Lets see how they stack up, practically.

We ran into a similar conundrum when wecompared ultrawide displays with dual displays for productivity.

I did feel like 4K would have been better on a slightly larger panel, though.

Heres where each excelled and fell down.

You also get the benefit of a wide, single peripheral that simplifies your desk setup.

Theres so much real estate that it may be difficult to get used to, especially at native resolutions.

Plus, youll likely need to do some text and image scaling to see to it everything is readable.

The key is tofind a happy medium that gives you space and usability.

You dont want to negate all those extra pixels just by making everything big and fuzzy.

For General Use, Ask Yourself: How Good Is My Eyesight?

So in that vein, how good is your eyesight?

Of course, some minor scaling tweaks got me to a place where I could work.

This isnt an area where one jot down of display wins.

The 27" 4K panel I tested, on the other handcomes in at $600 flat.

Its an interesting contradiction thats true for a number of other display manufacturers as well.

The LG I tested, for example, features USB-C and Quick Charge.

Some 4K displays even support AMD FreeSync.

That may change the picture significantly.

Of course, there are caveats.

Just because your graphics card can handle 21:9 natively doesnt meanyour favorite gamessupport it.

(it’s possible for you to checkthe widescreen gaming forumto see if yours do.)

This is calledpillarboxing, and while some people get used to it, it can drive others mad.

Switch to 16:9 and the tearing vanishes, and framerates pick up.

When it comes to 4K gaming, the storys different.

Building a new computer may be required unless you have recent components.

4K users also have to be ready for games that just dont support 4K resolutions.

My test machines handled general productivity just fine in 4K.

Remember though,more pixels doesnt automatically mean higher productivity.

However, ultrawide monitors are definitely luxury peripherals with price tags to match.

Personally, Id go both ways.

An affordable 4K display for work, where I can use every pixel I can get.