Flat small monitor versus curved large Ultra Hd

Here's another comparison of screen size thought 'normal' today, and the target we should be aiming for.

1. A 'stylish' cubicle mockup provided by an office furniture vendor in (I kid you not) 2014.

2. With the shortly-to-become-possible larger single  curved Ultra HD monitor:

Maybe this suggests a plausible size (at Ultra HD, 3840x2160) and curvature for desktop use. The challenge will be that affordable LCD panels will be designed for TV, and they'll have a sub-optimal curvature for desktop use, i.e. they'll be too flat. But that'll match initial user expectations anyway (but they'll be wrong...)

The larger monitor is TEN times the screen area of the one the furniture vendor thought suitable (I measured the two images...). This example is exaggerated (the furniture vendor is nuts) but illustrates the delta between current expectations versus what should soon be cost-effective.

The curved desktop future, via Apple

More on the 'Ultra HD curved desktop' future...

Apple will probably announce a new Mac with a curved screen, with the usual 'this changes everything' marketing hype. Maybe that will help change opinion on the appropriate size of a computer desktop. Not a big deal but if you asked a sample of computer users 'how large should your display area be' I suspect today you'd get a typical expecation of maybe a 24" screen. As mentioned before, Ultra HD computer monitors are naturally larger such that a 50" monitor becomes reasonable, and at that size curving the display makes sense for at least two reasons;

1. it keeps the angle between the screen and the eye more consistent, so you get a more even image with less perspective distortion
2. it keeps the distance between the eye and the screen more consistent, so focussing is easier especially for older users who would struggle to adjust their focus distance from the center to the edges

But the Apple device (if such a thing comes along) will be conservative, maybe looking like th image below:

The image above is good for TV, but for a computer desktop a less conservative approach would look like the image below

 Plenty of people have experimented with multiple flat monitors (state of the art in 2013) and with complete freedom of choice they've chosen a significant curvature, validating the approach:

So in a nutshell, my case is the center image is what we'll choose when it's socially acceptable, but we'll get there via a series of steps - Ultra HD, gentle curve, larger with more curve.