Hardware & Technical ED with a Curved Monitor?

Hooplah · Mar 11, 2019

Greetings,

Well, one of my two ASUS PB278Q monitors have died. Combined they made a 3840x1080 desktop. Maybe it's time for something new. Note these 27" monitors can go to 2560x1440 but 5120x1440 made the desktop icons really small for my old eyes to see.

I'm looking at something like the Acer Predator Z35P 3440x1440 (21.9 if my eyes will work). Given examples on YouTube ED looks pretty darn good at 21:9. But I really like the two monitor setup with ED on Mon1 and the internet (Forum, 3rd party ED websites etc) on Mon2. Both work at the same time and the mouse widget when displayed in ED tells me that I'm in the game or not displayed I'm active on the internet sites. It's nice as ED continues to run and display while I check forum messages, incoming emails and even watch YouTube "how to" videos on YouTube (those long runs into a station etc).

1. Can I run ED borderless on the left half of a curved monitor and use the one on the right for the forum, 3rd party websites etc?
Answer: No. Borderless stretches whatever the ED game resolution is to fit the current monitor resolution. If they are both the same then no stretching.

2. Two 27" monitors. Nvidia span creates one 3840x1080 desktop. ED only sees mon1 at 1920x1080 thus ED borderless works great while having an internet website on mon2 at the same time. I'll have to go to alt Win on a 21:9 monitor for an internet popup window with the game in the background.

3. Nvidia has a lot more to do with this thus some alt Win to switch between the two. Maybe Nvidia can deal with both the Predator and a 27" monitor at a different resolution. Then I get to play ED in 21:9. Of course when not playing the game the predator would be my primary display.

The Samsung C49HG90 49" 3840x1080 32:9 144Hz (equals two 1920x1080 monitors) adds another possibility but at the high cost I don't know if ED likes 32:9. The more elliptical distortion on the edges the less I'm going to like it.

Adding some more ED "real estate" would be pretty cool but losing two independent monitor abilities is a concern. Then another option might be a curved monitor for the game with a flat monitor for internet support. The three monitor system has been an accepted solution playing ED since it was released but maybe a curved/flat monitor setup might also work.

Update: I purchased the Acer Z35P from Newegg. Below are 21:9 jpg samples lorez and resized to fit on the Forum. It adds some more real estate without too much elliptical distortion on the sides. ED in windows works to get both game/internet on the display but then it is less pixels than two monitors. Oh well borderless for the game and alt Win for now. Going to need more desk space for a separate monitor.

ED options FOV still doesn't add much and maxing it makes the elliptical side view look worse. Dropping the ED Gamma to ~15 percent and tweaking the Z35P monitor settings gets me to nice black tones although not as good as the ASUS PB278Q. It is an amazing monitor.

I also had to set ED quality to mid for my two older GTX 680 cards (SLI) to get decent frame rates. Set to high I get mid 30s. X-Plane 11 at 21:9 is worse as it also uses serious 3rd party support from professional aviation sites. Looks like it's time for a new graphics card...then a new motherboard...then a new processor...we'll see.

Anyway 21:9 3440x1440 works great with ED and I'm picky! I hope this info helps. You decide.

Regards

Morbad · Mar 11, 2019

A curved monitor isn't functionally any different that a flat one, except that there will usually be less distortion at the corners if you view it from an optimal position.

If you can do it with your current setup, you will be able to do it if you replace one or both of your displays with curved ones.

GJ51 · Mar 11, 2019

I'm currently using a Dell 34" 3440X1440 and it's very nice with the exception of being limited to 60Hz

I've pondered the 38" Dell 3880X1600, but it has the same limitation, so I'm waiting for the new LG 38" 144Hz w/G-sync as my next move later this year.

I've used the 38" Dell and it's beautiful, but I really want to get the 144 G-Sync that's on the way

https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-38GL950G-B-gaming-monitor

Toumal · Mar 11, 2019

Curved screens work just fine with Elite. Yes you can run Elite on one side of the screen but let's be honest, it's kinda clunky and you'll have more fun running full size with borderless windowed, which allows you to very quickly alt-tab to forums and such anyway.

Hooplah · Mar 11, 2019

Yes, the Predator Z35P clocks at 100 G-Sync but can be overclocked to 120 with their software. My 1920x1084 monitor at 60hz rarely has any issues until I instance with a dozen other players per past Ed Lewis live stream events.

hems303 · Mar 11, 2019

Hi Hooplah
I am using the very same Acer Predator Z35P and bought it just for EDH! I LOVE IT!!!!!
But there are things you should know... it makes the launcher window very small and the Icons are a bit titchy too.
But the graphics (with a good card) are bloody awesome! You do have to put up with ovalated planets as you look toward the side .
The FOV can be adjusted. VR makes me nauseous so the 34'' Ultra Wide screen is my best optimum for sure (with ED).
The MOST annoying thing with ultra wide screens is that FD have not optimised the galaxy map and the link lines in the System Map pointing to target bodies are all over the place but certainly NOT pointing at the body you have selected.... that said ... I wouldn't trade in my Z35P for ANYTHING!!!!!

o7

Caramel Clown · Mar 11, 2019

I'd totally get a curved monitor if it like...wrapped around me in 360

Hmm...wonder how many curved monitors would I need to make a circle.

