Author Topic: Programmers: What size monitors do you guys prefer? (Read 34047 times)

mouser · « **on:** February 04, 2014, 06:35 AM »

I have never worried much about monitor size for my computer, but I do care a lot about resolution, and really love having lots of real estate.

In the past I always aimed for a multi-monitor setup, with monitor resolutions of 1600x1200.
My current setup is three 19" 1600x1200 lcd monitors.
(The text font size is just fine for me with those).

But i'm looking to buy a new central monitor, and i'm trying to decide whether to get a 24" (1920x1200) (apx, $320), or to go all the way up to a 27" (2560x144) ($500).

I love the idea of the additional screen real-estate on the 27". But I have a real concern about the screen being "too large" for daily coding.

For tv/movies, the bigger the better.

But for programming, I need to be staring at lots of small text -- and I sit about 2.5 feet away from the screen.

So at a certain point, a large screen is going to mean having to move my eyes around uncomfortably.

Thoughts?

mouser · « **Reply #1 on:** February 04, 2014, 06:42 AM »

If anyone wants to join me in jumping to 27", this is the one i'm looking at -- newegg is currently having a bit of a sale on it:

LG 27EA83R-D

http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16824005494

Ath · « **Reply #2 on:** February 04, 2014, 08:10 AM »

LG 27EA83R-D
-mouser (February 04, 2014, 06:42 AM)

If you're aiming for a single-screen solution, I'd definitely have a look at this or a similar, super-high res, monitor. But do have a good test in the shop to view the actual brightness of the screen, that is, IMHO very, important too. You may need to make use of the return-policy, when available, if it's not good enough in your environment (like a very bright, sun-lit, location or whatever).

The price definitely sounds right

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #3 on:** February 04, 2014, 08:42 AM »

Hmm.

At home I've been pleased with the 24" monitor I bought some seven years ago, though it's really on the tail of its life now! At one time at an old job I had two monitors, but since then I've only used my single one from home recreationally.

I'm thinking that the "programming environment" doesn't need to be maximized, so that "extra real estate" would become just other parts of the desktop housing the partially hidden windows of other apps that you just click to bring to the front.

I'll add a small surprise twist to this discussion by mentioning one of my favorite "under the radar" programs from here: Trandesk. It's not even a NANY. It's from the super obscure "C programming contest" here.

Most of the reason people go into multi monitor setups is because they don't want to play musical chairs with overlapping app focus. But for me Trandesk works as a virtual monitor - In "Workspace 1" I'd have my four instances of Firefox, three PaleMoon, and some five apps open. And that's plenty of noise for one workspace! So then on the second one I'd open the other couple of browser instances and the other few apps.

So my vote is Big Monitor + Trandesk!

mouser · « **Reply #4 on:** February 04, 2014, 09:04 AM »

But do have a good test in the shop to view the actual brightness of the screen, that is, IMHO very, important too.

I never appreciated brightness issues until i tried a different monitor one day that was noticeably clearer and brighter than what i was used to. It was actually labeled a "glossy" monitor when most these days are labeled as "matte". I have to say i much preferred the glossy one, though they seem to be rare for some reason.

ADNY78 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 04, 2014, 09:54 AM »

The 22" is perfect for me. You can use several windows and dont move your head

tomos · « **Reply #6 on:** February 04, 2014, 10:31 AM »

But do have a good test in the shop to view the actual brightness of the screen, that is, IMHO very, important too.

I never appreciated brightness issues until i tried a different monitor one day that was noticeably clearer and brighter than what i was used to. It was actually labeled a "glossy" monitor when most these days are labeled as "matte". I have to say i much preferred the glossy one, though they seem to be rare for some reason.
-mouser (February 04, 2014, 09:04 AM)

a lot of matt ones have problems with clearness, best read reviews. Saying that, I mostly have the brightness at 10% on my matt Dell monitor -- and would not change it for an otherwise similar 'glossy' one. Other models from dell have gotten bad press because of the matt coating - depends on the model (mine is no longer available btw).

