Time to Upgrade Your Monitor • Hacker News Board

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#831

Post by bosie » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 9:19 AM UTC

mulmen wrote: post #392

auggierose wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

How do you manage multiple monitors with MacOS? I was doing this until recently and every single login involved rearranging my windows because MacOS moves them all to whatever display woke up first. In my experience MacOS multi-monitor support is effectively non-existent. Recently I picked up a 49” ultra-ultra wide monitor (basically 2x27” panels). It is one monitor but MacOS can’t drive it. They just don’t detect th…

Have you tried https://cordlessdog.com/stay/ ? Was working relatively well on my macbook before I switched to an iMac

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#832

Post by vijucat » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 9:21 AM UTC

the_af wrote: post #76

The technical details are all right (or seem right to me, anyway), but this is too opinionated for my liking. No, you do not need a 4K monitor for software development. Some people might like them, some won't. [edit/clarification: someone rightfully pointed out that nobody will actively dislike a 4K monitor. I was unclear here: I meant "some people won't need them" more than "dislike them"] This sounds like when Jeff…

> Suboptimal...No. Just no. The best developers I've known wrote code with tiny laptops with poor 1366x768 displays. They didn't think it was an impediment.

I've realized that a stable environment does wonders for productivity. What you got used to (stable) is path-dependent and personality-specific. But it doesn't matter. What matters is to train yourself to sit down and work. If you're opening that laptop lid and thinking about visiting Hacker News first, shut it down, get up, walk away from the desk and then retry. At this point, I feel like doing a "productivity, productivity" chant / rant a la Steve Ballmer's "developers, developers" chant:

original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhh_GeBPOhs

remix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRm0NDo1CiY

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#833

Post by walrus01 » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 9:23 AM UTC

> It’s also possible to run a 4k display at native 3840×2160 pixels. It depends on the size of the display, of course, but in my experience, even 27” 4k displays are too small to run at 1×. The UI will be too tiny.

There is a really nice LG 43" monitor (not a TV, it uses displayport) which is optimal for using 1:1 pixel scaling.

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#834

Post by freetime2 » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 9:29 AM UTC

I just bought two new monitors this year, and went with 24 inch 1440p. My reasons were:

* At the distance I sit they look fine to me. In particular I don’t notice any jarring loss in resolution compared to my MacBook retina display which sits next to them.

* The “native” text size on a 24” 1440p monitor is perfect for me. Any smaller and I would struggle to read certain things.

* I was concerned about HiDPI scaling on linux. Fractional scaling was still “experimental” at the time I looked.

* I actually care more about other factors like the stand than 4k resolution, and would prefer to put my money towards that.

* When considering buying a single large monitor and running at native 4k resolution, I had concerns about screen sharing. Would people on smaller monitors have trouble with scaling? Also, having two separate monitors helps me with window management.

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#835

Post by shock » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 9:31 AM UTC

ogre_codes wrote: post #574

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…

> 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…

> 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).

The version of pgAdmin not based on electron had pixelated fonts on a 5k iMac. I haven't checked recently.

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#836

Post by PetahNZ » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 9:42 AM UTC

ogre_codes wrote: post #574

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…

> 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…

My MBP doesnt scale properly on my ultra wide 3840x1080. The whole OS makes things too big.

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#837

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 9:57 AM UTC

itnAAnti wrote: post #277

akersten wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I wouldn't say having a mechanical keyboard makes your code any higher quality - that'd be pretty silly. I think in general the thought is, if you care enough about your craft that you seek out refined tools, that care will be reflected in higher-quality development. Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but I'm inclined to believe there's a correlation. I mean, it would be weird to visit a professional car…

Unlike carpentry, the quality of our tools (keyboard and monitor, specifically) don't affect the quality of our output. I think in many cases, people hide the fact that they're not competent with high-cost professional tools, because laymen use it as a proxy for talent that they cannot evaluate. I think that's also why many exceptional programmers just use a 5-year old laptop -- they don't need to compensate. A day-t…

[deleted]

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#838

Post by richajak » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 9:57 AM UTC

itnAAnti wrote: post #277

akersten wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I wouldn't say having a mechanical keyboard makes your code any higher quality - that'd be pretty silly. I think in general the thought is, if you care enough about your craft that you seek out refined tools, that care will be reflected in higher-quality development. Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but I'm inclined to believe there's a correlation. I mean, it would be weird to visit a professional car…

Unlike carpentry, the quality of our tools (keyboard and monitor, specifically) don't affect the quality of our output. I think in many cases, people hide the fact that they're not competent with high-cost professional tools, because laymen use it as a proxy for talent that they cannot evaluate. I think that's also why many exceptional programmers just use a 5-year old laptop -- they don't need to compensate. A day-t…

I still use my 11 year old Thinkpad together with my newer Thinkpad. I use both laptops alternately. My productivity does not increase when i use the newer one.

That's said my extra 20 inch monitor helps me to visualize.

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#839

Post by raxxorrax » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 10:11 AM UTC

the_af wrote: post #76

The technical details are all right (or seem right to me, anyway), but this is too opinionated for my liking. No, you do not need a 4K monitor for software development. Some people might like them, some won't. [edit/clarification: someone rightfully pointed out that nobody will actively dislike a 4K monitor. I was unclear here: I meant "some people won't need them" more than "dislike them"] This sounds like when Jeff…

I actually like monospace pixel fonts. Doubt it would make a difference. I have a (cheap) 4k display at home. Some things might look better, but I would recommend to use one with a high refresh rate and good contrast.

Since I used ebook readers with their displays, reading on a monitor is always a compromise in comparison.

Wouldn't want to go lower than 1080 though. It can work of course, but it just doesn't have to be.

Re: Time to Upgrade Your Monitor

#840

Post by pnako » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 10:14 AM UTC

opencl wrote: post #231

akersten wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I wouldn't say having a mechanical keyboard makes your code any higher quality - that'd be pretty silly. I think in general the thought is, if you care enough about your craft that you seek out refined tools, that care will be reflected in higher-quality development. Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but I'm inclined to believe there's a correlation. I mean, it would be weird to visit a professional car…

I've seen plenty of professionals using Harbor Freight tools, usually not carpenters but the tile saws and wrenches seem popular for professional use. The correlation seems more likely to me that if you can afford the fancy tools then you've already had some level of success. Though there are those new mechanics who bury themselves in a mountain of debt buying a whole chest full of Snap-On stuff...

A professional will eventually wear even the best tools. And since they use those tools every day, they can keep an eye on wear. So it's not that crazy for them to use relatively cheap stuff.

Plus, a tradesman will also sometimes lose tools, drop them in places they can't recover them from and so on.

On the other hand, the day I want to fix some issue at home, the last thing I want is the tool I use perhaps once a year to be an additional source of issue, because it involves a round trip to the store.