Flat vs 800R: do you really want the most aggressive curve?

How they differ

The geometry decides most of the trade-off. 800R's 80 cm radius means a seated user at a desk sees the panel's edges almost directly, each pixel is approximately the same distance from the eye, which is what makes the immersion work. Flat panels trade that for universal neutrality: no off-axis distortion, no geometric warp on straight lines, no wrong-distance bulge if you move your head. The practical split follows panel width. At 27-34 inches, a flat panel is the geometrically correct choice, the screen isn't wide enough to justify the wrap, and straight-line work stays clean. At 49 inches and beyond, flat panels become awkward, the far edges sit much further from your eye than the centre, eye tracking has to work harder, and the edges genuinely feel remote. That's the exact span 800R is designed to fix.

Verdict

800R's 0.8 m ideal radius lines up almost perfectly with a 60-80 cm desk, which is exactly why the wrap works on 49"+ panels: every pixel sits about the same distance from your eye and the edges stop feeling remote. At 27-34", the panel isn't wide enough to use the curve, so straight lines warp visibly and the off-axis image breaks for shared viewing. Flat stays neutral in both regimes, so it's the right outside the 49" sim-rig niche even before counting the $200-500 premium an 800R panel carries.