Curved monitor or flat
- Thread starter OverHype
- Start date
Solution
Traditore
Distinguished
- Nov 5, 2013
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It would be good to go to a shop and see for yourself how those monitors feel before you buy. Curved 24inch has to be watched closely.
1. The curve exaggerates reflections
If you’ve ever stood in front of one of those trick mirrors at a fun park, you’ll know that shaped glass can do weird things to reflections. It’s the same deal with a curved TV. Anything bright in your room – especially direct light sources opposite your TV – has its reflection on a curved screen stretched and distorted across a wider area of the screen than would occur with a flat TV. So if you buy a curved TV, you’ll probably find you need to introduce some extra light control elements to your viewing room.
2. The curve limits viewing angles
Yes, yes, we know we had viewing angles in the Pros section as well. But hear us out.
The thing is, while the curve prevents flat LCD’s usual reduction in contrast and colour performance with off-axis viewing, inevitably the curved shape can negatively affect your image’s geometry when viewing from down the TV’s side.
Surprisingly this problem doesn’t really become uncomfortable to watch until you get to around 35 degrees either side of directly opposite the screen (an angle Samsung itself agrees with us on). But as soon as you get beyond 35 degrees images quickly start to become almost unwatchable thanks to the way the side of the picture nearest your seating position starts to look foreshortened versus the opposite side.
Your brain tries to compensate for the distorted geometry it’s witnessing too, which means off-axis viewing can be fatiguing.
3. You need to be in the sweetspot to get most benefits
If you want to get the maximum impact from the immersive and depth-enhancement elements of the curve, you need to be sat right opposite the centre of the screen – and ideally at the perfect distance from the screen too.
To be fair, the idea that you need to be sat in a very specific ‘sweet spot’ to watch a curved TV hasn’t proved as fraught an issue as we’d once feared, since the 70-degree effective viewing arc provides enough room for multiple people to watch a curved TV without the curve actively upsetting their experience. But at the same time, the area within which you need to sit to fully appreciate the curve’s benefits is in still quite small.
4. Curved screens need to be big
Our experience to date is that the effectiveness of curved screens is directly proportional to their size. With all of the 55-inch models we’ve tested the curve’s benefits felt pretty minimal, while some of the problems – particularly the sweet spot issues – were more noticeable. With the 65-inch models it’s easier to appreciate the picture benefits while feeling less aggrieved by the negatives (except for the reflections one). Bigger screens support more viewers more easily too.
Despite enjoying the 65-inch models, though, our feeling is that the curve will only potentially feel of significant benefit at truly colossal sizes of 70 inches or more.
1. The curve exaggerates reflections
If you’ve ever stood in front of one of those trick mirrors at a fun park, you’ll know that shaped glass can do weird things to reflections. It’s the same deal with a curved TV. Anything bright in your room – especially direct light sources opposite your TV – has its reflection on a curved screen stretched and distorted across a wider area of the screen than would occur with a flat TV. So if you buy a curved TV, you’ll probably find you need to introduce some extra light control elements to your viewing room.
2. The curve limits viewing angles
Yes, yes, we know we had viewing angles in the Pros section as well. But hear us out.
The thing is, while the curve prevents flat LCD’s usual reduction in contrast and colour performance with off-axis viewing, inevitably the curved shape can negatively affect your image’s geometry when viewing from down the TV’s side.
Surprisingly this problem doesn’t really become uncomfortable to watch until you get to around 35 degrees either side of directly opposite the screen (an angle Samsung itself agrees with us on). But as soon as you get beyond 35 degrees images quickly start to become almost unwatchable thanks to the way the side of the picture nearest your seating position starts to look foreshortened versus the opposite side.
Your brain tries to compensate for the distorted geometry it’s witnessing too, which means off-axis viewing can be fatiguing.
3. You need to be in the sweetspot to get most benefits
If you want to get the maximum impact from the immersive and depth-enhancement elements of the curve, you need to be sat right opposite the centre of the screen – and ideally at the perfect distance from the screen too.
To be fair, the idea that you need to be sat in a very specific ‘sweet spot’ to watch a curved TV hasn’t proved as fraught an issue as we’d once feared, since the 70-degree effective viewing arc provides enough room for multiple people to watch a curved TV without the curve actively upsetting their experience. But at the same time, the area within which you need to sit to fully appreciate the curve’s benefits is in still quite small.
4. Curved screens need to be big
Our experience to date is that the effectiveness of curved screens is directly proportional to their size. With all of the 55-inch models we’ve tested the curve’s benefits felt pretty minimal, while some of the problems – particularly the sweet spot issues – were more noticeable. With the 65-inch models it’s easier to appreciate the picture benefits while feeling less aggrieved by the negatives (except for the reflections one). Bigger screens support more viewers more easily too.
Despite enjoying the 65-inch models, though, our feeling is that the curve will only potentially feel of significant benefit at truly colossal sizes of 70 inches or more.
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