Have you tried ultrawide? I used to have two monitors until I tried an ultrawide. I'm curios if one 27" landscape with two 21.5" portraits would do a better job than only one ultrawide, but I'm not sure it would.
@@szlomobronsztajn3115 same Alex here, ultrawide is larger on horizontal not vertical. More vertical size doesn't help me because then I have to look up more which is uncomfortable in my opinion. I like to look a bit down to my monitor not straight or upwards as that feels like it hurts my eyes more.
I went with a 38inch Asus pg38uq 4k. Snap one half of my code editor and it acts like a vertical display. Then the other half would be a quadrant of windows. I just prefer one big display rather than have multiple.
I hate vertical displays because they contrain the WIDTH of the windows too much. For me nothing beats a 32inch 4K display. I use that for coding and never feel like there isn't enough height on my apps windows but the best part is I can make my windows as wide or as narrow as I want/need. That's a liberating feeling. I rarely need to use the macbook monitor when I'm on my 32inch monitor, I use just that one screen for everything and it allows me to focus better too rather than with two or three monitors with stuff flashing and moving on them constantly.
If coding is your work, need to use pro tools at home office, 5k 40” curved will give decent ppi, enough vertical space and far corners not too far away, plus it can be all over single type-c wire including 90W power delivery
The Benq RD240Q has "only" 2560x1600 pixels and a display ratio of 16:10. I think the RD280U and RD280UA with 3840x2560 pixels with 3:2 ratio and a better coating are much more interesting for coding and the other things you mentioned.
My preferred setup is still a single horizontal monitor with desktop switching. I love dedicating certain tasks and programs to certain desktops and just switching the same OS between them. No having to move vision around the desk and no bezels/gaps to look at.
IPS panels are the best for scrolling text, since white-to-black and black-to-white and corresponding values grey value transitions in opposite directions take up a very similar amount of time. TN panel has sticky whites, VA panel has sticky blacks that linger for a few frames. But i also think 120Hz or more is very good for the purpose of quickly scanning through text like that.
I tried for some time for general office tasks and found that I was still scrolling. The top and bottom parts are too far away to read there with comfort. It's like on a phone, you scroll more than you need to to keep the text you're reading in the middle where your eyes are. I prefer normal orientation for screen sharing, my main monitor is much bigger than a laptop monitor that I might be sharing to which makes it hard to see for the person on the other side.
I put it right above the MacBook centered and a bit farther back in the desk. I then have my IDE in the middle of the big monitor and only put quick access apps on the corners like discord, folders, Spotify, docker for desktop, etc
@@lalitsharma3137the pixelation comes from the low resolution on the monitor, nothing to do with Apple. However win does handle low res better, as it needs to run on whatever legacy hardware, but it’ll still be pixelated
You might want to check out LG's Dual Up Ergo 28in Monitor - 60 Hz (2560 x 2880) Nano IPS Display. I think it will be more expensive however and I am not sure it is enough of a spec bump from the one you are testing now
I currently have a dual TB display setup that I use with a trash can Mac Pro. I design 3d models, I watch RUclips, I use a slicer for the models and even use visual studio code. And running these 4 programs at the same time is a little frustrating because I don’t have enough space to run two apps horizontally on both monitors, and sometimes have to switch between windows to get more space. But seeing your setup I remembered that I have a 15” portable display that I got as a gift years ago that I used for my laptop when I first started designing and programming. I can mount it on top of the horizontal monitor and make the second one vertical. Its exactly the width I need without having to buy a third monitor or upgrade to a bulky 32”. What are the odds that this video is what I needed. Thank you!
Back in the day when I was editing pages of LISP code, I'd print it out on our tractor-feed dot matrix so I had a long strip... I'd drop it off the back of my worksurface (I was dwelling in a cube farm of course), pull it under, and tape the top to the bottom in one big loop. then I could push it forward and back continuously as I searched through the code with my yellow highlighter and red pen. It may sound archaic and crude, but I really miss those days. I could get "in the zone" and work quite productively for hours. So hard to focus like that these days....
Hello Alex, I am eagerly anticipating the commencement of medical school this fall. As a current Windows user, I have been contemplating the transition to a MacBook Air, particularly after your insightful discussions regarding the new Snapdragon chips. I am looking forward to watching your reviews and would appreciate a diverse range of topics beyond just coding. Thank you in advance for your guidance.
Sometimes, you remind me of that guy who bought the chainsaw because he had a field of 50 trees to cut down.The salesman said he could probably cut down all 50 in a week or so. After a week, he brought the chainsaw back to the salesman he bought it from and complained that he could only cut down about 3 trees in all this time. The salesman, genuinely shocked took the saw out back, lifted it, and yanked the starter corde. The saw motor screamed to life, and the guy who bought the saw yelled, "WHAT'S THAT?!!!"
that monitor should be reasonably "crisp", what you're seeing is likely just an artifact from how MacOS renders the display. from what i recall it likes to render a 5k image and then downscale, and if the ratio isn't perfect you'll get some pixelation or blurriness. it's especially noticeable on a 4k monitor
General tip I have for folks working on multi-monitors, set certain apps to be open in those respective screens pending orientation to avoid any confusion. Emails for example imo are best in portrait screen, etc.
I bought an INNOCN 28C1Q 2560x2880 monitor for vertical purpose and it rocks!! I have an LG 4k 3840x2160 and my laptop as a 3rd monitor. Had this for several months now.
