I get asked a lot on how I should setup my dual monitor setup.
And I get it, Multi monitor configurations are tricky.
I feel like no matter what orientation or configuration you decide on, you’ll end
up compromising in one way or another.
Some are better for ergonomics, some for aesthetics, and some are just a novelty.
Hi I’m David and these are my thoughts on setting up the perfect dual monitor setup.
So in one of my last videos I put together a dual monitor setup where I had my displays
side by side, pretty much parallel to each other and centered on my desk.
While I think this is the most aesthetically pleasing way to configure it, I’ll be honest
it’s not the most ergonomic or optimal for productivity.
The bezel being right in the middle means that you’ll usually spend most of your time
with your head turned the left or right, not exactly great for your neck.
You can shift your chair, keyboard and mouse to put a display straight ahead of you but
this does make using the second monitor a little harder being off angle.
(I like to sit about 25-28” away from the monitor, any further and it gets hard for
me to see stuff on a 110 ppi screen) I only really recommend this setup if you need to
use one of the displays for a specific task like photo editing, and the other display
for something like gaming.
But otherwise.
A simple way to improve the ergonomics is to shift one monitor straight ahead and angle
the second one towards your face.
With this setup your main display is straight ahead and perfectly optimized for maximum
comfort and viewing angle.
And while you’ll need to turn your head or chair quite a bit to use the second display,
in my opinion a second display should only be used for low priority and infrequent applications.
This could be reference material for a coder, email or messaging notifications while working,
music controls while surfing the web, or just throwing on a youtube video in the background.
I’d probably recommend this configuration to the vast majority of people who want to
use a dual monitor setup, but it does suffers a bit in terms of aesthetics offsetting the
monitor to the side, and can take up a bit more space on your desk.
Alternatively it’s also quite popular for people to put their second display in portrait
orientation.
And choosing between a portrait and landscape orientation really depends on what you plan
on having on the display.
I hear programmers really like having a portrait display so they can see more lines of code
but I personally don’t find this really necessary especially with these larger 27
inch 1440p displays that have more than enough vertical resolution for me.
Also I usually like to have a video playing on the second screen, so it’s definitely
a poor use of screen space.
Next up is the stacked setup.
I talked about this in a previous video, and my thoughts haven’t changed much from that.
It costs a little more to set this up since you’ll probably need extra equipment to
mount a monitor on top.
And looking up once in a while isn’t too bad but doing this for too long or too often
isn’t the most comfortable experience.
But it does look nice so I understand why it’s a popular option, and saves on desk
space which is especially noticeable if your main display is larger display like my 34
inch ultrawide.
But also keep in mind stacked setups aren’t for everyone, I find it a little overwhelming
with a larger second monitor since it feels like I’m sitting in front of a giant TV
all day long (same reason I don’t like 32” 4K, or 38” ultrawides) so in this configuration
I’ll often just turn off the top monitor when I’m not using it.
In that same video I also looked at bottom mounting the monitor, and I find this a little
more ergonomic than the top mounted version but it is also a little more challenging to
setup and takes up more space on the desk which I really dislike.
But having a smaller second display here would probably work and look great as well.
But that’s something I’m still looking into.
Another option that usually gets suggested to me is again a stacked setup but instead
where I move the bezel under my eye level.
I personally don’t like this option because now I’m staring at a bezel in my natural
posture.
And I’m in a less than ideal position regardless if I use the top or bottom display.
Maybe this works I need to use each of the display 50/50 percent of the time but then
I’d rather just go back to the side by side setup if that were the case.
There are also other unorthodox setups or even triple displays configurations that you
can try.
And they might work for you but I find them to be a little unnecessary and more of a distraction
than a benefit.
For productive, 2 monitors is the perfect number for me, or maybe even just one nice
ultrawide but that for another video.
Hope you guys enjoyed this one.
You know what to do.
And I’ll see you in the next video.