I personally know no-one in this forum. But, I consider many of you guys as my friends--your comments have helped me a lot, improved my life tremendously.
Thank you for being so great.

Having positive outcomes in here, I sometimes have a temptation to ask all my problems in this forum. This question is one of those situations. it definitely is off topic. but, I hope you don't mind.

I am guessing many of us in this forum in the academics.

I have seen some studies suggesting that computer monitors improve productivity. I right now work with with a 24'' monitor. I am very happy with it. But, I really hope that I can open 3 windows side by side (Texstudio with split-screen & one window for PDF expert).

I have tried to do so calculations. It seems like I need a minimum of 32'' monitor to work with 3 windows side by side (my sight is in a normal range).

Do any of you guys work with ultra-wide 29'' (21:9) monitors? Can you work with 3 windows side by side? And, if so, what is your recommendation?

I don't know about ultrawide monitors but apparently people who use them consider themselves to be part of a master race :)

They even have their own subreddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ultrawidemasterrace/

BTW, we have had discussions about using multiple monitors in the past:

http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/4695

http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/3448

I would recommend a 40" Iiyama or a 43" Acer 4K Monitor for your work.
I use the Iiyama with two vertical mounted 2560x1440 to the right of it.
I had a quad monitor solution before with another one to the left of the main monitor
in portrait mode for reading documentation but the update to Ubuntu 18.04 forced
me to change my graphics card.

The upper right takes 2 webbrowser windows. The one below 3 console windows.
and the main screen my IDE development program.

This is an almost optimal setup for software development.

And i will keep it until there are 8K monitors with 43" and then maybe bring back the
portrait one for documentation/database browsing. Or mirror the left side with 2 monitors
to the right and use a total of 5. I now this sounds like total nerdism.

I would recommend against a widescreen monitor because of the small high of the 3
windows you get. A 4k can do the same and has more vertical space.
I find this very important for optimal workflow with text and documentation.
Widescreen is for watching movies and gaming but not workstations.

Lothar Scholz wrote:

I would recommend against a widescreen monitor because of the small high
of the 3
windows you get. A 4k can do the same and has more vertical space.
I find this very important for optimal workflow with text and
documentation.
Widescreen is for watching movies and gaming but not workstations.

Indeed, for this very reason I have one vertical 22" monitor (to work on portrait mode documents such as Word, PDF etc. or long lists, such as WorkFlowy, Outlook) and one landscape 22" monitor (to work with landscape mode documents such as spreadsheets, Gingko outlines) in addition to the laptop monitor (14"). Best of both worlds.

Another benefit of working with individual monitors is that you can switch them off to focus on just one or two at a time (as long as the particular drivers allow for that--some don't).

Lothar Scholz wrote:

I would recommend a 40" Iiyama or a 43" Acer 4K Monitor for your work.
I use the Iiyama with two vertical mounted 2560x1440 to the right of it.

Wow, won't that be too much. 40'' display is huge.

Dr Andus wrote:

I don't know about ultrawide monitors but apparently people who use them
consider themselves to be part of a master race :)

They even have their own subreddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ultrawidemasterrace/

BTW, we have had discussions about using multiple monitors in the past:

http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/4695

http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/3448

Thank you for the links. Reading these subs, it seems like most people use multiple monitors. I am not sure if the macbook supports multiple monitors. It at least requires some fancy dongles....which I don't want to bother. that is why I am thinking about just one big monitor.

I am very fascinated with your vertical setup. I would be much cheaper for me to add just another 24'' monitor, than buying a whole new ultrawide monitor. but, I doubt if the graphics in the mac would support that.

When you already have a monitor, why not add a second one (e.g. 24") - that would be much cheaper than getting a 40" model.
I've been using a dual-monitor setup for over 10 years, a 20" (1600x1200) and a cheap 21" (1920x1080) display, and adding the second display was a huge leap in productivity. 1920x1080 is a bit small for my needs when it comes to working - it's nice for videos.

Dellu wrote:

I am very fascinated with your vertical setup. I would be much cheaper
for me to add just another 24'' monitor, than buying a whole new
ultrawide monitor. but, I doubt if the graphics in the mac would support
that.

I don't know about the Mac graphics question, but there are also now monitors that very easily rotate from vertical to horizontal and back, so you can keep rotating them as your need changes. One such monitor can serve both needs.

Dellu wrote:

Lothar Scholz wrote:
I would recommend a 40" Iiyama or a 43" Acer 4K Monitor for your work.
>I use the Iiyama with two vertical mounted 2560x1440 to the right of
it.

Wow, won't that be too much. 40'' display is huge.

