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Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

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Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#271

Post by calfuris »

kadoban wrote: post #245
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.

For me, it's about screen real estate, not looks. More pixels is more usable space, until you have to start scaling things up for comfort. I find a 27 inch 4k monitor to be comfortable without scaling, but I think it's just about the limit for me, and I expect that the PPI limit varies from person to person.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#272

Post by fudged71 »

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!

There was a “spinning gaming monitor” on my YouTube feed just a few days ago: https://youtu.be/J6P3o6zrqsc?si=NUB7YviQNYoSW7Vi

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#273

Post by jimbobthrowawy »

Thank goodness. I was wondering how to achieve this when I first started messing around with xrandr back in ~2016 and saw that the rotation option wasn't limited to the four orthogonal directions, but would get a black screen any time I went for something unsquare. Didn't know you had to mark out the edges.

Another fun xrandr feature is not needing to have your display areas touch at the edges, so you can make your screens space accurate and lose your cursor and parts of windows behind bezels. You can have them overlap too, so you could have part of your screen shown on multiple displays.

I'm glad this functionality wasn't hampered by questions of necessity.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#276

Post by J_Shelby_J »

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…

This kills deep work.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#277

Post by fudged71 »

CPLX wrote: post #157
rollcat wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 s…

I’m on my way to this setup :) I have a 43” 4K and a 4K 27” on a swivel. But driving 3 displays I’ll need to upgrade from an M1 MBP.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#278

Post by fudged71 »

peebeebee wrote: post #108
grujicd wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are 32" monitors with native 2560x1440. I still prefer that dpi to run Windows, where some apps still have problems with hidpi scaling. It's mostly about older and niche apps, but every now and then you encounter something that doesn't scale well.

I do find that 4k with scaling still feels crispier than native 2560x1440. And I also find myself switching between 3008 and 2560 a lot, depending on the workload I have. 2560x1440 is nicer for reading, 3008 is nicer for programming, video editing, ...

I’ve been doing this lately as well, more screen real estate for programming than for other tasks. It’s been working really well.

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#279

Post by HarHarVeryFunny »

fudged71 wrote: post #272
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!

There was a “spinning gaming monitor” on my YouTube feed just a few days ago: https://youtu.be/J6P3o6zrqsc?si=NUB7YviQNYoSW7Vi

Neat, but imagine the sheer fear factor of a 34" ultrawide monitor whipping around at 60Hz 18" in front of your face!

Re: Ideal monitor rotation for programmers (2021)

#280

Post by javier_e06 »

The irony in my case is that I have a 4k 32" where my window apps live in the center of the monitor never maximized and the stickies go on the 2 black bands on each side.

It makes for a 3D texture monitor with task and reminders that I pull off and crush with my hand.

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