Hooplah · Mar 11, 2019

hems303 said:
Hi Hooplah
I am using the very same Acer Predator Z35P and bought it just for EDH! I LOVE IT!!!!!
But there are things you should know... it makes the launcher window very small and the Icons are a bit titchy too.
But the graphics (with a good card) are bloody awesome! You do have to put up with ovalated planets as you look toward the side .
The FOV can be adjusted. VR makes me nauseous so the 34'' Ultra Wide screen is my best optimum for sure (with ED).
The MOST annoying thing with ultra wide screens is that FD have not optimised the galaxy map so the link lines pointing to target bodies are all over the place but certainly NOT pointing at the body you have selected.... that said ... I wouldn't trade in my Z35P for ANYTHING!!!!!

o7

Thanks for the great reply. I found ED FOV options on a 1920x1080 display didn't really do a lot. Do you get better results with the Z35P? You seem to be a CMDR that loves the game and figures out ways to overcome the issues. I'm the same.

Thanks

Hooplah · Mar 11, 2019

Caramel Clown said:
I'd totally get a curved monitor if it like...wrapped around me in 360 Hmm...wonder how many curved monitors would I need to make a circle.

Disney in their park in Anaheim, CA in the '70s used 6 projectors for a 360 degree immersive video experience. Maybe with the current technology one can pull it off with three...maybe not.

ZeroAi · Mar 12, 2019

I would love a large curved monitor... however I settled for three 43" 4K HDR TCL tvs instead as it was cheaper (~$750):

I play in ~5760x1080 because I had to turn down the graphics when at ~11520x2160 (I have a GTX1070 with i7 6700k)

I also use some old monitors on a second PC for OBS and Web access.

who? · Mar 12, 2019

I'm really hoping to get the curved 38" LG Ultragear 144Hz screen later in the year, so I hope it works ok. My one concern would be head-tracking (TrackIR) might not work great, but it might just be a matter of tweaking the ED-specific profile to move the deadzones for the side-screens a bit.

GJ51 · Mar 12, 2019

There's also this:

https://www.pcmag.com/review/366687/dell-ultrasharp-49-curved-monitor-u4919dw

but as with most Dell's - the limited refresh rate

I don't have much of an issue with my Dell 34" - but I often read about how much better gaming is at 144Hz, which is why I'm going to wait for the LG 38"

hems303 · Mar 14, 2019

Hooplah said:
Thanks for the great reply. I found ED FOV options on a 1920x1080 display didn't really do a lot. Do you get better results with the Z35P? You seem to be a CMDR that loves the game and figures out ways to overcome the issues. I'm the same.

Thanks

The FOV setting is not the wonder setting ... but it does have effect. In the game the only downside is the elliptical planets as they slide left or right out of forward view.... suprisingly it doesn't bother me at all.
Like Obsidian Ant who loves the curved ultra-wides... I would NOT lose my Z34P for ANYTHING.... desktop is of huge acreage.... nearly enough for 2 desktops as it were.

07

simonlange · Apr 15, 2019

Hooplah said:
1. Can I run ED borderless on the left half of a curved monitor and use the one on the right for the forum, 3rd party websites etc?
Answer: No. Borderless stretches whatever the ED game resolution is to fit the current monitor resolution. If they are both the same then no stretching.

2. Two 27" monitors. Nvidia span creates one 3840x1080 desktop. ED only sees mon1 at 1920x1080 thus ED borderless works great while having an internet website on mon2 at the same time. I'll have to go to alt Win on a 21:9 monitor for an internet popup window with the game in the background.

3. Nvidia has a lot more to do with this thus some alt Win to switch between the two. Maybe Nvidia can deal with both the Predator and a 27" monitor at a different resolution. Then I get to play ED in 21:9. Of course when not playing the game the predator would be my primary display.

The Samsung C49HG90 49" 3840x1080 32:9 144Hz (equals two 1920x1080 monitors) adds another possibility but at the high cost I don't know if ED likes 32:9. The more elliptical distortion on the edges the less I'm going to like it.

Great Monitor, but:
Elite lacks support for dimensions bigger than 16:9. Means the second you got higher than 16:9 (21:9 or even 32:9) you are screwed. Not by your screen, your OS or your videocard. Just screwed by Frontier who rejects to fix that problem once and for good. The FOV of ED is expecting a 16:9 resolution to work accurate.
So using the Samsung will work on all other great games, since they support 32:9 natively. ED doesnt. Shame on them.

If you use more than ONE physical monitor you can, at least with recent nvidia cards, combine them as a virtual physical "one big" screen. That way ED runs in fullscreen mode on all combined screens. However, you run into the bigger than 16:9 ratio issue and squeezed planets on the sides of the screen.