No, don't worry. You forget about this very soon. It's only if you work in an office where you must see your coworker on the opposite desk.
And don't let people tell you that this isn't ergonomic. It is when you adjust your chair correctly.

With 40" you really get something out of 4k because you don't need any zoom factor.

In 2003 and 2008 NEC commissioned studies on single vs multiple monitors. To no one's surprise, the conclusion was BUY MORE MONITOR$.

http://bit.ly/2wKrjIe

Interestingly, if you dig down, the NEC study says “large widescreen monitors can be equally or more productive than dual screen monitors.” The NEC study concluded that a single widescreen was consistently the best performing setup on text editing tasks.

Dual monitor setups require more head and neck movements, and since people also sit further away from multiple monitors so that they can take it all in by shifting their eyes rather than moving their heads - this results in a lot of squinting and neck-craning. Also, most people give both monitors the same importance, and place them symmetrically in front of them, instead of giving one monitor importance over another. This impacts posture.

Also, distraction is an issue with a 2nd monitor, aside from cost and space:

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/technology/personaltech/surviving-and-thriving-in-a-one-monitor-world.html

I am not sure if the macbook supports multiple monitors.

Macbook?
Macbook Pro?
Which year's model?
And do you mean Macbook screen + monitor, or multiple monitors instead of (or in addition to) the Macbook screen?

What kind of machine are you using?

Lothar Scholz wrote:

I would recommend a 40" Iiyama or a 43" Acer 4K Monitor for your work.
I use the Iiyama with two vertical mounted 2560x1440 to the right of it.

I had a quad monitor solution before with another one to the left of the
main monitor
in portrait mode for reading documentation but the update to Ubuntu
18.04 forced
me to change my graphics card.

The upper right takes 2 webbrowser windows. The one below 3 console
windows.
and the main screen my IDE development program.

This is an almost optimal setup for software development.

And i will keep it until there are 8K monitors with 43" and then maybe
bring back the
portrait one for documentation/database browsing. Or mirror the left
side with 2 monitors
to the right and use a total of 5. I now this sounds like total nerdism.

I would recommend against a widescreen monitor because of the small high
of the 3
windows you get. A 4k can do the same and has more vertical space.
I find this very important for optimal workflow with text and
documentation.
Widescreen is for watching movies and gaming but not workstations.

One work around that I use is via VirtuaWin - this allows creation of multiple desktops (I use 3 right now). Each desktop can have one or more applications switching via either mouse movement to edge or hot keys. Can copy from one application switch to another 'desktop' paste/edit in another application. You can assign applications to always launch on desktop 'x' or drag from one to another. Use browser on 2, Outlook (corp) on 1, editor on 3 etc.

The way that has been done under X-Windows for years.

Since it is freeware, could be used to test how it works for you. Saves desk space for sure.

Info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VirtuaWin

At my home setup where I mostly edit images, I have two NEC Multi-Sync monitors - a 24" wide gamut 16:10 (my main monitor) and a 20" 4:3 to the side. I would probably enjoy a larger screen, but am happy with the 24", especially since anything larger would overwhelm the desk. At work, I have two 23" 16:9 monitors - one directly in front and one immediately to its side. I love this setup for looking at multiple documents and would probably enjoy a third monitor, but I am sure that would cause fits in my office. One thing I really like about two screens is that you can quickly drag and drop a window to a monitor's screen top and it instantly fills the screen. For me, this is very handy as I often have a number of windows open and need one "front and center" and another on the side, and this order changes frequently. I am sure that there are good work flows for a single screen, but two or three monitors can be quite affordable if you do not need color critical screens.

Good luck,

--Ken

satis wrote:

In 2003 and 2008 NEC commissioned studies on single vs multiple
monitors. To no one's surprise, the conclusion was BUY MORE MONITOR$.

http://bit.ly/2wKrjIe

Interestingly, if you dig down, the NEC study says “large
widescreen monitors can be equally or more productive than dual screen
monitors.” The NEC study concluded that a single widescreen was
consistently the best performing setup on text editing tasks.

Dual monitor setups require more head and neck movements, and since
people also sit further away from multiple monitors so that they can
take it all in by shifting their eyes rather than moving their heads -
this results in a lot of squinting and neck-craning. Also, most people
give both monitors the same importance, and place them symmetrically in
front of them, instead of giving one monitor importance over another.
This impacts posture.

This is exactly why I am a bit worried about two monitors and too big monitors. One huge monitor would be harder to read to every corner (top edges and low edges). Two monitors could be even more challenging. for my current setting, with my macbook pro on the side, I find it harder to move between the two screens difficult. I always work on the single monitors.

For text editors (for academics), it is also more important to focus rather than moving around. My intuition of usage of monitors is exactly like your description here.

