15 ms·

Best Display for Programming? (2017)

142 points by kristianp 8y ago

daxfohl 8y ago
I use two cheap 4k offbrand tvs that were on clearance at Walmart for $300 each five years ago. Contrast is not great but otherwise I love them. I have two WUXGA side monitors in portrait mode too, mostly for nerd points but really it's nice to have one as a permanent outlook monitor and one as a permanent console. Usually I use the main monitors for two apps each side by side, but sometimes it's nice to use all 4k for visual studio or dashboard viewing. Occasionally will still need to float a few windows randomly, but hardly ever tile them vertically as shown in the op picture.
umlautae 8y ago
“I liked the resolution of the 30-inch monitors, which is 2560 by 1600 pixels. That is 100.63 pixels per inch (PPI).” AND it was very easy on the eyes. My ten years old 30” seems to have blown a cap so I’m on the market for a new one. The 43” seems like a great alternative. Especially because 30” became only 50% cheaper over the 10 years, that means they are still (over) expensive.
- 64738 8y ago
  No, take the opportunity to replace the cap! If you really just don't have the interest or the time, please give it someone that is willing to make the attempt. It's a great learning experience and maybe someone that couldn't afford a new one just got a good enough one on the cheap :)
harrygeez 8y ago
I recommend one of the ultrawide monitors. It's so much nicer to have many windows open side by side, especially when you're editing multiple files
- arvinsim 8y ago
  I had 2 monitors before and a 32" 4K monitor now. Despite the large real estate, I don't feel that the increased vertical space is as good as the increased horizontal space. I will be buying an ultrawide next time to see if those are indeed better than a 4K monitor.
chrismorgan 8y ago
> I like its menu system better, although its control buttons are inconveniently located on the back of the monitor instead of the front. I have never touched the menus on my external displays since a few days after I acquired them, and I wouldn’t expect normal people to either except possibly to adjust brightness. I adjust the brightness of the displays regularly (typically three or four times per day) from my laptop. Fun fact: Windows has two APIs for adjusting screen brightness, one of which only works for the internal display and one of which only works for the external displays; and sadly the brightness keys on the laptop are uninterceptable and I have not come up with any way of linking the brightnesses either. I went hunting and settled on some old freeware called ScreenBright which I can invoke from the command line, so that now I just run `b 0` for night time and `b 40` for most of the day (and up to 70% in certain seasons—but 100% is pretty much always too bright as the situation is not in direct sunlight); I have since also written a tiny Rust program that interacts with the APIs directly which could replace it. I really wish external display brightness was better handled by computers and laptops. I also yearn for the days of CRTs with physical brightness knobs that you could turn. So much simpler and more usable.
- marcosdumay 8y ago
  Laptops usually have it good (after you disable the automatic setting, why do people insist on automatic brightness at any kind of device?). I wish desktops had even a passing thought about display brightness, ditto for TV manufacturers.
Boxbot 8y ago
i don’t think a 43” display would even fit on my desk, and i think i would personally prefer two smaller displays, but i would whole heartedly recommend dell’s ultrasharp or similar displays to anyone who wasn’t lookin for super high fps gaming. their stands are some of the best (most adjustable and stable) i’ve seen and the panels themselves have great colour reproduction and a good resolution/ppi.
PaulBGD_ 8y ago
I don't see too much discussion about this fact, but I run a 1440p 144hz monitor and it's fantastic for programming. Testing myself in Vim, I actually move around and edit code faster with 144fps than 60fps. I'm not sure how big the benefits are overall, but I've recommended 144hz monitors to many people because of that.
egypturnash 8y ago
Huh, now I’m kinda tempted to leave my 24” display behind when I do my upcoming move and get one of these. Maybe not the LG, what with the top comment on its page saying that it provides nowhere near enough power to keep a usb-c Mac powered, and a super slow usb bus... (https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-43UD79-B-4k-uhd-led-monitor https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-43UD79-B-4k-uhd-led-monito...)
taneq 8y ago
I'm a big fan of multiple portrait-mode monitors. It makes organising multiple windows easy and the taller aspect ratio per screen is a natural fit for editing code and documents. It's not so great for CAD or graphics editing but still usable once you learn to tune out the bezels.
skunkworker 8y ago
Currently I am running 3xDell U2412M in portrait for an effective resolution of 3600x1920. My next move will most likely be a 43" 4k+ monitor to replace them. A 30" is in a weird spot resolution wise but 4k over 43 is perfect for splitting the screen into 3 columns and 2 rows, or pulling up a code editor and seeing 108 lines of code without scrolling.
atoav 8y ago
I am a colorist for movies and I prefer my Eizo CGxxxx over a cheap 4k display any time for programming. Not only are the syntax highlighting colors less exhausting to look at, but despite less pixels you gain more clarity, which often has to do with the quality of the blacks. On top of that I had only the best experience with Eizo Customer Support. Better than with any hardware manufacturer ever. On of the Eizos is running for over 15 years now without any issue and it still looks better than most modern displays.
- busterarm 8y ago
  I'm with you, here. That said, those are still a little bit above my budget. I generally buy the most color-accurate monitor that I can at a price point I can justify. Usually that's $600-700. This time around it was a LG 27UK850-W. xmonad does a pretty good job splitting my screen into usable browser/application and terminal areas. All that said, I'm using ZBrush a lot more lately and a Cintiq Pro 32 seems like it'd be pretty sweet.
- steanne 8y ago
  thanks for that. i've drooled over their square model for a while now just for the proportions, but it's nice to know there's quality inside.
- jacquesm 8y ago
  IIYama has very good and affordable 4K displays.
- jamesfmilne 8y ago
  Yeah, we've been shipping Eizo monitors with our Baselight systems for the past 10+ years.
PascLeRasc 8y ago
The author lost me at "For programming I didn’t care about having a high pixel density..I wanted more text characters, not slightly smoother looking ones." I guess it's just a personal preference, but my retina MBP's screen is so much easier on my eyes for long sessions than anything else I've ever used, and staring at a huge backlight like what he recommends seems like it'd be incredibly painful. I get all the "more text characters" I want out of a vertical monitor.
- lultimouomo 8y ago
  This. 4k matters much less for games and movies than for programming; it's hard to tell the difference when looking at moving images but the higher resolution changes everything when reading text. A high DPI screen puts much less strain on your eyes!
  - polskibus 8y ago
    When you're doing web dev, it's important that devs test on devices similar to users'. FullHD seems most popular, how do you address that?
    - sinstein 8y ago
      You can always downscale resolution to test for Full HD with a 4K panel but you cannot do the other way round.
      - dzek69 8y ago
        You can fake it by setting low zoom level. Far from perfect, you won't have pixel perfect results, but you'll get general overview how layout gonna work.
      - carlmr 8y ago
        If it's UHD (3840x2160) it's going to be exact. If it's actual 4K (4096 × 2160) then it won't be sharp at Full HD resolution (1920x1080) because the pixels don't align. But many monitors have Marketing 4K which is UHD.
pizza 8y ago
Other factors that are likely as important as real estate are impact on vision and sleep.
jchw 8y ago
I feel like I've gotten pretty picky with monitors. Right now, I'm running two old 1080p IPS displays from years ago, and the reason why is because I have trouble choosing an upgrade: - IPS or OLED would be preferable for the wider viewing angles, better color reproduction and significantly richer blacks vs TFT panels, but they cost more. - High refresh rate panels offer a notable improvement in user experience. Even if '60hz is enough' that does not mean you cannot benefit from more, especially when it comes to lower latency and techniques like black frame insertion (which reduces ghosting.) - Variable refresh rate is nice, too: in some circumstances (mostly gaming today I presume) it could basically eliminate stuttering and dropped frames. NVidia now supporting FreeSync to a degree makes this even more enticing. - Higher pixel densities greatly improve text legibility and picture quality, which can be especially great when viewing denser glyphs such as Japanese kanji. Bonus points: at decent densities, subpixel rendering can be switched off. - Curved/ultra-wide panels are fairly enticing because they might offer a solution to the problem of wanting a single optimal display for your line of sight, versus two smaller displays. ...but in reality: - Panels satisfying even just a few of these constraints can be very expensive and few, if any, satisfy literally all of them. - Operating system support for high pixel density varies. Linux can vary from surprisingly good to absolutely terrible depending largely on your setup, and Windows varies strongly, though it is a lot better in 10 than it ever has been. MacOS has relatively good DPI support. - The combination of high refresh rate and high pixel density makes for heavy bandwidth usage requiring cutting edge display connector standards to be supported on your GPU. Some displays require multiple ports to be plugged in and this can be flaky and glitchy. - High refresh rate support in OSes is also a bit messy. I've not tried but I've heard Windows DWM can be buggy especially in mixed refresh rate setups. I also believe variable refresh rate is mostly only useful in situations where you have a fullscreen application running, since not everything will push frames out at the same time. - If you switch to a single display, versus multiple homogeneous or hetrogenous displays, you lose some utility. My dual display setup has a unique feature, in that it works together with my IOMMU passthrough. The right monitor is designated to whatever virtual machine has the secondary GPU attached. Display forwarding is handled with Looking Glass, so I don't need a physical output. However, I have it plugged into the physical output, which allows me to switch to it for lower latency/reduced screen tear/debugging/etc. - Panels are still evolving at a decent pace. In a few years, OLED monitors may be superior to IPS monitors. Also, prices of cutting edge technology is definitely trending down in the monitor space. It just feels like it hasn't been a good time to buy. So I sit here with my 1080p monitors. They may not be great, but they have good viewing angles, decent colors, and they were pretty cheap when I got them (it was around the time cheaper IPSes started to hit.) The market has plenty worth switching for, but there's so much more potential, and the user experience hasn't always kept up with the innovation here.
