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Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

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Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#251

Post by intrasight »

This hits home as an topic of interest. Last week, I build a new workstation. Now I am confronted with the monitor decision.

My current workstation has side by side 24" 1920x1200

Things I'm considering:

Stick with side by side 24" 1920x1200 - Asus PA248QV ~$400 total

Two LG DualUp ~$1000 total

One 5k2k such as Dell U4021QW or LG 40WP95C-W ~$1800 total

One UHD 4K like LG OLED 48GQ90B-B ~$900

While I'm accustomed to the gap between my two monitors, I've never much liked it. The Asus gap will be smaller than with my current Dell.

But I do like having each computer "full screen". With one big monitor I loose the gap but I also end up with computers that float in the space of that large monitor. Not sure if that'll bug me.

While 1200px height is enough most of the time, I do want more - like 50% more would be great.

Much of my work is RDP based. I just Googled to find that the maximum vertical resolution is 2048, which is less than the DualUp vertical resolution. Is Google correct?

Curious how others resolved these competing visions (pun intended).

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#252

Post by lillecarl »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #97
larodi wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it difficult to actually figure the proper position where the 27” Dell 4K (still very top notch) is just as far so that I can see it and not have to move my head left and right. Anything beyond this size may be OK for games, but too much space and too much windows is actually too much of cognitive load. It is not a surprise that many ppl (not me though) start to prefer full screen terminal rather than dozen wi…

I’m very happy with a laptop monitor and 1920x1080. Browser goes on laptop monitor and code on the monitor. I always will be. I am about condensing information to just what I need.

Font rendering was my biggest QOL improvement with higher PPI

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#253

Post by barnabee »

walteweiss wrote: post #139
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…

How would you organise such a multiple display setup in sway? I use sway on my laptop only, but Gnome 45 and macOS is easier for me, for now. When it comes to multiple displays. The best feature of sway for me is the ability to assign apps to their workspaces, and also assign hotkeys to these workspaces. So e.g. cmd+alt+e opens Files app (nautilus) and it’s always on its files workspace that I activate with cmd+e. Qu…

Roughly speaking, my Sway config:

- Assigns most apps to a specific workspace

- Assigns the standard hotkeys to focus specific workspaces

- Assigns a hotkey for Rofi to filter and focus apps directly

- Assigns hotkeys to move a workspace to the current output/display

- Sets hotkeys to move a workspace 1 output left/right

Now I can quickly bring the most relevant contexts for a task to each display, and can also quickly switch to another context and back as needed.

It's not perfect, but it's pretty good. I'd like some apps to be on multiple workspaces, for example. And I am exploring the idea of a way to search for and bring an app onto the main display as a centered float temporarily then dismiss it back to where it came from with a single key — for example to bring up a Slack channel front and centre, reply to a message, then quickly dismiss it again.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#254

Post by barnabee »

barefootcoder wrote: post #203
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'm in complete agreement with you. I use i3 (still using Xorg) and find the ability to have multiple desktops that I can move atomically between monitors to be far better than having to position windows individually. I put reference material, chat, etc, on the side monitor and then can very quickly move it back to the primary monitor when I need it. I find a normal 16:9 monitor to be just right for two side by side…

With i3/Sway having the limitation of 1 workspace per monitor AND each app only being in 1 workspace, I could still use that logical splitting at times even on normal 16:9 displays.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#255

Post by mrblampo »

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #230

If you've got an ultra wide monitor, maybe spin it and go for persistence of vision effect and a huge circular display? Could double as a fan to help spread all the heat generated by the GPU having to redraw it nonstop!

Made me laugh out loud

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#256

Post by blocko »

thfuran wrote: post #206
wil421 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yeah, bezels midfield is no good. That's why three monitors is where it's at. Or perhaps one of those 32:9 ones. But many window managers make it easier to deal with multiple monitors than one enormous one.

There's some jank involved depending on which combo of x/wayland, window manager, and compositor you're using, but if you can manage to get virtual monitors working on an ultrawide it's great.

A lot of recent models also support "picture by picture" mode, allowing you to connect two separate inputs to the monitor and avoid doing anything in software.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#257

Post by wongarsu »

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.

The core issue with 4k on Mac is that unlike Windows or Linux, Mac doesn't have usable 125%, 150% or 175% scaling modes. But at 1x font rendering on Macs sucks, and at 2x you basically have a fancy 1080p screen; it just doesn't fit as much as an unscaled 1440p screen.

This forces you into 5k screens, or tricks to make the OS do actually useful scaling.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#258

Post by bhouston »

sapiogram wrote: post #178
bhouston wrote: post #177

I 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…

Might be an issue of software support, it just "feels" easier to have two monitors instead of using one monitor as two. Related: what's your window management setup?

I am on MacOS so I use RectanglePro. Simple but it works.

My main layout is 3 vertical panels, one with vscode, one with web browser and debugger and the last is utility (another vscode or browser or slack or discord etc.)

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#259

Post by bhouston »

codingdave wrote: post #181
bhouston wrote: post #177

I 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've got a 48" monitor, too. I also have 2 27" monitors, one one each side in portrait mode. But I'm not sure why you think multiple monitors is complex - plug them in, drag windows over to the side as needed, and go about your work.

I mean managing space on small multiple screens. The technical aspects are not complex but having to manage a small amount of screeen real estate is annoying, especially across multiple screens.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#260

Post by bhouston »

sbarre wrote: post #204
andix wrote: post #138

Earlier 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…

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…

You setup is similar to mine in terms of workflow but I just have a single 48” split into three vertical panels.
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