Let’s have a look at previous/current monitors and why I think that wide screen monitors often are no good.
There does exist monitors with other resolutions than the below mentioned once, specially if you look at the notebooks, but the once below are the most common desktop monitor.
Past monitors
In the good old days we had monitors with low resolution, such as 1024×768 which is still very used. Actually, one of my flat screens is 1024×768 pixels and still in use today.
Then 1280×1024 got more normal, especially for 17″ and for some strange reason also 19″ screens. I only used 19″ monitor once and to be honest, it annoyed me. I was used to 17″ and then suddenly I had the SAME RESOLUTION but on a bigger area (19″) so this just meant bigger pixels; no good to me really.
Same resolution but bigger pixels does happen a good bit with the new big monitors also.
So finally things started to make sense, 20″ with 1600×1200, pretty high resolution even compared to our standards.
Wide screen madness
It seems the world went Wide Screen Crazy. Sure wide screen can be great for watching movies or playing games. But I never really saw the point for ‘normal’ use.
Let us have a look at the 20″, the standard resolution is 1600×1200 pixels, but the wide screen is 1680×1050 pixels. This is going from 1.920.000 pixels down to 1.747.200 pixels. For ‘normal’ use it must be great with the taller resolution, so you can view more of your Word or Excel data. The 80 pixels more in the width does not give you much really. Often the 22″ wide screen got the same resolution as the 20″
The 19″ wide is a joke if you ask me, 1440×900 pixels; sure the reduction of number of pixels is not as bad as with 20″ but still, 900 pixels in the height!!
The only reason for me to get a 20″ wide screen would be if it could be rotated 90 degrees.
Let us step up in resolution.
Currently I feel the best monitor is 24″, with 1920×1200 (Notice, same height as normal 20″). When I got my Dell 24″ I was SO shocked to start with, why I didn’t do that earlier (money issue of course). Since then we have seen 27″ (from Dell), also same resolution as the 24″.
Here I can actually see a reason to go from the 24″ to the 27″, IF you use it as extra screen in bed room or such; for movies. Just too bad that they are a lot more expensive, for Dell the 27″ cost around 140% MORE than the 24″. The prices for all monitors have dropped a lot during the last year and the 24″ one seems pretty alright now.
The current top monitor is the 30″ with 2560×1600 pixels. Main problem with the 30″ is of course the very high price and the requirement of special dual DVI linked graphics card. The graphics card issue is probably the smallest; the graphics card I got in my Mac Pro should be able to drive two times 30″ but I’m not sure if my VISA card could.
Multi monitor setup
Often people start out with a single monitor and later invest in a bigger one. Depending on desk space they often find them self using both monitors. For us programmers there is no going back; have you once used two monitors then going back to a single one is out of the questions.
As mentioned in an earlier post (Second graphics card for Apple Mac Pro with Boot Camp) I’m now using a setup with 3 monitors.
From left to right: 17″ Sony SDM-S71 (1280×1024), 24″ Dell 2407WFP (Rotated 90 degrees, 1200×1920) and finally the old 15″ Philips 151AX (1024×768).
The 17″ screen works as main display; so all gaming happens on this monitor in normal screen mode. This is also great for programming as I have source code on the middle screen and can easy debug any game running on the left screen. The right screen is mainly used for MSN, ICQ, Skype and such.
This is a GREAT setup, it gives a great view when you work with source code, Word Documents, PDF files, blogs (surfing the web is a lot nicer). Excel documents are sometimes best viewed in 1920×1200, specially the old ones I have where I would place any chart to the right of the numbers.
Future (Give me a square monitor)
So what’s next? I already got a great setup but that does not make me happy (well, I’m not unhappy either).
I have been considering two ways of extending my current setup as it does allow for one more monitor to be connected.
- Get one more Dell 24″ of 100% the same type as mine, rotate it and place it next to the current one. Problem with this is that the very latest Dell 24″ does not support rotated display. So I might have to find one on eBay.
- Get another great 24″ monitor and place it none rotated to the left of the current 24″. This would be the new primary screen; great for gaming and for movies. The old 17″ would then be placed on top of the current 15″, just not sure how as none of them supports wall mounting.