FWIW I've read that the model you're looking at has the same panel as the Dell 2713

Cant comment on the size, only have a 22" (but it's 16:10 which helps)

barney · « **Reply #7 on:** February 04, 2014, 12:11 PM »

Have three (3) 24" monitors connected to three (3) 17" laptops, one (1) Win 8.1 and two (2) Win7 Ultimate. All connected by Input Director (only got Synergy to work one (1) time <sigh \>). Use one (1) satellite system for entertainment, e.g.. TV schedule, videos, and the like. The other satellite system is for documentation - nice to be able to open three (3) or four (4) reference docs and be able to read all of them w/o alt-tabbing. Main system is used for Web stuff and what little coding I do these days. I settled on the 24" monitors because anything any bigger than that needs too much head swiveling to be comfortable, at least for me. I believe all the monitors are matte, but never really paid any attention to that aspect. All the monitors and the main box are at [corner] desk level, with two (2) of the slave boxes on a shelf above the monitors, so the arrangement is reasonably compact, and since I don't run anything full screen, it's easy to have multiple windows open such that each is completely visible w/o horizontal scrolling required.

<addendum>
This system has grown over multiple years - doing it all at once would be way too expen$ive

.
</addendum>

wraith808 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 04, 2014, 12:23 PM »

If anyone wants to join me in jumping to 27", this is the one i'm looking at -- newegg is currently having a bit of a sale on it:

LG 27EA83R-D

http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16824005494

-mouser (February 04, 2014, 06:42 AM)

Too rich for my blood. I've looked at 27s and 30s, but haven't pulled the trigger. They've been a lot less though... there are some really good deals on IPS monitors on ebay from S. Korea with Samsung screens. I have a couple of friends that have gone that way... and the results are awesome.

But right now, at work, I have 2x21+24+17 (laptop screen).

At home, I have 2x24 + 20. I had 3x24 at one point, but desktop space became a premium, and I didn't want to bother with complicated mounts to go vertical.

And as I've downsized, I realized that I didn't really *need* all of that space. As long as my primary is large enough, the rest is just gravy. What's been more important is the quality of the screen, i.e. LCD < LED Backlit < IPS. The IPS is what makes the larger difference.

I just checked on eBay, and there's an LG on there from Newegg for less:

http://www.ebay.com/...-Panel-/291069085391

same price on newegg:

http://www.newegg.co...Item=N82E16824005419

The brightness is a little less... but not sure if that's worth the price difference.

skwire · « **Reply #9 on:** February 04, 2014, 02:59 PM »

I have two Dell S2340M 23" monitors. I really like them and they're really well priced.

NewEgg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260109
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dell-293M3-IPS-LED-23-Inch-LED-lit-Monitor/dp/B009H0XQRS

mouser · « **Reply #10 on:** February 04, 2014, 03:04 PM »

Anyone use a rotated monitor in portrait mode for coding?

wraith808 · « **Reply #11 on:** February 04, 2014, 04:06 PM »

I've done it. And quickly switched back. I can get past a lack of vertical space... but horizontal space is what I crave. Also, looking up and down is more annoying than looking right to left IMO.

ewemoa · « **Reply #12 on:** February 04, 2014, 05:21 PM »

Similar experience to wraith808 here. My current opinion is that a certain amount of vertical space is important but after a certain amount, horizontal space seems more important (e.g. for comparing two (or more!) documents, segments of code, etc. - sideways seems to work better for me).

On a side note...points I've learned to consider for external displays:

how easy it is to adjust physical orientation
how easy are the buttons to push
how long is one forced to view unnecessary info (e.g. a company logo) when turning the display on
how much heat do I feel from the display (less the better)

barney · « **Reply #13 on:** February 04, 2014, 11:25 PM »

Had a rotating monitor for several years. It was great for reading texts and tutorials in portrait mode, but lousy for coding unless I moved it back to landscape. And since most video players are designed to be landscape, it didn't work for video, either, in portrait mode.

40hz · « **Reply #14 on:** February 05, 2014, 07:22 AM »

Anyone use a rotated monitor in portrait mode for coding?
-mouser (February 04, 2014, 03:04 PM)

I used a Radius Pivot monitor with a Mac IIsi for years until it finally gave up the ghost around 1999. I didn't use it for for coding. But I did use it for some serious animation and comic book scriptwriting projects. (Scriptwriting is very similar similar to coding when you think about it.)

