Monitor choice for developers - 32" UHD, or 27/32" QHD?

[animal531]

I'm on a Dell 32" + my old Samsung 27". My Dell is a 165hz/10HDR for gaming, but since you say you don't need that you can just go 4k etc.

When you first switch to a 32"+ for coding you're going to probably notice that the left of the screen is a lot further left than you're used to. I personally don't like angling my neck too much of the time, so I've taken to running VS in 2 vertical tab groups. The left group is about 1/3rd - 1/4th of the screen, then the right group the other 2/3rds (so it starts just left of center vision).

So now I do all my main coding on the right, then checking things in other files, adding stuff to headers, new structs/variables etc I can do easily on the left.

The 2nd screen I used for my scratch pad, logging, documents etc.

 

[skimread]

I got a 27" but anything bigger I would probably want a curved but I am not sure what angle to get

I see LG and Corsair have made a bendable curved monitor so you can have it either flat or multiple curved modes. Useful if you want to use it as a TV or multiple people watch a show and then switch back to curved from programming in various distances.

Hopefully other monitor manufacturers do the same thing

 

[itareanlnotani]

I'd go with higher resolution, *and* multiple screens.

I currently run with a 4k 15" usb-c on my left, macbook as main display, and ipad on right.

I could do with another display though. If you do a lot of coding, a vertical display or rotatable is a definite nice to have.
I'm happy with my setup, but will probably add in a 4k main display at some point LG C1 is the hope haha.

 

[skimread]

I'd go with higher resolution, *and* multiple screens.

I currently run with a 4k 15" usb-c on my left, macbook as main display, and ipad on right.

I could do with another display though. If you do a lot of coding, a vertical display or rotatable is a definite nice to have.
I'm happy with my setup, but will probably add in a 4k main display at some point LG C1 is the hope haha.

What make and model is your 15" and how much did it cost?

 

[itareanlnotani]

What make and model is your 15" and how much did it cost?

I got mine on Lazada, as I was living in Thailand last year at the time.


9000 baht or so, as 11.11 and on special, so +-4000rand back then.
I think was uperfect., should be this one

UPERFECT 15.6 นิ้วหน้าจอสัมผัสUHD 4K /1080P IPSจอแสดงผลแบบพกพาHDR 300 Adobe RGB 100% IPSจอภาพแบบพกพาสำหรับแล็ปท็อปจอมอนิเตอร์คอมพิวเตอร์PC | Lazada.co.th

UPERFECT 15 6. portable monitor for laptop: ป้องกันการลื่นไถลและทนความร้อนปกป้องแล็ปท็อปของคุณจากความร้อนสูงเกินไป uperfect portable monitor: ป้องกันการลื่นไถลได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพปกป้องทีวีของคุณจากความร้อนและรอยขีดข่วน portable monitor 4k hdr...

www.lazada.co.th

 

[itareanlnotani]

...and to inception this biyatch

 

[kgotson]

I have been working on a 17-inch 1080p laptop with a rather past its prime Samsung 1080p 23.3-inch monitor. On most days, I am switching between IDEs, Brower tabs (testing and documentation), Postman, SQL Management Studio, etc. I'd love to have a more streamlined setup.

Would anyone kindly post their setups together with monitor sizes, as it would help to visually decide how big I want to go? Based on the feedback here, I might need to consider getting 4K monitors.

 

[RogueTr00per]

My time is spent doing SQL and SSIS dev, reading documentation and attending Teams meetings. For the past few years I've been mainly running with a Dell 23 / 24" monitor as my primary with a secondary monitor (used to be a Philips 23" but now a Samsung 22") on my left and a laptop (14" 1080p) to the right of me. I don't know the model details of the Dell monitor (work issued) but my secondary screen is a very basic el cheapo 'Samsung S22F350FHU 21.5" Full HD Monitor'.

Then for about 4.5 months (November '21 to March '22) I changed to using a Samsung 27" WQHD 144Hz Curved Gaming Monitor (LC27JG50QQU) as my primary and did not bother with a secondary external monitor. It seemed great in the beginning but my main issue with both of these are that for Windows Explorer I find the text for filenames etc... too small, so I noticeably move my face closer to the screen(s) if I want to make sure I am reading file names correctly or not deleting/moving the wrong files around when testing certain processes. Disclaimer, I am short sighted and whatever glasses I am wearing at the time is going to affect how close or far I need to sit from the screen.

The Samsung 27" LC27JG50QQU is a VA panel and I see on Rtings.com it doesn't have the greatest review, so perhaps it is more the monitor itself that was my issue as opposed to all 27" 1440p screens not suiting my needs. I have recently moved this monitor over to my gaming setup and damn I really hate web browsing and reading content on this screen. Maybe I need to play with the settings a bit and see if things improve.

