Are large monitors still relevant?

[MJY65]

Based on advice from members, I held off on my set up last Fall to wait for the 5090.  With the release of 5090 GPUs and the Pimax Super headset both imminent, I'm reconsidering my shopping list.  

My initial plan was to get a Samsung 49" monitor and think about VR "in the future".   Now, it's looking like we might be there in terms of performance and compatibility.   

Would you still recommend a large monitor and wait for VR, or just jump straight in with VR and pair it with a small monitor for admin tasks?

[SharpeXB]

VR still needs a very strong CPU so it’s not all dependent on the graphics card. It will always be more demanding to run than 2D no matter the hardware. 

[The_Nephilim]

To the OP I had a 10foot DLP 3 Projectoer S3D setup and VR Outshines that by miles in my opinion. the thing with VR is no matter where you look you see the VR World and not the Real world persay and that always broke immersion.

 

Once I seen VR for what it was and got it I never looked back..

[Mr_sukebe]

VR isn't for everyone.

My guess is that around 10% of people who try VR in DCS have gone back to a monitor.

Of course that does imply that way more than average prefer VR.  As TN states, it's massively more immersive, though it does require more grunt.  The key implications being that you'll be trading off immersion against visual niceties to get a similar frame rate.

Personally, I've never flown DCS outside of VR, and that's since 2016.  I just love it.

[=475FG= Dawger]

20 hours ago, MJY65 said:

Based on advice from members, I held off on my set up last Fall to wait for the 5090.  With the release of 5090 GPUs and the Pimax Super headset both imminent, I'm reconsidering my shopping list.  

My initial plan was to get a Samsung 49" monitor and think about VR "in the future".   Now, it's looking like we might be there in terms of performance and compatibility.   

Would you still recommend a large monitor and wait for VR, or just jump straight in with VR and pair it with a small monitor for admin tasks?

That’s how I got into VR. I wanted a big screen but a Rift was much less money . Bought the Rift. 
 

Now, I wouldn’t consider flying on a pancake. 
 

 

[xoxen]

I have the mentioned 49" wide sreen from Samsung and am very satisfied with it. I tried VR but got some motion sickness. Having such a wide screen display leads to a fisheye effect at both sides. Not that dramatical as you cannot clearly see the complete display at all if you focus on something, but I wanted to mention this. If you have any question about it, let me know.

The only thing which can beat this display is the Samung 57", which actually has my attention. But it seems that they have some issues with reliability.

[diego999]

VR is amazing, but it's not for everyone.

You should try before making a decision.

[Aapje]

6 hours ago, xoxen said:

I tried VR but got some motion sickness.

Many people can train themselves out of this, although it may require some patience.

[SharpeXB]

I can’t imagine ever going with VR due to the eternal performance challenges. A strong machine will run games like this at all the max settings in 4K and 100+ FPS. No fiddling required. VR seems like a constant need to screw around with your hardware and setup. That’s a no-go for someone like me with limited time for these things. The difference between a monitor and VR is that one is a plug, play and forget device and the other is a constant struggle.
It’s not quite the topic but a large screen is fantastic for other tasks, I use the 49” display in my home office and it’s just stellar. 

[Nightdare]

7 hours ago, SharpeXB said:

one is a plug, play and forget device and the other is a constant struggle.

 

Not having any problems with my setup, set everything at full except what I considered not worth the effort, switched on DLSS Quality, done

More of a struggle is there with minimum requirements, but 1: That's always the case at minimum

and 2: Even there you'll reach a certain equilibrium, once you found the sweet spot for best settings

 

A decent 43-49" monitor is easily the price of a VR headset and running at their best resolution and refresh is gonna need a decent GPU for such a monitor as well, so monetary-wise that's not a discussion

What is the discussion if you'd trade in some fidelity for a whole lot of immersion

And when I strapped on an Oculus Rift 1 with my RTX970 and jumped with it into a flight sim for the first time, I knew monitors weren't going to be a big part of my PC budget anymore

(The relief on my neck dropping the the unnatural movement of Track IR was another plus)

