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4K is for programmers

tiamat.tsotech.com

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Re: 4K is for programmers

#121

Post by User8712 »

kayoone wrote: post #92
r0h1n wrote: post #82

The article lists the "ideal size" for monitors at 50 inches, and the one for TVs at 100+ inches! While I'm sure it's great to have such massive screen real estate (I wanna get a 4K in 2014 too), I can't but help think this is the programmer equivalent of consumers buying needlessly large TVs. I work on a 24" desktop monitor and a 14" laptop one. How is 50" the "ideal size"? Even 39"? At what point does the law of di…

Id say in terms of productivity it adds almost nothing because the biggest things holding a programmers productivity back have nothing todo with display size. Better get rid of interruptions, procrastination, bad tools etc. That being said programmer happiness is elemental and a 42inch 4K screen would add to that for me :)

I feel like I'm less productive on multiple monitors. I've tried them a number of times, but they've never felt natural. I just prefer looking straight ahead, managing a single screen, and clicking between the few programs I'm running in the taskbar. Also, I like some room on my desk, and big monitor displays just seem overwhelming.

Screen resolution is important though, otherwise everything just feels cramped. I'm perfectly happy with a nice 23-30" monitor. Anywhere within that size range is fine, but it needs to be a quality panel. I work with a lot of very subtle colors, and light gray tones. With a TN panel they're invisible half the time, or I'm constantly shifting up and down in my seat trying to find the sweet spot for more accurate colors.

If I had to pick my dream setup, it would be a single 30" monitor. If Dell gets those 4K 30" displays rolling out, I'm sure they'll be great. For now, I don't feel like my productivity is suffering in any way with a 24" monitor.

Personally, I find I'm most productive when I have a nice clean workspace, natural light, and a good chair. For example, I just grabbed a photo off Google...

http://articlesofton.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/01-04_home_...

Replace the chair, and it's ideal for me. Bright light, and minimal clutter.

Re: 4K is for programmers

#122

Post by robbiet480 »

MetaCosm wrote: post #116
robbiet480 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree the colors are a mess..... until you spend an hour or so calibrating. I did over the last two days since I bought one, and it has the same look, color wise, as my rMBP now (I own the 39" Seiki)

I tried calibrated it with both X-Rite and Spyder (both physical calibration devices) -- neither could get it anywhere near "average". It just swings all over the place. Also, calibration can't fix horrible blacks, uneven brightness and the finish. What equipment did you use? Can you post your pre/post scores? I have NEVER met anyone who has been able to actually calibrate it into even "average" ranges. I realize tha…

I didn't even use a device, I just eyeballed it. For my uses of Sublime Text, Chrome and Textual, colors are great. No qualms.

And now I'm pretty sure I'm out of my league.

Re: 4K is for programmers

#123

Post by sparkie »

jkscm wrote: post #110
kayoone wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Id say in terms of productivity it adds almost nothing because the biggest things holding a programmers productivity back have nothing todo with display size. Better get rid of interruptions, procrastination, bad tools etc. That being said programmer happiness is elemental and a 42inch 4K screen would add to that for me :)

Tabbing between windows can be an distraction. The stack-like function of the tab mechanism does not help it either.

You should try a tiling WM in which you can switch between windows based on their location. eg, alt+{left,down,up,right}

Re: 4K is for programmers

#124

Post by fegu »

sentenza wrote: post #98
r0h1n wrote: post #82

The article lists the "ideal size" for monitors at 50 inches, and the one for TVs at 100+ inches! While I'm sure it's great to have such massive screen real estate (I wanna get a 4K in 2014 too), I can't but help think this is the programmer equivalent of consumers buying needlessly large TVs. I work on a 24" desktop monitor and a 14" laptop one. How is 50" the "ideal size"? Even 39"? At what point does the law of di…

I don't really understand how a TV can be needlessly large. Also, I don't understand why people still buy TVs in 2014. When I replaced my TV about 4-5 years ago, I bought a 500€ beamer and a 100€ retractable canvas. Sure, that beamer only has 1024x768, but today you'll certainly be able to buy something significantly better in a similar price range. With my living room PC connected to the beamer, my "screen" is 1.7 m…

Cables, for one. Most living rooms already have antenna plugs and power in one convenient wall or corner, where the TV is supposed to be located. The beamer needs to be opposite of this position (to beam at it). To not cast shadows, it will commonly need to be placed high. Not very popular with wifes, this setup.