In any event, I've just ordered this Dell 32" IPS screen from Takealot (R8499) and will give it a shot as my primary, I won't use a secondary external monitor (no space as well I am expecting).



I am expecting the PPI density to be a bit on the low side but I think that is going to be better than the PPI being too high which results in me struggling to read things. I can always move the 32" a bit further back if need be.

Throughout this whole decision making process I've been reluctant to go overboard on how I equip my WFH setup because currently in comparison the in-office (corporate) amenities are quite frankly pathetic and already when I go into the office to work it is a huge struggle working on only a small laptop screen.

I was also contemplating getting the 'LG 32GN600 UltraGear 31.5" WQHD (2560x1440) 165Hz 1ms VA Gaming Monitor' from Evetech as it was going for R5499 (and R4999 before that) but the Rtings review was also not too great which had me hesistant.

If I was to go 4K I think I would need a larger screen than 32", it's hard to say without seeing it for oneself.

 

[randomcat]

My time is spent doing SQL and SSIS dev, reading documentation and attending Teams meetings. For the past few years I've been mainly running with a Dell 23 / 24" monitor as my primary with a secondary monitor (used to be a Philips 23" but now a Samsung 22") on my left and a laptop (14" 1080p) to the right of me. I don't know the model details of the Dell monitor (work issued) but my secondary screen is a very basic el cheapo 'Samsung S22F350FHU 21.5" Full HD Monitor'.

Then for about 4.5 months (November '21 to March '22) I changed to using a Samsung 27" WQHD 144Hz Curved Gaming Monitor (LC27JG50QQU) as my primary and did not bother with a secondary external monitor. It seemed great in the beginning but my main issue with both of these are that for Windows Explorer I find the text for filenames etc... too small, so I noticeably move my face closer to the screen(s) if I want to make sure I am reading file names correctly or not deleting/moving the wrong files around when testing certain processes. Disclaimer, I am short sighted and whatever glasses I am wearing at the time is going to affect how close or far I need to sit from the screen.

The Samsung 27" LC27JG50QQU is a VA panel and I see on Rtings.com it doesn't have the greatest review, so perhaps it is more the monitor itself that was my issue as opposed to all 27" 1440p screens not suiting my needs. I have recently moved this monitor over to my gaming setup and damn I really hate web browsing and reading content on this screen. Maybe I need to play with the settings a bit and see if things improve.

In any event, I've just ordered this Dell 32" IPS screen from Takealot (R8499) and will give it a shot as my primary, I won't use a secondary external monitor (no space as well I am expecting).

View attachment 1394387

I am expecting the PPI density to be a bit on the low side but I think that is going to be better than the PPI being too high which results in me struggling to read things. I can always move the 32" a bit further back if need be.

Throughout this whole decision making process I've been reluctant to go overboard on how I equip my WFH setup because currently in comparison the in-office (corporate) amenities are quite frankly pathetic and already when I go into the office to work it is a huge struggle working on only a small laptop screen.

I was also contemplating getting the 'LG 32GN600 UltraGear 31.5" WQHD (2560x1440) 165Hz 1ms VA Gaming Monitor' from Evetech as it was going for R5499 (and R4999 before that) but the Rtings review was also not too great which had me hesistant.

If I was to go 4K I think I would need a larger screen than 32", it's hard to say without seeing it for oneself.

Have you tried fractional scaling?

 

[RogueTr00per]

Have you tried fractional scaling?

Are you talking about custom scaling in Windows 10? If so I will have to reboot at some point and see how this looks but I expect that text will look blurry when doing this. Worth a try at least on my laptop screen where I am not going to be too fazed about blurriness when I am not using it as my primary display.

 

[randomcat]

Are you talking about custom scaling in Windows 10? If so I will have to reboot at some point and see how this looks but I expect that text will look blurry when doing this. Worth a try at least on my laptop screen where I am not going to be too fazed about blurriness when I am not using it as my primary display.

View attachment 1394599

Yes, this seems to be the windows alternative. With regards to it being blurry, I'm not sure. On Linux you can adjust certain settings if it's blurry.

 

[Barbarian Conan]

I have been working on a 17-inch 1080p laptop with a rather past its prime Samsung 1080p 23.3-inch monitor. On most days, I am switching between IDEs, Brower tabs (testing and documentation), Postman, SQL Management Studio, etc. I'd love to have a more streamlined setup.

Would anyone kindly post their setups together with monitor sizes, as it would help to visually decide how big I want to go? Based on the feedback here, I might need to consider getting 4K monitors.

