Hello everyone it's SpawnPoiint and welcome back to another video. And today I'm going to show
you my dual monitor setup which offers me some serious flexibility. But are two screens really
better than one, and what are the pros and cons of this setup over a single screen. So I'm going to
show you the displays I'm using, along with this awesome ergo bracket. But I'll also show you the
other items in my setup, including the desk and the chair that i've had a lot of questions about.
As always everything is linked in the description if you want to check that out!
OK, so these screens are called the LG 27QP88D, they consist of two 27-inch IPS panels, which have
HDR, USB-C and DaisyChain functionality. Now the screens themselves are Quad HD,
that means they have a resolution of 2560x1440, as a single screen that might not sound like a lot.
Especially coming from using a 4K monitor. But considering they are side by side here that's the
equivalent of a 5120 by 1440 display. That's huge! But these are perfect for working on, being able
to see more content, snapping windows to different screens and generally just being more productive.
Having used an UltraWide for the last three months or so, having more screen real estate has been
really useful for me. Now I can either use each screen independently, say plugged into a laptop
pc or console, or I can use them DaisyChained on one system. And that's where you have one
cable running from your laptop to one screen and another cable between the two screens.
I'll show you how I'm running my setup in the next couple of minutes. As far as color accuracy
and image quality goes they are pretty good. I use them for editing videos and photos and everything
looks clear and vibrant. They aren't as good as my MacBook screen but that thing is stupidly sharp.
But these are fine for what I need to use them for. They also support HDR10 although at only
350 nits they are not going to be blindingly bright. Now whether I've used it for video
or photo editing or, for the sake of testing, watching a movie or two, the picture quality
is what you would expect from an IPS panel. It's bright, vibrant and the colors look incredible.
Now what really sets this screen apart from anything else I've used is the dual monitor
capability. Snapping windows and using multiple programs or apps is one thing.
But being able to manage each screen independently, showing different apps,
different backgrounds and different tasks feels so much more productive. Now I edit all of the videos
for this channel on my MacBook Pro, so being able to set the screens up in a way that could help me
is awesome. When I'm working I've often got at least two or three apps open at the same time.
That could be my emails, a script, notion or the software that I'm currently using. And trying to
fit all of these onto one screen is not easy. But here it just works. Or when I'm working on a new
video, I could have one screen as my editing setup and the other as my preview window. I don't have
to have them all on the same screen. Now this is where it gets really interesting. You don't
have to use the screens in this fixed side-by-side layout. I mean it's probably the layout that i'll
use the most, but just check this out. I can also arrange the screens into a center-portrait, pivot
or a stacked mode. So whether I was working on my own or in an office and collabing with others,
I have the flexibility now to move the screens into any position needed. But this is all thanks
to the bracket that I'm using, which is called the ergo stand. Now the flexibility and the free
movement which is possible with this arm is just awesome. If i wanted to, I could have one screen
in a landscape mode while rotating the other into a portrait mode. This is ideal for writing code,
testing mobile app layouts or even streaming. I mean if you were a streamer you could have your
chat window open in portrait mode while gaming in landscape. I've talked about the ergo stand before
in previous videos, as these stands or brackets are one of the best on the market right now.
And the fact that they come included with the screen is just incredible. LG really should
sell these separately for everybody else to use! So the ergo stand allows a 335 degree swivel,
a minus 30 to 35 degree tilt, the height can be adjusted to 150 millimeters and it can be
extended from zero to 210 millimeters. It is pretty heavy and bulky but it also feels really
safe and sturdy. And if I rotate both screens into portrait mode, it creates an almost square
setup. Again this depends on the work that you're doing and why you need to use a display,
but it's great to be able to rotate the screen so effortlessly into any mode that you need.
Then finally there's the stacked option. Here I can actually move the screens back into landscape
mode but this time they're on top of each other instead. Now this is a mode that I like a lot.
It means I can have one app running on the bottom, say final cut pro, and another app or my preview
window opened on the top. I can even tilt the screen slightly so it's facing down. When using
this layout though you do need to semi-dismantle the bracket, as the arm itself does need to be
rotated. I just wanted to mention quickly that the c-clamp itself that attaches to the desk, I really
like this new design. The old one was massive, it used to have this really large metal plate,
whereas now it's so much smaller and compact. This definitely makes it so much easier to install and
it takes up less room on the desk. So as I'm using my MacBook Pro with these screens it means I only
need to use the usb-c ports. There's also one on each monitor. What's great about using usb-c
is it not only provides the image to the screen it actually provides power back to the Mac.