zapzupnz 8y ago
I've a 27" iMac with a 5K display. I don't think I'd want anything larger as you're supposed to sit close to your display rather than have it at a distance, and if I ever need more screen real estate, I change the scaling factor in System Preferences. Anyway, that was just to say that now I've gotten used to a HiDPI display with fantastic, accurate colour, I can't go back. I'm running a little low on funds and considered selling the iMac in favour of a 2018 Mac mini with a 24" 1080p display — can't do it. I think a lot of people are spoilt by their Retina-display iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks; or their HiDPI Android phones and tablets. Now that I've been spoilt by a large Retina display, I'm ruined for anything else, even 4K at 43".
- auggierose 8y ago
  Yeah, can't go change back from my iMac Pro to anything else as well. I was used to a laptop for years (MacBook Pro Retina) before that, can't go back to that either.
- kitsunesoba 8y ago
  I can’t wait for 5k 27” to become more common/standard. It really is wonderful.
randallsquared 8y ago
When I was a remote worker I had in my office two 27 inch QHD screens and a 39 inch 4K screen in between them. This had the nice property that the pixel density was very close to the same, and so windows moving from one monitor to the other (on Windows or Mac) didn't change much. I didn't have a lot of success setting this up nicely on Linux. For me, it turned out that three monitors in landscape orientation was too far to turn my head -- I ended up either leaving the right or the left monitor essentially unused. Where I work now, I have my laptop and a 34 inch 21:9 (1440p) curved screen. I was surprised to find the curved screen so agreeable, and only wish that it was somewhat larger and higher resolution. Might look at 21:9 (1600p) curved screens.
rcarmo 8y ago
I’ve got a 5K 27” iMac with a 4K 24” external monitor and find I prefer two distinct (high resolution) panels rather than a vast one. Being able to have individual workspaces on each (and switch between then with a two-finger swipe on the mouse) is a great way to switch between individual contexts.
manmal 8y ago
I‘m closely watching the E-Ink monitor space. There is already one that looks promising, but it’s monochrome and small and there’s still a lot of lag: https://youtu.be/Laa-cN15uGI https://youtu.be/Laa-cN15uGI I wouldn’t watch movies on that one, but it _could_ be fine for programming already. With f.lux and macOS‘ dark mode I‘ve noticed how my eyes like low-light UIs better (probably because of lower blue light emission?), and I think an e-ink monitor would be almost zero-strain, just like reading a book.
- pasta 8y ago
  Yeah I'm also watching this for multiple years but there is not much progress in e-ink. I would even like it on my mobile. I don't need a brighter screen I need a readable screen. But right now I like my ultra-wide monitor for programming. All panels open but still space to code.
- BossingAround 8y ago
  Lag or monochrome I wouldn't mind, but I'd need at least 21+ inches... Ideally something like 27 :/. I too am watching the e-ink space for some cool monitors, but I think it's not gonna happen, at least not any time soon...
smsm42 8y ago
I am surprised how small is a number of people that use vertical (portrait) display setup (I do). I have always found vertical space much more necessary than horizontal space. Most workloads will not fill a wide-screen display, and arranging multiple windows horizontally is usually a pain (the only case where it works well for me is for comparing two code windows or data sets which are organized in lines - comparing horizontally works much better in this way), as is looking at them. Vertical arrangement works much better for me. Downside - most displays are not able to rotate. It's a simple thing to do, probably costs nothing, but finding a rotating model is a pain - most manufacturers won't even tell if it rotates, you have to guess from the look of it. I wish this scenario was better supported...
- buboard 8y ago
  > Most workloads will not fill a wide-screen display, and arranging multiple windows horizontally is usually a pain Ultra-wide screens can fix that. And using Windows' auto-arranging two windows side-by-side makes them perfect for the kind of workflows that require switching between 2 windows (web dev).
- hawski 8y ago
  I hear you. In my office people have two 16:10 displays each. Everyone puts them side by side, making a long ribbon. A few people will setup main screen horizontally and second one vertically. Since I've got those with miniscule bezels I've set them up side by side, but vertically, one monitor 90° the other 270°. The result: almost square - 20:16 (2400x1920), in other words 5:4. I can see everything at glance, without awkwardly twisting my head. Now, if I could only use tileing window manager with this setup...
- jim-jim-jim 8y ago
  I still usually write no more than 80 chars a line, so yeah, horizontal space means very little to me too.
  - yellowapple 8y ago
    I stick to 80-character line limits, too, but I highly value the ability to have two (or more!) source files side-by-side on the same screen. It's like having two vertical monitors, but with just one horizontal one :)
ryanmarsh 8y ago
LG 5K UltraFine from the Apple Store is where it’s at. The thing is like reading printed text on backlit glass. It’s so nice to program on I can’t stand anything else. I didn’t understand the eye strain I was putting up with till I bought this thing.
- rerx 8y ago
  I love this screen, too. Sometimes a bit more real estate than its 27 inches could be useful. But my biggest gripe is really that my late 2016 Macbook Pro with a 2GB Radeon Pro 450 often seems to have too little horse power to drive all these pixels smoothly....
airbreather 8y ago
I have got a 55inch 4k Kogan curved screen TV which I drive via HDMI, so only 30Hz but it doesn't matter for any of my use cases. It is totally awesome, really crisp and the curve makes a noticeable difference on the desk to bring the edges in. Cost AUD$500 plus delivery, extremely hard to beat at that price. Plus I have a 32 inch 3K landscape and a 24 inch HD portrait, set up emails and whatsapp web on the 24 inch and do work on the other two.
mattnewport 8y ago
I have a 43" 4K Viewsonic as my primary display and it does work pretty well. I actually wanted something between 32" and 43" but there are basically no options for 4K displays in that range. I'd like to try something around 36-37" if it existed and I wish I'd been able to find a matte panel at this size but overall I'm pretty happy with it. Previously I was using a 32" and it was usable at 100% in Windows but some text was a little small. On its own it fits comfortably on my desk but my second display is a 27" and I have to put it in portrait to fit both with my current desk setup.
komali2 8y ago
Dude writes a massive article on monitors but Willy nilly strews his windows across the display, with random sized gaps between them. Gives me a bit of a chuckle - to each their own but I obsess over getting every pixel of real estate my display offers me, so I always thought it was odd to peer over a coworker's shoulder and see something like the first image in this blog.
- wyclif 8y ago
  I use a MBP now, but I've never understood why a lot of macOS users seem to be happy doing that. Back when I was on Linux, I preferred how easy it was to use i3 or awesome or whatever WM would tile the windows so all the screen real estate maxed out according to the work layout I preferred at the time.
  - jim-jim-jim 8y ago
    macOS' window management is still so remarkably bad. In fact it might even be worse than ever for me now; I used to be able to install some kind of "keep window afloat" hack, but the ability to do that disappeared with one of the version updates. I just try to keep everything in tmux these days and avoid the UI altogether.
    - jonasmst 8y ago
      You should try Slate (https://github.com/jigish/slate https://github.com/jigish/slate), it's great for window management once it's set up. I have hotkeys for positioning windows top-, bottom-, left-, and right halves, move windows to the right or left monitor and for displaying a grid that let you define the size and position of the current window by marking an area in the grid. It needs the Accessibility API, though, which may be an issue if your employer doesn't allow sudo access on their computers. Here's my dotfile: https://github.com/Jonasmst/dotfiles/blob/master/.slate https://github.com/Jonasmst/dotfiles/blob/master/.slate
      - vermon 8y ago
        Or if you want something with zero set up, use Spectacle https://www.spectacleapp.com/ https://www.spectacleapp.com/
kowdermeister 8y ago
I have a 34 inch LG 4k monitor cost about 400$, connected to my laptop. My only wish was if it was curved. I eyeballed with the UHD ultrawide curved one but it was too pricy :) Edit: funny, that when the heating automation for my home turns on with some electromagnetic switch, my screen goes black for a second or glitches the image. I suspect the USB-C > display port converter.
sbr464 8y ago
My personal setup, 3x monitors: iMac Pro 5k, LG 5K, Dell Ultrasharp 4K 27” in vertical layout/stand. It’s very difficult to go back once you use a retina/5k screen. No ultra-wide, 4K etc can compare in font rendering. I’d replace the Dell if the LG or iMac weren’t so expensive.
- sbr464 8y ago
  Here’s a random pic I took a while back, I used to use two Dell 27” in vertical layout, but it was a bit overkill, I found I never used the 4th. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ixw62l5pg3c34xx/AAAi_yWrGIF3SoleeWjDrNkca?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ixw62l5pg3c34xx/AAAi_yWrGIF3Solee...
- jenscow 8y ago
  I'm with you on the 3rd being portrait - I usually use it for log output, or if need to see a whole page.
telesilla 8y ago
I solved a problem with resolution just recently, on older macbooks. I refuse to give up my 2012 Retina macbook until it's dead in the water. Connecting a 4K monitor through HDMI didn't work: it either didn't wake up from sleep, randomly switched itself off or sometimes flat refused to connect. Displayport didn't give me 4K resolution. Fortunately I found SwitchResX[1]. $10 saved me from lugging my giant new 4k monitor back to the store - it lets me use the DisplayPort at high resolutions. I now have up to 3840x2160 though unless I'm working on media, I'm happier at 2560x1440. [1] SwitchResX: http://www.madrau.com/ http://www.madrau.com/
Jaruzel 8y ago
> The Dell is more expensive, but it feels better built, with a nicer stand with more adjustments and some cable routing. The Dell is ALSO non-glossy, so that might be a big factor for some people. This article is timely for me, as I'm about to buy the Dell 43" 4K to replace my ageing Dell 24" (1920x1200). Like the author, I want more screen space for my windows (I never run apps maximised) and I do not see the point in buying a smaller 4K monitor, and then running the OS at HIDPI 200% scaling - if you are going to do that you might as well save some money and just get a 1080p monitor instead, as other than smoother fonts, you wouldn't be gaining anything. Additionally, the PPI needs to match my current PPI as my ageing eyes can't do smaller text/icons without glasses, and I hate wearing glasses when I compute, as they make the screen and all it's contents all fishbowly[1] in shape. -- [1] Is this a word? What a better word for where the edges of the screen become bowed-out ?
