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Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

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Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#151

Post by littlecranky67 »

TylerE wrote: post #76
littlecranky67 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 for team separate monitors for webdev. Although I am on macOS, I use 2x 24" (with thin bezels put next to each other) plus laptop screen. The handling of the OS "window manager" is just smoother for separate screens as opposed to ultra wide: separate workspaces per screen, shortcuts (via BTT) to move windows to a specific screen and maximize etc. Too bad apple decided that using two external monitors is a "pro" fe…

Use the free square app and you can set up key combos for all your window management.

with my existing better touch tool setup? How does square replace the multiple workspaces in Mission Control? Etc.

Plus, what is the URL for that app? "square app macos" google returns vastly different/unrelated results.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#152

Post by graphe »

wil421 wrote: post #142
LASR wrote: post #44

Tangentially related thought: Take my advice, don't go ultra-wide. Go with a large 4k. You get more pixels for cheaper. The only ultrawide that makes any sense is the 5k x 2k resolution one. These have more pixels than a single 4K. But they are expensive. Even then, a 16:9 5K monitor has more pixels. I personally use 3 x 27 inch 4K - which is cheaper than a single 5k Ultra-wide and gives you a TON more pixels.

100% disagree. I went with 2 4K monitors years ago. When I switched to an ultra wide lat year it was a night a day difference. I wish I never bought 2 4k monitors (or dual monitors at all). Ultra wide is perfect and has a more functionality than a massive piece of each monitor's border in the dead center of your vision.

Did you go with one large 4k monitor in front like he said?

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#153

Post by rollcat »

LASR wrote: post #44

Tangentially related thought: Take my advice, don't go ultra-wide. Go with a large 4k. You get more pixels for cheaper. The only ultrawide that makes any sense is the 5k x 2k resolution one. These have more pixels than a single 4K. But they are expensive. Even then, a 16:9 5K monitor has more pixels. I personally use 3 x 27 inch 4K - which is cheaper than a single 5k Ultra-wide and gives you a TON more pixels.

Since this is now a personal preference/setup thread, I use a single 43" 4k display at 1x.

Stacking window compositors do much better than tiling, it's quite natural to just spread things around, wherever the best place may be.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#154

Post by KronisLV »

Right now, I have four 16:9 monitors at 1080p each. Previously I used some of them in vertical orientation which is great for reading code, but window snapping used to be a bit weird sometimes.

It's not too much of a problem on Linux, but on Windows I absolutely needed FancyZones: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/fancyzon... (hold SHIFT and drag window to snap, supports custom zones, like vertically splitting a monitor into two etc.)

As for larger resolution monitors, I had one at work and it was nice, but my own GPU would struggle with most fullscreen stuff and games in my free time, so maybe 1080p isn't all that bad (especially when wanting to record something without downsampling or struggling with DPI making things unreadable at anything below 1080p in the video file).

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#155

Post by bobwaycott »

barnabee wrote: post #132
vakz wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary, I have a 49" 32:9 monitor, and for a laptop it's wonderful. The support for a single monitor is just way better than any dual (or more) setup. I can just connect it directly to my laptop, and it just works. When I had two displays I needed a docking station, and truth is most of those out there suck. Unless you go for the top models, and then you've lost all the money you saved on cheaper monitors. I…

The advantage I've found with multiple monitors is the ability to independently switch the "desktop" that's showing on each. I can have a desktop for coding, a desktop for reference docs and previews, another for working on non-coding tasks, one with general browsing, one for chat/email/calendar, etc. I've not found a satisfying way (on Mac OS on my Macbook or with various WMs — Sway is my go-to) to quickly replicate…

I may be misunderstanding your description, but isn’t this how macOS built-in spaces already work? I use this daily, and swap desktops with ctrl+left/right and the ctrl+num keyboard shortcut to get direct space switching (I have 4 for roughly the same purposes as you describe). When using multiple displays, I can even make each display have independent spaces.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#156

Post by okasaki »

user_7832 wrote: post #32

On a similar note, I once again wish more displays were 3:2, and more people knew about it. The human central (not peripheral) vision’s ratio is very close to 3:2, yet due to economics of scale 16:9 is marginally cheaper and much more common. And if someone is wondering, no, rotating 16:9 vertically for more vertical space doesn’t help because it makes it very narrow - for me IMO a square display would be the best. (…

