curved monitors vs. flat monitors

[Anonymous]

hello,

Are curved monitors good with autodesk work

or should i go with a flat monitor

(the curved monitor i checked is the samsung 27inch s27d590cs)

(the flat one is the viewsonic vx2703 27 inch flat)

[Anonymous]

To be honest i think allot of it comes down to personal prefference, I dont really see the need in a curved display for CAD work. 

Where i believe it becomes usefull is when using video editing sofware. 

Best of luck making a decision. 

EW 

[ChrisReitz4741]

Hey there,

I am pretty much in same situation.

Thinking of buying one of these: Dell U3415W & LG 34UC97C-B.

But my decision issn´t not so much focusing of "personal prefference".

More of functional use.

But what is interesting on it:
You always see that the manufacturers promote their screens with Adobe premiere (what I use), games (I don´t mind), movies (I already have a telly), but no ad is showing a CAD application on it.

Why is that?
Is that just because most people are playing stupid ego-shooters, or editing their holiday movies, or is there anything serious behind it?
So it makes me a bit brooding about it.

I am not sure, but I think to have been heard, that curved monitors showed lines (of course in particular shown in wireframe cad apps) blurred and distored.
Is that right?

I mean, I would really enjoy the mighty resolution of that 34inch monitor and it would give a lot of benefit for my web- and 2D-applications.
But I will need to have my 3D Software (Alias, Showcase, etc…) run on it, in precise conditions as well.

So, is there something to think about?
Do you think curved uw-screens (in particular the mentioned Dell & LG) will bring the same kind of quality, like a good 24” flat cad screen?
Or, are there any downstrokes which has to be taken on it?

Thanks a lot in advance!!!

Regards
Chris

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

About curved monitors you have to understand one thing: they are designed so as to ideally show the image of the person sitting in front of the screen. The monitor, as we have already said, "embraces" you - and hence all its pluses. Accordingly, those who sit in this ideal point, get all the bonuses. But if you stand on the edge - the image will be seen worse than on a flat screen. Another thing is that there is rarely more than one person in front of the monitor, which means that this problem should not arise.

And it's not harmful?
This is definitely not harmful (in general, there is a lot of research saying that neither flat nor curved screens have long been harmful). At the same time, there are studies on which Samsung bases, asserting that eyes are less tired from curved monitors. I cannot verify them, but it is obvious that this condition also works if you are in front of the monitor at that ideal point.

The degree of curvature is determined by the radius of the circle of which the monitor is part and is denoted by the index R. For example, 4,000R means that if you continue the monitor lines, you will get a circle with a radius of 4 meters. Thus, the smaller the index R, the more curved the monitor. Now the most advanced models of monitors have a curvature index of 1,800R - as, for example, the model CF591 of Samsung brand, with which we made these cards.

[nrz13]

I personally don't see the point of a curved monitor under 40" and under 5K resolution.  I am keen to try a curved 40"+ with a 5K or 8K resolution to replace my current dual-monitor setup.  I have not seen any yet and I doubt I'd buy one without testing it in person first or seeing high recommendations from a number of CAD users.

[gotphish001]

Curved monitor is a detriment for cad. Why would you want something to bend lines that are supposed to be straight? I'd always be doubling checking lines to make sure I drew them correct. On a side note a curved tv is a gimmick. You aren't sitting close enough for the curve to have a beneficial effect. In fact at normal tv viewing distance it's actually making your tv smaller. People say it gives you better viewing angles but that point is moot because if you need that much more viewing angle in your room for your tv then you simply have too big of a tv for that size space. They look great when you are standing 3 feet in front of them but you watch a tv of that size from 10 feet at least. 

[pendean]

About half of our AutoCAD/REVIT users are on curved displays and they absolutely love them,a and the other half are starting to ask about how to get them.

As far as I know, no one stands 10-feet away from them to look at them 🙂

[nrz13]

@gotphish001

I can't refute your claim that a curved monitor bends CAD lines, because I haven't tested it personally myself.  What I have seen online, though, is people talking about how the curve is subtle enough that you actually perceive the lines without distortion, whereas with a large flat monitor you are more likely to have perceptual distortion from your limited field of vision.  Again, just what I have seen discussed, but have not personally experienced yet.

[gotphish001]

That could be possible for sure. It's been a year or more since I looked and tech moves so fast maybe it's better now. Just making the curve less would make a difference I'm sure. When I bought a new monitor for my home office last year I extensively read reviews and did a lot of research. Research is kind of my superpower as I usually take it much too far. Like there's no need to spend 75 hours reading about headphones over 2-3 weeks before you buy a pair, 3 hours would probably be a lot for a normal person.  Plus I can agree my statements are more opinions than pure facts, but I base those opinions on lots of reading. In my research I did see a theme among people that bought a curved display for cad, graphics arts, design work, etc which stated that a curved monitor would take some getting used to for the reasons I mentioned above about straight lines seeming to curve. Just about everyone that had a coherent review of a curved display said if they could go back they would buy a flat one instead and save the extra money. Now I didn't have a bunch of monitors at my house that I did any extensive testing with so my opinions are based on google university solely the same as you are probably doing. There's a ton of nonsense you find in google so I try not to take it as concrete evidence. I tried to find one at a store that I could test but my local store had them, but none hooked up. I planned on taking a thumb drive in with some pdfs and examples on to see how the lines looked. It's a year or more later so stores are more likely to have one now probably. I also was looking at ultrawide 34" monitors so that is what I was reading about. It also possible that the lines curve would be much more noticeable on a monitor that is close to twice as wide as say a regular 25" 

I'd be curious to hear back if you are able to do a test at a store or end up purchasing a curved monitor to see how you think it looks or holds up to a flat screen when doing cad work.