- falsedan 8y ago
  > What a better word for where the edges of the screen become bowed-out? like looking through a fisheye lens? just distortion, and sounds like your prescription needs checking as your brain should compensate for distortion from vision corrections (up to a point).
  - Jaruzel 8y ago
    Oh OK thanks. I don't wear the glasses that often. I have astigmatism which is worst in my left eye. Does it take long for my eyes to compensate? When they do does that mean I have to wear the glasses for screen work all the time? All questions, I've struggled to find consistent answers on.
    - mkesper 8y ago
      Try wearing them four weeks constantly. Your mind needs time to adapt!
- vidanay 8y ago
  Barrel distortion? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distortion_(optics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distortion_(optics)
simplyinfinity 8y ago
From my personal experience, a single 32" 4k monitor is far better for my productivity than 2 x 1080p monitors. And even better one is 2 x 1080p in vertical position and one 32" in the middle is quite pleasant!
pttrn 8y ago
"For programming I didn’t care about having a high pixel density" → close tab.
miguelmota 8y ago
Best displays for programming I find useful are ultra-wide matte displays such as the LG 29UM68-P with a 21:9 ratio. I love having tmux panes side by side. Having a second one placed vertically allows you to easily read entire pages of source code all at once.
- nvarsj 8y ago
  I know a lot of engineers who like the ultrawides. What I don't like is that they sacrifice vertical height. So it's not the best, in my opinion, for coding. An ultrawide that had the same height as a 30" would be really nice!
  - Wintereise 8y ago
    Some (expensive) ultrawides do address this (somewhat) - https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-38UC99-W-ultrawide-monitor https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-38UC99-W-ultrawide-monitor 3840x1600 instead of 3840x1440. If you long for more than that, you'd probably like standard 4k a lot more.
tluyben2 8y ago
Much a matter of taste I guess; I like 11-12 inch displays with crazy high resolution. Unfortunately there are no ideal laptops that fit that criteria as far as I can see so I must be lonely in that demand. I really liked my 11 inch macbook air although the resolution was crap; that one with a very hd display and 15 hours battery life would definitely be my perfect machine. But I know i'm lonely in that; I never sit in a chair while programming; I program on the couch and have been for the past 30 years (I used to have a keyboard with a long cable and a couch in front of a low table when laptops were too expensive in the 80s/begin 90s); I shift position often and find screens that don't move with my line of sight incredibly annoying just as I find heavy things annoying and cables annoying. I use i3wm/ubuntu on my x220 which is currently my setup, but it's not ideal; too big and low res; great battery life though (19 hours). The resolution of the GPD Pocket is perfect but the screen too small and it's too slow; I used it when I do something urgent while travelling. If that would be 10 inch it would be perfect (I got used to the keyboard which was annoying at first; that would also benefit from a few sizes bigger).
- bradfa 8y ago
  Not quite as small as you'd like but my work issued Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is quite small and light with high res. I haven't tried running any Linux on it yet but it should have decent software support with a recent kernel and modern distro.
  - tluyben2 8y ago
    How is the battery life for a programmer? All machines I tried, esp Windows or Mac, have not given me more than 3 hours for my normal workload (while Ubuntu with i3wm on Pocket or x220 give me 19 hours with the same workload so I do not quite get it but whatever) while reviews give 15 hours on normal use. I hear good stories about the xps 13 but the reviews and reddit stories about battery life vary very wildly; from excellent to absolutely miserable. I got a HP x360 something recently from work and reviews say excellent battery life under Windows: I get 2-3 hours for my workload, my wife max 4 and she does browsing and wordprocessing. Went to HP: called us heavy users, nothing wrong with the hardware. Same with the macbook pro I have.
omegabravo 8y ago
I recognise that I'm in the minority here, but when I program on something high density but small (physically), I long for more screen real estate. I find this far more important to me than the DPI. I use 2x24" 1920x1200 (I do prefer that than 1920x1080) I didn't like the 30" 4K screen that I had to use for work. When I used a 24" 4K the extra DPI didn't seem to impact me at all. My big dilemma is do I go for a 3rd 24"
- chadcmulligan 8y ago
  I use 2 x 24" monitors to. I've tried various other combinations, but this seems to be the sweet spot. The real advantage I find is you can maximise your apps to each monitor and just flick between them if needed. They're also cheap. I have tried the 3rd 24" and I found I just leave mail and stuff open on it, mainly because it was there. Two seems to work for me. I have one for my IDE to edit code, and the other one for other stuff. I keep thinking I should do something more sophisticated, but I always come back to this. I find larger monitors I have to move my head a lot more as well, with the 24" eye movement is enough.
walkingolof 8y ago
I have two monitors now, I'm going to move away from that and go for a 21:9 display, the reason is that most IDE's (and OS:s for that matter) handles two screens very poorly. For example in VS Code I can easily open editors in columns beside each others, but I cant distribute them over two screens. That sealed the deal for me.
- jenscow 8y ago
  Most IDEs handle dual screens handle multiple screens very well, usually by supporting multiple windows and allowing tabs/panels to be detached and moved between them. If not, it's a flaw of the IDE not the monitor setup.
Theodores 8y ago
If you are going to get a monitor then you might as well get one that will last a few years, we are at that sweet spot now where the inputs do the refresh rates and the price isn't so expensive. Having two 'Full HD' monitors side by side doesn't cut it any more. The big benefit of 4K is the vertical resolution, you really can work on a good chunk of code with the whole block you are working on fitting in the screen with your browser (full of Stack Overflow tabs) open adjacent to it. Nobody likes land-filling monitors or having a cupboard full of dead ones. So my advice is to go for a 4K monitor that does justice to colours. A TV won't do. I went 4K before the inputs did decent refresh so I have 'cinematic' 24 fps. This is fine for programming and I am not a gamer plus I have a laptop for watching video. There is also a difference between 'cinema' 4K and regular 4K. Regular 4K is 3840 x 2160, 'cinema' gives 4096 x 2160, giving a whole column of extra 256 pixel goodness. I went for 'cinema' and 'real 4K' but the market has settled into not selling these beasts. Size is also a thing, do you really want to crick your neck looking skywards to the top of your screen? Therefore 31" may be the sweet spot for you, your desk and your code. This has worked for me and I don't feel that a larger screen would help. There are these ultra-ultra-wide monitors on the market with 1440 vertical pixels but after enjoying 2160 vertical pixels I am not going to want less. Those that work on websites for a living should demand a 4K monitor instead of the side by side Full HD monitors everyone else in the office has. The website of today does have to look good on an iPhone as well as a 4K monitor so the budget reason for the upgrade is requirements.
sunstone 8y ago
I would like to try a 75" 4k screen across the room so that my eyes can relax by focusing closer to infinity.
- abledon 8y ago
  now thats a blog post i would read
neverminder 8y ago
I have dual 4K 27 inch IPS monitors (DELL U2718Q) and of all the setups I've tried this is the best one. Sufficient pixel density (163 PPI) for code to look crisp at any font size. Narrow bezels, so ultimately not much head turning is needed while at the same time having maximum screen real estate.
- slantyyz 8y ago
  Do you feel like you have enough real estate? I have a pair of the Dell P series 27/4k screens, and the moment I installed the second one, I wanted more real estate (I run them without scaling). I have since added a pair of 23" ultrawides below them, but I just can't wait until 55" 8K curved monitors become affordable so I can have the equivalent of a 2x2 grid of 27" 4k monitors and fewer cables to deal with (but I also know I'll want more real estate the moment that gets installed).
bengale 8y ago
I like ultra wides, I've got two 34" (3440 x 1440) stacked one on top of the other. I tend to put monitoring stuff, ancillary stuff up on the top one that I just need to be able to glance at and code on the bottom one. I don't really have super long files normally, but will be jumping between files so its helpful to be able to have three or four side by side on a wide monitor. Then I just have my laptop open to the side (driving all of it) with fullscreen terminals.
readingnews 8y ago
From the article > I had been worried that a 43-inch monitor might feel too huge. Have a friend at work with a 55inch TV/monitor. On his desk. At first, we were like "be serious, get rid of that thing". After a few weeks, we were all like "hrmmmm, I think I might need one of those things". Having a single ancient monitor at home, and two 27" monitors at work, I always have the burning question: two wide screens, or one huge one (like the author of the article)? I think also the author is showing off his nice keyboard :)
- dsr_ 8y ago
  The future is a waterproof 60" 8K touchscreen monitor set on a drafting table's slant.
  - jenscow 8y ago
    With a cup holder
    - C1sc0cat 8y ago
      And motorised
- interlocutor 8y ago
  >I think also the author is showing off his nice keyboard I think I have a better keyboard. This is what it looks like: https://www.svethardware.cz/klavesnice-acer-future-keyboard/1866/img/acer.jpg https://www.svethardware.cz/klavesnice-acer-future-keyboard/... What is great about this keyboard is the touchpad in the center. This is great because you don't have to stretch you arm to reach the mouse. This reduces RSI for me. Unfortunately my keyboard is getting old and they don't make this (or anything like this) anymore. Keyboard-touchpad combinations are still being made but the touchpad is to the side which doesn't solve the problem of have to stretch your arm. There are some laptop keyboards like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Compact-Keyboard-TrackPoint/dp/B00F3U4TQS/ref=sr_1_6 https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Compact-Keyboard-Trac... but I want a desktoppy split keyboard with a touchpad in the middle.
Insanity 8y ago