The 4K monitor is my main display, with the laptop display mainly used for email and slack etc, and the 1440p display for whenever I need to read stuff, be it research or even just a json file or schema. Works great.

 

[_kabal_]

Are you talking about custom scaling in Windows 10? If so I will have to reboot at some point and see how this looks but I expect that text will look blurry when doing this. Worth a try at least on my laptop screen where I am not going to be too fazed about blurriness when I am not using it as my primary display.

View attachment 1394599

Are you talking about custom scaling in Windows 10? If so I will have to reboot at some point and see how this looks but I expect that text will look blurry when doing this. Worth a try at least on my laptop screen where I am not going to be too fazed about blurriness when I am not using it as my primary display.

View attachment 1394599

This is how you scale correctly in windows 10.
This doesn’t require restart, and won’t make thing’s blurry (I use 32” 4K @ 125% in windows & Linux)

 

[47Ronin]

I wouldn't go with a vertical monitor setup. Screens/monitors are very prone to get dead pixels in vertical mode. I would go with any monitor that supports both HDMI and Desplay-Port1. Notice I said HDMI and Desplay-Port1. It will be rare to get a GPU with VGA on it and converter plugs will mess with your color, aspect ratio and frequency.

Most new cards are HDMI [single port] and double or more DP1/Desplay-Port1. Unless your CPU has a build in GPU the HDMI will be useless on your motherboard. Most laptops will not support multi-display and depending if it supports Thunderbolt 3 or better it may not handle a eGPU.

So things to look out for:

• Screen must have [DP1] port or better and [HDMI] port. Most modern GPUs only has support for 1 HDMI out and 2 or more DP1 ports.
• VGA to DP1 port adapters "depending quality, model and make" can give you an altered experience and can be problematic.
• Make sure your Laptop can handle eGPU if you are looking at two or more external monitors.

Other considerations for development.

Depending on workload go with Apple or Intel. I both love and own AMD but as a development tool I rather go with Intel. AMD's SVM is not always an "out of box" experience and a lot needs to happen for it to work properly. Especially with Android development.

All my clients go for the ViewSonic VX3218-PC-MHD 32" Curved Monitors they are best in class at an affordable price of just under or over R6k "depending" for its size it is a good monitor.

VX3218-PC-MHD

 

[_kabal_]

I wouldn't go with a vertical monitor setup. Screens/monitors are very prone to get dead pixels in vertical mode. I would go with any monitor that supports both HDMI and Desplay-Port1. Notice I said HDMI and Desplay-Port1. It will be rare to get a GPU with VGA on it and converter plugs will mess with your color, aspect ratio and frequency.

Most new cards are HDMI [single port] and double or more DP1/Desplay-Port1. Unless your CPU has a build in GPU the HDMI will be useless on your motherboard. Most laptops will not support multi-display and depending if it supports Thunderbolt 3 or better it may not handle a eGPU.

So things to look out for:

• Screen must have [DP1] port or better and [HDMI] port. Most modern GPUs only has support for 1 HDMI out and 2 or more DP1 ports.
• VGA to DP1 port adapters "depending quality, model and make" can give you an altered experience and can be problematic.
• Make sure your Laptop can handle eGPU if you are looking at two or more external monitors.

Other considerations for development.

Depending on workload go with Apple or Intel. I both love and own AMD but as a development tool I rather go with Intel. AMD's SVM is not always an "out of box" experience and a lot needs to happen for it to work properly. Especially with Android development.

All my clients go for the ViewSonic VX3218-PC-MHD 32" Curved Monitors they are best in class at an affordable price of just under or over R6k "depending" for its size it is a good monitor.

VX3218-PC-MHD

Ignoring the AMD kak here, buying a 1080p 32” monitor for work sounds like terrible advice.

We are buying large hires monitors to INCREASE workspace area. Something that a 1080p is not going to do, even at 100”

 

[47Ronin]

Ignoring the AMD kak here, buying a 1080p 32” monitor for work sounds like terrible advice.

We are buying large hires monitors to INCREASE workspace area. Something that a 1080p is not going to do, even at 100”

Yea see this is the part that upsets me and why Admins should pay attention. It is valid, there are plenty more steps you have to do to get Android Studio to work. Example 1 would be to enable it in the Bios as some boards comes with the function disabled. Then depending on what windows you are on you need to enable a few more functions for it to work properly.

So Clearly this _kabal_ person wants an argument and if I continue to fight with him I will be the one getting the warnings because this user has been on the forum longer then me.