It now means my Mac does not need a separate power cable while using it, essentially it's a one
cable setup. There's also a display port in and out, and that allows for the Daisy Chain setup,
then we've got HDMI and usb 3.0. Now although the display ports do allow a Daisy Chain setup, where
one cable goes from your laptop to the screen and another cable goes between the two screens.
Unfortunately MacOS does not support MST over DisplayPort. This means it's almost the perfect
single cable setup but not quite. I actually have to plug one USB-C cable into monitor one,
and another USB-C cable into monitor two. Now this works for me and seeing that extra
cable isn't really an issue, but be aware that only the new M1 Pro and Pro Max model support
two external screens. If you're using the earlier M1 models you cannot link it in this way.
But then if you're using a windows machine you'll be fine with a one cable setup.
As you've probably noticed I try and keep all the cables out of sight where possible.
I usually clip or stick them to the desk or the monitor. Fortunately the cable management on the
ergo stand is really good. Inside the pole is a hidden trunk where I fed all the cables through.
Then there's a plastic cover that clips on the back and a grommet for the top. This is such a
great design and something that all monitor stands should come with. As for other cable management
I've got all of my cables stuck to the underside of my desk using these little plastic clips. I did
show this during my gaming setup tour last year and it definitely beats the ikea tray that I have
under my other desk setup. As for the power packs, I've stuck them to the underside of the desk using
3M tape. Ideally I should be using something like velcro, but for now this works and it's very
easy to install. Also swapping cables out is now really convenient and it looks pretty clean.
Just like with the other ergo monitors, these are the easiest stands that you will ever set up. Plus
it comes with all of the tools that you'll need. The clamp attaches to the desk and it tightens
up using the in-built screw. Then all you need to do is attach the horizontal arm onto the bracket
itself which will hold the two monitors. Next we need to attach the screens with a simple click and
that's it. When you need to remove the screens it is just as easy there's a little button in
the bottom of the screen you need to push that in and it unclicks them. The desk I'm using is from
FlexiSpot, it's the pro series standing desk which measures 140 by 70 centimeters. For the space I
have it's fine, but I think if I'm using a dual monitor setup it probably needs to be wider. It
would look even better if the desk was about 180 centimeters wider, to give space for the speakers
or my headset stand. I'm still using the MX Keys and the MX Master 3 mouse. I think I've had these
for about two years now and they've not let me down yet. They're sitting on this medium sized
felt mat from Grovemade, this is really soft to the touch it never snags as well. And if you are
interested in the one I've got here, I've actually got a link down below with a 10 percent off code.
I'm still using the Herman Miller Embody chair. And this is actually classed as a gaming chair
as it's in collaboration with Logitech. Now this is by far the best chair that i've ever had. It's
comfy, supportive and it looks awesome. The design on the back stands out against anything else I've
seen, and I'm really pleased I chose this one in the end. It was either this or the Cosm,
if that's how it's pronounced, but I think this could be the best chair that Herman Miller make.
So I've covered a lot of the pros and advantages of this dual monitor setup but there are a few
issues as well. Nothing major. As each screen can be moved independently on the bracket it
can sometimes be a real pain trying to line them up and make them look level. It'd be awesome if
either on the back of the monitor or on the arm itself there was a tiny little spirit level so
you always knew if it was straight. It would have been great if there was a single power cable or
single button to power them both on and off maybe something could be built into the stand where only
a single power pack is needed. And there's also no speakers on this model, which did actually
surprise me as most of the LG monitors that are out there do come with speakers built in.
And if you were wondering what comes inside the box with these monitors, well it comes with two
screens, obviously, the ergo stand, all of the tools and manuals and enough cables for almost
every setup that you need. That's two hdmi cables, two power packs, two display ports, and just one
USB-C cable. Then you've got your manuals which you would definitely need to use when setting up
for the first time, and a CD that you probably will never use. So that was a look at the new
dual monitors I'm using at the moment, complete with a ridiculously flexible ergo stand. The fact
that I can adjust the screens into practically any position or layout is just awesome. I still
think the traditional side-by-side is the best mode for me, but the option to move it
around is great. Well I hope you liked the setup today, and thank you for watching until the end.
If you drop a "Clean Desk Setup" in the comments, I will give you a thumbs up for staying until the
end. And here's another couple of videos you might be interested in watching next.
Don't forget to hit that like button, subscribe to the channel and turn notifications on, so you
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