I actually prefer using two monitors, as I have a division of which programs I run where. It takes no mental overhead to find program X when I'm programming, because I know on which monitor it will be. For example, when writing web assembly: - Primary monitor: vim (in tmux, multiplexed for build and other commands) - Secondary monitor: Web browser to test the code. Similarly depending on what I'm doing I have such a 'division'. I'd hate to miss that when using just one big monitor. If I would use a 4k monitor, I'd hate to be using windows or mac because of the window management options. I'd definitely want to be on a decent tiling WM.
- bradfa 8y ago
  The Dell P4317Q mentioned in the article can take 4 video inputs (2 DP, 2 HDMI) and you can split the screen into up to 4 virtual screens where each virtual screen displays a given input. So you can do fun splits for side-by-side or 4 corners or even 1 tall on the left/right and 2 of 1080p on the other side stacked. Some of the other monitors which use the same panel cannot do this splitting, as far as I can tell.
  - Insanity 8y ago
    Oh, I hadn't actually heard of doing this before, but that's something I'll look into :)
    - flyingpenguin 8y ago
      you could get yourself a 32:9 monitor as well. literally 2 16:9 monitors but no bezel. Sure bezels are small but even 5mm in the middle of your setup makes the far edges 2.5mm further to the side. If you like vertical I would recommend a large format 4:3 which would basically be 2 2:1 vertical monitors... but the world seems to hate good old 4:3
- slantyyz 8y ago
  I have a pair of 27" 4K monitors and a pair of 2560x1080 monitors below them (ran out of budget and didn't want to buy a new multimonitor stand). My monitors run at 100% scaling, and while I still wish I had a grid of 4x4k monitors (upon which I'd probably want more anyways), I am fine with how it works. With respect to the 100% scaling, most people look at the size of the text on my screens and think I'm nuts, but I have single vision glasses that allow me to see clearly for the distance range between the closest and furthest points of my monitors, so I don't get any eyestrain at all. With respect to window management options, I use something called DisplayFusion on Windows. It lets me create monitor profiles that separate regions of each monitor that emulates physical monitors. The software is fantastic and well worth the price. Weirdly enough, the best way to buy it is via Steam.
mlmartin 8y ago
I really like the 3:2 ratio display of my Surface Book. I just wish there was a fairly affordable way of getting 27-30 inch versions of the screen, and then put two of those side by side. That, would be my idea of perfection. As it stands I just use a 27" 16:9 1440p display flanked by a 23" 1080p in portrait mode. (At my desktop workstation)
- alexval 8y ago
  This. I have the dell P4317Q and I think it’s the best thing out there right now. But I would ditch it right away if a larger 3:2 screen existed maybe, 40” 4K at 3:2 something like that
  - mlmartin 8y ago
    The Surface Studio is perfect looking, 28" 3:2, 4500×3000 (192 PPI). The frustrating thing is that it's not a standalone monitor/touchscreen - the computer is built in, doesn't look all that powerful considering what you pay, and doesn't look upgradable. There's gotta be a market for these types of monitor...
bradfa 8y ago
The best part of that 43" Dell monitor is that it has a serial RS-232 input which you can control it through. Dell even has a programming guide showing all of the commands. https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_display_projector/esuprt_display/dell-p4317q-monitor_reference%20guide2_en-us.pdf https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_displ...
- handzbagz 8y ago
  I have a Samsung digital signage screen that I use for a TV that has the same thing, quite useful as I can control the TV through my media PC.
DomreiRoam 8y ago
the Eizo ev2730 is a 1920 by 1920 square screen. A little pricey ... https://www.eizoglobal.com/products/flexscan/ev2730q/index.html https://www.eizoglobal.com/products/flexscan/ev2730q/index.h...
sramsay 8y ago
> [If you’re the kind of person who loves programming on your smallish laptop, you can stop reading now.] I was all about big monitors until . . . my eyesight started to go south. I'm not going blind or anything like that, but it slowly dawned on me that I was having a lot of trouble bringing all of that real estate into focus with progressive lenses. Switching back to a laptop made it a lot easier just to see what was going on without constantly moving my head around to bring things info focus. Middle age sucks . . .
- hoaw 8y ago
  Dedicated reading glasses is the proper solution.
  - gxx 8y ago
    If you need progressive lenses and spend a lot of time in front of a screen do yourself a favor and invest in some "office lenses", preferably "premium" office lenses: https://www.verywellhealth.com/progressive-lenses-3421915 https://www.verywellhealth.com/progressive-lenses-3421915 When I first needed progressives I quickly developed severe shoulder pain. I was unconsciously tilting my head up to view the top of the screen through the middle of the lenses. It took two or three years to realize that my shoulder pain was caused my head tilt pinching a nerve in my neck. "Office" progressive lenses have the middle of the lens focus at screen distance and the bottom of the lens focus at reading distance. Premium lenses are even better in that their region of sharpness is larger. When ordering glasses I also specify how far up on the lens I want the screen distance to be set so it's at my preferred screen distance. Since I started using office progressives my shoulder pain has vanished.
  - stronglikedan 8y ago
    I'd go one step further and say dedicated computer glasses. They're designed for about twice the distance as book readers, and they have more expensive coatings (anti-glare and blue light filter) that are unnecessary for book readers. Since I invested mine (they aren't cheap), I can actually get through an article without printing it out to read it.
- 8y ago
alkonaut 8y ago
Whatever I'm looking at when writing I want it centered on the screen. More screens don't help since I don't want to twist my head for extended periods of time. A bigger screen would probablåy have the same effect. When I have 2 screens all I do with my second one is place things I don't care about on it, such as a mail client. It could just as well sit behind my active window. My ideal solution is to just get nice quality screen that's big enough and has a decent DPI for its size. E.g. 27" 1440 or 32" 4k is nice for unscaled (100%) content.
deleted 8y ago
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nickjj 8y ago
I would never use a large display like that. Way too much head movement. Personally I found 25" at 2560x1440 to be the optimal set up (for me at least). It's a good balance between real estate and being super easy to read at 1:1 scaling, with no head movement at all really. If anyone is interested, a few years back I put together a super in depth article on picking a monitor for development. It's located at: https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/how-to-pick-a-good-monitor-for-software-development https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/how-to-pick-a-good-monitor-fo...
- staffanj 8y ago
  Most developers use multiple displays and two 27" or two 30" display means just as much (or even more) head movement - right? At home I went from two 27" (1080p) to one 40" 4k and the workspace is not as wide (less head movement) and I get the extra vertical workspace (2k vertikal vs 1k vertical)
  - nickjj 8y ago
    Yes, I have 2 displays too, but I don't treat the displays equally. I spend a lot of time on my main left 25" 2560x1440 monitor and the second 21" 1080p monitor is used for things that I occasionally look at, or look at with intent to only look at that on its own. It's mainly operating as a separate workspace that is occasionally beneficial to have up with my primary workspace (but usually not). With 1 big monitor, chances are you wouldn't want IRC (or whatever app) right next to your main workspace (ie. loaded to the right of your main coding environment) because it's too distracting. You would typically dedicate 1 workspace for your main coding environment / etc., but now with a single 40" monitor you would feel compelled to keep things across the entire monitor because it would be weird to limit it to ~25" worth of windows while you keep the rest of the monitor empty, so you're stuck moving your head around like a maniac most of the time, instead of only occasionally when you want to shift focus to a 2nd monitor. I suppose it comes down to your work flow.
ld00d 8y ago
I recently got a 28" 4K monitor on sale for $250US, and it's almost too big to me, but I love the way fonts look under macOS's scaling. I'm farsighted, so when I wear glasses with a lower resolution, I really don't like seeing the lines between pixels. While not technically "retina", my new monitor is close enough. Also, I do like working on a 13" laptop -- especially with workspaces. Switching the workspace is almost a complete replacement for the screen real estate of a larger monitor.
nyghtly 8y ago
I don't understand the programmer's obsession with having as much screen as possible. Is dividing up your attention span with 8+ windows open at one time really helping you to work better? I prefer to have at most 3 windows visible at one time. Workspaces, alt-tab, etc. were invented for a reason.
keymone 8y ago
to each their own. laptop display only, fullscreen all the time, took some time to get used to, but now my desk has nothing but a charging cable and i'm comfortable in any environment. i found having multiple windows in eyesight too distractive.
nateroling 8y ago
LG 38" does it for me at the office. https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-38UC99-W-ultrawide-monitor https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-38UC99-W-ultrawide-monitor I have a flat 34" ultrawide at home, and very much miss the curved screen from the 38". The 1600 vertical pixels is a nice step up from 1440 as well. At this point I think I'm waiting for a VR/AR solution before I upgrade my display again...
segmondy 8y ago
Best programming I've ever done is on a 320x240 display. Display doesn't matter. Font doesn't make. It really doesn't. People love to convince themselves that these things matter, as someone that has programmed for over 20+ years. Let me say, your monitor, your keyboard, your font doesn't matter. What matters more is your computing hardware, OS, your tool chain and your brain. Not a popular opinion, but I firmly believe that from personal experience and from having watched and observed experienced programmers.
chowyuncat 8y ago
I think this falls apart on Mojave. I use 27" Cinema Displays that are noticeably less readable even with the various font smoothing settings. Perhaps I haven't found the right combination.
vagab0nd 8y ago
Over the years I've found that I really dislike multiple screens, or huge displays. I've actually tried the 43 display the author had and it sucked for me. It required so much head movement that it's even worse than 2 monitors. What really works for me is a single 27 - 32 inch, hidpi display. It gives enough screen real estate while keeping the content (mainly text) sharp and pretty. A tiling window manager helps too.
- sridca 8y ago
  Yup, I've been quite content with my 27 inch 5K monitor. I use i3 on Linux.