Configure hardware acceleration for the Android Emulator

Now if you look at Intel x86 Emulator Accelerator HAXM



Other things _kabal_ didn't consider is use case. Many of the companies that uses my services wanted this size screen so I have tested this size I find it nice to use. Unlike this user I can only comment on what I know. In his own response he stated it sounds like a bad idea. He has nothing other then his opinion and still will go about it. Truth is what does he know. Clearly He did not know about the intel accelerator that is ONLY FOR INTEL and that AMD may sometimes require a bit more to get going. How many people knows how a BIOS function. Just be cause he might be highly technical doesn't mean every one is. I personally had call-outs for this very reason.

Now I leave this to the Admins and OP and other users to perhaps ask this person what his idea here was. Again I like big monitors many of the people I work for likes them. If he doesn't like them personally then how is it terrible for everybody. If he doesn't even know about the settings for the software I am pointing at how can he say I am talking crap?

I am sorry this is simply not acceptable behavior for any forum let alone one that prides itself on being the most popular in our country. This user didn't even consider that there are functions that AMD and Intel simply do not share on a hardware level. All I pointed at is that the Intel users have a better experience because there are functions providing it.

 

[_kabal_]

If a developer cannot turn on virtualisation, which needs to be done for AMD AND Intel, then they probably need to switch to another job.

From the link you posted, they are EXPLICIT about this requirement.




I regularly do Android dev on an AMD 5900X desktop, and an Intel i7-11850H notebook.
There are not "plenty more steps" that were required to get them both working, it was as identical as it could be.

Recommending 1 processor over another based on a false perceived sense of it being "easier" is just not a serious recommendation.


And then you completely ignore the point of this thread:

Hi, I'm looking at a monitor upgrade with a view (ahem) to enhancing productivity.

A 32" 1080p monitor does not do this.

 

[RogueTr00per]

This is how you scale correctly in windows 10.
This doesn’t require restart, and won’t make thing’s blurry (I use 32” 4K @ 125% in windows & Linux)

View attachment 1394753

Thanks, I got confused with the 'fractional scaling' reference

32" 4K at 125%, hmm.... yeah maybe that is what I should be doing. Though one has to spend well over R13k it seems to get a high refresh rate IPS screen.

VA vs IPS for reading text, does it make a difference? Is it more the panel itself that is the bigger factor here?

edit: The Dell 32" 1440p IPS 165hz screen I am getting can also serve as a gaming screen in future, though 32" is probably too big for gaming with, it seems unnecessary.

 

[_kabal_]

Thanks, I got confused with the 'fractional scaling' reference

32" 4K at 125%, hmm.... yeah maybe that is what I should be doing. Though one has to spend well over R13k it seems to get a high refresh rate IPS screen.

VA vs IPS for reading text, does it make a difference? Is it more the panel itself that is the bigger factor here?

I don't have personal experience here, size for size.

I am currently on a 32" 4K VA 60hz (Samsung M7), and I have no complaints about the text, but maybe I just dont know better??

 

[47Ronin]

If a developer cannot turn on virtualisation, which needs to be done for AMD AND Intel, then they probably need to switch to another job.

From the link you posted, they are EXPLICIT about this requirement.


View attachment 1394979

I regularly do Android dev on an AMD 5900X desktop, and an Intel i7-11850H notebook.
There are not "plenty more steps" that were required to get them both working, it was as identical as it could be.

Recommending 1 processor over another based on a false perceived sense of it being "easier" is just not a serious recommendation.


And then you completely ignore the point of this thread:



A 32" 1080p monitor does not do this.

Look a computer is a tool, it does a job. If you can spend 20min to 30min setting stuff up to get it going good for you. If a company does a rollout they want the minimum down time. Why? Because time is money. They don't care if it is AMD or Intel they don't care what brand the monitor is as long as it has good support and the majority of the office like the size they will implement them. They don't do custom computers because it is incredibly hard to support long term.

So I don't know who you are, I don't know your job title but if you don't know these basics you have no business giving advice. It is all about productivity, down time and cost. Getting the maximum out of every PC for as long as possible IS the goal. Sitting and fiddling with settings IS NOT ideal. Having the best fit for the job at hand IS a requirement and my customers made the call "Intel" in this case because they had both systems and tested them.

Again something you "should know", because before every rollout the systems undergo real world test. Not some gaming benchmark utility. Base on that data they make the call. Seriously basic stuff.

I personally also run an AMD and they do work. But it is not about how I feel about the brand that matters it is about what is ordered, what is demanded and what can be supported. So before you shoot your mouth off consider other people actually know what the hell they are doing and you clearly don't mange these things because if you did we wouldn't be having this discussion.

*mic drop*