Old 04-25-2007, 11:19 AM   #1
chip mcdonald
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Default Dual monitors vs. a wide monitor

Ok, so I've got my little rinky-dink two monitor thing going.

It's sort of better, sort of not: the visual disconnect of having my vision jump from one screen to the other seems distracting/annoying. I'm not sure if it's really "better". The graphic disconnect of the TCP>lanes is disorienting, and just putting the mixer window somewhere else seems a chore, using it for effects windows are also sort of discombobulating.

It sounds silly, but having the combined 3" or so border between the two monitors seems to be a "big deal".

On the other hand, I'm thinking one monitor that is wide/continuous would be really great (not that I can afford such a thing - I'm using an old 13" circa 1994 monitor).

Has anyone here had such an experience with a wide screen monitor/preference? Anyone tried two CRT's and then went to two LCD's with narrower frames (closer spacing)?
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Old 04-25-2007, 11:26 AM   #2
True North
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30" (2500 x 1600) of Pure Dell Love over here. Used to have a pair of 19", moved to a 27" LCD TV and finally found true love at 30"

This is a really personal decision but I can't stand having two seperate monitors even if they represent more space. If the 30" is out of the price range, I got mine for $1100 USD, try the 26" Dell.

YMMV
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Old 04-25-2007, 11:54 AM   #3
d. gauss
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had two 19 CRT's.
then moved to two 20 inch LCD's. love 'em for reaper.
ya gotta watch for those staples sales when they go stupid cheap (99 bucks 18 months ago)
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Old 04-25-2007, 12:01 PM   #4
bigwoody
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I have 2 LCD's and also really love the set up. I have the mixer on one and the TCP/wavs on the other. I also typically have my effects pop up over the waves so I can tweak the setting on them and the monitor without having to open/close. Probably a preference thing, but with this set up I pretty much don't notice the frames at all, thou granted they are pretty small on the LCD's.
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Old 04-25-2007, 02:44 PM   #5
mbuzz
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Overlap 2 LCD monitors so there is very little dead space !! works good for me

LAter
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PS: I do have a 42" mitsubishi TV that has VGA in !!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 04-25-2007, 04:11 PM   #6
charles.monteiro
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I have two monitors one a a wide Chimei 22 in, great monitor, very bright , it has entirely changed my experience with my PC, great price , just around $300.00. The second is an old 19 in Sony Trinitron that I had bought for my MAC setup a while back, its higher up on my music workstation and frankly it is practically useless. I was considering another widescreen , perhaps not quite as wide. However, I'm holding off because its possible that I can incorporate screen sets so that I can easily toggle between different views of my workspace i.e. as opposed to having another monitor to maintain my secondary view(s).

Anyhow, really , a widescreen will just make you more productive and you don't have to drop lots of cash. The Chimei has proven to be fantastic, it has great ratings , newegg had a decent prize for it.
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Old 04-25-2007, 04:58 PM   #7
Rednroll
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chip mcdonald View Post
Has anyone here had such an experience with a wide screen monitor/preference? Anyone tried two CRT's and then went to two LCD's with narrower frames (closer spacing)?
I went from dual 19" CRT's to dual 17" LCDs. I love them. I probably won't go the single wide screen, unless I'm totally off my rocker on my viewpoint. The reason why I like dual screens is because often I will run dual apps at the same time. So I place one app on each screen. Things like using rewire with dual apps or reading these forums with my browser open on one screen while putting Photos together on the other screen in Photoshop, the dual screens just work out well for me.

So my reasoning is that I will often minimize and maximize the different apps. So when I do a Maximize the app will snap to the borders of the monitor that I currently have it in and I can do this for each app in it's designated monitor. So my thinking is that this wouldn't be possible with a single wide screeen display. My thinking is that when you maximize one app on a single widescreen monitor then that app will take the entire screen space and place my 2nd app in the task bar tray out of sight. I also don't mind the border between the screens. In a way I find it as a kind of a benefit. My thinking on this is that I'm working with 2 apps which require different trains of thought of what I'm doing, so it becomes a kind of organization factor having the border in the middle. Additionally I never really stretch out an app across both screens. When I have done that for my multi-track apps in the past, that's when the border tends to bother me. A couple apps, I found I had to do this with where Cubase and Sonar. That's because they have those dumb background layouts, so you need to expand the background out so you can place the other windows infront of the background on different monitors. I don't use those apps so, it's no longer is a concern.

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Old 04-25-2007, 05:02 PM   #8
sebas777
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With screensets, one big monitor will do. But you might also use dual screens for dual screensets But, jokes apart, dual monitors are really useful, when you use multiple applications.
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Old 04-25-2007, 09:08 PM   #9
lyquist
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I currently have dual screens. One 19" LCD and one 17" LCD. I leave iTunes open on the 17" LCD and use the 19" for everything else.
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Old 04-26-2007, 02:54 AM   #10
echosystm
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It all depends on the program.

When I used to use Cubase (:P) I couldn't even consider trying to do anything without dual monitors. However, now that I am using Reaper, I am using my second monitor extremely rarely. Basically all I run on there is my master fx windows like inspector, etc.
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Old 04-26-2007, 06:20 AM   #11
DrJ
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i originally had two 15" CRTs, then one 17" LCD and one 15" CRT, then one 17" LCD and one 17" CRT... then today i bought another 17" LCD cos yea the gap was annoying and the CRT was only SVGA (1024x768).

i have got a lot of desk space back, but unfortunately the cable included was too short so i have to wait until tomorrow to hook it up. i like the two monitor thing and think the only advantage to a single widescreen would be if you also wanted to watch movies on it(oh and saving power!).

you really have to check out the resolutions of the monitors you are looking into to see how much you can fit onscreen, for example i was nearly going to buy a 19" widescreen monitor but the vertical resolution is actually worse than a 17" 4:3, and i'd rather have both monitors with the same resolution.
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Old 04-26-2007, 07:36 AM   #12
MlewisDE
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Two monitors are great.
You get used to the disconnect created by the space in the middle after a while. The enhaced functionality is enormous, IMO.

They are best if you use 2 applications, of course, one for each monitor, or have tracks on one and mixer on the other, for example.

I have a dual monitor setup connected to 2 computers via a KVM switch. The DAW has the dual (one monitor connected directly, the other runs into the KVM), and I can switch to the internet machine with the KVM. Very handy.
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Old 04-27-2007, 05:20 AM   #13
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2 hyundai 19" widescreens here...works great for me. Love having the mixer view on one side, will never go back to single monitor. Hate cluttered screens...
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