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PROS and CONS of Multi displays

C

cool.dx.rip

Senior member
Guys i ask this just out of curiosity what is the pros and cons of more than one monitors.Does they have any uses than gaming?thanks
 
for anything you need to be able to view more information, yes. multimonitor is probably most common in financial and commodities trading.

pros: more information viewable
cons: bezels are annoying, mixing different sizes/resolutions isn't great due to PPI differences.
 
in workstation setups, multimonitor allows you to have multiple windows open with easy copy/paste/drag-drop with far less clicking of taskbars or minimizing of windows. the reduction in clicks/operations per second is enough to make the difference between carpal tunnel and a long career.

it also allows you to see things on the side that only need your partial attention(incoming mail, batch process completing, file transfer, etc).

comparing 2 folders file contents is much easier than continually resizing windowexplorers.
 
I have a 42" HDTV and a 24" dell monitor on my main pc at home. This configuration is great for watching movies, gaming, or doing both at the same time. Its also nice for tracking system utilities while gaming on the second monitor, or if you are totally ADD leaving facebook, Instagram, or gTalk open and constantly Alt-Tabing back and forth while diddling other windows.
 
I would find it very hard to go back to one monitor now that I'm used to two, especially for work. I'm a college instructor, and being able to have multiple windows of content open while grading or creating assignments makes me much more efficient.

I've tried mismatched monitors, using a Dell U2412 and a portrait 17" MVA display as my first multi-monitor setup. However, I always found it somewhat unsatisfying that the colours and dot pitch didn't match up. Now I use two 24" 19x12 at home and two 17" 1280x1024 at work.

My only warning is: only try it if you're prepared to never go back to one screen. 🙂
 
Pros: more pixel real estate so you can have more stuff open and visible at once
cons: Seems no OS handles it perfectly. Windows tends to open windows all over the place making it really annoying. Some apps remember where they were last closed and insist on always opening there from now on, while other apps act differently. In Linux it's handled a bit better as apps open where the mouse is (how it SHOULD be) but I find it's really flaky in other regards and you are limited to 2 unless you can find a video card with more than 2 VGA/DVI outputs.

I've taken a new approach to multi monitor and use only one on my main machine then lower power machine to drive the rest, and then use synergy to make it seamless. Of course this way you can't drag windows around but in most cases this is ok. Code/work on center monitor, various server consoles on the right monitor and the app I'm working on on the left monitor. I often also put my noc view stuff on the left so if I have any of my stuff go wrong from home environmental stuff to remote server stuff I see it right away.

Once you go multi monitor it's VERY hard to go to only one screen. This is why this whole "death of the pc" thing scares me as you are limited to one screen with most embedded stuff like tablets etc.
 
Dual monitors are great. I have even stashed a cheapo monitor in the dining room for those days I don't want to work in the home office. Coding and other tasks go a lot smoother when you can look at the work and destination screens instead of tabbing through a lot of windows.

One con that has not been mentioned--my eyes tend to dry out quicker with a dual setup.
 
I have always had at least 2 monitors and cannot go back to one. But as has been said already, it's best if you match the monitors. I have an IPS and a TN panel side by side and I cannot get used to dull bad colors on the TN Panel and resolution.
 
I can't work effectively without two or three screens.

Scenario: programming
screen 1: development envrionment
screen 2: browser for research or program I'm testing

Scenario: writing
screen 1: text editor
screen 2: research materials
 
Hey gang! Finally decided to hook up an extra monitor and was wondering if any of you fine chaps had the answer to this question: Is there a way or program I can use to allow me to play a game full screen on monitor 1 and be able to switch to monitor 2 to use the internet.

I've been searching around for information about this and I keep finding conflicting stories.

\never tried a second monitor until today, but man, I'm lovin' it.
 
If you play the game in Windowed mode without borders you can switch back and forth to other windows programs without issues. But you can't do it with exclusive mode so if the game doesn't support borderless windows you are out of luck unfortunately.
 
UberNeuman said:
Hey gang! Finally decided to hook up an extra monitor and was wondering if any of you fine chaps had the answer to this question: Is there a way or program I can use to allow me to play a game full screen on monitor 1 and be able to switch to monitor 2 to use the internet.

I've been searching around for information about this and I keep finding conflicting stories.

\never tried a second monitor until today, but man, I'm lovin' it.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I don't think I could handle not having at least a second monitor. Pretty much having the 2nd monitor for accessory stuff, being able to view skype, etc is great. I'll never go single monitor ever again.
 
BrightCandle said:
If you play the game in Windowed mode without borders you can switch back and forth to other windows programs without issues. But you can't do it with exclusive mode so if the game doesn't support borderless windows you are out of luck unfortunately.
Click to expand...

Not quite understanding you, you can certainly still alt tab while in a fullscreen mode game? And do whatever you like in other applications. I do it all the time. I'm probably misunderstanding you I guess.
 
Ever hear the song "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore? Take his advice, visit your local thrift shop and pick up a used LCD display to try out multi-monitor. If you don't like it, just throw away the monitor. I've seen 17" go for $15, flatscreen LCDs.
 
I have a triple monitor setup at both of my offices and would never go back. It saves a lot of clicks, as others have mentioned. But more importantly, it largely allows me to work in a "paperless" fashion. It probably saves me $50-80/month in paper alone
(patent law is a notoriously paper heavy line of work). The increase in productivity is nice as well.
 
about the only downside to multimonitor is that you need a big desk and the heat generated by 3 active monitors can be significant enough to affect your normal room temperature. its fine in winter, but summer gets a little uncomfortable for me when gaming.
 
Red Squirrel said:
I have 4 at work, still not enough! Have about 17 windows open that all must be visible.
Click to expand...

And the Addiction continues to grow. Take note, once you start you can't stop unless you are willing to suffer. :twisted:

Personally, I'm at two 24" Acer H243H (for work purposes, I swear 😉) plus my 16" laptop hooked in.
 
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I had 2, went to 3. I thought it'd be good for gaming but I think NVidia surround is basically useless, can't speak about Eyefinity though. My third monitor gets used for Netflix or Youtube while I'm working on something, if I did it all over again I'd use a large screen (like the Asus or LG 29in ultra wide screens) in front of me with a small touch screen monitor below
 
I use dual monitors at work with Autodesk Revit software. I use one in horizontal and another in vertical format. This is ideal as I can keep the browser and properties bar on the vertical screen while keeping the other wide open for more drawing/modeling real estate. Revit's browser gets very long so having 1920 pixels of height to scroll makes it much faster to find stuff.
 
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