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Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

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Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#211

Post by bluGill »

andix wrote: post #138
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.

I don't get the point of a lot of monitors. My current setup is a 4K 32" 16:9, which I do 98% of my work on. Everything on one big screen. I have another monitor next to it, which I sometimes use for to put documentation on, a hot reloading web app I'm working on, maybe a video I'm watching while doing some work, or a video conference while I'm screen sharing. But turning my head to the secondary monitor is too much…

Apps and window managers understand full screen. With my wide monitori often want full height, but not full width this needs manual adjustment to work. Windows can sometimes be made full height (tripple click), but this somehow always seems to get the wrong width

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#212

Post by baq »

pivo wrote: post #150
baq wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like 25x14 on a 27" and the fact that on a mac you have to buy BetterDisplay just to make it work about 80% as good as on Windows makes me... not at all surprised since I'm supposed to use an apple display with an apple computer, right?

Why not just get a 4K 27”? They can be had for around $220 USD nowadays. I paid that for mine. I do dislike the fact that Apple removed decent support for lower resolution monitors, but I also don’t see why anyone would prefer them to higher res unless it’s a budget issue.

4k is... too low res for desktop use on a mac. 25x14 upscaled to 5k only to be downscaled again to device native resolution by a $15 tool still gives me more usable screen real estate than a native 4k and the $15 makes it so text is actually legible...

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#214

Post by bloopernova »

andix wrote: post #138
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.

I don't get the point of a lot of monitors. My current setup is a 4K 32" 16:9, which I do 98% of my work on. Everything on one big screen. I have another monitor next to it, which I sometimes use for to put documentation on, a hot reloading web app I'm working on, maybe a video I'm watching while doing some work, or a video conference while I'm screen sharing. But turning my head to the secondary monitor is too much…

My setup has evolved over time and fits how I work now.

3 screens, all 4K, in | - - arrangement (portrait, landscape, landscape)

Left, vertical screen: terminals, Dash app, and documentation.

Middle, horizontal screen: Emacs showing org-journal+org-roam, VSCode, Firefox.

Right, horizontal screen: Chats and email, devtools from Firefox, separate VSCode workspaces, etc.

Main problem I've ran into was the newer M1-based non-Ultra/Max Macbook Pros don't support more than 2 external displays unless you use DisplayLink which is CPU-based and lags enough to notice. I wasn't able to convince our client to buy a laptop that would support my layout :/

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#216

Post by Brian_K_White »

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.

They said one big one front and centered, and one to the side. Who voluntarily sticks a gap right in front of themselves?

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#217

Post by nbenitezl »

andix wrote: post #138
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.

I don't get the point of a lot of monitors. My current setup is a 4K 32" 16:9, which I do 98% of my work on. Everything on one big screen. I have another monitor next to it, which I sometimes use for to put documentation on, a hot reloading web app I'm working on, maybe a video I'm watching while doing some work, or a video conference while I'm screen sharing. But turning my head to the secondary monitor is too much…

I also have similar single monitor (a BENQ EW3270U) set to 200% scale. I use Linux, and my productivity is good by binding F1 to F5 keys to switch to different virtual desktops.

F1 -> Terminals. (Wezterm showing 4 terminals in a 2x2 grid)

F2 -> Code editor or IDE. Sublime Text in my case.

F3 -> Internet Browser. Firefox with Container extension.

F4 -> File Manager or any other misc apps.

F5 -> unused

I'm so used to these keybindings, that when I'm on foreign computers I involuntarily find myself pressing F1 or F3 when I want to enter some command or browse some web page.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#218

Post by gonzo41 »

andix wrote: post #138
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.

I don't get the point of a lot of monitors. My current setup is a 4K 32" 16:9, which I do 98% of my work on. Everything on one big screen. I have another monitor next to it, which I sometimes use for to put documentation on, a hot reloading web app I'm working on, maybe a video I'm watching while doing some work, or a video conference while I'm screen sharing. But turning my head to the secondary monitor is too much…

I started with a lot of monitors and I've ended up with just one 27" UHD monitor. It works great and i like the focus it forces on me.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#219

Post by pivo »

baq wrote: post #212
pivo wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just get a 4K 27”? They can be had for around $220 USD nowadays. I paid that for mine. I do dislike the fact that Apple removed decent support for lower resolution monitors, but I also don’t see why anyone would prefer them to higher res unless it’s a budget issue.

4k is... too low res for desktop use on a mac. 25x14 upscaled to 5k only to be downscaled again to device native resolution by a $15 tool still gives me more usable screen real estate than a native 4k and the $15 makes it so text is actually legible...

By 25x14, do you mean 2560x1440? If so, are you saying that a $15 device will magically make a 2560x1440 monitor higher resolution than 3840x2160? If that's what you're saying, do you have a link that provides some detail on this because I don't believe it.

I'm also unable to believe someone would consider 27" 4K text illegible on a mac since that's what I use that every day and can read text comfortably. Edit: Unless you're using it unscaled, then yeah, text isn't that legible.

These are strange statements to make without any detail.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#220

Post by kkfx »

I've had a handful of setups, a classic single monitor from 4:3, then 16:10, than 16:9 and now 21:9. I've added a second vertical monitor, two twin large vertical, main vertical, secondary horizontal... Well in the end I'm happy enough with a single 21:9 FLAT WQHD. Game devs might not like the aspect ratio, but with EXWM, Firefox with tab-center reborn, casual simple split view etc it's good enough.

I prefer avoid curved ones because they feel strange if we are not "at the right distance" and I like to be distant a bit and I use a standing desk with a magnetic treadmill for the standing part so my distance vary, but the real conclusion is: a good monitor is a LARGE one. Rotation does not matter much if the overall dimensions are large enough.

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