Ultrawide vs Dual Monitor Setup: Pros and Cons

Expanding your screen real estate is one of the most effective productivity upgrades available. The debate between ultrawide monitors and dual monitor configurations has intensified as both options have become more accessible and feature-rich. Each approach offers distinct advantages depending on your workflow, preferences, and physical workspace. This comprehensive comparison helps you determine which configuration best suits your needs.

Understanding the Options

Ultrawide monitors feature aspect ratios wider than the standard 16:9, typically 21:9 or even 32:9 for super-ultrawides. A 34-inch 21:9 ultrawide provides equivalent horizontal space to two 24-inch monitors side by side, while a 49-inch 32:9 super-ultrawide offers the width of two 27-inch monitors in a single seamless display.

Dual monitor setups use two separate displays positioned adjacent to each other. Common configurations include two identical monitors for symmetrical workspace, or a primary larger monitor with a smaller secondary display for reference content.

Both configurations aim to provide more workspace than a single standard monitor, but they achieve this goal in fundamentally different ways with different trade-offs.

The Case for Ultrawide Monitors

Ultrawides offer several compelling advantages that have driven their growing popularity:

Seamless Screen Experience: The absence of bezels between displays creates an uninterrupted workspace. Content can span the entire width without visual interruption, which is particularly valuable for video editing timelines, sprawling spreadsheets, and immersive gaming experiences.

Simplified Setup: A single monitor means one power cable, one video connection, and one stand or mount. Cable management is significantly simpler, and desk aesthetics are generally cleaner. There's no need to align multiple displays or deal with varying colour calibration between units.

Consistent Image Quality: All parts of the ultrawide come from the same panel, ensuring uniform brightness, colour accuracy, and viewing angles across the entire width. Dual setups can suffer from variation between monitors, even when purchasing identical models.

Curved Displays: Many ultrawides feature curved screens, typically 1500R or 1800R radius. This curvature provides more uniform viewing distances across the wide screen and creates an immersive experience that's difficult to replicate with flat dual monitors.

Gaming Advantages: Many games support ultrawide resolutions natively, providing expanded peripheral vision that enhances immersion in racing games, flight simulators, and atmospheric single-player experiences. Competitive games may provide slight tactical advantages through increased field of view, though some restrict ultrawide support to prevent this.

The Case for Dual Monitors

Despite ultrawide advantages, dual monitor setups retain significant merit:

Flexibility and Customisation: Dual setups allow mixing and matching monitors for specific needs. You might pair a colour-accurate IPS main display with a secondary monitor oriented vertically for documents and code. Each monitor can be positioned independently for optimal ergonomics.

Clear Application Separation: The physical bezel between monitors creates a natural boundary between tasks. Many users find this helpful for maintaining focus, with the primary monitor dedicated to active work and the secondary reserved for reference material, communication, or monitoring.

Failure Resilience: If one monitor fails, you still have a functional display while arranging repairs or replacement. An ultrawide failure leaves you without any display, potentially disrupting work entirely.

Upgrade Path: You can upgrade monitors individually, replacing your primary display while keeping a functional secondary. Ultrawides require complete replacement to upgrade, representing a larger one-time investment.

Cost Efficiency: Two quality 27-inch monitors often cost less than a premium 34-inch ultrawide, and significantly less than larger super-ultrawides. For budget-conscious buyers, dual setups can provide more screen area per dollar.

Portrait Mode Option: Rotating one monitor to portrait orientation is invaluable for coding, document editing, and reading long-form content. Most ultrawides cannot be rotated due to their width, eliminating this option.

Productivity Considerations

For productivity-focused users, both configurations offer substantial benefits over single monitors, with preference depending on workflow specifics:

Video and Audio Editing: Timeline-based work often benefits from ultrawide displays, where the seamless width accommodates extended timelines without interruption. Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Logic Pro all leverage ultrawide space effectively.

Programming and Development: Developers often prefer dual monitors, with code on one display and documentation, terminal, or preview on the other. A vertically-oriented secondary monitor excels for reading and writing code.

Financial and Data Analysis: Spreadsheets and financial applications benefit from ultrawide's horizontal expansion, allowing more columns visible simultaneously. However, some analysts prefer dual monitors for comparing data between applications.

Writing and Research: Dual monitors work well for research-heavy writing, with references on one screen and the document on another. Ultrawides can achieve similar results with window snapping but lack the clear visual separation some find helpful.

Gaming Comparison

For gamers, the choice between configurations often comes down to the games you play:

Immersive Single-Player Games: Ultrawides excel here, with supported games wrapping around your peripheral vision for enhanced immersion. Racing simulators, flight games, and exploration titles particularly benefit from the expanded field of view.

Competitive Multiplayer: Many esports titles are designed for 16:9 aspect ratios. While some support ultrawide, others restrict it or provide no advantage. Dual monitors can be problematic for competitive play, as the bezel divides your field of view unnaturally.

Streaming and Content Creation: Dual monitors shine for streamers, with the game on the primary display and stream management software, chat, and alerts on the secondary. This separation is more difficult to achieve elegantly on an ultrawide.

Physical Space and Desk Setup

Available desk space significantly influences the practical choice:

A 34-inch 21:9 ultrawide requires approximately 80-85cm of desk width, similar to two 24-inch monitors. However, ultrawides typically need less depth than dual monitor setups, as there's no need for angled positioning that pushes monitors further back.

Dual monitors require careful positioning to avoid neck strain from frequently looking between displays. Angling monitors slightly toward your seating position is recommended, which increases overall footprint. Monitor arms can help optimise positioning while reducing desk clutter.

Super-ultrawides at 49 inches demand substantial desk width (over 120cm) and careful consideration of viewing distance. These massive displays work best on deep desks where you can sit appropriately far back.

Making Your Decision

Consider an ultrawide if you value immersive experiences, work with timeline-based applications, prefer minimal cable management, and have appropriate desk space for the curved display to work optimally.

Consider dual monitors if you need flexibility to customise your setup, prefer clear visual separation between tasks, want portrait mode capability, need to stay within a tighter budget, or your workflow benefits from two distinct display zones.

Some users ultimately combine both approaches, pairing an ultrawide primary monitor with a secondary display for the best of both worlds, though this requires significant desk space and budget.

Conclusion

Neither ultrawide nor dual monitor setups are universally superior; the best choice depends entirely on your specific needs, preferences, and constraints. Both configurations represent significant upgrades over single-monitor computing, enhancing productivity and experience for most users.

If possible, experience both configurations before committing. Many workplaces and retail showrooms allow hands-on testing. The feel of using each setup differs enough that personal preference plays a significant role beyond objective specifications.