Until recently, Eizo sold the EV2730Q, a 1920x1920 26.5-inch *square* monitor. There are reviews on RUclips, but as it's been discontinued, the LG DualUp is the way to go, and much cheaper to boot.
Vertical orientation is common in the legal industry. There are even special black and white monitors which are specifically designed to reduce eye strain.
I have a 34" ultrawide 2k monitor and recently bought a 15.6" portable monitor to use with my laptop when I'm in the go, but also decided to use it as a vertical monitor with my everyday setup and it's been pretty useful. I use it mostly for teams, terminal and notion but sometimes when I need to review a bunch of code I also use a second VS code window in it, it's been more useful than I actually anticipated it to be
for a long time, I had three vertical monitors, however, not all laptops, support 3 monitors and switching input to multiple laptops was a pain. I found ultimate solution: get a 55 or 65 inch curved TV. They’re only about $500 - $700. And use apps like magnet or fancy zones that will allow you to easily divide up your monitor to 3 portrait sections and you effectively have three vertical monitors using a single monitor! and the tools like magnet and fancy zones allow you to instantly convert sections of your monitor to landscape as well. so for example, you can easily have two landscape on top of each other plus a vertical on the side. It works amazing and I try to tell everybody about it. On your set up since you have your Teleprompter and other equipment right in the middle that may not work but for most people it’s amazing.
are you using BetterDisplay? this thing changed my life. There is no more "oh you need 5k blablabla scaling mac 200dpi blabla". No... even on 24" FHD display, by simply turning on HiDPI, which will scale it up and then scale it down, it makes such a difference. On 1440p 32" monitor as well. I used to think Windows was superior in scaling, but now that I use Windows as primary device again, my extenral displays look like crap. Plus, you can control brigghtness of connected displays, which I didn't even know you can do over HDMI and DP ports. same of built in displays XDR config, bumping the brightness to higher than standard and having full control. It's a godsend that I wish would be available on Windows as well.
On my treadmill setup I have an LG Dual UP monitor flanked by a 24in 1080p monitor on each side. This allows me to keep my focus on the main screen, and keep notes and documentation, chat, email etc, off to the side. It also keeps me from having to turn my head too much, which is annoying while on a treadmill. My only complaint is that the side monitors have a much lower ppi, and I think 1440p monitors would work much better. That, and trying to use multiple computers with 3 monitors means lots of toggling each time. I really want to try a 4k ultrawide, but they're a little pricey at the moment.
I’ve worked on a treadmill for 15+ years and agree that a monitor straight ahead with chat/notes off to the side works best while working and walking. I used to have a portrait off to the left and landscape in front above my MBP. Recently went to a 1440 deep ultrawide and ditched the portrait as I wanted more width right in front. It’s definitely a different experience, but working for me.
@@NigelBassman My sit down desk is also a 1440p ultrawide with my laptop off to the side. It's been working better than I expected after using 3 monitor setups exclusively for the past decade. I can fit 3 windows on the screen at once as long as I hide the side bars, or 2 depending on what I'm doing. I'm moving soon and I'll probably mix it up, but I'm not sure quite where i'll land.
@@AZisk If you want a little more wide in your vertical monitor, it's a great solution. 4 windows in the 4 corners also works pretty well if you don't scale the screen too much.
I have an ultrawide 34 QHD horizontally and a 24 QHD on vertical. This for me is the perfect setup. Sometimes I feel the want of another one on vertical on the otherside, maybe on future.
I Use my MacBook Pro docked with a Samsung 4k 27inch monitor in vertical and an iPad Pro with sidecar when I need more real estate. the laptop screen is always off. its almost like having 2 1080p monitors stacked on top of each other without the bezels.
LG DUAL-UP is the one. Loving it. It deserves much more popularity. If I was the product designer, I would do exactly this. It has all the things I was craving for. Mainly an actual proper two-16:9-monitors-in-1-vertically solution. And powers the laptop as well, clean single cable solution. Nice multi-flexi pole-stand, frees up desk space, no need of 2 power bricks, 2 power cables, 2 display cables.
About 2008 I used to have a 2 Samsung (forgot the model but it’s 1600x1200) 3:2 aspect ratio in portrait orientation. Using xrandr scripts and docking port it worked really well. However these days since 2018 I moved to a single ultra wide monitor. I am also trying to minimize to only use a smaller window. Because to be honest our field of vision is narrow. Less multi tasking is better as humans can’t really multi task.
When you put a window in a vertical 4k HiDPI monitor, the width of the screen is only 1080, which is too small for any window. The only use for a vertical setup is reading documents.
I have two 18" 4K monitors, and both have been in landscape orientation forever. After watching your video, I changed the one on the right to be portrait orientation. It's very useful for code and xaml (had to change the xaml to be split screen over/under rather than left/right!), but I find that the Solution Explorer and Property Explorer, which I keep docked to the right side of VS, tend to take up too much space. I'm investigating options, such as moving those to a second monitor. Thanks for this video! I had a nasty pinched nerve in my neck for the first few months of this year, and I attribute it to the fact that I'm continually hunched over my keyboard. Looking up at the portrait monitor should help a lot.
If you flip the monitor 180 degrees, the thick bezel will be less noticeable if you have it on the far side of the viewing position. I hope that helps.
