Whatever a diagonal rotation essentially is the same like using a big display of classic aspect ratio with two corners blocked. What is the benefit of not having these corners present? Why not just buy a 45-inch 4k display, put it right in front of you (instead of a TV-like distance) and use it with 100% (or close to it, maybe also tweak some fonts) scaling? I actually do it this way and I fail to understand how can a wide&low display placed diagonally feel better.
Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)
231–240 of 341 posts
Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)
#232Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’ve got the LG 2-UP monitor and a plain-Jane 1080p monitor in portrait mode. I use the second monitor for mostly-PDF mostly-letter paper document review. I would love to find an ergonomic reason for my org to purchase an eink monitor for that, but I haven’t come up with any excuses ;) Two monitors let me compartmentalize my workflow. Window management is otherwise too messy for my needs with a single display.
What are your thoughts on the LG DualUp for programming workflows?
I have a dual up from LG and it is the greatest coding monitor ever made!
In Intellij and VSCode, I can see project outline, 120 columns of code, and DB details all on the same screen. I use it as a side monitor, with main monitor being a Dell 32 inch 4k.
Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)
#233Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
I'm using most applications not in full screen mode, and don't have a lot of issues with that on windows. I think the only thing I commonly run in full screen is IDEs.
Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)
#234Tangentially 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 use two displays with the same specs as yours, but have them both vertical. Code goes on one, browser/documentation on the other, and I don't have to turn my head too much to go between them.
But then I _really_ like a vertical display for coding.
Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)
#235Earlier quoted context omitted.
You could do two column layout that way too, because nobody should write more than 80 characters wide.
Why, so your friends using vintage vt100 terminals can read your code without scrolling?
No need to limit to 100 cols - VT100 with AVO (Advanced Video Option) or VT102 could do 132 columns!
Would have been cool to pair up a terminal like this with a BBC micro or other similar vintage computer for code editing, although the terminal would have been more expensive than the computer.
Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)
#236Tangentially 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…
It all depends on your workflow of course. I run 3 monitors for my main workstation. Admittedly the third is mostly for rare events (e.g. debugging a performance issue across many services) or most of the time background TV/security cameras.
I get motion sick on anything over 27" so that kind of limits my screen real-estate. I also like to be able to quickly reference material across two apps without having to mess around with window sizing or the like.
It's sort of like having two computers from back in the 90's I guess, which is likely where I picked up the habit.
I still find it difficult to work on a laptop due to the lack of a second display. It's fine, but not quite as mentally satisfying to me.
I would also argue any ops-oriented position where you need to have a lot of graphs and logging displayed at once can benefit from multiple screens - or at least screen real estate. Using multiple monitors for these setups is usually more practical just due to desk layouts.
Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)
#237Tangentially 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.
I use 2 4K monitors, often with one connected to work computer and one connected to personal computer.
When I'm not working I sometimes connect the work computer display to a Chromecast or as a 2nd monitor to personal computer.
Work computer is much shittier than personal computer and doesn't support 2 monitors.
Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)
#238Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it's down to personal preference, so obviously do what works for you! I have the triple-27" monitors @4k setup described elsewhere.. Left-side monitor is Slack and Discord, and sometimes a File explorer or other misc apps that usually live minimized (Spotify, etc) Center monitor is my IDE and terminal, or whatever "main" app I'm working in at the moment (sometimes Lightroom etc) Right-side monitor is work bro…
I heard about this kind of set up often, dedicated monitors for dedicated applications/tasks. Great that it works for you, for me it just doesn't seem to make any sense. I usually use all the monitors for the task I'm currently working on, and not for different serial tasks. For context switches I use Alt+Tab or sometimes virtual desktops.
Totally get that.. I actually don't like alt-tabbing between windows, I find it clunky.. Much like you don't like to turn your head to look at other screens.. :-)
Last detail to add is that I use Powertoys FancyZones in Windows 10 to set up zones in my screens that let me snap windows into specific layouts easily on the side monitors, so setting up dedicated layouts per-monitor is more intuitive and easy for me.
Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)
#239I just purchased a 48" monitor as my primary monitor. No need to worry about rotation, I just have a massive screen in front of me. I think that for some people people are scared of large monitors in front of them, but once you use one, you realize that using small monitors (e.g. 27 or 32") in single or dual or triple arrangements is just ridiculous complex. One big monitor is way way better. Large monitors are the f…
I am uncomfortable buying them because I find working at a desk with a large monitor uncomfortable and I don't see any personal advantage to the extra real estate for coding. I have plenty of space on a 16" laptop for three vertical terminal panes: One for editing, one for docs and one for shell commands. If I need to search something on the web, I can cmd-H to switch spaces and cmd-L back to the terminal. Since my workflow works on my laptop, it works _anywhere_ I go.
Obviously, my workflow is not for everyone, but I pretty strongly doubt that large monitors are the future for most people and am almost positive that they aren't the future for me.
Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)
#240Earlier quoted context omitted.
I just scrolled through half a dozen ATC tower tour videos on YouTube and didn't see any skewed displays, but it's possible that they 1) they tidied it up for the tour, or 2) they just didn't apply this approach in those particular sites. I'm still very interested to see this novel application.
I've been in a few airport towers in Brazil, and never seen a diagonal screen. It may be a regional thing, or a small clique. Or it may be best for some software that is long gone.
Really, I would be pretty interested to hear your story. I've been a lot to Brazil.