Curved Monitor vs. Flat: Which One Should You Get?

What is a curved monitor?

What are curved monitors best for?

• Gaming: Serious gamers may opt for a curved gaming monitor due to the immersive experience. The curvature of the screen creates a sense of depth and wraps the image around the viewer, providing a more engaging and realistic gaming environment.
• Multimedia and entertainment: Curved monitors are well-suited for multimedia consumption, including watching movies, streaming videos, and viewing photos. The immersive nature of the curved display makes watching content more captivating, drawing the viewer into the action on the screen.
• Creative and design work: Creative professionals, like graphic designers, video editors, and photographers, often prefer curved monitors. The curved screen allows for better visibility of details around the edges, making it easier to work with large images and intricate designs. It also enhances the viewing experience for tasks that require precise color accuracy and visual clarity.
• Ultrawide workspaces: Many curved displays are ultrawide, offering a wider aspect ratio than traditional flat screens. This extra horizontal screen space is ideal for users who need to work with large spreadsheets, data analysis, or multiple documents side by side. The curved shape helps maintain a consistent viewing distance across the wide screen.

Advantages of curved monitors

• Immersive experience: The gentle curvature enhances peripheral vision, pulling you deeper into games or work, resulting in better concentration and performance.
• Reduced eye fatigue: Some users find that a curved monitor reduces eye fatigue and strain compared to a flat monitor. The curvature matches the natural shape of the human eye, leading to a more comfortable viewing experience during extended computer use.
• Reduced glare and distortion: Curved monitors minimize glare and distortion, providing consistent image quality across the screen.
• Wide aspect ratios: Curved displays often come with ultrawide screen ratios, such as 21:9 or 32:9. This wider aspect ratio allows users to spread more information on the screen, which suits certain use cases.

Disadvantages of curved monitors

• Bulky size: Curved screens tend to be larger and heavier than traditional flat monitors. Some of the most common sizes for curved monitors are between 27 and 49 inches. While the larger screen sizes of curved monitors vs. flat ones provide more screen real estate for work and play, it also takes up more space at your workstation. A curved display may not be the best choice if you’re looking for a compact, versatile, lightweight display.
• Requires a powerful graphics card: If you have a curved monitor with a high resolution, like 4K or ultra-wide resolutions, you'll need a more powerful graphics card to handle the increased pixel count and deliver smooth performance in demanding applications or games. The same goes for curved gaming monitors with high refresh rates (e.g., 144Hz or 240Hz). In this case, you'll need a graphics card capable of producing enough frames per second to match the monitor's refresh rate.
• Non-portable: Due to their size, curved monitors are not portable. A curved display won't make a good portable second screen if you’re a hybrid worker, freelancer, digital nomad, or business traveler.
• No touchscreen functionality: Curved monitors do not offer touchscreen functionality. If you need a touchscreen monitor for things like drawing, marking up, and using whiteboarding tools, a curved monitor isn't the best choice.
• More expensive: When comparing curved monitors to flat screens, the former can be pricier. A curved screen generally has a higher entry price, and the most expensive models can go well into the thousands of dollars.
• Limited viewing angles: Viewing angles might be slightly reduced compared to flat screens, making it less suitable for group viewing.

What is a flat monitor?

What are flat monitors best for?

• General computing: Flat monitors are the standard choice for general computing tasks like web browsing, email, word processing, and basic multimedia consumption. They are popular for home and office use, providing a reliable and straightforward display solution.
• Business and productivity: Whether you work in finance, marketing, human resources, or sales, flat monitors offer a clear and sharp display, making them suitable for working with documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and other office applications. Flat screens are commonly used for business and productivity tasks by those working in office environments or hybrid roles.
• Collaboration: The ability to use whiteboard and touchscreen tools on flat displays makes them a great option for collaborative work. Easily share ideas, annotate documents, and sketch ideas in real time with your team.
• Graphic design and multimedia editing: While some may prefer a curved screen, many graphic design and multimedia editing professionals still use flat monitors. High-resolution flat monitors provide accurate color representation and precise detail, essential for tasks like photo editing, video editing, and graphic design work.
• Gaming: Although curved screens are popular among gamers, flat monitors remain widely used in gaming setups. They come in various sizes and resolutions, catering to gamers with different preferences and budgets.
• Entertainment centers: In-home entertainment setups, flat monitors are commonly used as TV replacements, offering a sleek and space-saving solution. They are used for streaming content, watching movies, playing video games, and connecting to various entertainment devices.
• Video conferencing: With the rise of remote work and virtual meetings, flat screens have become essential for video conferencing setups. They provide a clear and crisp display for virtual meetings, webinars, and online collaboration.

Advantages of flat monitors

• Wider viewing angles: Unlike curved screens, which are designed to wrap around a single user, flat monitors often provide wider viewing angles, making them ideal for collaborative work or entertainment.
• Lightweight and portable: While flat monitors come in various sizes, including ultrawide displays up to 49 inches, innovative tech companies have introduced portable, lightweight monitors that you can take anywhere. Elevate your work or play on the go with the espresso Display, the world’s thinnest portable monitor. At only 5.3mm thick and using only a USB-C port and cable, you can set up a multi-screen workstation wherever you are.
• Orientation switching: Unlike curved monitors, which are designed exclusively for landscape orientation, some flat displays allow you to switch between landscape and portrait orientation. The espresso Display can be easily rotated to suit any task using the magnetic espressoStand.
• Touchscreen functionality: More flat displays now come with touchscreen capability. This makes them perfect for sketching, marking up documents, whiteboarding, and collaborating. The espresso Display comes in touchscreen and non-touchscreen options.
• Affordability: Flat monitors are generally more budget-friendly. An entry-level flat screen starts from a few hundred dollars and increases with size, screen quality, and performance. A flat monitor may be a more economical option if you are limited by budget.

Disadvantages of flat monitors

• Less immersive: The lack of curvature of flat monitors may result in a slightly less immersive experience, especially in gaming, high-level design, and audiovisual work.
• Potential glare: Flat monitors might be more susceptible to glare depending on the screen's coating and ambient lighting.

Curved Monitors vs. Flat Monitors

Are curved monitors better?