For me the value lands on the possibility of having 3 full size applications on top of each other in 1 screen, easily done with Magnet. I usually do Slack at the top, browser in the middle and postman at the bottom. Code on the main monitor and closed macbook
I have two 27" 4k monitors at my work setup. I rotated one of them 90 degrees a few months ago and have left it like that since. I put my email on it and my code window, and it works pretty well. Everything else goes on the other screen.
Am using portable monitors, one in office and one at home. 16 inch in office, 13 at home. Normally use 13 on portrait, and 16 landscape. Portrait is always on right side, 16 is on top of my MacBook Air.
and does this make you realize that horizontal taskbars and menus on widescreen screens are idiotic? i've always moved my taskbar to the left of the screen ever since monitors went widescreen. i really don't know why microsoft and apple love to waste precious vertical space with these things when there is almost always a lot of perfectly good dead horizontal space they could use
I use to use internal laptop screen + 27 pivot dell + 27 landscape dell. But finally I movie to 2x27 landscape monitors without using internal MacBook screen.
Web developers also need a little bit of colour accuracy, By experience some websites looks plain white on my 42 in dell. Having thin lines, soft shadow visible would help web developers switching between designing and coding
I’ve tired all variations, the best setup I’ve found and still use today is 2 horizontal monitors stacked on top of each other and then a vertical monitor to the right (left side is horrible). Try it and let me know if you agree
Rotated screens no longer alias fonts correctly because the pixel arrangement is also rotated. Also, comparing a high DPI display to a low one is unfair. Get a 24" 8k IPS and compare it to your MBP. There.. apples to apples.
Thanks for the review and suggestions. I would love to see a more detailed review of the BenQ developer monitor. I am surprised that it feels pixelated. I have a BQ 32 UHD screen and although it's chunky the experience has been first class. I use the hockey puk all the time to switch between different light modes for different tasks
This benQ monitor probably looks great on windows with it's scaling options, but on mac nothing will look crisp enough unless it has the mac recommended pixels per inch. its the only reason why the studio display is worth getting. have you seen those DIY guides for making your own 5k monitor with the panel from LG off ebay? its a half priced studio display
9:00 "Longer form review". -- yes please! When I use Apple Xcode or Android Studio, their UIs push me toward landscape mode. It's the best way to view the relevant panels -- source tree, design, code, logs, simulator / debugger. But, when I use vi / vim in multiple terminals or in split views, I can see the benefits of portrait mode.
I used to have vertical monitor in the past and I loved it. However scrolling seems not as smooth as landscape. But that was years ago, not sure if that is improved now.
I think the form factor and the 16:10 aspect ratio of the Benq monitor is great. But 2560x1600 on 24 inch is about 125ppi, which is not enough for sharp text on MacOS. So, I would still prefer using a 27 inch 4k monitor and not use the top space at all. By the way, IPS: In-Plane Switching :)
about having to look up... you could put the previous monitor lower as you did with the current one you had room to adjust positioning and didn't do it so I don't get the point of getting a new one
@@zbirek thanks but no thanks. I’d like a version that functions across all browsers w/out extensions. Not to mention, PIP usually doesn’t have all of the video controls that I like.
I also switch 1 month ago one monitor vertical. I love it for reading documentation or for Email's. And I have the same Setup. Only I have tree times the same monitor instead using the Laptop monitor.
It looks like my setup. But I have the laptop on the left, the horizontal monitor in front of me and the vertical to the right. I also put the laptop on a little base so that it aligns with the base of the monitors
8:00 well, it's unfair to compare a retina display monitor against a 'conventional' (or non-retina) monitor. a display with a pixel ratio of 2 like the Retina display will always be much more 'crispier' than any monitor with a pixel ratio of 1, regarding text and assets 'crispness'. Aside an Apple monitor, if you want a desktop monitor that looks nearly as a retina display, you can try the LG Ultrafine 5k monitor that has 5120 physical pixels wide and 2880 physical pixels tall, and use it like a 2560 x 1440 retina display (5120 / 2 and 2880 / 2) to get tack sharp text
I’m using the Asus ProArt series monitors for coding. I think you’ll appreciate those screens. The 4k is probably overkill but those screens are beautiful.
The disadvantage of MacOS windows is noticeable on large vertical monitors. When two windows are used, one below the other. Every time you want to access the menu in the window below, you have to look and move the cursor up to the top of the screen to use it. In Windows each window has its main menu at the top of its own window. Of course, for coding and seeing more parts of the program, a vertical screen is ideal. Thanks, keep trying things for us 😅
but multiple menu bars take up more space, plus u need to aim more precisely to access the one which is not at the top, but somewhere in the middle of the screen. it's conceptually simpler if the application menu is spatially fixed. so i don't think there is a clear advantage to either solutions. it's a tradeoff. i personally hate that i can't have a single menu bar, when I'm using Linux DEs...
Check you BenQ monitor settings. I found out-of-the-box was not great, but setting the resolution to the monitors native resolution was super-sharp. It had more to do with Apple than BenQ. You can also set the color to match Apple’s Display-P3.
If only macOS had an option to rotate external display. Mine always disappears when I need it. I need to reconnect the display, relaunch the settings app etc. just to rotate the damn screen.