Huawei makes a 3:2 28" monitor - https://consumer.huawei.com/uk/monitors/mateview/specs/

It's 3840*2560

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#157

Post by CPLX »

rollcat wrote: post #153
LASR wrote: post #44

Tangentially related thought: Take my advice, don't go ultra-wide. Go with a large 4k. You get more pixels for cheaper. The only ultrawide that makes any sense is the 5k x 2k resolution one. These have more pixels than a single 4K. But they are expensive. Even then, a 16:9 5K monitor has more pixels. I personally use 3 x 27 inch 4K - which is cheaper than a single 5k Ultra-wide and gives you a TON more pixels.

Since this is now a personal preference/setup thread, I use a single 43" 4k display at 1x. Stacking window compositors do much better than tiling, it's quite natural to just spread things around, wherever the best place may be.

I use a single 43” as my main display, and then also two 27” displays in portrait mode on either side.

The 43” is where I actually work. The other two are like static displays, the left one is slack on top and iMessage on bottom. The right one is task list app on top and calendar on bottom.

You get used to it pretty quick. It’s just great for like having a few conversations in progress without being interrupted and so on. They’re right there I’m just not looking at them.

Not sure if it’s decades of driving or something in the brain but having static readout displays like that really doesn’t bother me the way trying to juggle everything on one screen does. Reminds me of how a dashboard full of indicators in a car can be constantly changing without feeling like it’s “interrupting” my ability to look at the road.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#158

Post by user_7832 »

okasaki wrote: post #156
user_7832 wrote: post #32

On a similar note, I once again wish more displays were 3:2, and more people knew about it. The human central (not peripheral) vision’s ratio is very close to 3:2, yet due to economics of scale 16:9 is marginally cheaper and much more common. And if someone is wondering, no, rotating 16:9 vertically for more vertical space doesn’t help because it makes it very narrow - for me IMO a square display would be the best. (…

Huawei makes a 3:2 28" monitor - https://consumer.huawei.com/uk/monitors/mateview/specs/ It's 3840*2560

I’m aware about this monitor but unfortunately it seems that production has either stopped or slowed down, while it was available to buy some months/a year ago, now it’s not.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#159

Post by Macha »

wongarsu wrote: post #117
hau wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you could daisy-chain DisplayPort MST monitors, so that only first one would be connected to your laptop.

On windows and Linux this works great. I have two Dell business screens, one with USB-C, a DP in and a DP out. Just connect another screen to the DP out, and you get two screens over one USB-C connection. Together with the charging and USB hub provided by the screen this replaces a docking station for me. However, Macs have spotty support for this. I believe it works on the newest Mac books, but not older generations…

It doesn't work on Macbooks. References to macbooks supporting MST are about certain early high res monitors that behaved internally as multiple monitors due to bandwidth limitations on Displayport 1.2. That's fixed with higher bandwidth newer DP and HDMI revisions so the MST feature people care about these days is monitor chaining, and that is still not supported even in M2 Macbook Pros

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#160

Post by loloquwowndueo »

Scrounger wrote: post #148
vakz wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary, I have a 49" 32:9 monitor, and for a laptop it's wonderful. The support for a single monitor is just way better than any dual (or more) setup. I can just connect it directly to my laptop, and it just works. When I had two displays I needed a docking station, and truth is most of those out there suck. Unless you go for the top models, and then you've lost all the money you saved on cheaper monitors. I…

> I needed a docking station, and truth is most of those out there suck Ain't that the truth. The "top of the line" CalDigit docks are incredibly expensive and buggy. ...and they're on their 3rd or 4th iteration. Plus not much competition, so not much choice either. If I could go back, I would have also gotten a single ultrawide monitor. Plus Macbook Pros multiple monitor support sucks relative to windows AFAIK.

Dell docking stations have been rock-solid for me (the laptop is also a Dell) and they can be had for quite cheap (about 50% retail) on eBay. I also balked at the price of caldigit units.
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