Need a large (36-40 inch monitor) primarily for coding

dpandey

Adept
I use an Acer 27 inch (2550x1440) monitor and find it too small for my work.

Could anyone suggest some larger options.

Important
- 80-90 dpi
- IPS or VA
- DP and HDMI inputs
- Easy on the eye

Not important
- Latency
- Color depth

Budget
- ~50k
 
Just wondering why 27 inch is not enough? Use some emulators and VM side by side? I generally find adding a second screen much benefical then increasing screen size
 
For work like programming, TV is not such a good option.

Just add another monitor or two to your existing one. That is a better option than a bigger size display.
 
Just wondering why 27 inch is not enough? Use some emulators and VM side by side? I generally find adding a second screen much benefical then increasing screen size

Lots of terminal emulators (putty). Work with large code bases. Even simple changes could need modifications in half a dozen files.
 
Simple solution - buy two. This is what I have. Double the real estate and you don't have to break the bank. High quality 4k 30/32 inchers are way too expensive and won't fit in the 50k budget.

How have you set yours up? I had given dual monitor a half hearted try (two monitors/different sizes) and didn't like it much. A shiny screen in peripheral vision was distracting. Not to talk about the need to turn the neck each time I want to look at another screen.

Do you have a main monitor in front and a subsidiary one on the side (at an angle?). Is the subsidiary one only used for parking windows or do you work actively on both? Are both in landscape?

Sorry for too many questions. I am just trying to figure out if I was doing something wrong. I was also wondering if a three monitor setup might be better than two.
 
How have you set yours up? I h
ad given dual monitor a half hearted try (two monitors/different sizes) and didn't like it much. A shiny screen in peripheral vision was distracting. Not to talk about the need to turn the neck each time I want to look at another screen.

Do you have a main monitor in front and a subsidiary one on the side (at an angle?). Is the subsidiary one only used for parking windows or do you work actively on both? Are both in landscape?

Sorry for too many questions. I am just trying to figure out if I was doing something wrong. I was also wondering if a three monitor setup might be better than two.

I have one in landscape (main) and one in portrait (right). The code window exists on the right one that is in portrait and the other windows and execution is on the main monitor. To avoid straining my neck, the portrait one is right in front of me. Obviously there are no windows that are on both displays. My portrait display is smaller than the landscape display.

If you can run putty, why don't you run an xserver on your local machine and export a display from there? It'll make development much faster. You can then run an editor which has tab support.
 
Sounds interesting. I will definitely check this one out. Any idea how bad the glare is? I don't want to hurt my eyes any more than I need to.
It's actually, pretty good. Monitors and TVs are basically the same things, with different port setups, and you can always fiddle with settings to make it comfortable for your choice.

Although, after tying with multiple monitors, big TVs etc. I finally settled using my 15" Mac screen with desktop switching, it's easy, I take it everywhere, I don't feel limited when I am not around my monitors n stuff. So, that is what I use now after trying everything! :)
 
If you can run putty, why don't you run an xserver on your local machine and export a display from there? It'll make development much faster.

Used to do that earlier. It will prob kill the current office laptop.

Creating those 7 putty windows is a morning ritual these days.
 
Although, after tying with multiple monitors, big TVs etc. I finally settled using my 15" Mac screen with desktop switching, it's easy, I take it everywhere, I don't feel limited when I am not around my monitors n stuff. So, that is what I use now after trying everything! :)

Maybe you have more disciplined coworkers than I do :)

When I started programming (on vt100), everyone knew that the maximum line width was 80 character. These days I often have to maximize the window to read code without line wrap. This becomes specially painful when reviewing diffs (one of the main reasons I why I want a bigger screen).
 
Last edited:
I use laptop + 2 x 24" display at work with desktop extended to across all three. The laptop screen will have only outlook, Skype for business and browser with few things. The other two displays are used for the coding/debugging work. This works well for me.

At home, I have 27" QHD monitor + 49" UHD TV. I do not use the TV while programming.
 
When I started programming (on vt100), everyone knew that the maximum line width was 80 character. These days I often have to maximize the window to read code without line wrap. This becomes specially painful when reviewing diffs (one of the main reasons I why I want a bigger screen).
echo "set wrap" >> .viminfo
:p

btw, I have two full hd monitors mounted on ergotron. they feel more than enough for me. but then I have stopped coding few years ago.
 
These days I often have to maximize the window to read code without line wrap. This becomes specially painful when reviewing diffs (one of the main reasons I why I want a bigger screen).

Need to update code style guidelines I guess :D These days people stick to strict 100 char width and manually wrap code lines approaching that limit.
 
It's actually, pretty good. Monitors and TVs are basically the same things, with different port setups, and you can always fiddle with settings to make it comfortable for your choice.
No dude. They arent. The compression settings are different. Check the chroma values before buying any TVs to work as monitors with text, or your eyes will bleed (figuratively).
 
I use a triple monitor setup. All set in landscape.

Current setup - My main screen is the centre one. One on right is secondary. One on left is third and last one that I use. So stuff that I need to use the least goes on the left. Left one is almost redundant but definitely better than no monitor. Often when I have two excel sheets or coding and its results, these are in centre and right.

Alternate setup - Sometimes I need all 3 windows (3 excel sheets or graphic +coding + result + browser). In this case, the rotating chair comes in handy. Beyond 3rd monitor, the utility of adding more monitors is very little. I've tried 5 at one time. :D

Combined with mac, I have to say my productivity is at zen level. I get months worth of work done in a few days.
But on the flip side, it becomes a little too much and to sit down to work in front of the workstation and takes a little more mental strength since its a little overwhelming. I am considering an always on setup + faster internet for this, along with a server for other stuff, to ensure I spend more time on my workstation.


In my experience, having monitors in portrait can be very jarring. Small bezel monitors, 1080p, 22 inch are really good for productivity. If you want bigger see if you can fin 16:10 monitors. as the low height of the 16:9 monitors, with unending - extended horizontal view becomes mildly irritating.
 
No dude. They arent. The compression settings are different. Check the chroma values before buying any TVs to work as monitors with text, or your eyes will bleed (figuratively).


Also, TV's tend to have post processing filters that makes it unusable for displaying text at smaller font sizes without blurring. In some models, you will get a separate profile that will switch these off.

In any case, I have been using Monitor + TV setup for 5-6 years now and I have never really found the TV as good as a monitor for close range work involving text
 
Back
Top