I really liked it. I noticed I could focus better for some strange reason whenever I flipped it to portrait. But I also find enabling typewriter sounds helps me to concentrate. So take what I've said about the monitor for what it's worth considering it's coming from me.

Innuendo · « **Reply #15 on:** February 08, 2014, 04:35 PM »

Anyone use a rotated monitor in portrait mode for coding?
-mouser (February 04, 2014, 03:04 PM)

I've heard that if you take a 27" monitor in landscape and flank it with 2 24" monitors in portrait mode the bezels line up near perfectly.

Always glad to help you spend money, mouser!

mouser · « **Reply #16 on:** February 08, 2014, 04:39 PM »

I can report that a widescreen 27" monitor in portrait mode is a wild experience -- but unfortunately just too tall to be usable -- the vertical neck strain would put you in the hospital after a day.

It's *REALLY* a shame that widescreen monitors seem to be the only format being made these days -- I find it distinctly unhelpful. 27" widescreen is just too wide. a square shaped 27" diagonal monitor would be great.

Innuendo · « **Reply #17 on:** February 08, 2014, 10:50 PM »

It's *REALLY* a shame that widescreen monitors seem to be the only format being made these days -- I find it distinctly unhelpful. 27" widescreen is just too wide. a square shaped 27" diagonal monitor would be great.
-mouser (February 08, 2014, 04:39 PM)

You can minimize the problem by getting a 16:10 monitor rather than a 16:9 one, but 16:10 monitors are becoming more rare than hens' teeth.

zenzai · « **Reply #18 on:** May 20, 2014, 04:25 AM »

I'm using 27" monitors for everything, and wouldn't want anything smaller. Have two side by side and that works fine for me.

Deozaan · « **Reply #19 on:** May 20, 2014, 12:13 PM »

My current monitor is a 26 or 27 inch 16:10 (1920x1200) monitor. I really like the 16:10 aspect ratio, but it seems to have pretty much gone the way of the dodo shortly after I ordered this thing a few years ago.

I've been wanting to get a second monitor for a few years since my last one died, because I feel there's just not quite enough space for coding efficiently on this monitor. It's nice to be able to see a lot of code, and also see a lot of info in a web browser or chat room at the same time, for reference or questions, etc.

I finally saved up enough money to buy a second monitor, and after looking at my options, I decided to spend a little extra and order a new 39-inch Seiki SE39UY04 4K (3840x2160) LED TV to use as a monitor, since with that resolution it's basically the same thing as four 1080p monitors in a 2x2 grid.

It should arrive today. I'm pretty excited.

wraith808 · « **Reply #20 on:** May 20, 2014, 01:08 PM »

I've been thinking about going that route- let us know how it goes!

mouser · « **Reply #21 on:** May 20, 2014, 01:12 PM »

I'm also curious to know what you think of it -- give yourself a week to get used to it.

I have adjusted to a 27" main display, surrounded by some smaller ones.

I haven't tried anything bigger than 27" but from my experience i would still say that:

I think bigger than 27" would be too much vertical space to have to cover with my eyes when sitting at desk -- it would require neck straining.
Having multiple monitors has some advantages over having the same pixels on one monitor; easier to keep things segregated, easier to mix and match and replace; easier to move windows around; psychologically easier to segregate tasks; easier to ANGLE the monitors into more of a semi-circular arrangement, etc.
If you are going to have multiple monitors in a horizontal row -- having them be the same vertical resolution is convenient.

wraith808 · « **Reply #22 on:** May 20, 2014, 01:19 PM »

If you are going to have multiple monitors in a horizontal row -- having them be the same vertical resolution is convenient.
-mouser (May 20, 2014, 01:12 PM)

I'll totally agree on this one. At work I'm using my laptop with an external 24" on one computer, and two 21" on the other. The two 21" just feels more comfortable, even though the 24" is better for coding.

Deozaan · « **Reply #23 on:** May 20, 2014, 04:07 PM »

It arrived, and I just got it set up. I gotta tell you I'm definitely in love with the extra space already!

Here are some screenshots (resized to 25%) for comparison:

Screenshot - 14-05-20, 14-58-32.png

And when I really need to have more context in some code I'm working on:

Screenshot - 14-05-20, 15-08-46.png

Ath · « **Reply #24 on:** May 20, 2014, 04:20 PM »

WOW!