Curved vs flat gaming monitor: What's the difference?

Curved monitors certainly look magnificent, but are they really any better than a normal flat monitor? So, curved vs flat gaming monitors, let's what each style has to offer.

The main benefit of a curved monitor is immersion. While using a curved monitor, especially if it is one that has 21:9 (Ultrawide) aspect ratio, instead of a 16:9 (Wide) one you will quickly notice that a curvature of the screen will give you the impression that the images will surround you and therefore place you more into the game than it would with a flat monitor panel.

Monitor curvature is defined by a radius value, for example 800R. If you imagine a complete circle of monitors and you measure the radius from the middle point of said circle to the monitor edge, you will measure 800 millimeters. There are monitors with a sharper curve or a softer curve out there. The higher the number, the higher the R value is, the softer the curve is.

Depending on the monitor size itself a curvature can be a great way to place yourself more into the game, just think of a racing game where the perception of speed will feel much different than if you would play it on a flat panel monitor. That is also why you will find curved monitors typically be larger than 30-inches and having an aspect ratio of 21:9 or even wider. Smaller screen sizes with curvature exist, but with much less of the desired effect of better immersion.

There are many options out there that have different curvature values and you should consider the types of games you play as well as not all of them play better with a curved monitor. While being great for racing, flight combat and sims, as well as fps games, it might become disturbing for sports games when the usually straight lines of the pitch now are curved. On the productivity end, a monitor with a substantial curve, like 800R, can feel unpleasant to use as well. That is why you would want a much softer curve like 1800R or even a completely flat surface for those tasks.

So why not have the best of both worlds with a monitor that bends? This is exactly what we at CORSAIR asked ourselves and thus the XENEON FLEX was born. Simply choose the curvature yourself, from completely flat and up to a sharp curve radius of 800R. Soft curve, no problem! Totally flat, absolutely!

We’ve just learned that a curved monitor can be great for different applications. The biggest issue with a 30-inch or larger curved monitor is the amount of space that it requires on your desk. If you are into competitive gaming or want a smaller size monitor in general with a QHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution to squeeze out the most frames out of your graphics card, you will very likely end up considering a wide (16:9) monitor with a 27-inch or a 32-inch screen size.

For these screen sizes, we recommend going the flat panel route and choosing either the XENEON 27QHD240 OLED or the XENEON 32QHD240. Both monitors will give you excellent performance and are AMD FreeSync Premium certified and NVIDIA G-Sync compatible. All our monitors are also great for productivity needs and offer high color accuracy.

Before choosing a monitor, you need to consider your available desk space, your PC's specs (to make sure that it performs well at the monitor’s resolution and refresh rate), and if you want to use it mostly for gaming or productivity. If you want to go the curved route, you should consider the curvature of the monitor or simply choose one that does both. If your space is restricted, but you are nonetheless looking for the best possible experience, grab a smaller screen but with a flat panel instead. We got you covered for all eventualities with our monitor line-up.