I don't like curved displays • Hacker News Board

Re: I don't like curved displays

#111

Post by snickerer » Sat, Sep 13, 2025, 12:13 PM UTC

dsr_ wrote: post #32

Different people have different preferences. I suspect a bunch of smaller manufacturers would have more success with their products if there was an easy way to try them out for a week or two. Buying hardware sight-unseen incurs a heavy risk penalty. Buying it after seeing it in a store for ten minutes is some reduction, but not a lot. How many people would spend $250 on a split ergo ortho keyboard having never touche…

I bought a Moonlander two years ago and the price (plus shipping to Europe) did really hurt. I also had to spend a lot of time into the complex configuration of the individual key mapping. And to learn the mapping.

It was absolutely worth it and I would do it again. I love that the keys aren’t staggered like on a typical keyboard — which I find rather silly — but instead are perfectly aligned in straight columns. And the thumb keys. And the configurable chords (yes, chords, that's nerdcore). And much more.

Re: I don't like curved displays

#112

Post by somat » Sat, Sep 13, 2025, 1:56 PM UTC

SomeHacker44 wrote: post #88

reaperducer wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who wears corrective lenses for astigmatism, I can guarantee that what you perceive as a straight line, assuming you are human, is not, until your brain corrects it and signals 'straight line' to you. That is unrelated to astigmatism. In Art 101 class in college we explored this phenomenon. It's caused by the spherical nature of the human eyeball. The exercise was to sit on the floor in the corner of a par…

Not so sure. When I first started wearing glasses for astigmatism, it turned rectangles into trapezoids. Totally destroyed my depth perception. After a while I got used to it and stopped walking into curbs and buildings. Later in life I moved to progressive lenses. The straight lines then became curves. Adjusted after a while again, but the curves never fully went away. Regardless, I have to take the glasses off for…

Sometimes my depth perception goes off after getting a new pair of glasses with no prescription change, I always figured I had ended up with a different IOR poly-carbonate formulation in the lenses. But I have no idea if that can actually cause the effect.

Re: I don't like curved displays

#113

Post by conradludgate » Sat, Sep 13, 2025, 2:08 PM UTC

Since I'm not actually looking at images, instead I'm looking at text, I love my 4k 32" 16:9 curved display. I typically have 2 vertical windows open on it, so since I do more work on the edge rather than the center, the curve does help me see my work just a bit clearer than otherwise.

It's subtle, but it feels weird when I look at a flat display now

Re: I don't like curved displays

#114

Post by physicles » Sat, Sep 13, 2025, 3:32 PM UTC

snickerer wrote: post #111

dsr_ wrote: post #32

Different people have different preferences. I suspect a bunch of smaller manufacturers would have more success with their products if there was an easy way to try them out for a week or two. Buying hardware sight-unseen incurs a heavy risk penalty. Buying it after seeing it in a store for ten minutes is some reduction, but not a lot. How many people would spend $250 on a split ergo ortho keyboard having never touche…

I bought a Moonlander two years ago and the price (plus shipping to Europe) did really hurt. I also had to spend a lot of time into the complex configuration of the individual key mapping. And to learn the mapping. It was absolutely worth it and I would do it again. I love that the keys aren’t staggered like on a typical keyboard — which I find rather silly — but instead are perfectly aligned in straight columns. And…

I bought a Voyager about a year ago. On day 1 I nearly had buyer’s remorse because I topped out at about 20wpm, even though all my keyboards have been ergo since 2001.

After more practice, and after swapping out the key caps, I now think this is possibly the last keyboard I’ll ever buy. I’m having a hard time imagining anything better (though I could use maybe 1 extra thumb key on each side).

Re: I don't like curved displays

#115

Post by timeinput » Sat, Sep 13, 2025, 3:43 PM UTC

dsr_ wrote: post #32

Different people have different preferences. I suspect a bunch of smaller manufacturers would have more success with their products if there was an easy way to try them out for a week or two. Buying hardware sight-unseen incurs a heavy risk penalty. Buying it after seeing it in a store for ten minutes is some reduction, but not a lot. How many people would spend $250 on a split ergo ortho keyboard having never touche…

I was very uncertain when I bought my KINESIS keyboard. It really really helps my wrist pain though. If it hadn't have worked I probably would've returned it to Amazon after a week or two.

Re: I don't like curved displays

#116

Post by timeinput » Sat, Sep 13, 2025, 3:48 PM UTC

My ideal coding configuration is 3-4x vertical 32" UHD screens (with the smallest bezels you can get) in a 'curved' formation.

I find that configuration miserable for any hobby activities. I really like a horizontal screen, and curved is nice, but one screen even the ultra wides just isn't enough for work.

Maybe I could imagine a pair of ultra wides in an over/under configuration, but I really like vertical real estate.

Re: I don't like curved displays

#117

Post by back2dafucha » Sat, Sep 13, 2025, 3:49 PM UTC

Dilettante_ wrote: post #104

Joker_vD wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is turning you head left and right really worse for the neck than rigidly keeping staring straight for hours? Somehow I find it hard to believe.

Yeah, "turning your head is an unnatural movement" is a wild take. Setting aside the matter of ancestral environment, there are plenty of professions where people work at a desk/workstation on which they have to look at different "zones" while working.

JCPenney security guard?

Re: I don't like curved displays

#118

Post by numpad0 » Sat, Sep 13, 2025, 4:17 PM UTC

DiabloD3 wrote: post #106

numpad0 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

distances between viewpoint and arbitrary points the panel is not constant. To some people, this variation becomes painful enough with ultrawide displays...

I can almost see this complaint with poorly designed (ie, common and cheap) polarizers in LCDs and/or non-IPS/IPS-like LCDs at normal DPI. However, that doesn't really work with OLEDs or MicroLEDs at any DPI, or any HighDPI IPS/IPS-likes. Also, ultrawides are pretty rare. Multiple monitors have a lot more use, are a lot cheaper per pixel, and back to gaming again, a lot of games simply do not support anything but the…

It's not the matter of viewing angles. Distances.

Try calculating distances between eyes to the edges of especially ultrawides, for which curved displays are pretty common. Standard recommended distances between head to display is 50cm(20").

Re: I don't like curved displays

#119

Post by dotnet00 » Sat, Sep 13, 2025, 5:32 PM UTC

kasabali wrote: post #103

antonvs wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A higher resolution renders text too small to read This is a misunderstanding of what higher resolution is for. Higher resolution allows text at exactly the same size to be much sharper and crisper. I have a 34” curved 1440p, and it’s like using a monitor from the pre-HD era in terms of sharpness. Other people in this thread have observed the same thing. The idea that it’s “perfect” is unfathomable to me.

it's not a misunderstanding, it's reality. yes in theory you can render text in dimensions you want, but in practice we have like 20 different UI systems running at the same time and each have their own quirks and limitations and the end result is unless you're using 96dpi or it's exact multiples. either som ui elements will be looking ridiculously out of proportion compared to something else, another element or imag…

I haven't seen this on Windows in quite a while.

Re: I don't like curved displays

#120

Post by Dilettante_ » Sat, Sep 13, 2025, 5:52 PM UTC

back2dafucha wrote: post #117

Dilettante_ wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, "turning your head is an unnatural movement" is a wild take. Setting aside the matter of ancestral environment, there are plenty of professions where people work at a desk/workstation on which they have to look at different "zones" while working.

JCPenney security guard?

Specific examples I had in mind were Kaizen-Style assembly workers and craftspeople who work on things fine/small enough to fit most of their workflow on a (large) desk.