Edited January 3 by Nightdare

[Blackhawk163]

I started DCS on a 55-inch display which was great, then I got a track IR and thought this is wonderful. Later decided on VR and got the crystal light, blown away. First week of VR and I'll admit, I had a bit of motion sickness to start. Your brain works a bit overtime processing this. That whole sat at a traffic light but the bloke besides you starts moving and all of a sudden you feel that motion too, so you slam the brakes even though you're already on them. Yeah, that's how it felt for me. Quickly got over that. Now I have a 55-inch display that just gets turned on to login (I use the virtual desktop experience in pimax play) when playing the various sims, and the track IR needs to be sold.

 

Don't get me wrong, having a 55-inch display is great, but its relevance really does depend on its primary use case and ultimately, you.

 

 

[LucShep]

On 1/1/2025 at 3:07 PM, MJY65 said:

Based on advice from members, I held off on my set up last Fall to wait for the 5090.  With the release of 5090 GPUs and the Pimax Super headset both imminent, I'm reconsidering my shopping list.  

My initial plan was to get a Samsung 49" monitor and think about VR "in the future".   Now, it's looking like we might be there in terms of performance and compatibility.   

Would you still recommend a large monitor and wait for VR, or just jump straight in with VR and pair it with a small monitor for admin tasks?

This is one of those non-consensual topics because.... "it depends".
At least in my experience, I'd say it really "depends" on situation, person and scenario. 

If you have the space, and it's mostly for flight sims, then yes it's worth it getting a big 16:9 screen (42'' to 55'' size), be it propper monitor or decent 4K TV with gaming features.

Notice I mention 16:9, but don't mention 21:9 or 32:9 widescreen formats.
This is because, contrary to racing-sims which operate mostly in a flat point of view (mostly looking center, and slight left/right glances for corners and overtaking/disputes), in flight-sims we operate in full 3D space (especially when dogfighting). So, to lose the precious vertical real estate is wasting a vital piece of immersion for flight-simming. Therefore, 21:9 and 32:9 widescreens are not the best choice for sims like DCS World, though they do excel with racing-sims.
Personally, I'd not recommend a 49" ultrawide monitor for DCS or flight-sims in general (I had a Samsung C49 here a few years ago and ended up hating it).

VR is not for everyone, as said. It "clicks" with some (imediately or not) and it doesn't with others.
I fully agree that VR is a step well above (waaaaay above) in regards to immersion, and a totally different experience altogether.
Basically, you're "there" in the game, in the cockpit. But you also get visually detached from all your physical surroundings, which can be annoying (if not desconcerting at first).
I never looked to "pancake" (monitor) the same way again for DCS once I got mildly used to a VR headset. Yes, it took a bit of time to get used (initially getting heavy nausea). 

But the main problem with VR, in my opinion, is that it requires a LOT more hardware horsepower (also lots of fiddling with settings), which means you need to be ready to take the time to read/learn stuff and set it right, and to sacrifice a good deal of eye-candy, to keep framerate as high as possible and frametimes as low as possible.
And that last part is a really big problem with DCS, especially if your preference lies with the "heavy weight" modules and maps, and even worse in MultiPlayer.
As said above, not everyone is willing to sacrifice graphical fidelity to ensure performance/immersion, and that'll happen regardless in DCS VR (no current hardware solves it).

Anyways, and to close the long post... 
I think if you got to question, then it means you'll always be tempted to at least try VR, and see how it is. Even if happy with a big screen (it was the case for me).
So..... rather "just do it" and see for yourself.
Just don't go wasting a big budget on a top fancy VR headset, disregard the latest (and even more demanding) trendy models that you'll see praised now, instead just get a good and proven affordable one, even if it's 2nd hand (for example, the Quest 3 or the Pico 4, also the HP Reverb G2 if you still use Win10). If it doesn't work for you, then resell it later. 

Edited January 4 by LucShep

[Panzerlang]

Good post Luc.