Great video Alex, making me consider whether I want to introduce a vertical monitor to my own setup. Also, I had a question about Apples M series chips that I'm not sure if you've answered elsewhere or not (if you haven't, it might make a good video!). The question is, from a developer perspective is it better to get a current gen M or M Pro chip or to get the previous gens M Max chip (so for example, the current M3 Pro vs the M2 Max). I know they tend to score similarly benchmarks wise, but in terms of real-world performance is there much of a difference? The Max chips tend to have more cores and come with more memory and storage as standard for example, but is a more up to date chip able to offer better performance despite the lower cores and memory. Anyway, keep up the great videos Alex 👍
tried vertical monitors, too much bezel, even tried vertical 27", tried 50 inch 5kx1.4k from dell, too wide, it seems the ideal setup is what Apple provides, around 34" maybe max 40 inches and as high resolution as possible
that's cool and everything but that file explorer alone take 40% of the screen, I don't understand why some have the urge of keeping this thing open in all times.
2 landscape stacked right in front of you, laptop off to the side as an extra space for discord or whatsapp, and a vertical monitor to the other side, which spans the height of the 2 stacked landscape monitors. Using a 32" 4K M8 Samsung smart monitor for main, 28" Samsung 4K for uppper landscape, and Smasung 34" Ultra-Wide for vertical monitor, which is almost exactly the same height of the 2 stacked in landscape mode. I would never use my 13" macbook display as a main monitor while I have larger externals available.
the 28" LG DualUp 2x2K 2560x2880 feels too grainy if you are used to MacBook/iMac PPI levels & it's quite expensive too. a 32" 4K in landscape 2K virtual resolution has the best price / productivity / convenience ratio.
The reason you see pixelation is that MacOS non integer scaling SUCKS, native 1080p or 1440p looks pixelated since mac doesn't do font trickery like windows. Maybe you can survive on a 4k 27" or a 1440p 24" but the scaling would not be accurate so you'll get less than optimal clarity and reduced GPU performance. Now for the real solution, there is the Apple studio 5k 27" but that's too big for you, or you need a 24" 4k (I believe only LG makes them, they have two, both IPS, the older one is glossy and would be perfect for your use, and there's a newer matte one but I haven't seen any reviews for it). You could also consider using a cheap used 5k/4k iMac but not sure if it's possible to mount that vertically, I'm not even sure apple still allows you to use it as an external monitor.
1 landscape 1 portrait - This is the way.
Have you tried ultrawide? I used to have two monitors until I tried an ultrawide. I'm curios if one 27" landscape with two 21.5" portraits would do a better job than only one ultrawide, but I'm not sure it would.
@@alexandru-ilea ultrawide is an expensive meme, just buy a TV sized monitor, you get twice the amount of space of the ultrawide for cheaper
@@szlomobronsztajn3115 same Alex here, ultrawide is larger on horizontal not vertical. More vertical size doesn't help me because then I have to look up more which is uncomfortable in my opinion. I like to look a bit down to my monitor not straight or upwards as that feels like it hurts my eyes more.
I went with a 38inch Asus pg38uq 4k. Snap one half of my code editor and it acts like a vertical display. Then the other half would be a quadrant of windows. I just prefer one big display rather than have multiple.
2:29 - “your question is marked as duplicate”
😆
Honestly, I don't. Not since ChatGPT
I hate vertical displays because they contrain the WIDTH of the windows too much. For me nothing beats a 32inch 4K display. I use that for coding and never feel like there isn't enough height on my apps windows but the best part is I can make my windows as wide or as narrow as I want/need. That's a liberating feeling. I rarely need to use the macbook monitor when I'm on my 32inch monitor, I use just that one screen for everything and it allows me to focus better too rather than with two or three monitors with stuff flashing and moving on them constantly.
I recommend LG Dualup
Didn't know about this one. Will look into it. Thanks!
yup totally i was about to tell the same
Dualup is exactly what I was thinking too
Would be very interested in seeing your thoughts on it! I was going to suggest it also
Yes! The DualUp is the way to go. I have this plus the LG 5K2K curved monitor. Although I use the DualUp for my browser and the 5K2K for my dev IDE.
I used to have a 32" 4k monitor in portrait and another in landscape with my Mac mini. It was amazing for multi tasking.
If coding is your work, need to use pro tools at home office, 5k 40” curved will give decent ppi, enough vertical space and far corners not too far away, plus it can be all over single type-c wire including 90W power delivery
I run iMac Pro w/ 4 EXTRA 4k monitors, two vertical and two horizontal on the outside.. It's dreamy
It's in your avatar even. That's a lotta
@@AZisk That's my old setup. The new setup is way more extreme. 180 degreees of monitors. All around me. Curved 32" Dell 4k's
@@RealtyWebDesignersyoutube will have to implement 360 avatars for your next one then :) cheers
ADHD^4 😂
The Benq RD240Q has "only" 2560x1600 pixels and a display ratio of 16:10. I think the RD280U and RD280UA with 3840x2560 pixels with 3:2 ratio and a better coating are much more interesting for coding and the other things you mentioned.
I'm also getting the RD280UA from BenQ and will check that out as well.
My preferred setup is still a single horizontal monitor with desktop switching. I love dedicating certain tasks and programs to certain desktops and just switching the same OS between them. No having to move vision around the desk and no bezels/gaps to look at.
IPS panels are the best for scrolling text, since white-to-black and black-to-white and corresponding values grey value transitions in opposite directions take up a very similar amount of time. TN panel has sticky whites, VA panel has sticky blacks that linger for a few frames.
