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Monitors for Work

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Re: Monitors for Work

#61

Post by satvikpendem »

pttrn wrote: post #30

Just started a new remote contracting gig and did a one-week on-site “getting to know each other” thing. I was shocked that everyone in the office had dual 27” 1080p monitors. Didn’t know they even made 1080p monitors that big! Anyway after a week of staring at that blurry mess I was having eye focusing issues every night trying to read a book. Those monitors should be treated as ergonomic hazard. Total disgrace.

What? This is a very common screen size and resolution, so much so that it's literally recommended for esports players.

Re: Monitors for Work

#62

Post by ChiperSoft »

abeyer wrote: post #4
lostmsu wrote: post #2

In 2016 I bought a $700 40in curved 4k monitor for my job at Amazon. It's funny they probably spent over $1500 on a laptop I almost never used but did not want to pay for a decent monitor.

I really don't get the curved monitors for working. They're fine if you're playing a video game or watching a movie in the dark at home, I guess, but wouldn't want one for other uses. They are wider than is comfortable to view at once from the short distance many office desks offer, especially if they're on a flex arm that eats up more space. They seem optimally designed to ensure that you'll have glare on your scree…

> They are wider than is comfortable to view at once

Which is why you don't code fullscreen.

Re: Monitors for Work

#63

Post by jonahhorowitz »

ciupicri wrote: post #54
rnantes wrote: post #6

If you are working with text a monitor with high pixel density is important. 4K 27” is good for Windows, 5K 27” is great for Macs. I think companies should provide a monitor of this calibre and a laptop powerful enough to easily drive them to technical workers. I would spend my own money on the hardware if I could use it for work. It’s like if a company said they will give you a $5000 pay raise, but you have to use a…

And 6K 31.5" is good for Linus / Linux [1] :-) More specifically the ASUS ProArt PA32QCV [2]. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfv0V1SxbNA [2]: https://www.asus.com/displays-desktops/monitors/proart/proar...

I'm seriously considering just ordering two of these and taking them into the office. My only fear is that someone else will feel slighted thinking I got special monitors, even though I bought them myself.

Re: Monitors for Work

#64

Post by senderista »

varispeed wrote: post #7

One of many questions at the interview will be asking what hardware they offer and what furniture. I had PTSD from sitting on a cheap office chair and developed massive back pain. If there isn't at least Herman Miller, anything else doesn't matter.

If you have massive back pain, maybe you shouldn't be sitting in a conventional chair at all.

Source: I have massive back pain.

Re: Monitors for Work

#65

Post by pttrn »

overgard wrote: post #57
jaffa2 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It shouldnt be blurry unless its a 1440p screen running at 1080..

macOS looks pretty awful on non-high DPI screens because of the way fonts are antialiased. (Actually, same with modern windows at this point)

Yeah I’m on macOS.

Re: Monitors for Work

#66

Post by pttrn »

jasperry wrote: post #52
jaffa2 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It shouldnt be blurry unless its a 1440p screen running at 1080..

I guess they meant "blurry" in the sense of "jagged", from using fonts that are 6 pixels wide at a reasonable point size on a 27-inch monitor.

No, just normal font sizes, macOS. 14pt looks huge, had to lower it to 12pt to look physically about the same as 14pt on a 4K/5K 27”, but at that physical size it’s a blurry mess due to low ppi.

Edit: Oh I misread your comment as 6 pixels large, not 6 pixels wide. Yes, you’re correct.

Re: Monitors for Work

#67

Post by pttrn »

nine_k wrote: post #35
pttrn wrote: post #30

Just started a new remote contracting gig and did a one-week on-site “getting to know each other” thing. I was shocked that everyone in the office had dual 27” 1080p monitors. Didn’t know they even made 1080p monitors that big! Anyway after a week of staring at that blurry mess I was having eye focusing issues every night trying to read a book. Those monitors should be treated as ergonomic hazard. Total disgrace.

You just have to set the font size to 16-18pt, as I saw many people do. (Brought my own 4K monitor to work, like I did the last few times.)

16pt is huge on this monitor, fits too few code lines on screen. 18 is almost headline sized.

But anyway doing these acrobatics is not what a professional should be doing in 2026.

Re: Monitors for Work

#68

Post by pttrn »

ChiperSoft wrote: post #60
pttrn wrote: post #30

Just started a new remote contracting gig and did a one-week on-site “getting to know each other” thing. I was shocked that everyone in the office had dual 27” 1080p monitors. Didn’t know they even made 1080p monitors that big! Anyway after a week of staring at that blurry mess I was having eye focusing issues every night trying to read a book. Those monitors should be treated as ergonomic hazard. Total disgrace.

This wouldn't happen to be in San Diego County, would it? I interviewed at a place a while back where every desk had friggen 1080p televisions on it. Classic case of the owner having some genius idea to save money. I did not accept the job.

No this was in the UK.

Re: Monitors for Work

#69

Post by Leftium »

Reminds me of this this advice from 20 years ago (2006!): https://www.nngroup.com/articles/screen-resolution-and-page-...

> Big monitors are the easiest way to increase white-collar productivity, and anyone who makes at least $50,000 per year ought to have at least 1600×1200 screen resolution. A flat-panel display with this resolution currently costs less than $500. So, as long as the bigger display increases productivity by at least 0.5%, you'll recover the investment in less than a year.

Surely the economics must be even better in 2026?

Re: Monitors for Work

#70

Post by maccard »

Aurornis wrote: post #55
jbgreer wrote: post #5

In a former life about ten years ago I transitioned to managing a long-established, mature development team. Some of the developers had a couple of monitors. I think the largest was maybe a 19" model. Our business users, who sat on the opposite side of the building, and who they visited frequently, sported 3 monitor setups, each 24", maybe even 27". The main point was that our business users had more and substantiall…

Every time I’ve worked at a company where teams started picking their own hardware and expensing it, it ended like this. It usually started with reasonable orders, but once some teams notice that expensing hardware is working they try to push the limits of what they can get away with. Ended up with weird situations like software and accounting people rocking those ultra expensive Apple cinema displays while sitting i…

Yeah we had the same thing. We had one person choose a massive curved ultra wide screen and then decide they didn’t like it so it sat in the hall beside their office for 6 months.

> the only sustainable solution I’ve seen is when engineering gets together and argues for a reasonable set of computer gear and also a phased upgrade plan

Design by committee doesn’t work IMO, and the phased upgrade plan works until bob decides that Fred got a new PC and wants the new GPU or feels stung by the fact that he got an older model by virtue of being upgraded 6 months earlier.

The only way I’ve seen it work is when engineering accept that they don’t need the absolute latest and greatest, and the directors plus agreeing on rolling stock upgrades. On my last team, I had someone argue with me that they needed a GPU upgrade from previous gen flagship to current gen flagship, when our game didn’t even require the tier below their current card to develop. They had the newest workstation of any team member at the time.

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