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Travelling with 24” Monitors

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Re: Travelling with 24” Monitors

#251

Post by paraselene_ »

Razengan wrote: post #236
oneplane wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IIRC it was removed because neither the TCON or the external ports could process the LVDS or eDP streams that the internal connection uses. The old way was very simple because you practically just mux'ed the eDP to either the inside port or the outside one. I suppose you could do it with two TB3 connections now. But that makes it a whole lot more complex than just a mux and some support parts.

I figured it may have something to do with the different internal circuitry for driving the massive 5K wide-color screen, but I would have settled for some kind of adapter, no matter how bulky. Anything really to save me from buying an standalone screen just for my MacBook.

Get something like a camlink 4K and just plug your laptop into that. And VLC should be able to fullscreen that video feed just fine. And it's about the size of a USB stick (plus HDMI cable of course) so it's actually portable enough.

Re: Travelling with 24” Monitors

#252

Post by sfifs »

Razengan wrote: post #184
georgewsinger wrote: post #109

Working in VR allows you to travel with an infinite number of monitors, of any size you prefer. For example here is what it's like to work in a Linux VR Desktop on the HTC Vive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWLuwG91HnI The problem is that plug-in headsets like the Vive are not very portable. The next evolution of something like this is to put the Linux VR Desktop on a standalone headset. If anyone is interested in…

As others have said, current tech isn't quite there yet to replace screens in meatspace, but I think it's obvious to infer what general computing may be like 10-20 years down the road, if progress continues at a steady pace: Laptops and tablets would no longer be distinct factors for mobile, because they'll be replaced by always-worn high quality AR glasses, which run off a phone in your pocket (as Apple's glasses ar…

Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge constructs a very good description of such a world. I see it coming more and more to life with each passing year. If you've not read it, definitely worth a read.

Re: Travelling with 24” Monitors

#253

Post by Dylan16807 »

chrischen wrote: post #207
varenc wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In terms of pixel count, isn’t the Vive only a 1080x1200 monitor? (per eye). I’d like more information density without having to move my neck around.

Yes but you can't physically look at and process all the independent monitors anyways. So you have one physical monitor addressing n-virtual monitors.

One really bad physical monitor. At 16 pixels per degree, you're at one third of a plain old 96 dpi reference screen.

Imagine if those nice 24 inch monitors had a resolution of 700x400. You can have n of them, but that is not going to make it good. And your field of view is pretty small at the same time.

Edit: Oh, that's a Vive Pro. Reduce everything 30% more for a Vive.

Re: Travelling with 24” Monitors

#254

Post by stordoff »

Razengan wrote: post #184
georgewsinger wrote: post #109

Working in VR allows you to travel with an infinite number of monitors, of any size you prefer. For example here is what it's like to work in a Linux VR Desktop on the HTC Vive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWLuwG91HnI The problem is that plug-in headsets like the Vive are not very portable. The next evolution of something like this is to put the Linux VR Desktop on a standalone headset. If anyone is interested in…

As others have said, current tech isn't quite there yet to replace screens in meatspace, but I think it's obvious to infer what general computing may be like 10-20 years down the road, if progress continues at a steady pace: Laptops and tablets would no longer be distinct factors for mobile, because they'll be replaced by always-worn high quality AR glasses, which run off a phone in your pocket (as Apple's glasses ar…

> At home we would put our phones into a docking station for more processing power and to connect to a giant physical screen and sound system.

I feel like we got so close to that with Continuum on Windows Phone, but it was far enough away that it never took off. Drop your phone into a USB-C dock, and you'd get 1080p/1200p video out with a Windows 10-esque UI (desktop, Start menu), keyboard/mouse support, plus an additional USB-A. In practice though, the limitations (range of available apps for WP was mediocre, you couldn't run apps side-by-side on the monitor, some apps didn't implement a full screen UI) made it frustrating.

Re: Travelling with 24” Monitors

#255

Post by samatman »

benzesandbetter wrote: post #211

I did about a decade as a digital nomad, spending a couple months in each city. These days I'm still fairly nomadic, but stay longer (3-6mos) in each place. I've experimented with a couple different multi-monitor setups. Notably, dual 24" displays, and a single Thunderbolt 27". For a while I had Skyteam Platinum and shipped my Thunderbolt display as my free extra checked bag on a couple trips to Brazil and Holland. W…

When I occasionally want a second screen, the 13" iPad does the trick nicely. If it's a PDF, I'll usually use an iOS reader, if it's a terminal or website I'll usually treat it as a second monitor.