But i also think 120Hz or more is very good for the purpose of quickly scanning through text like that.
I’ve been using two 27” 4k monitors, one in landscape and the other in portrait, for years… works perfectly 👍
I tried for some time for general office tasks and found that I was still scrolling. The top and bottom parts are too far away to read there with comfort. It's like on a phone, you scroll more than you need to to keep the text you're reading in the middle where your eyes are. I prefer normal orientation for screen sharing, my main monitor is much bigger than a laptop monitor that I might be sharing to which makes it hard to see for the person on the other side.
This is true but if you know something is up or down there, then you can quickly move your eyes to it. Code or spreadsheets in particular.
My life changed after I started using a 43" 4k monitor. I mostly use my macbook for its keyboard while having slack open on it
This. I wish they had more 35-40” 4k options. Too many 27-32”.
Idk where I would put that. Seems too huge a difference :)
I put it right above the MacBook centered and a bit farther back in the desk. I then have my IDE in the middle of the big monitor and only put quick access apps on the corners like discord, folders, Spotify, docker for desktop, etc
Apple devices often face this pixelation issue. These devices don't really care about external displays. So you'll always have this issue
@@lalitsharma3137the pixelation comes from the low resolution on the monitor, nothing to do with Apple. However win does handle low res better, as it needs to run on whatever legacy hardware, but it’ll still be pixelated
You might want to check out LG's Dual Up Ergo 28in Monitor - 60 Hz (2560 x 2880) Nano IPS Display. I think it will be more expensive however and I am not sure it is enough of a spec bump from the one you are testing now
You are right, simply looking ahead is more natural. I have even tried 4K televisions up to 50" and having to look up is the most uncomfortable.
Portrait mode is just one of the reasons monitors should be 16:10 instead of 16:9.
How about 16:12 (4×3)? 16:16!
@@PatousMcGillicuddy Agree that 4:3 is superior for some uses.
if there were affordable 28" / 32" 4-5K 16:10 monitors, i would be less inclined to rotate them :)
lol it’s funny watching this as someone who’s been rocking a vert monitor since 2008 and now has the LG DualUp as my main and only monitor.
I currently have a dual TB display setup that I use with a trash can Mac Pro. I design 3d models, I watch RUclips, I use a slicer for the models and even use visual studio code. And running these 4 programs at the same time is a little frustrating because I don’t have enough space to run two apps horizontally on both monitors, and sometimes have to switch between windows to get more space. But seeing your setup I remembered that I have a 15” portable display that I got as a gift years ago that I used for my laptop when I first started designing and programming. I can mount it on top of the horizontal monitor and make the second one vertical. Its exactly the width I need without having to buy a third monitor or upgrade to a bulky 32”. What are the odds that this video is what I needed. Thank you!
You should check out the LG Dual Up monitors that offer a 16:18 aspect ratio. I have two and find they work very well for my needs.
I have one as well, it is now a must for working effectively.
This is my exact setup since 5 years, right vertical monitor, left horizontal, and mac in the middle on an elevation to match the monitors hight
Back in the day when I was editing pages of LISP code, I'd print it out on our tractor-feed dot matrix so I had a long strip... I'd drop it off the back of my worksurface (I was dwelling in a cube farm of course), pull it under, and tape the top to the bottom in one big loop. then I could push it forward and back continuously as I searched through the code with my yellow highlighter and red pen. It may sound archaic and crude, but I really miss those days. I could get "in the zone" and work quite productively for hours. So hard to focus like that these days....
Hello Alex,
I am eagerly anticipating the commencement of medical school this fall. As a current Windows user, I have been contemplating the transition to a MacBook Air, particularly after your insightful discussions regarding the new Snapdragon chips. I am looking forward to watching your reviews and would appreciate a diverse range of topics beyond just coding. Thank you in advance for your guidance.
Sometimes, you remind me of that guy who bought the chainsaw because he had a field of 50 trees to cut down.The salesman said he could probably cut down all 50 in a week or so. After a week, he brought the chainsaw back to the salesman he bought it from and complained that he could only cut down about 3 trees in all this time. The salesman, genuinely shocked took the saw out back, lifted it, and yanked the starter corde. The saw motor screamed to life, and the guy who bought the saw yelled, "WHAT'S THAT?!!!"
i feel like this too sometimes. nice story :)
that monitor should be reasonably "crisp", what you're seeing is likely just an artifact from how MacOS renders the display. from what i recall it likes to render a 5k image and then downscale, and if the ratio isn't perfect you'll get some pixelation or blurriness. it's especially noticeable on a 4k monitor
General tip I have for folks working on multi-monitors, set certain apps to be open in those respective screens pending orientation to avoid any confusion. Emails for example imo are best in portrait screen, etc.
I bought an INNOCN 28C1Q 2560x2880 monitor for vertical purpose and it rocks!! I have an LG 4k 3840x2160 and my laptop as a 3rd monitor. Had this for several months now.
Until recently, Eizo sold the EV2730Q, a 1920x1920 26.5-inch *square* monitor. There are reviews on RUclips, but as it's been discontinued, the LG DualUp is the way to go, and much cheaper to boot.
Vertical orientation is common in the legal industry. There are even special black and white monitors which are specifically designed to reduce eye strain.
