Sit back, folks. This is a long one! 
Typically, in regard to sim racing, the two "ultimate" display solutions are VR or a triple screen setup (yes, I realize there are other extreme solutions but I'm talking about the usual suspects). I contend, a third solution should be added to this "ultimate" list - Samsung's 49" super ultra-wide curved gaming monitor.
When I put together my 27" triple screen setup, Samsung's beast did not exist. I had three 144 Hz Viewsonics providing a terrific fov and thoroughly enjoyed those sims that offered true triple screen support. Bezels? Mine were not narrow - close to an inch wide - but they didn't bother me. Typically, one side would land where the A pillar is so never really noticed it. The other side, though landed a little past the center of the windshield, didn't bother me. I found when racing, I was so focused that I just didn't notice it. However, where it became intrusive was in some of the newer GT3 cars that use an LCD for a rear view "mirror". The bezel would sometimes partially block the screen and I don't use virtual mirrors when driving.
So, then... why did I move away from triples? It was a combination of things. The aforementioned rear LCD issue was annoying especially since I primarily drive GT3. The other bit was the annoyance factor dealing with Nvidia's surround solution. I use my PC for more than driving. My rig is pretty comfortable so I spend a fair amount of non-sim computer time in it including those days I work from home. For those situations, it is more productive - for me - to not have surround active. Jumping back and forth between surround and non-surround mode is by no means a one or two click process. I started to see a smattering of postings of those who use Samsung's monitor and noticed that the fov was pretty good. I went to the extent of covering up half of my two outside monitors to mimic the decreased fov and realized that I really didn't miss the extra expanse. I could still look into corners and spot apexes with no problem. That's when I really started to get interested. After bugging a couple of owners with detailed questions I decided that this just might be a perfect solution for me. Boy howdy!
This monitor in of itself is quite impressive. The long expanse of curved glass is something to behold. It's simply a marvel of engineering and, quite frankly, a... well... a beautiful monitor if you are someone who geeks out over electronic equipment (guilty as charged!). After some trial and error, I've got the monitor mounted where it sits just above my CSW v2.5 with the back of the monitor equal to the back of the wheelbase. That has me sitting about 24" from the screen. I have my vFOV set at 33 degrees, hFOV at 95 degrees. Admittedly these are a few degrees more than calculated but I've found you can cheat within about 5 degrees before it becomes really noticeable.
Okay. Okay. So how is it when driving?! Get on with it!
In short - this monitor far exceeds my expectations. First off, the picture is gorgeous. The colors and clarity are top notch. I realize the 4K resolution train is awfully crowded but imo, 1080p works terrifically. We humans are quite adaptive and unless you have two identical monitors side by side, one 1080 the other 4K, you won't miss the additional resolution. Yes. Yes. There are those who LOOK for those differences and have a hard time getting past it but when you are in the midst of a race and are full on in concentration mode, most simply don't notice it. Case in point: the popularity of VR.
The biggest surprise has been how immersive this monitor is when driving. I think it is due to two things: 1) The uninterrupted view, and 2) the curve of the glass closely mimics the curve of a real windshield. What I am finding is the feel of the physical expanse of the car has dramatically improved. I am hitting apexes with much more regularity and my sense of where the car is exactly on the track has increased exponentially. That improved awareness/feeling is absolutely a delight especially at tracks like Bathurst (hmm... what other track is really like Bathurst?). Especially at T4 and T18 where you really want to hug the wall, I've never felt so confident/comfortable running so close to those walls. It is an absolute treat. Even though I've reduced my FOV, the immersion factor has greatly improved. I did not expect this and has been an awesome surprise. That and with the fact it has answered my previously mentioned surround/not surround switching annoyances and the physical reduction in size - width-wise - of my rig (I don't have a ton of room and those triples take up a lot of space)... color me one happy camper.
The only negative I can come up with is that I thought I could set this monitor so it acts like two side by side. Yes, it is easy to set two windows side by side with Windows' snapping feature. Also, Samsung provides a bit of software where you can define various ways the monitor gets split so you can drag windows to those areas and they snap into the predefined size. However, I was hoping I could have two windows that act like physical monitors. Say you have YouTube running in one window, I would like to maximize it for that window rather than it take over the whole monitor. I believe there is third party software that does this but I was really hoping it was something that would be a feature of this monitor especially considering its 32:9 aspect ratio. All said, this has been a very minor detraction to the overall enjoyment of this beast.
Yes, it is pricey bit of kit. I suppose if I had more patience I might have waited for their new 43" model coming out which might spark a price reduction but that was an "if" I decided not to wait for. I got a good price thru WalMart of all stores. I prefer to make these types of major purchases thru brick and mortar in case I have any issues. Much easier to return/exchange. And because I did a pickup, I got a further discount. I've had zero problems with the monitor thus far and fully expect to keep it for quite some time. Of course, who knows what the future brings.
I promise I will be posting a bunch of pics soon. We have a house guest for a few days so haven't been driving much. I thought it might be interesting to show you the same car from various sims as a comparison in what it looks like. I will certainly also include an open wheel shot or two. That's when that beautiful expanse of uninterrupted scenery makes me downright giddy!