Re: Travelling with 24” Monitors

#256

Post by edude03 »

thijsvandien wrote: post #200
Razengan wrote: post #167

I've travelled with a single 27" iMac, which wasn't much of a problem, but it's a shame that Apple removed the "Target Display" mode [0] from the newer 5K/Retina iMacs. What the hell? That would have been perfect, to have a lighter MacBook or even the newer USB-C iPad Pro for outdoors, with the 27" at the hotel, without having to sync data before working on the bigger screen. Or to host a visitor's Mac. But no, now y…

Years ago, I used to do something slightly crazy, that might or might not be possible still. Rather than my iMac being an external display for my MacBook Air, I put that one in Target Disk mode (over TB1) and booted the iMac from it. Still everything in one place, but actually leveraging the better specs. I believe it was Snow Leopard at the time, which had few issues doing so. While it worked surprisingly well, the…

This is actually a really good idea!

Re: Travelling with 24” Monitors

#257

Post by Johnny555 »

dheera wrote: post #201
hardwaresofton wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (2) if yes, can I just rent them wherever I'm headed, Sounds like there's a very boring but likely profitable business waiting to be spawned here. The fact that there isn't an obvious choice for renting electronic goods for digital nomads on the go is a pretty big flag.

They exist and they are horribly expensive. Last time I was setting up a recruiting booth and it was cheaper to buy a display from Walmart than it was to rent one. And I was able to return it to Walmart at the end, too.

My company needed a half dozen 32" monitors for a conference (to play videos, so 1080p was fine). We had some in storage, but it was cheaper to buy some new ones from Amazon (with free shipping) and dispose of them after the conference than to pay to ship the existing ones back and forth to the conference. They bought a spare one just in case one failed (they didn't)

One of the employees manning the booth went to high school nearby and had arranged for someone from their AV department show up after the conference to pick up the monitors as a donation.

Re: Travelling with 24” Monitors

#258

Post by samatman »

russellendicott wrote: post #137
gertlex wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the difference in alt-tab behavior between Windows and MacOS (with alt-` too) slow you down at all? I might venture to guess no, since your workflow sounds like largely single-window-per-program.

Not OP but in a similar position. I find that since I don't use the desktop switching features on MacOS I dont have a problem with the alt tab situation. I only use one desktop and just alt tab for everything. Its just a minor annoyance on Windows when alt+` doesn't respond. The worst part for me about switching back and forth between MacOS and Windows/Nix is the muscle memory around applekey+c/v vs ctrl+c/v. There i…

Surely Windows has a comparable window-switching behavior which could be mapped to alt-` with AutoHotKey or similar? I'm not familiar with Windows post-95, but I'd do this in a heartbeat, since the change app and window shortcuts are deep in my muscle memory after all these years.

Re: Travelling with 24” Monitors

#259

Post by Zenbit_UX »

stordoff wrote: post #254
Razengan wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As others have said, current tech isn't quite there yet to replace screens in meatspace, but I think it's obvious to infer what general computing may be like 10-20 years down the road, if progress continues at a steady pace: Laptops and tablets would no longer be distinct factors for mobile, because they'll be replaced by always-worn high quality AR glasses, which run off a phone in your pocket (as Apple's glasses ar…

> At home we would put our phones into a docking station for more processing power and to connect to a giant physical screen and sound system. I feel like we got so close to that with Continuum on Windows Phone, but it was far enough away that it never took off. Drop your phone into a USB-C dock, and you'd get 1080p/1200p video out with a Windows 10-esque UI (desktop, Start menu), keyboard/mouse support, plus an addi…

High-end Samsung phones do this with Dex, though I have only used it once. The app limitations make it nearly useless and. novelty. If anyone can pull it off it would be Apple with some sort of OSX VM.

Re: Travelling with 24” Monitors

#260

Post by Zenbit_UX »

polote wrote: post #145
georgewsinger wrote: post #109

Working in VR allows you to travel with an infinite number of monitors, of any size you prefer. For example here is what it's like to work in a Linux VR Desktop on the HTC Vive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWLuwG91HnI The problem is that plug-in headsets like the Vive are not very portable. The next evolution of something like this is to put the Linux VR Desktop on a standalone headset. If anyone is interested in…

Author here, definitely interested as it would make traveling much easier for me. With a setup like that is there any fatigue after a few hours of usage ?

Surprised you never mentioned this as part of your solution but I have a friend with a similar problem and he solved it by traveling with a single ultra wide monitor instead of 3.
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