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How to pick a good monitor for software development

nickjanetakis.com

151–160 of 184 posts

Re: How to pick a good monitor for software development

#151

I desperately wish there were commercially available 3:2 desktop displays in the 24-30 inch range. Hell I'd even take a 16:10 2560x1600 but they're simply not available unless you want to set a thirty inch monstrosity on your desk.

Have you seen the Huawei Mateview? It's a 28" 3:2 monitor (3840x2560).

Availability is poor in the US and it isn't being reviewed very well. As I recall it doesn't even let you adjust the color balance.

Re: How to pick a good monitor for software development

#152

I'd like to hear from people who develop with a 49 inch monitor. Especially the really curvy one. I had a 34 inch ultrawide for a while, but eventually got tired of the low resolution. Switched to a 32 inch 4K and I'm pretty happy with it. But it's a bit slow starting up, the refresh rate maxes out at 60Hz, and sometimes I find myself wishing for more space. Partially because I'm getting old and my eyes thank me for…

Got oddessy g9 this Black Friday for ~$900. (https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/monitors/gaming/49--ody...)

Has been smooth sailing with MBP 16” Intel (2019).

Really loving the extra real estate. Can not imagine going back to plain old 22-24” screens.

Edit: Primarily a backend+devops role. so refresh rate or pixels don't really matter. Being able to have multi tabs open on IntelliJ is real win for dev work. (Called split tab in jetbrains world)

Re: How to pick a good monitor for software development

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried Powertoys FancyZones? I'd be curious to hear if it helps to persist window positions or at least reset them quickly if they end up in the wrong place.

No, I hadn't heard of it. Windows 11 also sort of works around it you just have to wait a few seconds for it to rejigger the windows so I no longer need a workaround. I did use it with tiling window manager (stumpWM) on Linux but that just resulted in an even worse problem where I couldn't even use the 2nd monitor after returning from sleep.

I made a post yesterday (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30223880) about my own twm use in Windows 11; I think it could help with the problem you are describing of application window reorganization.

Re: How to pick a good monitor for software development

#154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can see the need for cross-domain (e.g. UX or graphics) specialists to have high-accuracy monitors but for most devs I don't it as necessary, as generally speaking you have an IDE with a bunch of code (text) and probably another monitor with your terminals, web browser with documentation, instant messaging app, etc. pretty much all of which is text-based. I was speaking specifically to the domains that serve use…

> Quite a lot of us at least overlap with that. Basically all FE web or GUI dev, any end-user image/video processing, pretty much anything that puts graphics on a screen that aren’t UI SDK builtins. I completely disagree, except for high end picture or video production. I have used way too many websites that clearly only work well on large, nice displays. Most end users of anything will not have the same high quality…

Upthread I also stressed the importance of using lower quality displays to account for that aspect of real world usage. The point of having high quality displays to support users who don’t is to be able to reliably understand what’s being displayed in the first place. If you’re working at low fidelity you can only address the users who have the same system flaws you do.

Re: How to pick a good monitor for software development

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can see the need for cross-domain (e.g. UX or graphics) specialists to have high-accuracy monitors but for most devs I don't it as necessary, as generally speaking you have an IDE with a bunch of code (text) and probably another monitor with your terminals, web browser with documentation, instant messaging app, etc. pretty much all of which is text-based. I was speaking specifically to the domains that serve use…

This comment is the equivalent of the developer having a redundant, 10GbE Ethernet connection, building a mobile app for users who will have spotty 3G.

I don’t see a problem with that? Artificially limiting my access to data doesn’t help me better serve people who have concrete limited access to it. It just limits my access to information and my ability to assess what their limits are. I agree that we should also test and experience the things we build the way our users do. But I don’t agree that we should build things by imposing those experiences on ourselves without exception.

Re: How to pick a good monitor for software development

#156
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by "short"? Do you mean like, the monitor support structure is short? You can put ultra-wide monitors on monitor arms; just make sure the monitor arm supports the weight of the device.

When I look on Amazon for ultra-wide, I find monitors that are for example 3840 pixels wide... which is ok... but only 1080 pixels tall?! And the wider they get the fewer rows of pixels they seem to have. My 14-inch mid-range laptop is 1964 pixels tall. My ancient standard-format monitor is 2160 pixels tall. Why are these brand-new, fully mains-powered, desktop monitors so stupidly low on pixel rows? 1080 rows isn't…

U4021QW is the only option that is wide and enough tall (and not too tall). I wish I could get 120Hz version of this.

Re: How to pick a good monitor for software development

#157

I got a 8k 55" tv for just under 1000 usd a while back and can't imagine spending a cent on anything less now. Maybe a 2x2 grid of 27" 4k's but I'd be annoyed by the bevels being right in the middle of my view. Unfortunately I recently discovered it was a fluke of history, prices have gone up and I can't even seem to find 55" 8k anymore. I really hope someone puts the same panel in a consumer monitor with displayport…

Interesting, how does it fit on your desk?

Re: How to pick a good monitor for software development

#158
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> After getting an OLED tv a few years back I can't imagine myself spending money on anything with lesser quality. What about OLED's burn-in problem? Computers usually have a lot of GUI elements in the same place for long period of times. > and most importantly, a glossy display Glossy displays can be good for prettier colors but can have glare problems from other light sources. This post is about picking a monitor f…

I have been using my 2016 55" B6 hooked up to my computer for years now, I write this on that screen. I babied it in the beginning. Nowadays I tend to forget it on. I have a tiny amount of burn in on the white subpixels from the top bar in windows due to previously having the default white layout. Turned on dark mode now to mitigate that. All other colors are fine. Completely invisible in regular usage. Got scared by…

Glare monitors are superior for clarity, but I prefer non-reflectiveness for reading texts since it's enough clear. Watching movie is a bit different story.

Re: How to pick a good monitor for software development

#159
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t use it as a monitor. It is insanely easy to get a burn in. There are many YT videos where people daily drived OLEDs as monitors and it was pretty much a burn in disaster. Sadly

I have a thinkpad with Oled and external screens with oled too. No burn in so far. If it ever becomes a problem, I will just get new ones. The confort of oled when working at night is worth it.

Laptop OLED (made by Samsung, I believe) is differ to TV OLED (LG WOLED) . Latter is more vulnerable for burn in.

Re: How to pick a good monitor for software development

#160

Most discussion of displays that isn’t for a highly specialized audience fails to mention panel types, I’m glad that’s well covered. I was surprised to see PLS even mentioned . I took a chance on a PLS panel years back, and I was definitely satisfied with the panel quality (tl;dr, it’s roughly on par with IPS). The only reason I don’t still use it, is its replacement… I’m surprised to see I’m not the only one here us…

I love your terminology of Comically Large Display and shall use it always. I keep threatening to drag our 55" Sony main TV into my office for work from home usage. I actually tried using it as a display for my Raspberry Pi once, it was fantastic. Though I hate to think of the computing power differential between the two devices. The 43" LG monitor you mention is really tempting, especially considering pricing on the…

My advice/caveat is: it’s effectively the same as a massive multi-display setup, and has most of the same challenges. The display I chose is about the same pixel density as a 27” 1440p, which works great at the same arm’s reach, but it means you have a much larger area of focus. That’s ergonomically awful if you’re craning your neck.

For me, this display was only half useable when I first got it, because it was elevated like my 27”. Once I set it lower on my desk, I felt a lot more comfortable using more vertical space. Even still, I ignore about 1/4 of the horizontal space because it would require too much neck rotation to use comfortably. Of course YMMV!

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