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Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

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Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#651

Post by g-b-r »

nycticorax wrote: post #641

I find it so strange that most people still talk about their monitors' resolution in terms of pixel counts. Oh, you have a 4k monitor? Well, if that's a 43" 16:9 4k monitor, then that's pretty close to 100 dpi, so you basically have a big-ass traditional ("lodpi") monitor. Whereas if it's a 24" monitor, then it's a smallish hidpi screen. Rather than pixel counts, I find it much more helpful if you tell me the size in…

All 3 values count, beyond a certain dpi pixels count much less, but before they count a lot (they are the "shelves" for your characters and everything else, given that sub-pixel simulation is very poor).

Unfortunately most monitors around are still at a limited 1920x1080 or less.

For people with poor vision big size counts a lot, good vision small might be better, etc...

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#652

Post by aizatto »

I disagree with this article.

Higher resolution (to an extent) allows me to see more stuff.

4K on a 27" doesn't work for my workflow.

My workflow on a laptop is to put two windows side by side so that I can compare things/read documents/code against documentation.

Unfortunately most websites nowadays are designed for widths of 1280px, and anything less than that is sometimes treated as mobile or gives it a terrible responsive design. It frustrates me, endlessly.

On a 16" MBPr I can get 2048x1280, which allows me to put up two windows side by side at 1024px, which does work for most sites, but sometimes there are some sites which are just broken.

A big reason why I need larger windows is when doing side by side PR Reviews on GitHub, 1024px can only show 56 characters, 1280px can only show 78 characters. Personal opinion, GitHub has too much white space. I tend to have another window open to compare against documentation/etc.

I've compared it at

https://github.com/aizatto/character-length

https://github.com/aizatto/character-length/commit/bae8f00fe...

For desktop:

I'm comfortable is 27" 2560x1440. Two windows side by side at 1280px. Pixel pitch is 0.2331mm

Using 4k at 27" is too small for me. Pixel pitch is 0.1554mm . Without the correct dongle/cable MacBooks can't even push at 4k 60hz via HDMI. Tip: use DisplayPort.

I've settled on 38" 3840x1600 because it allows me to setup three windows side by side at 1280. Which works great for my workflow.

Which sometime tends to be:

- 1 window for source material - 1 window for my main focus - 1 window for a comparison material

38" 3840x1600 pixel pitch is 0.229mm.

I settled on the Dell U3818DW, because it can charge my MBP via USB-C. Only recommendation is if your laptop is asleep, don't leave your laptop plugged int. It likes to wake it.

The 1600 also gives me some extra room vertically.

If you can afford it, I'd recommend giving 3840x1600 a try.

A list of such monitors https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#r=384001600

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#653

Post by [deleted] »

quicklime wrote: post #537
madeofpalk wrote: post #528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it’s worth, the latest 13” MacBook Pro (with integrated intel graphics) can power the 6016x3384 Pro Display XHR at 60Hz. I am unsure what refresh rates it can achieve with a lower resolution. But really as someone who made the jump from 60Hz to 120Hz, I wouldn’t bother unless you’re gaming. I accidentally was running my monitor locked to 60Hz and when I fixed it, I barely noticed the difference - it was only…

Yeah you're right, it can do 6K at 60Hz, and according to Apple it can also do: > Up to two external 4K displays with 4096‑by‑2304 resolution at 60Hz in millions of colours So I guess if it can power 2 monitors at 60Hz, it should be able to do 1 monitor at 120hz, right?

[deleted]

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#654

Post by ogre_codes »

Polylactic_acid wrote: post #593
ogre_codes wrote: post #574

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. No matter what operating system you're on, you'll eventually run into an application that doesn't render in high dpi mode You lost me right here on line 1. If there are apps on MacOS that can't handle high dpi mode, I haven't run into them as a developer (or doing photo editing, video editing, plus whatever other hobbies I do). Also, I don't have any trouble with plugging my highDPI MacBook into a crappy 1080p d…

I have been using a 4k monitor and 2 1080p monitors on linux for a while now. The current state of things is that hidpi works correctly on everything I have run including proprietary apps. I'm also surprised when my wine programs scale properly as well. What does not work perfect is mixing hidpi and lowdpi screens. On wayland with wayland compatible apps it works fine but on X11 or with xwayland apps like electron it…

> I have been using a 4k monitor and 2 1080p monitors on linux for a while now. The current state of things is that hidpi works correctly on everything I have run including proprietary apps.

It's good to hear things aren't as bad as some have suggested.

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#655

Post by g-b-r »

the_af wrote: post #257
GoblinSlayer wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I write code on 1366x768 and 1080p and see no difference. 1080p is slightly bigger, but that's all.

Aside from the added screen real estate, I find my external 1080p LG monitor simply looks better than my Dell Latitude's. The laptop display just looks... cheaper. It's hard to explain, it just looks worse.

Well, maybe it's because it's worse :D

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#656

Post by [deleted] »

quicklime wrote: post #537
madeofpalk wrote: post #528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it’s worth, the latest 13” MacBook Pro (with integrated intel graphics) can power the 6016x3384 Pro Display XHR at 60Hz. I am unsure what refresh rates it can achieve with a lower resolution. But really as someone who made the jump from 60Hz to 120Hz, I wouldn’t bother unless you’re gaming. I accidentally was running my monitor locked to 60Hz and when I fixed it, I barely noticed the difference - it was only…

Yeah you're right, it can do 6K at 60Hz, and according to Apple it can also do: > Up to two external 4K displays with 4096‑by‑2304 resolution at 60Hz in millions of colours So I guess if it can power 2 monitors at 60Hz, it should be able to do 1 monitor at 120hz, right?

[deleted]

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#657

Post by therealdrag0 »

auggierose wrote: post #313
thomaslord wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hello! Person who actively dislikes 4k here. In my experience: 1. No matter what operating system you're on, you'll eventually run into an application that doesn't render in high dpi mode. Depending on the OS that can mean it renders tiny, or that the whole things is super ugly and pixelated (WAY worse than on a native 1080p display) 2. If the 4k screen is on your laptop, good luck ever having a decent experience plu…

If you are on macOS, all is good. Never had a problem with any of my 4 monitors (3x4K, 1x5K). I set the scaling to a size I like, and the text is super crisp. I don't see how any programmer can NOT like that.

> scaling

I was plagued with performance problems, mostly in IntelliJ, until I realized it didn't work well with scaling. Going to native resolution solved it.

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#658

Post by wdb »

I think the creator of this site should revisit its dark mode feature because when I enable it I am getting black on black which makes the text hard to read.

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#660

Post by Sephr »

novok wrote: post #621

The 4k 120hz monitors he is recommending all have a fan noise issue, since they all use the same basic design with a dinky small fan in the back and I think panel. I did a deep dive on it myself and decided in the end not to do it because of the fan issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_vUqe7Q6vw

The Acer monitor's fan is louder as it also includes eye tracking tech which results in increased heat output.
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