142 points by kristianp 8y ago

I use two cheap 4k offbrand tvs that were on clearance at Walmart for $300 each five years ago. Contrast is not great but otherwise I love them. I have two WUXGA side monitors in portrait mode too, mostly for nerd points but really it's nice to have one as a permanent outlook monitor and one as a permanent console. Usually I use the main monitors for two apps each side by side, but sometimes it's nice to use all 4k for visual studio or dashboard viewing. Occasionally will still need to float a few windows randomly, but hardly ever tile them vertically as shown in the op picture.

umlautae 8y ago

“I liked the resolution of the 30-inch monitors, which is 2560 by 1600 pixels. That is 100.63 pixels per inch (PPI).” AND it was very easy on the eyes. My ten years old 30” seems to have blown a cap so I’m on the market for a new one. The 43” seems like a great alternative. Especially because 30” became only 50% cheaper over the 10 years, that means they are still (over) expensive.

64738 8y ago
No, take the opportunity to replace the cap! If you really just don't have the interest or the time, please give it someone that is willing to make the attempt. It's a great learning experience and maybe someone that couldn't afford a new one just got a good enough one on the cheap :)

harrygeez 8y ago

I recommend one of the ultrawide monitors. It's so much nicer to have many windows open side by side, especially when you're editing multiple files

arvinsim 8y ago
I had 2 monitors before and a 32" 4K monitor now. Despite the large real estate, I don't feel that the increased vertical space is as good as the increased horizontal space. I will be buying an ultrawide next time to see if those are indeed better than a 4K monitor.

chrismorgan 8y ago

> I like its menu system better, although its control buttons are inconveniently located on the back of the monitor instead of the front. I have never touched the menus on my external displays since a few days after I acquired them, and I wouldn’t expect normal people to either except possibly to adjust brightness. I adjust the brightness of the displays regularly (typically three or four times per day) from my laptop. Fun fact: Windows has two APIs for adjusting screen brightness, one of which only works for the internal display and one of which only works for the external displays; and sadly the brightness keys on the laptop are uninterceptable and I have not come up with any way of linking the brightnesses either. I went hunting and settled on some old freeware called ScreenBright which I can invoke from the command line, so that now I just run `b 0` for night time and `b 40` for most of the day (and up to 70% in certain seasons—but 100% is pretty much always too bright as the situation is not in direct sunlight); I have since also written a tiny Rust program that interacts with the APIs directly which could replace it. I really wish external display brightness was better handled by computers and laptops. I also yearn for the days of CRTs with physical brightness knobs that you could turn. So much simpler and more usable.

marcosdumay 8y ago
Laptops usually have it good (after you disable the automatic setting, why do people insist on automatic brightness at any kind of device?). I wish desktops had even a passing thought about display brightness, ditto for TV manufacturers.

Boxbot 8y ago

i don’t think a 43” display would even fit on my desk, and i think i would personally prefer two smaller displays, but i would whole heartedly recommend dell’s ultrasharp or similar displays to anyone who wasn’t lookin for super high fps gaming. their stands are some of the best (most adjustable and stable) i’ve seen and the panels themselves have great colour reproduction and a good resolution/ppi.

PaulBGD_ 8y ago

I don't see too much discussion about this fact, but I run a 1440p 144hz monitor and it's fantastic for programming. Testing myself in Vim, I actually move around and edit code faster with 144fps than 60fps. I'm not sure how big the benefits are overall, but I've recommended 144hz monitors to many people because of that.

egypturnash 8y ago

Huh, now I’m kinda tempted to leave my 24” display behind when I do my upcoming move and get one of these. Maybe not the LG, what with the top comment on its page saying that it provides nowhere near enough power to keep a usb-c Mac powered, and a super slow usb bus... (https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-43UD79-B-4k-uhd-led-monitor https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-43UD79-B-4k-uhd-led-monito...)

taneq 8y ago

I'm a big fan of multiple portrait-mode monitors. It makes organising multiple windows easy and the taller aspect ratio per screen is a natural fit for editing code and documents. It's not so great for CAD or graphics editing but still usable once you learn to tune out the bezels.

skunkworker 8y ago

Currently I am running 3xDell U2412M in portrait for an effective resolution of 3600x1920. My next move will most likely be a 43" 4k+ monitor to replace them. A 30" is in a weird spot resolution wise but 4k over 43 is perfect for splitting the screen into 3 columns and 2 rows, or pulling up a code editor and seeing 108 lines of code without scrolling.

atoav 8y ago

I am a colorist for movies and I prefer my Eizo CGxxxx over a cheap 4k display any time for programming. Not only are the syntax highlighting colors less exhausting to look at, but despite less pixels you gain more clarity, which often has to do with the quality of the blacks. On top of that I had only the best experience with Eizo Customer Support. Better than with any hardware manufacturer ever. On of the Eizos is running for over 15 years now without any issue and it still looks better than most modern displays.

busterarm 8y ago
I'm with you, here. That said, those are still a little bit above my budget. I generally buy the most color-accurate monitor that I can at a price point I can justify. Usually that's $600-700. This time around it was a LG 27UK850-W. xmonad does a pretty good job splitting my screen into usable browser/application and terminal areas. All that said, I'm using ZBrush a lot more lately and a Cintiq Pro 32 seems like it'd be pretty sweet.
steanne 8y ago
thanks for that. i've drooled over their square model for a while now just for the proportions, but it's nice to know there's quality inside.
jacquesm 8y ago
IIYama has very good and affordable 4K displays.
jamesfmilne 8y ago
Yeah, we've been shipping Eizo monitors with our Baselight systems for the past 10+ years.

PascLeRasc 8y ago

The author lost me at "For programming I didn’t care about having a high pixel density..I wanted more text characters, not slightly smoother looking ones." I guess it's just a personal preference, but my retina MBP's screen is so much easier on my eyes for long sessions than anything else I've ever used, and staring at a huge backlight like what he recommends seems like it'd be incredibly painful. I get all the "more text characters" I want out of a vertical monitor.

lultimouomo 8y ago
This. 4k matters much less for games and movies than for programming; it's hard to tell the difference when looking at moving images but the higher resolution changes everything when reading text. A high DPI screen puts much less strain on your eyes!
- polskibus 8y ago
  When you're doing web dev, it's important that devs test on devices similar to users'. FullHD seems most popular, how do you address that?
  - sinstein 8y ago
    You can always downscale resolution to test for Full HD with a 4K panel but you cannot do the other way round.
    - dzek69 8y ago
      You can fake it by setting low zoom level. Far from perfect, you won't have pixel perfect results, but you'll get general overview how layout gonna work.
    - carlmr 8y ago
      If it's UHD (3840x2160) it's going to be exact. If it's actual 4K (4096 × 2160) then it won't be sharp at Full HD resolution (1920x1080) because the pixels don't align. But many monitors have Marketing 4K which is UHD.

pizza 8y ago

Other factors that are likely as important as real estate are impact on vision and sleep.

jchw 8y ago

I feel like I've gotten pretty picky with monitors. Right now, I'm running two old 1080p IPS displays from years ago, and the reason why is because I have trouble choosing an upgrade: - IPS or OLED would be preferable for the wider viewing angles, better color reproduction and significantly richer blacks vs TFT panels, but they cost more. - High refresh rate panels offer a notable improvement in user experience. Even if '60hz is enough' that does not mean you cannot benefit from more, especially when it comes to lower latency and techniques like black frame insertion (which reduces ghosting.) - Variable refresh rate is nice, too: in some circumstances (mostly gaming today I presume) it could basically eliminate stuttering and dropped frames. NVidia now supporting FreeSync to a degree makes this even more enticing. - Higher pixel densities greatly improve text legibility and picture quality, which can be especially great when viewing denser glyphs such as Japanese kanji. Bonus points: at decent densities, subpixel rendering can be switched off. - Curved/ultra-wide panels are fairly enticing because they might offer a solution to the problem of wanting a single optimal display for your line of sight, versus two smaller displays. ...but in reality: - Panels satisfying even just a few of these constraints can be very expensive and few, if any, satisfy literally all of them. - Operating system support for high pixel density varies. Linux can vary from surprisingly good to absolutely terrible depending largely on your setup, and Windows varies strongly, though it is a lot better in 10 than it ever has been. MacOS has relatively good DPI support. - The combination of high refresh rate and high pixel density makes for heavy bandwidth usage requiring cutting edge display connector standards to be supported on your GPU. Some displays require multiple ports to be plugged in and this can be flaky and glitchy. - High refresh rate support in OSes is also a bit messy. I've not tried but I've heard Windows DWM can be buggy especially in mixed refresh rate setups. I also believe variable refresh rate is mostly only useful in situations where you have a fullscreen application running, since not everything will push frames out at the same time. - If you switch to a single display, versus multiple homogeneous or hetrogenous displays, you lose some utility. My dual display setup has a unique feature, in that it works together with my IOMMU passthrough. The right monitor is designated to whatever virtual machine has the secondary GPU attached. Display forwarding is handled with Looking Glass, so I don't need a physical output. However, I have it plugged into the physical output, which allows me to switch to it for lower latency/reduced screen tear/debugging/etc. - Panels are still evolving at a decent pace. In a few years, OLED monitors may be superior to IPS monitors. Also, prices of cutting edge technology is definitely trending down in the monitor space. It just feels like it hasn't been a good time to buy. So I sit here with my 1080p monitors. They may not be great, but they have good viewing angles, decent colors, and they were pretty cheap when I got them (it was around the time cheaper IPSes started to hit.) The market has plenty worth switching for, but there's so much more potential, and the user experience hasn't always kept up with the innovation here.

