21:9 Monitors - Suggestions?

[Adam Rook]

I need to upgrade from my older Apple Thunderbolt Displays. the TB Displays I have are first generation dos they are TB1. Trying to push 5K R3Ds through them is a pain. I have two monitors but a lot of times I end up unplugging one of them just so I have enough bandwidth to preview 5K R3Ds in realtime.

I like the form factor of the 21:9 monitors but do any of you have experience with them? The thing I love about my Apple displays is the resolution. Do any of these monitors equate to the same viewing pleasure as the TB Displays? Also do any of you have experience connecting two monitors and running TB Drives at the same time?

 

[Dovydas Miliauskas]

Hi, Adam.
I have two LG 21:9 monitors hooked up with my 27" iMac (mid 2011). http://imgur.com/a/rodKy
Link to monitors: http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-34UC98-W-ultrawide-monitor

They've worked really nice for me in the two years I've used them. I haven't had any issues with previewing R3Ds through them. But I don't use any TB drives either, so I'm not sure of where your "bottleneck" might be.
One of the biggest reasons I got them was that they were 1440p in height, which perfectly matched my iMac.
They run TB2 through them, and have 2x USB3.0 ports which add to the expandability. Paired up with a CalDigit TB2 station, I've now expanded my 4x USB2.0 iMac to 7x USB 3.0 and 2x eSATA which is nice to have for some specific drives. It has worked for me, so I thought I'd share my opinion.
I love the look of the 21:9 screens and watching content on it is amazing (when people actually export files in 21:9). Way to often seen people just slap on black bars and export the video in 16:9, which results in letterboxing all around the video.
LG also has a newer model with USB type C connections, and higher resolution as well, which might fit you better. I don't know...

That's my two cents. Hope you find yourself a solution that works!

 

[Adam Rook]

Hey thank you, Dovydas. That image of your desk looks amazing. I've identified the bottleneck in my system as the TB1 on my TB Displays. I can disconnect my TB drives from the display and plug it into my TB2 ports on my MacBook Pro and it works just fine.
I don't have anything that runs USB-C yet so I'm sticking with Thunderbolt for now. I'm glad to know they have worked out great for you! I'll definitely head to a store near here and check them out in person.

Thanks again!