When I sit here and look at the big monitor I just don’t understand why they don’t make square monitors; why do they have to be wide screen. Give me a square monitor with 1920×1920 (or why not 2048×2048) pixels. Make sure pixels are square also of course. Let the size be 52×52cm (20.4×20.4″), given a total of 28″. I’m pretty sure the graphics cards could handle that, it is after all the same number of pixels as a 30″ (4MP). Now I would be happy.
Having two 24″ monitors next to each other (or on top of each other) would give this resolution but with 4cm between each half.
As far as I remember I once read about one company who produced custom designed monitors; they took two ‘normal’ monitors apart and was able to place each display without any distance between them. They didn’t use 24″ but still not a bad idea. I was not able to find the company again, so if someone knows then let me know.
I searched the net and was not able to find any such screens; I wonder why, there must be a market for them.
Great post wish I had read it earlier, got a wide screen to attached to my laptop, still weird and I might switch it out for the 17 inch on my desktop.
Monitors are typically wider than higher as it suits our eyes - it’s more natural and comfortable to scan horizontally than vertically.
Very good point; but if you ever tried to use a 24″ rotated 90 degrees for work then you would love it and probably also ask for a square monitor :-)
I’d probably also be asking for painkillers to help with the RSI in my neck ;)
Nice setup Sam, I’m guessing you play a little online poker due to the poker chips next to your mouse. I’m always shuffling chips while playing :D
Damn Brit: (Ian, we need to use your real name now, as you are not THAT damed..hehe): When I started to use the 24″ yes, it was strange and I felt I was moving the head a lot, then changing to rotated display it was all the same again, head up/down. But you just need to find the right distance.
Highstakesliving: Yup, I do play a bit online poker and always shuffles the chips, also do it from time to time when I work. Didn’t play any poker for awhile, got to change that.
I like the widescreen displays for multitasking. I’m often in two or three different applications and it’s nice to see them side-by-side.
The new side bar on Vista also takes more advantage of widescreen.
Of course, the wide screen setup does leave a bunch of empty space on the the sides of various blogs.
I’d go for a 4:3 any day if you ask me. That also goes for normal TV. I hate that they’ve started to broadcast news and such in 16:9 here in Denmark, especially since they just don’t add a black bar at the top or bottom, no they add a black section around the picture most of the time since not all clips and shot in 16:9. RETARDS!
Back to pc monitors… I kinda understand why you think 19″ are crap compared to 17″ because you can’t set it to a higher resolution but I diagree with you there. Having 19″ allows me to sit a bit further away from my monitors and still enjoy the quality. And that way I feel my overview of my two screens is better.
Atm I’m using two Samsung SyncMaster 913N (19″) and I love it. I would feel handicapped if I had to go down to one screen again.
I currently have three Lacie monitors running on two different computers and I used Synergy networking software so that I just use one keyboard and mouse with all three. It’s a sweet setup.
I would never run any of them landscape mode though. I have to agree with Damn Brit. One day, you are going to wake up with a very stiff neck that won’t go away.
I found your article while trying to find a square monitor myself. 2k x 2k would be perfect.
I, like you, could not find a manufacturer, but I support that there must be a demand, 2 people anyway.
I came upon this after looking at my old 6×6 negatives from my old medium format camera, I always preferred that format and found that not worrying about orientation was neat. I don’t buy the wide screen or golden ratio stuff, I want square.
PS.
I currently run 3 19″ monitors in portrait mode side by side. Its nice.
I agree, I hate wide screen and would love a 2k x 2k (or 1200 x 1200 at least) square monitor.
I am an amateur photographer, I shoot more vertical than horizontal images for portrait and architecture, and they are forced to appear smaller than the horizontal ones. At present I’m using two crt’s, one of them in portrait mode, but I need to split my slideshows in two.
I have been looking for a screen monitor for ages, I have a 20″ screen but would like to upsize, BUt NOWHERE can I find a screen, which is far better the these wide screen jobs.
wide screens suck. a squre screen is perfect for any type of autocad operation. have you ever seen the cruddy view of a building or ductwork on a wide screen?
it sux. The only reason to ever go wide was for entrepreneurs to make a buck off of the blithering idiots of the world. you see next they will sell square screened monitors for more than the wide screens. All just a marketing ploy for blitherings. I still have my 24″ square flat screen, and it can view wide screen with the correct resolution.