 LG monitor. Cheap, good colors, 75 Hz, FreeSync. I don't want to go back to 16:9.

For now almost every game works without problem, the only ones that are locked to 16:9 are some indie games or regular ports like Nioh, but there are community made fixes.

gtg7qbflgxzz.png


Playing Hellblade right now
 
daninthemix

daninthemix

Member
Nov 2, 2017
5,024
16:9 is plenty. What's the point of that Bioshock Infinite image in the OP beginning at 4:3 ? No one runs at 4:3.
 
ss_lemonade

ss_lemonade

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,659
I do the same with my 65in ks9000, except I stick purely to 3440x1440. It provides a really good performance increase too over 4k.

EnP5y6Nl.jpg
 
Alexander DeLarge

Alexander DeLarge

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,277
Zephyriel said:
- Some games don't support it.
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Honestly it's harder to count the ones that do support 21:9 than the ones that don't. The only major title that has been an issue for me is Overwatch where they're citing a "competitive advantage" as justification (something DICE did back in the day when everyone was still using 4:3 CRT monitors when 16:9 was fairly new) for giving 21:9 users an overall lower FOV.

br1k1lY.jpg
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Their idea of 21:9 support is absolutely laughable. Especially when every competitive eSport that I can think of has ultrawide support.
https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20752565945?page=1

Forgot about Nioh but the community did their thing as usual and it's not like Koei Tecmo is known for their ports.
http://www.wsgf.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=32376
 
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Alexander DeLarge

Alexander DeLarge

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,277
Deathknell

Deathknell

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
245
I bought an Asus PG348Q last year and sold it few months later..

I play 65% indie titles and 35% triple A, and the lack of general support for ultrawide was intolerable.

Went back to 16:9 but i will probably jump in again when the market is ready, cause the view experience was beautiful.
 
ara

ara

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,021
Since I've already got a 4k TV I kinda feel like getting just a 4k monitor would be a waste of money, so I'm definitely jumping into this ship at some point. Are 144hz high-res (3440 x 1440 or whatever they typically are) ultrawide monitors a thing already?
 
ZhugeEX

ZhugeEX

Senior Analyst at Niko Partners
Verified
Oct 24, 2017
3,099
This is probably a dumb question, because I'm not overly familiar with this sort of stuff, but is there any reason why PS4 or XB1 games won't support widescreen monitors?
 
tuxfool

tuxfool

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,858
ZhugeEX said:
This is probably a dumb question, because I'm not overly familiar with this sort of stuff, but is there any reason why PS4 or XB1 games won't support widescreen monitors?
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Because they're designed for TVs, so they don't need to consider alternative ratios. On PC you have arbritrary ratios, but it should be noted that not all games even support that on PC, notably more bare console ports.

There is no technical reason why it cannot be supported. But another thing to consider is that games on consoles also target specific resulutions and specific performance profiles related to the number of pixels or even fields of view. That customizability is more work for developers, so they probably wouldn't bother.
 
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No Depth

No Depth

Member
Oct 27, 2017
18,298
Checking in. Though I've been mostly playing consoles lately, Forza 7 was the last game I did buy to benefit from 21:9, and its implementation sucks.

It is a console port, so I get it wouldn't be perfect, but Playground managed to get it right with Horizon 3 a year prior. Problems include a 16:9 HUD, particularly wonderful having it directly overlaid on my rear view mirrors when in cockpit view so I can't see behind me(amateur hour)! Menus are stuck in 16:9 with black bars(not abnormal, but again Playground managed to avoid this). I didn't like the decisions the studio made for the progression and game design this outing, but this kind of further convinced me I just wasted my money.

Dying to try AC Origins which is supposedly a marvel in Ultrawide though.
 
OP
OP
Jeremiah

Jeremiah

Member
Oct 25, 2017
774
Super Rookie said:
Same here, rocking an ASUS PG348Q, still waiting for the damn G-Sync HDR monitors for my next upgrade.

21:9 HDR G-Sync will be glorious!
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So I hate to be a downer... but as it currently stands, HDR on PC only works in 3840 x 2160 or 1920x1080, and MUST be full screen. It's really bullshit that it only works in two resolutions.