Typically, in regard to sim racing, the two "ultimate" display solutions are VR or a triple screen setup (yes, I realize there are other extreme solutions but I'm talking about the usual suspects). I contend, a third solution should be added to this "ultimate" list - Samsung's 49" super ultra-wide curved gaming monitor.
When I put together my 27" triple screen setup, Samsung's beast did not exist. I had three 144 Hz Viewsonics providing a terrific fov and thoroughly enjoyed those sims that offered true triple screen support. Bezels? Mine were not narrow - close to an inch wide - but they didn't bother me. Typically, one side would land where the A pillar is so never really noticed it. The other side, though landed a little past the center of the windshield, didn't bother me. I found when racing, I was so focused that I just didn't notice it. However, where it became intrusive was in some of the newer GT3 cars that use an LCD for a rear view "mirror". The bezel would sometimes partially block the screen and I don't use virtual mirrors when driving.
So, then... why did I move away from triples? It was a combination of things. The aforementioned rear LCD issue was annoying especially since I primarily drive GT3. The other bit was the annoyance factor dealing with Nvidia's surround solution. I use my PC for more than driving. My rig is pretty comfortable so I spend a fair amount of non-sim computer time in it including those days I work from home. For those situations, it is more productive - for me - to not have surround active. Jumping back and forth between surround and non-surround mode is by no means a one or two click process. I started to see a smattering of postings of those who use Samsung's monitor and noticed that the fov was pretty good. I went to the extent of covering up half of my two outside monitors to mimic the decreased fov and realized that I really didn't miss the extra expanse. I could still look into corners and spot apexes with no problem. That's when I really started to get interested. After bugging a couple of owners with detailed questions I decided that this just might be a perfect solution for me. Boy howdy!
This monitor in of itself is quite impressive. The long expanse of curved glass is something to behold. It's simply a marvel of engineering and, quite frankly, a... well... a beautiful monitor if you are someone who geeks out over electronic equipment (guilty as charged!). After some trial and error, I've got the monitor mounted where it sits just above my CSW v2.5 with the back of the monitor equal to the back of the wheelbase. That has me sitting about 24" from the screen. I have my vFOV set at 33 degrees, hFOV at 95 degrees. Admittedly these are a few degrees more than calculated but I've found you can cheat within about 5 degrees before it becomes really noticeable.
Okay. Okay. So how is it when driving?! Get on with it!
In short - this monitor far exceeds my expectations. First off, the picture is gorgeous. The colors and clarity are top notch. I realize the 4K resolution train is awfully crowded but imo, 1080p works terrifically. We humans are quite adaptive and unless you have two identical monitors side by side, one 1080 the other 4K, you won't miss the additional resolution. Yes. Yes. There are those who LOOK for those differences and have a hard time getting past it but when you are in the midst of a race and are full on in concentration mode, most simply don't notice it. Case in point: the popularity of VR.
The biggest surprise has been how immersive this monitor is when driving. I think it is due to two things: 1) The uninterrupted view, and 2) the curve of the glass closely mimics the curve of a real windshield. What I am finding is the feel of the physical expanse of the car has dramatically improved. I am hitting apexes with much more regularity and my sense of where the car is exactly on the track has increased exponentially. That improved awareness/feeling is absolutely a delight especially at tracks like Bathurst (hmm... what other track is really like Bathurst?
). Especially at T4 and T18 where you really want to hug the wall, I've never felt so confident/comfortable running so close to those walls. It is an absolute treat. Even though I've reduced my FOV, the immersion factor has greatly improved. I did not expect this and has been an awesome surprise. That and with the fact it has answered my previously mentioned surround/not surround switching annoyances and the physical reduction in size - width-wise - of my rig (I don't have a ton of room and those triples take up a lot of space)... color me one happy camper.The only negative I can come up with is that I thought I could set this monitor so it acts like two side by side. Yes, it is easy to set two windows side by side with Windows' snapping feature. Also, Samsung provides a bit of software where you can define various ways the monitor gets split so you can drag windows to those areas and they snap into the predefined size. However, I was hoping I could have two windows that act like physical monitors. Say you have YouTube running in one window, I would like to maximize it for that window rather than it take over the whole monitor. I believe there is third party software that does this but I was really hoping it was something that would be a feature of this monitor especially considering its 32:9 aspect ratio. All said, this has been a very minor detraction to the overall enjoyment of this beast.
Yes, it is pricey bit of kit. I suppose if I had more patience I might have waited for their new 43" model coming out which might spark a price reduction but that was an "if" I decided not to wait for. I got a good price thru WalMart of all stores. I prefer to make these types of major purchases thru brick and mortar in case I have any issues. Much easier to return/exchange. And because I did a pickup, I got a further discount. I've had zero problems with the monitor thus far and fully expect to keep it for quite some time. Of course, who knows what the future brings.
I promise I will be posting a bunch of pics soon. We have a house guest for a few days so haven't been driving much. I thought it might be interesting to show you the same car from various sims as a comparison in what it looks like. I will certainly also include an open wheel shot or two. That's when that beautiful expanse of uninterrupted scenery makes me downright giddy!