Re: 4K is for programmers

#125

Post by Zak »

nileshtrivedi wrote: post #105
silon3 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Proper" includes 16:10 or even better (15:10 would be great)

Why would you care about the aspect ratio instead of vertical pixel count? I think wide-screens are okay as long as there is enough vertical space (to read code, articles etc.). The window manager is a software problem and can be fixed For eg, Ubuntu's Unity had some clever solutions to utilize wide-screens efficiently.

Assuming a sufficiently high pixel density, I think what most people care about most is physical height. Being too wide might make a display difficult to fit in to certain work spaces, but it's not nearly as big an issue with desktops as it is with laptops.

Re: 4K is for programmers

#126

Post by sentenza »

carlob wrote: post #106
sentenza wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really understand how a TV can be needlessly large. Also, I don't understand why people still buy TVs in 2014. When I replaced my TV about 4-5 years ago, I bought a 500€ beamer and a 100€ retractable canvas. Sure, that beamer only has 1024x768, but today you'll certainly be able to buy something significantly better in a similar price range. With my living room PC connected to the beamer, my "screen" is 1.7 m…

I did the same (but my screen is taller than yours is large :P), but I think there are a few reason why this hasn't seen larger adoption. People like to have their TV on all day long: with a projector you can't, because it won't be very visible in daylight and it will burn through lamps like it's popcorn. Second point, modern TVs usually have a tuner in, you plug them in and they work. Also you don't need to adjust t…

You are right that of course, not everybody has my usage pattern. Since my daughter becomes a mindless, staring zombie whenever a TV is running in her field of vision, we only watch TV late in the evening (for us, a lamp lasts about two years).

Before I first set it up, I expected the configuration to be a lot more tedious than it actually was. If you have the computer, some sort of sound system and your TV receiver lying around, all you need is a switch for the different audio sources and you can basically plug it all together. (In my setup, TV does not go through the computer. We don't have Hulu, HBO or Netflix over here.)

I'd say about 80% of the work was mounting the beamer to the ceiling and getting the upper hand on the cable mess.

Re: 4K is for programmers

#127

Post by onion2k »

Does the alleged productivity boost come from the increased screen estate, or the feeling of value that comes from your employer investing in you? I had a distinct boost when I went from a 17" Dell laptop to a 13" Mac Air.

It'd be interesting to see if any increase lasts.

Re: 4K is for programmers

#128

Post by velodrome »

jkscm wrote: post #110
kayoone wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Id say in terms of productivity it adds almost nothing because the biggest things holding a programmers productivity back have nothing todo with display size. Better get rid of interruptions, procrastination, bad tools etc. That being said programmer happiness is elemental and a 42inch 4K screen would add to that for me :)

Tabbing between windows can be an distraction. The stack-like function of the tab mechanism does not help it either.

Totally agree. Using a single monitor works well if you use an IDE otherwise a multi-monitor setup is better.

Re: 4K is for programmers

#129

Post by sentenza »

fegu wrote: post #124
sentenza wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really understand how a TV can be needlessly large. Also, I don't understand why people still buy TVs in 2014. When I replaced my TV about 4-5 years ago, I bought a 500€ beamer and a 100€ retractable canvas. Sure, that beamer only has 1024x768, but today you'll certainly be able to buy something significantly better in a similar price range. With my living room PC connected to the beamer, my "screen" is 1.7 m…

Cables, for one. Most living rooms already have antenna plugs and power in one convenient wall or corner, where the TV is supposed to be located. The beamer needs to be opposite of this position (to beam at it). To not cast shadows, it will commonly need to be placed high. Not very popular with wifes, this setup.

Ok, I was lucky in that regard. Now it looks all neat, but the first time I set it up I was really, really sloppy. Fortunately my wife is a lab-hardened scientist, so the conversation went like this:

Me: "Do you mind if I nail these cables to the walls in our living room?"

Her: "Whatever. Just be done by tonight so we can watch something."

This time, I worked with well-hidden cable conduits and it is not that noticeable any more.

Re: 4K is for programmers

#130

Post by fhd2 »

> At our office, we just equipped all of the programmers' workstations with Seiki 39" 4K televisions as monitors. [...] For the time being, there is no single higher-productivity display for a programmer.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm most productive on a 13" laptop. I can change my work place and position as I want, plus only one app fitting on the screen actually helps me focus. Emacs/tmux/IDE users can do most programming work in a single application anyway.

I've used a 27" monitor and before that two 20" monitors for years. It was great for other activities, but when it comes to programming, it only distracted me.

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