I have a 34" ultrawide 2k monitor and recently bought a 15.6" portable monitor to use with my laptop when I'm in the go, but also decided to use it as a vertical monitor with my everyday setup and it's been pretty useful. I use it mostly for teams, terminal and notion but sometimes when I need to review a bunch of code I also use a second VS code window in it, it's been more useful than I actually anticipated it to be
for a long time, I had three vertical monitors, however, not all laptops, support 3 monitors and switching input to multiple laptops was a pain. I found ultimate solution: get a 55 or 65 inch curved TV. They’re only about $500 - $700. And use apps like magnet or fancy zones that will allow you to easily divide up your monitor to 3 portrait sections and you effectively have three vertical monitors using a single monitor! and the tools like magnet and fancy zones allow you to instantly convert sections of your monitor to landscape as well. so for example, you can easily have two landscape on top of each other plus a vertical on the side. It works amazing and I try to tell everybody about it. On your set up since you have your Teleprompter and other equipment right in the middle that may not work but for most people it’s amazing.
are you using BetterDisplay? this thing changed my life. There is no more "oh you need 5k blablabla scaling mac 200dpi blabla". No... even on 24" FHD display, by simply turning on HiDPI, which will scale it up and then scale it down, it makes such a difference. On 1440p 32" monitor as well. I used to think Windows was superior in scaling, but now that I use Windows as primary device again, my extenral displays look like crap. Plus, you can control brigghtness of connected displays, which I didn't even know you can do over HDMI and DP ports. same of built in displays XDR config, bumping the brightness to higher than standard and having full control. It's a godsend that I wish would be available on Windows as well.
Totally agree. Worthy of a video on its own. Best MAC utility ever 😀 and the basic version is free.
Like switching to the Dvorak keyboard, this is something that people do, talk up how revolutionary it is to their world, and then quietly switch back.
On my treadmill setup I have an LG Dual UP monitor flanked by a 24in 1080p monitor on each side. This allows me to keep my focus on the main screen, and keep notes and documentation, chat, email etc, off to the side. It also keeps me from having to turn my head too much, which is annoying while on a treadmill. My only complaint is that the side monitors have a much lower ppi, and I think 1440p monitors would work much better. That, and trying to use multiple computers with 3 monitors means lots of toggling each time. I really want to try a 4k ultrawide, but they're a little pricey at the moment.
Haven't heard of Dualup - looks cool
I’ve worked on a treadmill for 15+ years and agree that a monitor straight ahead with chat/notes off to the side works best while working and walking. I used to have a portrait off to the left and landscape in front above my MBP. Recently went to a 1440 deep ultrawide and ditched the portrait as I wanted more width right in front. It’s definitely a different experience, but working for me.
@@NigelBassman My sit down desk is also a 1440p ultrawide with my laptop off to the side. It's been working better than I expected after using 3 monitor setups exclusively for the past decade. I can fit 3 windows on the screen at once as long as I hide the side bars, or 2 depending on what I'm doing. I'm moving soon and I'll probably mix it up, but I'm not sure quite where i'll land.
@@AZisk If you want a little more wide in your vertical monitor, it's a great solution. 4 windows in the 4 corners also works pretty well if you don't scale the screen too much.
The Joke on stack overflow cracked me up 😂
It’s mostly llms now bro
I have an ultrawide 34 QHD horizontally and a 24 QHD on vertical. This for me is the perfect setup. Sometimes I feel the want of another one on vertical on the otherside, maybe on future.
I Use my MacBook Pro docked with a Samsung 4k 27inch monitor in vertical and an iPad Pro with sidecar when I need more real estate.
the laptop screen is always off. its almost like having 2 1080p monitors stacked on top of each other without the bezels.
LG DUAL-UP is the one. Loving it. It deserves much more popularity. If I was the product designer, I would do exactly this. It has all the things I was craving for.
Mainly an actual proper two-16:9-monitors-in-1-vertically solution. And powers the laptop as well, clean single cable solution. Nice multi-flexi pole-stand, frees up desk space, no need of 2 power bricks, 2 power cables, 2 display cables.
About 2008 I used to have a 2 Samsung (forgot the model but it’s 1600x1200) 3:2 aspect ratio in portrait orientation. Using xrandr scripts and docking port it worked really well. However these days since 2018 I moved to a single ultra wide monitor. I am also trying to minimize to only use a smaller window. Because to be honest our field of vision is narrow. Less multi tasking is better as humans can’t really multi task.
When you put a window in a vertical 4k HiDPI monitor, the width of the screen is only 1080, which is too small for any window. The only use for a vertical setup is reading documents.
I have two 18" 4K monitors, and both have been in landscape orientation forever. After watching your video, I changed the one on the right to be portrait orientation. It's very useful for code and xaml (had to change the xaml to be split screen over/under rather than left/right!), but I find that the Solution Explorer and Property Explorer, which I keep docked to the right side of VS, tend to take up too much space. I'm investigating options, such as moving those to a second monitor. Thanks for this video! I had a nasty pinched nerve in my neck for the first few months of this year, and I attribute it to the fact that I'm continually hunched over my keyboard. Looking up at the portrait monitor should help a lot.
what brand and model are those monitors, uperfect, innoview?
or did u mean 28" 4K?
@@0netom Yikes, yes, that should have read 28". They're ViewSonic VX3276-UHD monitors.
If you think this is a game changer try the largest monitor you can find. It is practically a widescreen and a vertical in one device which is heaven
If you flip the monitor 180 degrees, the thick bezel will be less noticeable if you have it on the far side of the viewing position. I hope that helps.