zapzupnz 8y ago

I've a 27" iMac with a 5K display. I don't think I'd want anything larger as you're supposed to sit close to your display rather than have it at a distance, and if I ever need more screen real estate, I change the scaling factor in System Preferences. Anyway, that was just to say that now I've gotten used to a HiDPI display with fantastic, accurate colour, I can't go back. I'm running a little low on funds and considered selling the iMac in favour of a 2018 Mac mini with a 24" 1080p display — can't do it. I think a lot of people are spoilt by their Retina-display iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks; or their HiDPI Android phones and tablets. Now that I've been spoilt by a large Retina display, I'm ruined for anything else, even 4K at 43".

auggierose 8y ago
Yeah, can't go change back from my iMac Pro to anything else as well. I was used to a laptop for years (MacBook Pro Retina) before that, can't go back to that either.
kitsunesoba 8y ago
I can’t wait for 5k 27” to become more common/standard. It really is wonderful.

randallsquared 8y ago

When I was a remote worker I had in my office two 27 inch QHD screens and a 39 inch 4K screen in between them. This had the nice property that the pixel density was very close to the same, and so windows moving from one monitor to the other (on Windows or Mac) didn't change much. I didn't have a lot of success setting this up nicely on Linux. For me, it turned out that three monitors in landscape orientation was too far to turn my head -- I ended up either leaving the right or the left monitor essentially unused. Where I work now, I have my laptop and a 34 inch 21:9 (1440p) curved screen. I was surprised to find the curved screen so agreeable, and only wish that it was somewhat larger and higher resolution. Might look at 21:9 (1600p) curved screens.

rcarmo 8y ago

I’ve got a 5K 27” iMac with a 4K 24” external monitor and find I prefer two distinct (high resolution) panels rather than a vast one. Being able to have individual workspaces on each (and switch between then with a two-finger swipe on the mouse) is a great way to switch between individual contexts.

manmal 8y ago

I‘m closely watching the E-Ink monitor space. There is already one that looks promising, but it’s monochrome and small and there’s still a lot of lag: https://youtu.be/Laa-cN15uGI https://youtu.be/Laa-cN15uGI I wouldn’t watch movies on that one, but it _could_ be fine for programming already. With f.lux and macOS‘ dark mode I‘ve noticed how my eyes like low-light UIs better (probably because of lower blue light emission?), and I think an e-ink monitor would be almost zero-strain, just like reading a book.

pasta 8y ago
Yeah I'm also watching this for multiple years but there is not much progress in e-ink. I would even like it on my mobile. I don't need a brighter screen I need a readable screen. But right now I like my ultra-wide monitor for programming. All panels open but still space to code.
BossingAround 8y ago
Lag or monochrome I wouldn't mind, but I'd need at least 21+ inches... Ideally something like 27 :/. I too am watching the e-ink space for some cool monitors, but I think it's not gonna happen, at least not any time soon...

smsm42 8y ago

I am surprised how small is a number of people that use vertical (portrait) display setup (I do). I have always found vertical space much more necessary than horizontal space. Most workloads will not fill a wide-screen display, and arranging multiple windows horizontally is usually a pain (the only case where it works well for me is for comparing two code windows or data sets which are organized in lines - comparing horizontally works much better in this way), as is looking at them. Vertical arrangement works much better for me. Downside - most displays are not able to rotate. It's a simple thing to do, probably costs nothing, but finding a rotating model is a pain - most manufacturers won't even tell if it rotates, you have to guess from the look of it. I wish this scenario was better supported...

buboard 8y ago
> Most workloads will not fill a wide-screen display, and arranging multiple windows horizontally is usually a pain Ultra-wide screens can fix that. And using Windows' auto-arranging two windows side-by-side makes them perfect for the kind of workflows that require switching between 2 windows (web dev).
hawski 8y ago
I hear you. In my office people have two 16:10 displays each. Everyone puts them side by side, making a long ribbon. A few people will setup main screen horizontally and second one vertically. Since I've got those with miniscule bezels I've set them up side by side, but vertically, one monitor 90° the other 270°. The result: almost square - 20:16 (2400x1920), in other words 5:4. I can see everything at glance, without awkwardly twisting my head. Now, if I could only use tileing window manager with this setup...
jim-jim-jim 8y ago
I still usually write no more than 80 chars a line, so yeah, horizontal space means very little to me too.
- yellowapple 8y ago
  I stick to 80-character line limits, too, but I highly value the ability to have two (or more!) source files side-by-side on the same screen. It's like having two vertical monitors, but with just one horizontal one :)

ryanmarsh 8y ago

LG 5K UltraFine from the Apple Store is where it’s at. The thing is like reading printed text on backlit glass. It’s so nice to program on I can’t stand anything else. I didn’t understand the eye strain I was putting up with till I bought this thing.

rerx 8y ago
I love this screen, too. Sometimes a bit more real estate than its 27 inches could be useful. But my biggest gripe is really that my late 2016 Macbook Pro with a 2GB Radeon Pro 450 often seems to have too little horse power to drive all these pixels smoothly....

airbreather 8y ago

I have got a 55inch 4k Kogan curved screen TV which I drive via HDMI, so only 30Hz but it doesn't matter for any of my use cases. It is totally awesome, really crisp and the curve makes a noticeable difference on the desk to bring the edges in. Cost AUD$500 plus delivery, extremely hard to beat at that price. Plus I have a 32 inch 3K landscape and a 24 inch HD portrait, set up emails and whatsapp web on the 24 inch and do work on the other two.

mattnewport 8y ago

I have a 43" 4K Viewsonic as my primary display and it does work pretty well. I actually wanted something between 32" and 43" but there are basically no options for 4K displays in that range. I'd like to try something around 36-37" if it existed and I wish I'd been able to find a matte panel at this size but overall I'm pretty happy with it. Previously I was using a 32" and it was usable at 100% in Windows but some text was a little small. On its own it fits comfortably on my desk but my second display is a 27" and I have to put it in portrait to fit both with my current desk setup.

komali2 8y ago

Dude writes a massive article on monitors but Willy nilly strews his windows across the display, with random sized gaps between them. Gives me a bit of a chuckle - to each their own but I obsess over getting every pixel of real estate my display offers me, so I always thought it was odd to peer over a coworker's shoulder and see something like the first image in this blog.

wyclif 8y ago
I use a MBP now, but I've never understood why a lot of macOS users seem to be happy doing that. Back when I was on Linux, I preferred how easy it was to use i3 or awesome or whatever WM would tile the windows so all the screen real estate maxed out according to the work layout I preferred at the time.
- jim-jim-jim 8y ago
  macOS' window management is still so remarkably bad. In fact it might even be worse than ever for me now; I used to be able to install some kind of "keep window afloat" hack, but the ability to do that disappeared with one of the version updates. I just try to keep everything in tmux these days and avoid the UI altogether.
  - jonasmst 8y ago
    You should try Slate (https://github.com/jigish/slate https://github.com/jigish/slate), it's great for window management once it's set up. I have hotkeys for positioning windows top-, bottom-, left-, and right halves, move windows to the right or left monitor and for displaying a grid that let you define the size and position of the current window by marking an area in the grid. It needs the Accessibility API, though, which may be an issue if your employer doesn't allow sudo access on their computers. Here's my dotfile: https://github.com/Jonasmst/dotfiles/blob/master/.slate https://github.com/Jonasmst/dotfiles/blob/master/.slate
    - vermon 8y ago
      Or if you want something with zero set up, use Spectacle https://www.spectacleapp.com/ https://www.spectacleapp.com/

kowdermeister 8y ago

I have a 34 inch LG 4k monitor cost about 400$, connected to my laptop. My only wish was if it was curved. I eyeballed with the UHD ultrawide curved one but it was too pricy :) Edit: funny, that when the heating automation for my home turns on with some electromagnetic switch, my screen goes black for a second or glitches the image. I suspect the USB-C > display port converter.

sbr464 8y ago

My personal setup, 3x monitors: iMac Pro 5k, LG 5K, Dell Ultrasharp 4K 27” in vertical layout/stand. It’s very difficult to go back once you use a retina/5k screen. No ultra-wide, 4K etc can compare in font rendering. I’d replace the Dell if the LG or iMac weren’t so expensive.

sbr464 8y ago
Here’s a random pic I took a while back, I used to use two Dell 27” in vertical layout, but it was a bit overkill, I found I never used the 4th. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ixw62l5pg3c34xx/AAAi_yWrGIF3SoleeWjDrNkca?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ixw62l5pg3c34xx/AAAi_yWrGIF3Solee...
jenscow 8y ago
I'm with you on the 3rd being portrait - I usually use it for log output, or if need to see a whole page.

telesilla 8y ago

I solved a problem with resolution just recently, on older macbooks. I refuse to give up my 2012 Retina macbook until it's dead in the water. Connecting a 4K monitor through HDMI didn't work: it either didn't wake up from sleep, randomly switched itself off or sometimes flat refused to connect. Displayport didn't give me 4K resolution. Fortunately I found SwitchResX[1]. $10 saved me from lugging my giant new 4k monitor back to the store - it lets me use the DisplayPort at high resolutions. I now have up to 3840x2160 though unless I'm working on media, I'm happier at 2560x1440. [1] SwitchResX: http://www.madrau.com/ http://www.madrau.com/