Given the lack of HDR support on PC's today relative to consoles, I'm not confident many titiles will have HDR in 21:9.

daninthemix said:
16:9 is plenty. What's the point of that Bioshock Infinite image in the OP beginning at 4:3 ? No one runs at 4:3.
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I actually did not make the GIF, just tried to find something to convey the 16:9 to 21:9 jump. This one had 3 ratios and makes the difference more dramatic:P
 
noggenFogged

noggenFogged

Member
Oct 27, 2017
36
Checking in. It generally makes me enjoy the title a little more if it comes with native 21:9 support (or at least if flawlesswidescreen or WSGF can get a fix for it). Games like the Shadow of War/Mordor series, or Mad Max, have done amazing things with ultrawide.
 
Alexander DeLarge

Alexander DeLarge

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,277
Zephyriel said:
I like playing older games (like PS360 gen), and have no idea about their support. I'd expect it wouldn't be great since those monitors didn't exist back then or at least weren't widespread.
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Arbitrary resolution support makes this a non-issue as long as you're willing to deal with some UI scaling issues (which I'd consider minor).

For the games that don't support it, http://www.wsgf.org/ is your friend and the vast majority of those titles have their own fixes. Here's a couple examples.
http://www.wsgf.org/dr/gothic
http://www.wsgf.org/dr/risen
http://www.wsgf.org/dr/elder-scrolls-iii-morrowind (Just use the OpenMW renderer)
http://www.wsgf.org/dr/elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion
https://www.flawlesswidescreen.org/
 
Mikelarry85

Mikelarry85

Member
Oct 27, 2017
74
34inch UW, and never going back.
should next consoles not have support for ultra wide I am not gonna bother picking them up
 
shoyz

shoyz

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
531
35" 100hz Ultrawide user. Never going back to 16:9/16:10, but 21:9 support is a nightmare.
I never got Overwatch to work (it's cropped), I never got Master x Master to work (it's cropped), I never got Hyper Universe to work (it's cropped....), Resident Evil 5 was a nightmare where only the GFWL version works but without multiplayer then, Gone Home didn't support it (without a hack), Life is Strange doesn't support it without a hack that breaks many cutscenes
Basically I can't think of a single game I've played on PC after getting it that supported it natively, and as an MMO fan a lot can't even get hacked-in support. However, it's amazing for ultrawide movies, amazing for general Windows and UI usage (it's basically two side-by-side monitors when you want it to be), and when you can hack in support (or god forbid, play a competently developed game) ultrawide gaming is killer. I definitely see it becoming the standard.
 
Tecnniqe

Tecnniqe

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,743
Antarctica
noggenFogged said:
Checking in. It generally makes me enjoy the title a little more if it comes with native 21:9 support (or at least if flawlesswidescreen or WSGF can get a fix for it). Games like the Shadow of War/Mordor series, or Mad Max, have done amazing things with ultrawide.
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No HUD and UW for GTA V was so damn good too. Took the game to a whole new level.
 
rsfour

rsfour

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,773
I have to go through my tv and NV settings again. I've got a 43 4k. When I run a custom uw res, 3840*1600, text and everything isn't as crisp. I think it's a scaling option that I have or don't have selected lol.

I haven't bothered going through it again in months, since I usually just keep the desktop resolution, but run the game in windowed UW; like Dota 2 at 3440*1440 or whatever res.
At least with that way I don't get the weird scaling stuff, and I can still get the rest of the screen for discord, ff, etc. So not that big a loss for me.
 
Zephy

Zephy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,170
Alexander DeLarge said:
Arbitrary resolution support makes this a non-issue as long as you're willing to deal with some UI scaling issues (which I'd consider minor).

For the games that don't support it, http://www.wsgf.org/ is your friend and the vast majority of those titles have their own fixes. Here's a couple examples.
http://www.wsgf.org/dr/gothic
http://www.wsgf.org/dr/risen
http://www.wsgf.org/dr/elder-scrolls-iii-morrowind (Just use the OpenMW renderer)
http://www.wsgf.org/dr/elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion
https://www.flawlesswidescreen.org/
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Thanks, I'll have to check the support for my favorite games.
 