The Prison simulator - 4x 28' LCD in pivot, all M28U. Any bigger monitor would have top bar too high to comfortably use daily.
For me the value lands on the possibility of having 3 full size applications on top of each other in 1 screen, easily done with Magnet. I usually do Slack at the top, browser in the middle and postman at the bottom. Code on the main monitor and closed macbook
I have two 27" 4k monitors at my work setup. I rotated one of them 90 degrees a few months ago and have left it like that since. I put my email on it and my code window, and it works pretty well. Everything else goes on the other screen.
Lean the vertical display back a bit and put a 5:4 above it and start playing pinball. Having both orientations is best.
Am using portable monitors, one in office and one at home. 16 inch in office, 13 at home. Normally use 13 on portrait, and 16 landscape. Portrait is always on right side, 16 is on top of my MacBook Air.
and does this make you realize that horizontal taskbars and menus on widescreen screens are idiotic?
i've always moved my taskbar to the left of the screen ever since monitors went widescreen. i really don't know why microsoft and apple love to waste precious vertical space with these things when there is almost always a lot of perfectly good dead horizontal space they could use
🤔 gotta try
9:08 Do a longer form review. Good work as always!
I use to use internal laptop screen + 27 pivot dell + 27 landscape dell.
But finally I movie to 2x27 landscape monitors without using internal MacBook screen.
Web developers also need a little bit of colour accuracy, By experience some websites looks plain white on my 42 in dell. Having thin lines, soft shadow visible would help web developers switching between designing and coding
I’ve tired all variations, the best setup I’ve found and still use today is 2 horizontal monitors stacked on top of each other and then a vertical monitor to the right (left side is horrible).
Try it and let me know if you agree
Also after a full day going up and down reading on the monitor, a neck massage is a must!
my next review: neck massagers
Rotated screens no longer alias fonts correctly because the pixel arrangement is also rotated. Also, comparing a high DPI display to a low one is unfair. Get a 24" 8k IPS and compare it to your MBP. There.. apples to apples.
My setup - 2 stacked landscape + 1 portrait, all 27" dells
Thanks for the review and suggestions. I would love to see a more detailed review of the BenQ developer monitor. I am surprised that it feels pixelated. I have a BQ 32 UHD screen and although it's chunky the experience has been first class. I use the hockey puk all the time to switch between different light modes for different tasks
welcome to 2015 dude, i run 2 32-inch vert-monitors plus 6 landscape 32 inchers and 1-65 inch at my battle station. Nothing sits on my desk .
This benQ monitor probably looks great on windows with it's scaling options, but on mac nothing will look crisp enough unless it has the mac recommended pixels per inch. its the only reason why the studio display is worth getting. have you seen those DIY guides for making your own 5k monitor with the panel from LG off ebay? its a half priced studio display
i will have to check it on windows. my LGs look good on both windows and mac
Love the video. You should get you camera sensor cleaned tho lol I thought my screen was dirty
9:00 "Longer form review". -- yes please! When I use Apple Xcode or Android Studio, their UIs push me toward landscape mode. It's the best way to view the relevant panels -- source tree, design, code, logs, simulator / debugger. But, when I use vi / vim in multiple terminals or in split views, I can see the benefits of portrait mode.
I used to have vertical monitor in the past and I loved it. However scrolling seems not as smooth as landscape. But that was years ago, not sure if that is improved now.
I think the form factor and the 16:10 aspect ratio of the Benq monitor is great. But 2560x1600 on 24 inch is about 125ppi, which is not enough for sharp text on MacOS. So, I would still prefer using a 27 inch 4k monitor and not use the top space at all. By the way, IPS: In-Plane Switching :)
about having to look up... you could put the previous monitor lower as you did with the current one
you had room to adjust positioning and didn't do it so I don't get the point of getting a new one
I wish that Google would implement a static viewport for the video, so you could scroll through comments and watch the video at the same time.
Picture in Picture can handle it 😊
@@zbirek thanks but no thanks. I’d like a version that functions across all browsers w/out extensions. Not to mention, PIP usually doesn’t have all of the video controls that I like.
@@OneMindNoLimit true but still something 😉
I also switch 1 month ago one monitor vertical. I love it for reading documentation or for Email's. And I have the same Setup. Only I have tree times the same monitor instead using the Laptop monitor.
It looks like my setup. But I have the laptop on the left, the horizontal monitor in front of me and the vertical to the right.
I also put the laptop on a little base so that it aligns with the base of the monitors
Busted! Yes I still use stackoverflow
8:00 well, it's unfair to compare a retina display monitor against a 'conventional' (or non-retina) monitor. a display with a pixel ratio of 2 like the Retina display will always be much more 'crispier' than any monitor with a pixel ratio of 1, regarding text and assets 'crispness'. Aside an Apple monitor, if you want a desktop monitor that looks nearly as a retina display, you can try the LG Ultrafine 5k monitor that has 5120 physical pixels wide and 2880 physical pixels tall, and use it like a 2560 x 1440 retina display (5120 / 2 and 2880 / 2) to get tack sharp text
I'm thinking about buying an LG dualup.
after reading the comments, it seems INNOCN 28C1Q & BenQ RD280UA are good alternatives too
Laptop + one horizontal + one vertical team here. 😎 Give Rectangle a try for window management.