[Richi]

When you fly, don't have small claims.

https://www.amazon.com/GTUOXIES-Television-3840x2160-TS110TV-Stunning/dp/B0B6168MZ6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=32D0H5JMAE3C0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NUA-vrwegR1Rsy2b5vmqs3nB5CTQQF0KD6CLH-kRmXJOlzfBo2mcShFrr1ixr1hL_zWW23-j2rg4bQP4h_Mg-hnxGwQDnzgdX96NMI7IFnoySIEeHGS6PqCiqZcYeNqC3u8xYylmmnonSaDAW_elIappQYT3io2Du9VVDQcSWz8_vLYG-eOwsN89KOJ40jOZ.rhrt23n_n-3GEsvsM84va1GysG0KrL_PGlIlPFpXJNM&dib_tag=se&keywords=monitor+tcl+115&qid=1735964716&sprefix=monitor+tcl+115%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-1

[Nightdare]

17 hours ago, LucShep said:

I think if you got to question, then it means you'll always be tempted to at least try VR, and see how it is. Even if happy with a big screen (it was the case for me).
So..... rather "just do it" and see for yourself.
Just don't go wasting a big budget on a top fancy VR headset, disregard the latest (and even more demanding) trendy models that you'll see praised now, and just get a good and proven affordable one, even if it's 2nd hand (for example, the Quest 3 or the Pico 4, also the HP Reverb G2 if you still use Win10). If it doesn't work for you, then resell it later. 

100% agree with this

(I happen to have bought both my Oculus and Reverb as B-stock items at the time)

High end headsets absolutely need the highest end horsepower (IOW 4090 or upcoming upper 50x0)

[Sandman11]

Speaking for myself, absolutely! Went from a 27” monitor to the LG C4 42”. Like night and day. 42” with my set up works extremely well. 

[some1]

Technically a 49" monitor is only as tall as a regular 27" monitor, but as wide as two of them. These proportions are quite suitable for racing games, but for flight sims you may feel it's a bit cramped in the vertical, certainly not better than a regular monitor.

Personally, I use 42" OLED TV as a monitor for most of my leisure flying in MSFS, but for DCS and IL2 it's VR only. 2D is still unbeatable for graphics and image clarity. VR for immersion.

[BluesRocket]

On 1/3/2025 at 5:31 AM, LucShep said:

This is one of those non-consensual topics because.... "it depends".
At least in my experience, I'd say it really "depends" on situation, person and scenario. 

If you have the space, and it's mostly for flight sims, then yes it's worth it getting a big 16:9 screen (42'' to 55'' size), be it propper monitor or decent 4K TV with gaming features.

Notice I mention 16:9, but don't mention 21:9 or 32:9 widescreen formats.
This is because, contrary to racing-sims which operate mostly in a flat point of view (mostly looking center, and slight left/right glances for corners and overtaking/disputes), in flight-sims we operate in full 3D space (especially when dogfighting). So, to lose the precious vertical real estate is wasting a vital piece of immersion for flight-simming. Therefore, 21:9 and 32:9 widescreens are not the best choice for sims like DCS World, though they do excel with racing-sims.
Personally, I'd not recommend a 49" ultrawide monitor for DCS or flight-sims in general (I had a Samsung C49 here a few years ago and ended up hating it).

...SNIP...

Well, this is timely.

I have a decent system for running DCS in 2D. I've tried using my Oculus 3 for VR but despite being a Navy vet with plenty of time in the air, I just get this weird motion sickness that crops up really fast. I've abandoned VR completely at this point.

My Dell 32 curved gaming monitor is nice. The viewing area is 27.9 x 18". It's just a tad bit small for me. Like a dummy I bought the AW 34" curved OLED but it's nice and wide but not as tall. As mentioned, it would work well with a driving sim but for flight...no. I unloaded it.

You mention 42-55" with a 16:9" ratio. Are there reliable monitors in this size you could name? I can search like anyone else but it's not clear what's a good buy. i9 with 64mb RAM, NVIDIA 4080 Super card. 2TB SSD. I just need something a bit wider and slightly taller. I suppose a curved monitor isn't really necessary...Thanks.

