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Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

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Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#241

Post by xattt »

bloopernova wrote: post #221
xattt wrote: post #144

Earlier 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.

Does the LG display appear as 1 or 2 monitors in the OS? I'm intrigued by it, potentially as a replacement for a vertical screen, but I'm unsure if it would work well with my Mac-based work environment.

It shows up as one device. The res you get depends on your source. You won’t get full res if your device only has an older HDMI or Display Link output.

I’ve got it set up for occasional PIP with a Bay Trail home server. That device has an HDMI out that does max 1920 x 1080 and won’t do the full width of 2560 x whatever.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#242

Post by xattt »

ethanbond wrote: post #176
xattt wrote: post #144

Earlier 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 use it for R Studio occasionally, and I appreciate being able to see my code and my data at the same time.

My main use is writing, and it can a little overwhelming to see all my copy at once. I tend to fill out my screen with other resources that I’ll use.

Since it’s an odd-ball ratio, built-in Windows 11 window snapping also has some weird default behaviour that assumes that I want my windows a third of the height and stacked.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#243

Post by spiffytech »

nickjj wrote: post #224
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 personally use 3 x 27 inch 4K Are you able to read text at 1:1 native scaling? I believe once you reach 150% scaling, you end up with the same screen real estate as a 2560x1440 monitor. 200% scaling is the same as 1080p.

Indeed: I like ultrawides so I can see more stuff at the same physical size. I only want greater pixel density to he crisp rendering.

If I had a taller, 16:9 version of my 49" 32:9 ultrawide, I think that much screen would swallow me alive.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#244

Post by beezle »

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'm working on a new build to replace my 11 yr old system. Monitors are a vexxing issue as I have competing needs - general/coding use and photo editing. As I'm working with 40+MP images, I'd like to have a screen with as high a resolution as possible to minimize the need to zoom in and out.

However, then you run into the need to do display scaling for UI elements for everything else. Windows mostly works in that regard and when it does not it is often the program in use that is not quite up to snuff.

After a lot of research, it seems to me the best approach is trying to get the resolution you want at a physical size that doesn't require excessive scaling (like 300%) as after all, we all want more desktop real estate and scaling reduces the effective resolution for most non-photo/video apps.

I've been looking closely at the Dell Ultrasharp 32" 6K monitor. The dpi is a little high at 223 but it will fit about 75% of an uncropped photo. I'd likely also get one of the LG dual UPs as well.

The one issue with both monitors, disappointing for the price of the Dell, is they are 8bit+FRC panels. Don't want to find out that I'm one of those who are sensitive to flicker or that the panel does not age well. At least the Dell is a 3yr warranty and the LG can be had in a commercial version that has 3 yr too.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#245

Post by kadoban »

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.

It's unclear to me why we'd be optimizing solely for pixels or pixels/$.

I personally like my wide monitor, and I don't even particularly care to go for more pixels when available, ie my preferred resolution is ~1440p. They're nice and cheap, they look good to me, and they're easy to drive for the gpu.

I go more for deep blacks and good colors, pixels just look good until your eyes adjust and then it's all the same.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#246

Post by flexagoon »

jeffrallen wrote: post #81

Another example of "Wayland breaks everything". I mean, come on, 2021 and it can't even arbitrarily transform the screen with matrixes?" /s

To be fair, since Wayland allows nested sessions, you can probably implement a Wayland compositor that can only display a single app full-screen with a given rotation, and then use that to launch any other Wayland session (eg. gnome)

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#247

Post by jrmg »

loloquwowndueo wrote: post #160
Scrounger wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Ditto for Belkin docks. A Belkin Thunderbolt 3 dock can sometimes be had from $20 on eBay if you’re prepared to get one with no cables.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#248

Post by crazygringo »

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. (…

> The human central (not peripheral) vision’s ratio is very close to 3:2

That's irrelevant, though, when monitor size is much larger than our central vision.

What does matter is neck strain. The reality is that you want to keep your head level while moving it right/left. Right/left doesn't have to work against gravity, while up/down does.

This is why wider is better than taller for something monitor-sized.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#249

Post by intrasight »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #120
JoshTriplett wrote: post #80

While this article presents it in a humorous way, some air traffic control systems actually do use a diagonally rotated screen, with that "long line" being lined up with the primary approach to the airport. The setup I got to observe involved large displays that worked with stylus input. These weren't ultra-widescreen displays; they were relatively standard aspect-ratio displays, rotated at an angle.

I tried to google as well (like another commenter), I did find a lot of 1:1 ratio screens though; I wouldn't mind that I think.

I was involved in the US air traffic control system upgrade in the early 90s as a software subcontractor. They were using Sony 2k square CRT monitors. If I recall correctly, they cost about $20k each - in 1990 dollars - partially due to the hardware subsystem for antialiasing.

Googling, I see that this is the replacement monitor:

https://www.aydindisplays.com/2k-x-2k-air-traffic-control-di...

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#250

Post by barnabee »

bobwaycott wrote: post #155
barnabee wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's exactly how it works but only if you have mutliple screens.

My comment was that, for this reason, 2 or 3 smaller (ish- ~27") 16:9 4k screens [1] (previously, 4–6 even smaller 4:3 screens) works much better for me because I can switch the spaces on my Macbook and i3/Sway virtual desktops on my Linux machine individually for each screen.

If we're talking about having a smaller number of giant screens it would need to be able to be partitioned into logical "zones" for virtual desktops to enable this way of managing sets of windows together, and I've not found anything that really does this, let alone does it well (though honorable mention to HerbstluftWM [2] which I think, with patience, could probably do something pretty close).

[1] preferably 16:10 but that seems to have died out as an aspect ratio :(

[2] https://herbstluftwm.org/

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