For programming I love 3 vertical 4k monitors.
I’m using the Asus ProArt series monitors for coding. I think you’ll appreciate those screens. The 4k is probably overkill but those screens are beautiful.
I use landscape mode above my macbook. Feels good
The disadvantage of MacOS windows is noticeable on large vertical monitors. When two windows are used, one below the other. Every time you want to access the menu in the window below, you have to look and move the cursor up to the top of the screen to use it. In Windows each window has its main menu at the top of its own window. Of course, for coding and seeing more parts of the program, a vertical screen is ideal.
Thanks, keep trying things for us 😅
but multiple menu bars take up more space, plus u need to aim more precisely to access the one which is not at the top, but somewhere in the middle of the screen.
it's conceptually simpler if the application menu is spatially fixed.
so i don't think there is a clear advantage to either solutions.
it's a tradeoff.
i personally hate that i can't have a single menu bar, when I'm using Linux DEs...
4k vertical monitor, with a bit smaller scaling - my fav setup
also - strongly recommend rectangle app to manage windows - thats a "game changer" x2
totally agree, i have a 27 inch 4k in Landscape and a 24 inch 4k in portrait. Its perfect!
I use Spectacle and hot keys for moving windows and resizing them both in single monitor mode and when I use dual displays.
i just realized this man... loves monitor!
Your neck and eyes won't be happy with that vertifical space
Check you BenQ monitor settings. I found out-of-the-box was not great, but setting the resolution to the monitors native resolution was super-sharp. It had more to do with Apple than BenQ. You can also set the color to match Apple’s Display-P3.
thx. will do
how do you do a 3-way merge on that setup? 😅
I mean... a laptop stand so you don't have to look down?
I ran a 1440p 27" next to a 34" 3440x1440 ultrawide for a long time.
Sometimes reviewing and utterly crap code hase it helps
Best programming monitors for saving eyes and ergonomics?
Full-page screenshots, no scroll.
I see myself using the wider screen more. I always have multiple tabs open (terminal, logs, code, test file, JSON).
Mac OS is not that great at scaling certain resolutions. That's why you're getting pixelation on the BenQ
I have a 27" 4k LG display and portrait mode makes it too high. I was a pain in the neck.
Do you have a video about your entire studio?
i don’t yet. not sure if many will be interested
@@AZisk How you laid it all out looks so interesting for me.
If only macOS had an option to rotate external display. Mine always disappears when I need it. I need to reconnect the display, relaunch the settings app etc. just to rotate the damn screen.
Great video Alex, making me consider whether I want to introduce a vertical monitor to my own setup.
Also, I had a question about Apples M series chips that I'm not sure if you've answered elsewhere or not (if you haven't, it might make a good video!). The question is, from a developer perspective is it better to get a current gen M or M Pro chip or to get the previous gens M Max chip (so for example, the current M3 Pro vs the M2 Max). I know they tend to score similarly benchmarks wise, but in terms of real-world performance is there much of a difference? The Max chips tend to have more cores and come with more memory and storage as standard for example, but is a more up to date chip able to offer better performance despite the lower cores and memory.
Anyway, keep up the great videos Alex 👍
I bought a used lg 24in 4K monitor as my vertical monitor for $200. 218ppi and can daisy chain with my 5k 27” monitor. Highly recommend!
the pixels on the Monitor are visible because of the low ppi.
tried vertical monitors, too much bezel, even tried vertical 27", tried 50 inch 5kx1.4k from dell, too wide, it seems the ideal setup is what Apple provides, around 34" maybe max 40 inches and as high resolution as possible
that's cool and everything but that file explorer alone take 40% of the screen, I don't understand why some have the urge of keeping this thing open in all times.
LG DualUp Monitor sounds like what you are looking for.
2 landscape stacked right in front of you, laptop off to the side as an extra space for discord or whatsapp, and a vertical monitor to the other side, which spans the height of the 2 stacked landscape monitors. Using a 32" 4K M8 Samsung smart monitor for main, 28" Samsung 4K for uppper landscape, and Smasung 34" Ultra-Wide for vertical monitor, which is almost exactly the same height of the 2 stacked in landscape mode. I would never use my 13" macbook display as a main monitor while I have larger externals available.
Having nice vertical space and the monitor on eye level is also possible if you just use a 32" (NOT ultra-wide) monitor 🤷🏼♂
the 28" LG DualUp 2x2K 2560x2880 feels too grainy if you are used to MacBook/iMac PPI levels & it's quite expensive too.
a 32" 4K in landscape 2K virtual resolution has the best price / productivity / convenience ratio.
The reason you see pixelation is that MacOS non integer scaling SUCKS, native 1080p or 1440p looks pixelated since mac doesn't do font trickery like windows. Maybe you can survive on a 4k 27" or a 1440p 24" but the scaling would not be accurate so you'll get less than optimal clarity and reduced GPU performance.
Now for the real solution, there is the Apple studio 5k 27" but that's too big for you, or you need a 24" 4k (I believe only LG makes them, they have two, both IPS, the older one is glossy and would be perfect for your use, and there's a newer matte one but I haven't seen any reviews for it). You could also consider using a cheap used 5k/4k iMac but not sure if it's possible to mount that vertically, I'm not even sure apple still allows you to use it as an external monitor.
Standing up straight is slanted? I guess I walk around slanted every day in that case.