[nrz13]

I admittedly have not done the amount of research you have, and I still maintain a healthy dose of skepticism on the matter.  As mentioned, I have not personally tried them out anywhere but would like to.  A large, wide angle monitor is the only use-case I'd find valuable for it, though.  I really don't see the point for small monitors that can already fully fit within my field of vision.

[Anonymous]

It seems to me that a curved screen will give you less distortion will look at long lines.  Looking at a flatscreen long lines seem to curve slightly because the distance from your eyes to the point on the screen varies if you look across the screen.  It seems like a curved screen would reduce its effect?

[Anonymous]

I've recently purchased a Samsung 32" monitor

after getting advice from the well known electrical stores sale adviser in store, i was guided towards this model which so happens to be curved

i expressed my concerns over the curved design of the monitor, where these concerns we quickly squashed.

"it will not affect the visual look of the work produced using programmes such as Autocad" so i was told

let me put one thing straight...IT DOES

not a huge distraction, nevertheless the images / lines do appear curved, which is somewhat off putting as it make you feel you have drawn something out of line

granted I've only had the monitor for 1 day so i'm hoping my eyes will re-adjust as this well known retailer has a no return policy once the package has been opened???????

BE CAREFUL what your told in store as they don't know what they're talking about

Store clue - vindaloo

[pendean]

In our offices' experiences Curved Monitors are not ideal for users that are not confident CAD drafters easily distracted by visuals instead of the confidence of the tools they are using.

We also found true power users love having two curved monitors side by side providing them with what they praise as "surround vision".

That's why we have both options for both types of users here and it works very well. Turns out there is no one perfect solution for everyone.

BTW in case anyone thinks it, this is not age related and has nothing to do with how long a user has been using AutoCAD/REVIT/Whatever either. Seems to be a personality thing I guess.

[ChrisReitz4741]

Hey pendean,

you´re absolutely right with that statement.

I bought the Dell U3415W three years ago.

I work as an industrial designer with ALIAS.

It is always a pleasure to work with this screen. There are absolutely no downstrokes at all.

All lines appears straight.

I work Primary on aluminum wheel models for automotive industry.

So believe me if that works for me, it will definetely works for any other.

Because data for wheels bent a lot in space and the screen shows all still straight.

My decision was to use one wide screen to remove the double screen layout.

For me it was always annoying to have frames in the center of my eyefield.

With that wide single screen I get a lot of freedom for all that Windows in ALIAS and

other software I use.

But after 3 years working with it, I might would like to have an even wider screen right now.

Samsung came out with the C49HG90DMU two years ago.

That is really a huge one.

But for me it was not relevant, because of the low Resolution of just 3840x1080px.

So that is just a gaming screen.

But Dell came out last year with the U4919DW with a resolution of 5120 x 1440px.

I still have run some windows of Adobe & ALIAS on my Wacom 24" Cintiq.

With that screen I really have the space to run all Windows on one screen,

or putting two application simultanly beside each other.

Also Dell uses smaller elypses for their screens, because this screens are mainly used by professional technicians and Designers, less by gamers. Gamers want that ultra curved monitors, to sink in their 3D world.

For people in this forum it´s more relevant that their work appears in straight lines and undistorted.

So for all of you, who are doubtful about wide curved screens, I give a clear recommendation for those screens.

You will not have any regrets.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

I think curved monitor is a good choice for gaming but in the case of CAD work, you should use a flat screen monitor for batter accuracy. I searched a lot about it and I found this link. I hope this will help you.

[pendean]

@Anonymous looks like that article quoted me (and wrote what pretty much what I wrote) without giving me credit LOL

"...So keeping in mind all of the above factors, it is safe to say that curved monitors are not for AutoCAD experts who get easily distracted by visuals and do not have much confidence in the tools they are using. That being said, curved monitors might be the perfect choice for experienced AutoCAD professionals, as
long as you are not sticking your nose inside the monitor by sitting too close and by being in the center of the screen...."

So basically, nothing new, they just cut/paste from this post.

Thanks for sharing.

[Anonymous]

But in your opinion does a curved monitor okay for AutoCADD or does the view get distorted?

Thank you

[Anonymous]

Thank you. That was my take also. 

[webangel_]

for me, I use a hp z24nf g2, but primer but small research, a curved screen c well, but not too curved as even, 1800R too curved, 3000R good, 4000R excellent,

see the youtube video...

[AllenJessup]

I bought a cheap AOC 32" curved monitor back in March while working at home. I paid for it. So I got an inexpensive one, $240±. I can't find what the radius is right now. But it's relatively flat, definitely no an 1,800.

It's not UHD so I do experience some display issues. But there is no problem with the curve. I've never thought any lines looked curved. If I change my perspective, say stand up and look down on it, I can see the curve. Sitting directly in front of it. I don't notice it. I might say I like it a little bit better than a flat panel. However. It's not make or break either way. If I went to a larger monitor. Being curved might help.

As I said. Buying that particular monitor was a monetary decision. But I'm not unhappy with it. I brought if to work to replace one of my old Dell 2001FP's.