Jersa

Jersa

Member
Oct 27, 2017
973
Boston, MA (USA)
Just ordered an X34 earlier this week, so looking forward to this thread.

I'd like to keep my old monitor for 16:9 144 -- does anyone have recommendations for clever multi-monitor setups which don't scream "battlestation"?
 
Byshop303

Byshop303

Member
Oct 31, 2017
42
I enjoy widescreen gaming, but I got three Asus Rog Swift 27" 1440p 144hz monitors do it via Nvidia Surround instead. That way I can run a single monitor for games that don't support wide resolutions well (stretched UI, etc) and I have a multimonitor setup for productivity/work.
 
Super Rookie

Super Rookie

Member
Oct 25, 2017
276
London
Gn0mercy said:
So I hate to be a downer... but as it currently stands, HDR on PC only works in 3840 x 2160 or 1920x1080, and MUST be full screen. It's really bullshit that it only works in two resolutions.

Given the lack of HDR support on PC's today relative to consoles, I'm not confident many titiles will have HDR in 21:9.
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Surely that can't be true otherwise it would make the PG35VQ completely pointless?
 
derFeef

derFeef

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,358
Austria
That's a bummer...
I kinda want to upgrade to 21:9 and was looking forward to the PG35VQ, but now I am considering just buying the PG348Q.

One little question - with "unsupported" games - is it not possible to run games at a 16:9 resolution and have it displayed in the center of the monitor?

edit: looking at the prad test... ugh that IPW glow - I play a lot of dark games and that's just a nogo. I have IPS now and the glow is bad... but with a new monitor I would want to avoid that. :-(
 
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lyte edge

lyte edge

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
770
2560x1080 on my ASUS MX299Q. No freesync/gsync/nsync/backstreetboyz and it's 60hz, but everything looks great and the input lag feels non-existent, so I'm good with it and will think about upgrading maybe in another few years, unless a crazy good deal on a 144hz or 4K monitor comes along before then.

21:9 gaming is often the reason why I will go for a PC game over the console version nowadays.
 
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goldenageoftelevision

goldenageoftelevision

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 29, 2017
709
I need some help setting a custom resolution on my LG Ultrawide lg 34uc88.

Hello there, I love my ultrawide monitor but I prefer playing in 2560x1440. Can anybody help me what to put in those boxes in the image in the radeon custom resolution settings, I dont want to break my monitor. Also what should I choose in my scaling mode?

https://i.imgur.com/0ruWNOl.png


 
John Caboose

John Caboose

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,200
Sweden
I have been thinking about purchasing an ultrawide monitor. When I set a game to for example 1920x1080 does the image stretch or do I get black bars? Dealing with stretch feels like somewhat of a dealbreaker to be honest.
 
Alexalder

Alexalder

Member
Oct 25, 2017
377
Italy
What keeps surprising me is how games look like they were designed for 21:9, even with hex hacks and such. 16:9 looks so cramped and unnatural
 
CyborgNumberBlue

CyborgNumberBlue

Member
Oct 26, 2017
558
I had a 21:9 monitor for some time, but went back to 16:9. It's alright and maybe I'll revisit it again later on when I'm building a new computer, but it isn't cost effective enough for me at this point, and the rewards aren't really worth it unless you sink a lot of money into the setup.
 
Jersa

Jersa

Member
Oct 27, 2017
973
Boston, MA (USA)
Just picked up my X34 and I'm loving it so far. I'm keeping my ROG Swift 27" for 16:9, but it is a little jarring having a TN panel for a second screen.
 
Barrel Cannon

Barrel Cannon

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
9,298
Still waiting on a good cheap giant HDR 21:9. That would make me switch mainly just to be able to watch movies reliably at home always. They are only just now starting to surface so I figure we got a year or two till my dream comes true. I'm long past playing modern games on PC. Too expensive to keep up for me
 
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