According to research using two monitors can improve your productivity by 20-30%, which I’ll buy, but I’m not sure two is enough. At least two 20″ monitors are not enough.
I switched to dual 20″ monitors almost a year ago, and at first I found the setup annoying. I can’t get both monitors to look exactly the same as far as sharpness or color. DVDs play on one monitor but freeze up if I move the display to the other monitor. Dialog boxes frequently pop up showing half on one screen and half on the other, and there are a number of other minor annoyances about dual monitors. I found that what I really wanted was one big monitor, but as you can guess, monitors larger than 20″ are still, in my mind, prohibitively expensive, let alone a year ago. Now that I’ve used dual monitors for a while I like them quite a bit more, but I still run out of space. With Photoshop I put all my palettes on the right screen which frees up space for working on the left. But I still find myself feeling cramped with the left side. And yes, I do have the resolution set as high as it can go (1600×3200).
I’m now looking at the Dell 30″ widescreen monitor. I haven’t seen one in person, and sure, the photos make it look large but you can’t trust them. I figure if I had three of them that might keep me happy for a while. Do they make graphics cards to support three monitors? Or maybe I’ll wait for the day they make a sub-$1,000, 50″ monitor.
yes they do
A) Why is this trying to get on Digg?
B) When they talk about improving productivity 20-30%, they’re talking mostly about business or graphics applications - not playing DVDs.
C) As for the 30″ monitors, because they run at a higher resolution than most graphics cards can support, you may need a new card to support it. We recently ordered dual 30″ monitors along with a new Dell computer here at work and it had to come with SLI cards - one per monitor. Not cheap.
D) Regarding multiple monitors, you probably should look into the Quadro cards from nVidia. We use them on most of our workstations at work and they support up to four monitors. However, they are geared for professional applications - not gaming. But they run four monitors flawlessly (mostly use Dell 20.1 Widescreens).
E) Another alternative is dual cards with SLI and each outputting to two monitors. Theoretically, it should work, however, I have not seen it done. My 7900 GT CO can easily handle two monitors, but I haven’t had the chance (or the money) to get another 7900 card, let alone two more monitors to test the theory. My money is being saved now for a 24″ widescreen.
=Blake=
Jonas John has a four-monitor setup and loves it:
http://www.jonasblog.com/2005/07/four-monitors.html
I’ve worked on a few 30″ LCDs (and also a full wall projection system while at the U), and I kept discovering that I kind of hated it, ergonomically speaking. It’s so big that you have to adjust your focus when looking to the edges of the screen, or adjust your position, both of which are bad for your health after long hours. My home set up is a Dell 24″ and a Formac 20″, and I’ve found this to be great, but I’ll agree anything less than 20″ in dual set up is just… underwhelming. I have two (undesirably cheap) 19″ LCDs at work, and I long for my home setup the instant I arrive at work (granted, one is hooked up to a PC and the other a Mac…).
But no… never worry that a 30″ LCD is “too small.” The correct term is “ginormous.”
While you’re on the topic, why don’t you open up an internet cafe/tanning salon. People can go in to a room, put on their swimming suit, check their e-mail, and be light-blasted by a multiple-monitor setup. They’ll be tan in no time and not lose any productive time.
I’m still a one-monitor guy. I can’t convince The Man that I need two when most people are still using 17″ CRTs around here. I have a 19″ Dell LCD and I’m pleased. Eventually I’ll upgrade to two, though one 30″ would prolly do the trick.