A single wide (but nor tall) monitor feels the most convenient for editing text side by side. If the screen is tall, my intuition is it will force me to bend down (or just an eye movement) to read the lowest text in the screen.

But, I could be wrong because I never tried a long monitor (or the inverted ones as Dr Andus does). it is very interesting that people prefer different setups. Our physical situations might be factors in here as well.

Also, distraction is an issue with a 2nd monitor, aside from cost and
space:

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/technology/personaltech/surviving-and-thriving-in-a-one-monitor-world.html

> I am not sure if the macbook supports multiple monitors.

Macbook?
Macbook Pro?
Which year's model?
And do you mean Macbook screen + monitor, or multiple monitors instead
of (or in addition to) the Macbook screen?

I am using Macbook pro 2012. I am thinking to use this same machine for the next 5 or so years. and, when I say multiple monitor impossible, i am not counting the mac itself. My mac has a single Thunderbolt slot.

Arnold wrote:

One work around that I use is via VirtuaWin - this allows creation of
multiple desktops (I use 3 right now). Each desktop can have one or more
applications switching via either mouse movement to edge or hot keys.
Can copy from one application switch to another 'desktop' paste/edit in
another application. You can assign applications to always launch on
desktop 'x' or drag from one to another. Use browser on 2, Outlook
(corp) on 1, editor on 3 etc.

The way that has been done under X-Windows for years.

Since it is freeware, could be used to test how it works for you. Saves
desk space for sure.

Info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VirtuaWin

MacOS also comes with multiple desktop setup. But, that is not what I am looking for. My purpose is to open three text windows side by side to read, write and compare them at the same time.

satis wrote:

In 2003 and 2008 NEC commissioned studies on single vs multiple
monitors. To no one's surprise, the conclusion was BUY MORE MONITOR$.

http://bit.ly/2wKrjIe

Interestingly, if you dig down, the NEC study says “large
widescreen monitors can be equally or more productive than dual screen
monitors.” The NEC study concluded that a single widescreen was
consistently the best performing setup on text editing tasks.

Dual monitor setups require more head and neck movements, and since
people also sit further away from multiple monitors so that they can
take it all in by shifting their eyes rather than moving their heads -
this results in a lot of squinting and neck-craning. Also, most people
give both monitors the same importance, and place them symmetrically in
front of them, instead of giving one monitor importance over another.
This impacts posture.

This article also suggests that a single 26'' monitor might be the ideal setup for productivity:

So how big is too big? A 22-inch widescreen monitor has a productivity gain of about 30% over a 19-inch standard monitor. Productivity seems to peak with a 26-inch widescreen monitor, which further improves productivity by 20% over the 22-inch monitor. A 30-inch display already begins to negatively impact productivity, performing worse than a 26-inch, but it’s still better than a 19-inch display.

but, it doesn't mention the source of the study. if this claim is correct, then, I don't need to get another monitor.

thank you for your comment dear satis: I find your points very helpful.

https://blog.sandglaz.com/workspace-productivity-one-large-monitor-vs-dual-monitors/

Dellu wrote:

For text editors (for academics), it is also more important to focus
rather than moving around. My intuition of usage of monitors is exactly
like your description here.

A single wide (but nor tall) monitor feels the most convenient for
editing text side by side. If the screen is tall, my intuition is it
will force me to bend down (or just an eye movement) to read the lowest
text in the screen.

But, I could be wrong because I never tried a long monitor (or the
inverted ones as Dr Andus does). it is very interesting that people
prefer different setups. Our physical situations might be factors in
here as well.

The actual physical setup is very important to make it the most comfortable for your back, neck, and eyes, and avoid strain and injury.

The monitors are just one part of the setup. There are all kinds of other hardware and software accessories needed to make it work.

Firstly, the vertical monitor in front of me is kept at optimal height and angle using a special adjustable monitor stand. This allows me not to have to bend my neck but have things right at eye level in front of me.

The height of the desk and the chair also matters (both need to be adjustable).

Then, my laptop on the left is on a special laptop stand, and I use a wireless keyboard and ergonomic mouse instead. The landscape monitor on the right is also on a stand to make it the right height.

The central vertical monitor is always the main workspace (if not, I make sure to rotate the chair and move my keyboard and mouse, so I properly face it). But most of the time the ones on the left and right are for referencing, so I only need to turn my head there occasionally.

Finally, some software enabling you to move and resize windows from monitor to monitor, or to the various halfs and quadrants and the centre of the screen using simple keyboard shortcuts is also essential.

So instead of bending my neck I just use shortcuts to move the given window to the right eye level on the right monitor.

It took some research and investment to get all the different elements in place to create the most optimal setup.

Jan S. wrote:

What kind of machine are you using?