Jaruzel 8y ago

> The Dell is more expensive, but it feels better built, with a nicer stand with more adjustments and some cable routing. The Dell is ALSO non-glossy, so that might be a big factor for some people. This article is timely for me, as I'm about to buy the Dell 43" 4K to replace my ageing Dell 24" (1920x1200). Like the author, I want more screen space for my windows (I never run apps maximised) and I do not see the point in buying a smaller 4K monitor, and then running the OS at HIDPI 200% scaling - if you are going to do that you might as well save some money and just get a 1080p monitor instead, as other than smoother fonts, you wouldn't be gaining anything. Additionally, the PPI needs to match my current PPI as my ageing eyes can't do smaller text/icons without glasses, and I hate wearing glasses when I compute, as they make the screen and all it's contents all fishbowly[1] in shape. -- [1] Is this a word? What a better word for where the edges of the screen become bowed-out ?

falsedan 8y ago
> What a better word for where the edges of the screen become bowed-out? like looking through a fisheye lens? just distortion, and sounds like your prescription needs checking as your brain should compensate for distortion from vision corrections (up to a point).
- Jaruzel 8y ago
  Oh OK thanks. I don't wear the glasses that often. I have astigmatism which is worst in my left eye. Does it take long for my eyes to compensate? When they do does that mean I have to wear the glasses for screen work all the time? All questions, I've struggled to find consistent answers on.
  - mkesper 8y ago
    Try wearing them four weeks constantly. Your mind needs time to adapt!
vidanay 8y ago
Barrel distortion? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distortion_(optics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distortion_(optics)

simplyinfinity 8y ago

From my personal experience, a single 32" 4k monitor is far better for my productivity than 2 x 1080p monitors. And even better one is 2 x 1080p in vertical position and one 32" in the middle is quite pleasant!

pttrn 8y ago

"For programming I didn’t care about having a high pixel density" → close tab.

miguelmota 8y ago

Best displays for programming I find useful are ultra-wide matte displays such as the LG 29UM68-P with a 21:9 ratio. I love having tmux panes side by side. Having a second one placed vertically allows you to easily read entire pages of source code all at once.

nvarsj 8y ago
I know a lot of engineers who like the ultrawides. What I don't like is that they sacrifice vertical height. So it's not the best, in my opinion, for coding. An ultrawide that had the same height as a 30" would be really nice!
- Wintereise 8y ago
  Some (expensive) ultrawides do address this (somewhat) - https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-38UC99-W-ultrawide-monitor https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-38UC99-W-ultrawide-monitor 3840x1600 instead of 3840x1440. If you long for more than that, you'd probably like standard 4k a lot more.

tluyben2 8y ago

Much a matter of taste I guess; I like 11-12 inch displays with crazy high resolution. Unfortunately there are no ideal laptops that fit that criteria as far as I can see so I must be lonely in that demand. I really liked my 11 inch macbook air although the resolution was crap; that one with a very hd display and 15 hours battery life would definitely be my perfect machine. But I know i'm lonely in that; I never sit in a chair while programming; I program on the couch and have been for the past 30 years (I used to have a keyboard with a long cable and a couch in front of a low table when laptops were too expensive in the 80s/begin 90s); I shift position often and find screens that don't move with my line of sight incredibly annoying just as I find heavy things annoying and cables annoying. I use i3wm/ubuntu on my x220 which is currently my setup, but it's not ideal; too big and low res; great battery life though (19 hours). The resolution of the GPD Pocket is perfect but the screen too small and it's too slow; I used it when I do something urgent while travelling. If that would be 10 inch it would be perfect (I got used to the keyboard which was annoying at first; that would also benefit from a few sizes bigger).

bradfa 8y ago
Not quite as small as you'd like but my work issued Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is quite small and light with high res. I haven't tried running any Linux on it yet but it should have decent software support with a recent kernel and modern distro.
- tluyben2 8y ago
  How is the battery life for a programmer? All machines I tried, esp Windows or Mac, have not given me more than 3 hours for my normal workload (while Ubuntu with i3wm on Pocket or x220 give me 19 hours with the same workload so I do not quite get it but whatever) while reviews give 15 hours on normal use. I hear good stories about the xps 13 but the reviews and reddit stories about battery life vary very wildly; from excellent to absolutely miserable. I got a HP x360 something recently from work and reviews say excellent battery life under Windows: I get 2-3 hours for my workload, my wife max 4 and she does browsing and wordprocessing. Went to HP: called us heavy users, nothing wrong with the hardware. Same with the macbook pro I have.

omegabravo 8y ago

I recognise that I'm in the minority here, but when I program on something high density but small (physically), I long for more screen real estate. I find this far more important to me than the DPI. I use 2x24" 1920x1200 (I do prefer that than 1920x1080) I didn't like the 30" 4K screen that I had to use for work. When I used a 24" 4K the extra DPI didn't seem to impact me at all. My big dilemma is do I go for a 3rd 24"

chadcmulligan 8y ago
I use 2 x 24" monitors to. I've tried various other combinations, but this seems to be the sweet spot. The real advantage I find is you can maximise your apps to each monitor and just flick between them if needed. They're also cheap. I have tried the 3rd 24" and I found I just leave mail and stuff open on it, mainly because it was there. Two seems to work for me. I have one for my IDE to edit code, and the other one for other stuff. I keep thinking I should do something more sophisticated, but I always come back to this. I find larger monitors I have to move my head a lot more as well, with the 24" eye movement is enough.

walkingolof 8y ago

I have two monitors now, I'm going to move away from that and go for a 21:9 display, the reason is that most IDE's (and OS:s for that matter) handles two screens very poorly. For example in VS Code I can easily open editors in columns beside each others, but I cant distribute them over two screens. That sealed the deal for me.

jenscow 8y ago
Most IDEs handle dual screens handle multiple screens very well, usually by supporting multiple windows and allowing tabs/panels to be detached and moved between them. If not, it's a flaw of the IDE not the monitor setup.

Theodores 8y ago

If you are going to get a monitor then you might as well get one that will last a few years, we are at that sweet spot now where the inputs do the refresh rates and the price isn't so expensive. Having two 'Full HD' monitors side by side doesn't cut it any more. The big benefit of 4K is the vertical resolution, you really can work on a good chunk of code with the whole block you are working on fitting in the screen with your browser (full of Stack Overflow tabs) open adjacent to it. Nobody likes land-filling monitors or having a cupboard full of dead ones. So my advice is to go for a 4K monitor that does justice to colours. A TV won't do. I went 4K before the inputs did decent refresh so I have 'cinematic' 24 fps. This is fine for programming and I am not a gamer plus I have a laptop for watching video. There is also a difference between 'cinema' 4K and regular 4K. Regular 4K is 3840 x 2160, 'cinema' gives 4096 x 2160, giving a whole column of extra 256 pixel goodness. I went for 'cinema' and 'real 4K' but the market has settled into not selling these beasts. Size is also a thing, do you really want to crick your neck looking skywards to the top of your screen? Therefore 31" may be the sweet spot for you, your desk and your code. This has worked for me and I don't feel that a larger screen would help. There are these ultra-ultra-wide monitors on the market with 1440 vertical pixels but after enjoying 2160 vertical pixels I am not going to want less. Those that work on websites for a living should demand a 4K monitor instead of the side by side Full HD monitors everyone else in the office has. The website of today does have to look good on an iPhone as well as a 4K monitor so the budget reason for the upgrade is requirements.

sunstone 8y ago

I would like to try a 75" 4k screen across the room so that my eyes can relax by focusing closer to infinity.

abledon 8y ago
now thats a blog post i would read

neverminder 8y ago

I have dual 4K 27 inch IPS monitors (DELL U2718Q) and of all the setups I've tried this is the best one. Sufficient pixel density (163 PPI) for code to look crisp at any font size. Narrow bezels, so ultimately not much head turning is needed while at the same time having maximum screen real estate.

slantyyz 8y ago
Do you feel like you have enough real estate? I have a pair of the Dell P series 27/4k screens, and the moment I installed the second one, I wanted more real estate (I run them without scaling). I have since added a pair of 23" ultrawides below them, but I just can't wait until 55" 8K curved monitors become affordable so I can have the equivalent of a 2x2 grid of 27" 4k monitors and fewer cables to deal with (but I also know I'll want more real estate the moment that gets installed).

bengale 8y ago

I like ultra wides, I've got two 34" (3440 x 1440) stacked one on top of the other. I tend to put monitoring stuff, ancillary stuff up on the top one that I just need to be able to glance at and code on the bottom one. I don't really have super long files normally, but will be jumping between files so its helpful to be able to have three or four side by side on a wide monitor. Then I just have my laptop open to the side (driving all of it) with fullscreen terminals.

readingnews 8y ago

From the article > I had been worried that a 43-inch monitor might feel too huge. Have a friend at work with a 55inch TV/monitor. On his desk. At first, we were like "be serious, get rid of that thing". After a few weeks, we were all like "hrmmmm, I think I might need one of those things". Having a single ancient monitor at home, and two 27" monitors at work, I always have the burning question: two wide screens, or one huge one (like the author of the article)? I think also the author is showing off his nice keyboard :)

dsr_ 8y ago
The future is a waterproof 60" 8K touchscreen monitor set on a drafting table's slant.
- jenscow 8y ago
  With a cup holder
  - C1sc0cat 8y ago
    And motorised
interlocutor 8y ago
>I think also the author is showing off his nice keyboard I think I have a better keyboard. This is what it looks like: https://www.svethardware.cz/klavesnice-acer-future-keyboard/1866/img/acer.jpg https://www.svethardware.cz/klavesnice-acer-future-keyboard/... What is great about this keyboard is the touchpad in the center. This is great because you don't have to stretch you arm to reach the mouse. This reduces RSI for me. Unfortunately my keyboard is getting old and they don't make this (or anything like this) anymore. Keyboard-touchpad combinations are still being made but the touchpad is to the side which doesn't solve the problem of have to stretch your arm. There are some laptop keyboards like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Compact-Keyboard-TrackPoint/dp/B00F3U4TQS/ref=sr_1_6 https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Compact-Keyboard-Trac... but I want a desktoppy split keyboard with a touchpad in the middle.

