Ultrawide stacked on top of a 16:9

[Rskeogh]

So I currently own a Acer xb271hu and I am looking to buy a second monitor for my set-up. problem is I don't have lots of money to spend. I am looking at buying this
LG 25UM58-P 25-Inch 21:9 UltraWide FHD IPS Monitor https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BV1XB2K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_cqXFzbXX4Y83K

But I am wondering how usable an ultrawide at 1080p would be with a 16:9 1440 monitor. I will be stacking these as I am limited on desk space. If you guys could give me your opinion it would be awesome!

Cheers,

Ryan

 

[raisonjohn]

I am currently using a 29" 1080p IPS Ultrawide (21:9) monitor (Asus PB298Q) stacked on top of a 32" 1440p 16:9 VA monitor (Asus PB328Q). Here's a photo of the monitors (during installation):

It depends on your personal use of such monitors. For me, I use the 32" main monitor for gaming as well as computer-aided design/graphic design works while the top 29" ultrawide monitor I use for PC monitoring (CAM, Afterburner), Web Browsing, Excel Spreadsheets, and/or Full-Screen Movies.

I have a fairly large/deep desktop where both monitors are approximately 2 feet (main monitor) to 2.5 feet (upper monitor) away from my eyesight. Based on my current use, I find the upper 1080p monitor too small at that distance when viewing texts (but okay for watching movies).

The screen size of the 29" 1080p ultrawide (27.5" wide x 11.5" high) is about 3/4 of the screen real estate of the 32" 1440p 16:9 monitor (28" wide x 16" high). It has more-or-less the same pixel density, but not exact, so icons/texts on the ultrawide appear almost the same size when dragged into the bottom monitor.

In your case, as you already have a 27" 1440p (approx. screen measuring 23.5" wide x 13.25" high), your planned 25" ultrawide 1080p (screen at 23" wide x 9.75" high), will be exactly the same proportions as the monitors I have (just a bit smaller). Pixel density of your 27" 1440p and 25" 1080p will be around the same (0.23mm) so texts and icons will also appear the same size when you drag objects between the monitors.

As for visual acquity, it will depend on how far away you will be viewing your screens. I you have a smaller desk than mine and your monitors are positioned about 1 foot or so, then, you'd have better viewing than having such monitors farther away.

 

[Rskeogh]

Cheers for the detailed response do you find the different size/resolution to be a pain or do you quickly get used to it?

 

[raisonjohn]

Thanks! Even though the 2 monitors are different in both size and resolution, as long as the pixel density is about the same, you won't notice the difference. It is as if you just cropped 3/4 of the 2560 x 1440 screen and put that on top of it as your 2560 x 1080 ultrawide - giving you a 2560 x 2520 overall screen real estate.

My only wish was that the physical width (outermost frame to outermost frame) of both 16:9 and 21:9 monitors would match - but that's asking too much already. Otherwise, you will easily get used to it.

 

[madmatt30]

Be aware that a 25 inch ultrawide only has the same vertical depth & resolution as a 20inch 1080p screen , they are much much smaller than you'd expect.

 

[Rskeogh]

Yeah I read about that its one of my worries and I'm wondering if another 16:9 would be better

 

[raisonjohn]

If you stack two 27" 16:9 monitors, your overall screen height would be somewhere around 26" - 28" (as opposed to stacking a 25" 21:9 on the 27" having a total height of only about 23" - 25").

As you have limited desk space (I am assuming your desk is not deep), try to actually measure and compare the heights of both configurations in your current desk space. Looking up at the upper monitor for long periods of time may strain your neck, especially if such monitor is large and you sit just a foot or two away from it.

Note that in my setup in the photo above, the total screen height is approx. 27" - 28". I am sitting more than 2 feet away from the ultrawide monitor and, in my personal experience, I can't stand working (or browsing) on it for too long and just usually drag the window to the bottom monitor to ease neck strain most of the time. As such, the upper monitor is generally used for Afterburner, CAM, Steam download progress, and other monitoring software, or, some times, just playing movies in the background (while working - without watching).

So, keep the overall height in mind as you don't want to end up not using your upper monitor at all.

 

[Rskeogh]

Good point. My current setup is below:
http://imgur.com/Tn1jb3r
Apologies for the long view I'm at work and that's the only picture I have. As you can see though I'm pretty close to the screen with not a lot of room behind me. I will have to do some measuring and figure out the nest height 😛

 

[samialkitani]

So I currently own a Acer xb271hu and I am looking to buy a second monitor for my set-up. problem is I don't have lots of money to spend. I am looking at buying this
LG 25UM58-P 25-Inch 21:9 UltraWide FHD IPS Monitor https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BV1XB2K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_cqXFzbXX4Y83K

But I am wondering how usable an ultrawide at 1080p would be with a 16:9 1440 monitor. I will be stacking these as I am limited on desk space. If you guys could give me your opinion it would be awesome!

Cheers,

Ryan

Hi, I am wondering whether you have gotten the Ultrawide, since I have a monitor similar to yours and a 1080p Samsung 27" monitor as a secondary on the side, and the secondary monitor covers up my speakers. So I'm wondering how it would look with the correct dimensions, since the other reply has larger monitors...
If you chose to buy the monitor, and don't mind, could you please post the picture of your new setup to help me decide?

Thanks a lot!

 

[raisonjohn]

^I own a 27" 1080p Samsung monitor too (was my monitor before I replaced it with the 32" 1440p).

This is how it looks like when the 1080p 27" Samsung monitor is placed side-by-side with the 2560x1080 29" Ultrawide (from my 1st build: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/TVXH99):

This is how it looks like if the 27" is stacked above the 29" (from version 3 upgrade of my 1st build: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/zw9WGX)):