Lothar Scholz wrote:
I would recommend a 40" Iiyama or a 43" Acer 4K Monitor for your work.
>I use the Iiyama with two vertical mounted 2560x1440 to the right of

The computer itself is not sophistacted. It's an older Intel Xeon/Core i7 Model from 2014 (Socket 1150) with 32GB RAM a AMD Radeon HD7850 (2GB) GPU and a 500GB SSD with a 2 TB Data HDD. But i have 3 of them after dual boot doesn't work for my workflow i have separate Linux, Windows, Hackintosh computers using ATEN KVM and the remote control on the Iiyama to switch between them. The computer power from 5 years ago is still enough, but the screen space isn't.

I think this studies are to general to be useful.

We software developers have to run multiple programs and this is best done in multiple windows while a text writer might indeed focus on his writing alone. And for a single text there is no need for more then a 27" screen. I agree on this one. The argument that multimonitors are bad for focusing on the text is also not important if our text is split across dozens of files and we have to switch between them all the times. Just like online broker setups use 6 or more screens to monitor multiple information sources.

Dellu wrote:

https://blog.sandglaz.com/workspace-productivity-one-large-monitor-vs-dual-monitors/

Maybe it's just my work style, but I take exception to a lot of what was said in that article. As I stated, I have a central monitor in front of me, and a second immediately adjacent to it at the same height and distance. My main panel is used for the work at hand, and the second panel is used to provide support documentation that I can see at a glance and can change quickly and easily as needed (and ignore when not needed). Should you try this setup on a single monitor, I would suspect that you would need to place the key item in the center, and this would leave you with two smaller "gutters" to work with for other documents (one on each side of the main window). I am just not sure how this would be a better arrangement if you need to be able to pull information from one document/window to another. I guess in my mind this is not multi-tasking, as the author believes, but rather allowing me to quickly access data for the project that I am working on at the time. I am sure that others can make compelling arguments for their arrangements, and I would then have to say that people should go with what makes sense to their style of work, but let's try not to generalize as the author seems to have done.

Good luck,

--Ken

Ken wrote:

Dellu wrote:
https://blog.sandglaz.com/workspace-productivity-one-large-monitor-vs-dual-monitors/

Maybe it's just my work style, but I take exception to a lot of what was
said in that article. As I stated, I have a central monitor in front of
me, and a second immediately adjacent to it at the same height and
distance. My main panel is used for the work at hand, and the second
panel is used to provide support documentation that I can see at a
glance and can change quickly and easily as needed (and ignore when not
needed). Should you try this setup on a single monitor, I would suspect
that you would need to place the key item in the center, and this would
leave you with two smaller "gutters" to work with for other documents
(one on each side of the main window). I am just not sure how this
would be a better arrangement if you need to be able to pull information
from one document/window to another. I guess in my mind this is not
multi-tasking, as the author believes, but rather allowing me to quickly
access data for the project that I am working on at the time. I am sure
that others can make compelling arguments for their arrangements, and I
would then have to say that people should go with what makes sense to
their style of work, but let's try not to generalize as the author seems
to have done.

Good luck,

--Ken

I understand your current setup is like this: http://take.ms/vjk2Bg --3 windows with 2 monitors.
You use the smaller screen to keep your reference file.

The alternative I have been thinking is like this: http://take.ms/AACWe --3 windows with 1 monitor.

Your setup is definitely cheaper. But, my worry is, since I am going to read often in that second monitor, it could challenge my posture, as Satis mentioned. I agree that is great setup of you use it just as reference window. my purpose is to make all the 3 windows equally active.

What do you think of the single monitor setup?

This is my current setup by the way: http://take.ms/5acy3

I was thinking to change my display just that I could open 3 windows side by side (I have 2 right now). There is no gutter or gap: Moom manages the windows really great in the mac. There is no issue on the software side.

sorry this one: http://take.ms/WZiu2

A couple of years ago I bit the bullet and decided to try using spaces on my 27" iMac and it completely changed the way I use it, and I feel no need for a 2nd monitor, even though I've had an unused 25" Dell sitting around for a year. (Plus I'm spoiled by the Retina display, and putting other monitors next to it is slightly painful.)

For writing I'll usually have an outliner open side by side with a writing document (that has tabs) in my main space. My shoebox app. EagleFiler, has its own space (Messages opens in that space too), and file utilities (eg Console, Terminal, Activity Monitor, Forklift) have their own space as well. My video player apps all open exclusively in another space, and I have a space for audio editing and music apps. Browsers and most other apps can float through all spaces.

I'm so happy using spaces I am considering supercharging them with https://totalspaces.binaryage.com/ but I'm waiting a bit because to make sure it'll be supported in the next version of macOS.