Insanity 8y ago

I actually prefer using two monitors, as I have a division of which programs I run where. It takes no mental overhead to find program X when I'm programming, because I know on which monitor it will be. For example, when writing web assembly: - Primary monitor: vim (in tmux, multiplexed for build and other commands) - Secondary monitor: Web browser to test the code. Similarly depending on what I'm doing I have such a 'division'. I'd hate to miss that when using just one big monitor. If I would use a 4k monitor, I'd hate to be using windows or mac because of the window management options. I'd definitely want to be on a decent tiling WM.

bradfa 8y ago
The Dell P4317Q mentioned in the article can take 4 video inputs (2 DP, 2 HDMI) and you can split the screen into up to 4 virtual screens where each virtual screen displays a given input. So you can do fun splits for side-by-side or 4 corners or even 1 tall on the left/right and 2 of 1080p on the other side stacked. Some of the other monitors which use the same panel cannot do this splitting, as far as I can tell.
- Insanity 8y ago
  Oh, I hadn't actually heard of doing this before, but that's something I'll look into :)
  - flyingpenguin 8y ago
    you could get yourself a 32:9 monitor as well. literally 2 16:9 monitors but no bezel. Sure bezels are small but even 5mm in the middle of your setup makes the far edges 2.5mm further to the side. If you like vertical I would recommend a large format 4:3 which would basically be 2 2:1 vertical monitors... but the world seems to hate good old 4:3
slantyyz 8y ago
I have a pair of 27" 4K monitors and a pair of 2560x1080 monitors below them (ran out of budget and didn't want to buy a new multimonitor stand). My monitors run at 100% scaling, and while I still wish I had a grid of 4x4k monitors (upon which I'd probably want more anyways), I am fine with how it works. With respect to the 100% scaling, most people look at the size of the text on my screens and think I'm nuts, but I have single vision glasses that allow me to see clearly for the distance range between the closest and furthest points of my monitors, so I don't get any eyestrain at all. With respect to window management options, I use something called DisplayFusion on Windows. It lets me create monitor profiles that separate regions of each monitor that emulates physical monitors. The software is fantastic and well worth the price. Weirdly enough, the best way to buy it is via Steam.

mlmartin 8y ago

I really like the 3:2 ratio display of my Surface Book. I just wish there was a fairly affordable way of getting 27-30 inch versions of the screen, and then put two of those side by side. That, would be my idea of perfection. As it stands I just use a 27" 16:9 1440p display flanked by a 23" 1080p in portrait mode. (At my desktop workstation)

alexval 8y ago
This. I have the dell P4317Q and I think it’s the best thing out there right now. But I would ditch it right away if a larger 3:2 screen existed maybe, 40” 4K at 3:2 something like that
- mlmartin 8y ago
  The Surface Studio is perfect looking, 28" 3:2, 4500×3000 (192 PPI). The frustrating thing is that it's not a standalone monitor/touchscreen - the computer is built in, doesn't look all that powerful considering what you pay, and doesn't look upgradable. There's gotta be a market for these types of monitor...

bradfa 8y ago

The best part of that 43" Dell monitor is that it has a serial RS-232 input which you can control it through. Dell even has a programming guide showing all of the commands. https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_display_projector/esuprt_display/dell-p4317q-monitor_reference%20guide2_en-us.pdf https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_displ...

handzbagz 8y ago
I have a Samsung digital signage screen that I use for a TV that has the same thing, quite useful as I can control the TV through my media PC.

DomreiRoam 8y ago

the Eizo ev2730 is a 1920 by 1920 square screen. A little pricey ... https://www.eizoglobal.com/products/flexscan/ev2730q/index.html https://www.eizoglobal.com/products/flexscan/ev2730q/index.h...

sramsay 8y ago

> [If you’re the kind of person who loves programming on your smallish laptop, you can stop reading now.] I was all about big monitors until . . . my eyesight started to go south. I'm not going blind or anything like that, but it slowly dawned on me that I was having a lot of trouble bringing all of that real estate into focus with progressive lenses. Switching back to a laptop made it a lot easier just to see what was going on without constantly moving my head around to bring things info focus. Middle age sucks . . .

hoaw 8y ago
Dedicated reading glasses is the proper solution.
- gxx 8y ago
  If you need progressive lenses and spend a lot of time in front of a screen do yourself a favor and invest in some "office lenses", preferably "premium" office lenses: https://www.verywellhealth.com/progressive-lenses-3421915 https://www.verywellhealth.com/progressive-lenses-3421915 When I first needed progressives I quickly developed severe shoulder pain. I was unconsciously tilting my head up to view the top of the screen through the middle of the lenses. It took two or three years to realize that my shoulder pain was caused my head tilt pinching a nerve in my neck. "Office" progressive lenses have the middle of the lens focus at screen distance and the bottom of the lens focus at reading distance. Premium lenses are even better in that their region of sharpness is larger. When ordering glasses I also specify how far up on the lens I want the screen distance to be set so it's at my preferred screen distance. Since I started using office progressives my shoulder pain has vanished.
- stronglikedan 8y ago
  I'd go one step further and say dedicated computer glasses. They're designed for about twice the distance as book readers, and they have more expensive coatings (anti-glare and blue light filter) that are unnecessary for book readers. Since I invested mine (they aren't cheap), I can actually get through an article without printing it out to read it.
8y ago

alkonaut 8y ago

Whatever I'm looking at when writing I want it centered on the screen. More screens don't help since I don't want to twist my head for extended periods of time. A bigger screen would probablåy have the same effect. When I have 2 screens all I do with my second one is place things I don't care about on it, such as a mail client. It could just as well sit behind my active window. My ideal solution is to just get nice quality screen that's big enough and has a decent DPI for its size. E.g. 27" 1440 or 32" 4k is nice for unscaled (100%) content.

deleted 8y ago

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nickjj 8y ago

I would never use a large display like that. Way too much head movement. Personally I found 25" at 2560x1440 to be the optimal set up (for me at least). It's a good balance between real estate and being super easy to read at 1:1 scaling, with no head movement at all really. If anyone is interested, a few years back I put together a super in depth article on picking a monitor for development. It's located at: https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/how-to-pick-a-good-monitor-for-software-development https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/how-to-pick-a-good-monitor-fo...

staffanj 8y ago
Most developers use multiple displays and two 27" or two 30" display means just as much (or even more) head movement - right? At home I went from two 27" (1080p) to one 40" 4k and the workspace is not as wide (less head movement) and I get the extra vertical workspace (2k vertikal vs 1k vertical)
- nickjj 8y ago
  Yes, I have 2 displays too, but I don't treat the displays equally. I spend a lot of time on my main left 25" 2560x1440 monitor and the second 21" 1080p monitor is used for things that I occasionally look at, or look at with intent to only look at that on its own. It's mainly operating as a separate workspace that is occasionally beneficial to have up with my primary workspace (but usually not). With 1 big monitor, chances are you wouldn't want IRC (or whatever app) right next to your main workspace (ie. loaded to the right of your main coding environment) because it's too distracting. You would typically dedicate 1 workspace for your main coding environment / etc., but now with a single 40" monitor you would feel compelled to keep things across the entire monitor because it would be weird to limit it to ~25" worth of windows while you keep the rest of the monitor empty, so you're stuck moving your head around like a maniac most of the time, instead of only occasionally when you want to shift focus to a 2nd monitor. I suppose it comes down to your work flow.

ld00d 8y ago

I recently got a 28" 4K monitor on sale for $250US, and it's almost too big to me, but I love the way fonts look under macOS's scaling. I'm farsighted, so when I wear glasses with a lower resolution, I really don't like seeing the lines between pixels. While not technically "retina", my new monitor is close enough. Also, I do like working on a 13" laptop -- especially with workspaces. Switching the workspace is almost a complete replacement for the screen real estate of a larger monitor.

nyghtly 8y ago

I don't understand the programmer's obsession with having as much screen as possible. Is dividing up your attention span with 8+ windows open at one time really helping you to work better? I prefer to have at most 3 windows visible at one time. Workspaces, alt-tab, etc. were invented for a reason.

keymone 8y ago

to each their own. laptop display only, fullscreen all the time, took some time to get used to, but now my desk has nothing but a charging cable and i'm comfortable in any environment. i found having multiple windows in eyesight too distractive.

nateroling 8y ago

LG 38" does it for me at the office. https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-38UC99-W-ultrawide-monitor https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-38UC99-W-ultrawide-monitor I have a flat 34" ultrawide at home, and very much miss the curved screen from the 38". The 1600 vertical pixels is a nice step up from 1440 as well. At this point I think I'm waiting for a VR/AR solution before I upgrade my display again...

segmondy 8y ago

Best programming I've ever done is on a 320x240 display. Display doesn't matter. Font doesn't make. It really doesn't. People love to convince themselves that these things matter, as someone that has programmed for over 20+ years. Let me say, your monitor, your keyboard, your font doesn't matter. What matters more is your computing hardware, OS, your tool chain and your brain. Not a popular opinion, but I firmly believe that from personal experience and from having watched and observed experienced programmers.

chowyuncat 8y ago

I think this falls apart on Mojave. I use 27" Cinema Displays that are noticeably less readable even with the various font smoothing settings. Perhaps I haven't found the right combination.

vagab0nd 8y ago

Over the years I've found that I really dislike multiple screens, or huge displays. I've actually tried the 43 display the author had and it sucked for me. It required so much head movement that it's even worse than 2 monitors. What really works for me is a single 27 - 32 inch, hidpi display. It gives enough screen real estate while keeping the content (mainly text) sharp and pretty. A tiling window manager helps too.

sridca 8y ago
Yup, I've been quite content with my 27 inch 5K monitor. I use i3 on Linux.