[SharpeXB]

10 minutes ago, BluesRocket said:

Are there reliable monitors in this size you could name?

This one is just amazing. And every so often it goes on sale for half this price. 
https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-48gq900-b-gaming-monitor

[rmm]

I've been using the Vizio MQX 50" tv.  It's 4K, 16:9, with a 2.1 hdmi, 120hz, though I've seen some complain it isn't.  Shows up on win as 120, and nvidia control as 120.

Costco had it for just over $400.  I use this when not using VR.  Ran it for awhile with a 3080ti with everything turned to max in dcs.  Got just under 120 fps up high, down low it would vary around 80-90 fps.  Ran smooth and looked very good.  I've been happy with it.  Everythings a lot bigger in scale making it easier to read, especially the instruments plus the lettering was pretty sharp.   Definitely worth it I would say.  Phone cameras not the best.  You'll just have to believe me the screen is sharp in details.

Edited February 5 by rmm

[LucShep]

19 hours ago, BluesRocket said:

You mention 42-55" with a 16:9" ratio. Are there reliable monitors in this size you could name? I can search like anyone else but it's not clear what's a good buy. i9 with 64mb RAM, NVIDIA 4080 Super card. 2TB SSD. I just need something a bit wider and slightly taller. I suppose a curved monitor isn't really necessary...Thanks.

I suppose this will be for gaming (DCS and etc) and not for office type work.
If so, I'd recommend a 4K 120Hz VRR OLED PC monitor or TV, either 42'' or 48'' size (pick your poison), because of the impeccable image, motion handling and response times.

Any of these will be awesome:

42” 4K 120Hz (138Hz w/OC)

• ASUS PG42UQ
• Philips 42M2N8900
• KTC G42P5
   

42” 4K 120Hz  

• LG OLED42C2 (TV)
• LG OLED42C3 (TV)
• LG OLED42C4 (TV)

42” 4K 120Hz Bendable (adjustable from totally flat to 900R curve)

• LG OLED Flex LX3
   

48” 4K 120Hz (138Hz w/OC) OLED  

• AOC AG485UD2
• Acer CG48
• LG 48GQ900-B
• Innocn 48Q1V
• ASUS PG48UQ
   

48” 4K 120Hz OLED  

• Gigabyte AORUS FO48U
• Skyworth G90
• BenQ EX480UZ
• AOC AG485UD
• LG OLED48C2 (TV)
• LG OLED48C3 (TV)
• LG OLED48B4 (TV)
• LG OLED48C4 (TV)

That said, there is a small number of 50'' and 55'' 4K TVs (not OLED) that are 120Hz VRR and HDMI 2.1, which are more affordable than all those that I've just listed.
There are some good examples in the American market, and for example....
At 50'' size you have the Vizio MQX (mentioned above by @rmm) and the Sony X85K. At 55'' size you have the Hisense U7N, U7K and U7H, and the TCL Q7 and QM7.  
Most people consider these too big for PC gaming, but it's a matter of taste and preference. And, while not as good as OLED, these 4K TVs are great also for gaming. 

 

Edited February 5 by LucShep

[kerlcat]

Mainly use VR for sim while still using a 32 inch 4K @ 60Hz for AAA and work occasionally. Bigger screen would be a burden to my neck and higher refresh rate would compete budget against GPU and premium VR headset. Of cause, it’s my personal preference.

[Tzigy]

LG48GQ900-B here

could not be happier

[AvgWhiteGuy]

I'm confused now. I just went from a LG 27" running 2560x1440 to a (XiaoMi)Redmi Curved G34WQ 3440x1440 running off my now ancient NVidia GeForce GTX1070....it is totally unplayable now although all was good with the previous LG monitor. Is it just the resolution or is something else happening here?

[SharpeXB]

1 hour ago, AvgWhiteGuy said:

Is it just the resolution or is something else happening here?

Yes it’s very likely the increased resolution that’s causing the performance drop. If all other settings and such are unchanged.