Show Your LCD(s) setups!!!

I recently shook up my whole desktop setup and finally got my hands on an LCD I can deem worthy enough of being a primary monitor before my GDM-5410 joins my GDM-FW900 in the CRT afterlife.



Eizo FG2421 in the center, Wacom Cintiq Companion Hybrid (read: a 13HD touch that's also an Android tablet) beneath it, crappy old Dell P170S off to the right for chat/communication apps.

Yeah, that basically means I have VA, IPS and TN all on the same desk, and speaking of which, this desk is long overdue for replacement as soon as I design a custom one. I don't like having to shuffle my peripherals around all the time.
 
Those with 40" displays. Do you have to move your head opposed to just moving your eyes? I tried using a 32" HP Omen and it was torture.. Went back to my 27" and everything was fine.
 
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My head is probably around 10 feet from the screen when sitting in the chair. I haven't really measured it. I simply moved the chair into a position where I could take everything in without having to move my head. There's plenty of room to reposition it if need be.

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It's super comfy and the Lapdog (minus the leg padding as shown) straddles the arms of the chair perfectly. It makes it so I can use the mouse and keyboard with my elbows resting on the chair. It's a great home theater PC gaming experience.

I did have a 40" Philips monitor on a desk prior to this. I had to move my head slightly sometimes. That's even with the monitor all the way to the back of the desk.
 
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I need to wait few years before I can test a 40 inch tv as monitor. I think this would be awesome, but also maybe to big.
 
I need to wait few years before I can test a 40 inch tv as monitor. I think this would be awesome, but also maybe to big.

Look at your smartphone. If it's a 5'' 1080p, it should be 441 PPI. If it's a 720p, that will be 294 PPI at the same screen size. A 4K screen, at 27'', that should be 157 PPI. Suddenly not so impressive, huh? a 40" 4K is only 108 PPI. That is pathetic in comparison.

I prefer the bigger 40" screen for watching movies and the smaller 27" for gaming and browsing as it strains the eyes less and everything looks super sharp. Far as text being too small, increase the scaling and your text size :)
 
Look at your smartphone. If it's a 5'' 1080p, it should be 441 PPI. If it's a 720p, that will be 294 PPI at the same screen size. A 4K screen, at 27'', that should be 157 PPI. Suddenly not so impressive, huh? a 40" 4K is only 108 PPI. That is pathetic in comparison.

I prefer the bigger 40" screen for watching movies and the smaller 27" for gaming and browsing as it strains the eyes less and everything looks super sharp. Far as text being too small, increase the scaling and your text size :)
the viewing distance on a smartphone is much smaller.
 
Framed in quotes so this doesn't take up much space on a photo thread.
Yes. Perceived pixel density and even screen "size" in relation to your perspective is relative to viewing distance.

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Using a 4k screen at different sizes and distances can give very different benefits.

A 27" 4k at desk distances will give really high pixel density for games and images and finer edged scaled up desktop/app/text use.
Since it would require significant scaling, you wouldn't gain much (if any, depending how much scaling) desktop/app real-estate compared to a 2560x1440, mostly gaining pixel density.
Even at a desk, the viewing distance can affect your perception of a 27" screen size by a significant amount.

A 40.8" 4k at desk distances would be around 108.8 ppi, the same as a 27" 2560x1440, but you would gain a lot of desktop/app real-estate. Unfortunately you'd gain no game world real-estate in 1st/3rd games, it being the same 16:9 scene (unless you ran something like a 21:9 rez on it with bars). You would also suffer some "eye-bending" and even micro neck bending to the periphery with a huge screen at normal desk distances since most games would just be the exact same 16:9 scene made JUMBO with it's extents pushed into the periphery.

The other option like one of the previous posts showed, is keeping a larger monitor much further back from you which in effect shrinks the screen size to your perspective and increases the pixel density to your perspective the further you place it from your eyes.
 
hahaha...2.5 to 3 feet from 48" 4k...looks fantastic , "eye-bending"..."micro neck bending" , haha laughable drivel
 
I disagree. It's great for desktop/app real estate, for comparison multiple monitors for example where turning your head and eyes is expected and required. You absolutely have to tilt your eyes/gaze to the periphery in games specfically if your monitor is so large vs viewing distance that its periphery is largely outside of your focal view. That is just optics. Especially in 1st/3rd person games where pertinent data/huds/notifications/pointers and even action/targets are pushed outside of your focal viewpoint.
How large the monitor and how far the distance are the factors. With an eye and head tracking kit my point would be proven easily. Whether you are fine with doing that eye and perhaps even head movement is a different point but that doesn't make it false.
 
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with over 30 monitors of various sizes , refresh rates , and resolutions , currently in my house that have been used in all sorts of combinations up to and including 5 x 1920x1200 portrait surround , I have never experienced the issues that are being described. Maybe I am an exception to the rules but I doubt it as I consider myself pretty normal . I would not tell anyone not to use a large tv/monitor up close because of the issues being brought up , I am not saying that your info is "false" ,but that I don't think they rise to the level of being a problem. The information you provided may in fact help some people with their decision.
 
I mentioned it in a negative light, saying "suffering" more extreme eye movement and perhaps small neck movement but I never said it was unusable. It's just annoying to some of us who prefer the virtual camera to be our gaze in the game using mouse look rather than having to dart our gaze around real world glancing at the corners or edges at the same time as panning a virtual camera around. It's really more a limitation of hor+ not providing more in game real estate on larger screens, and HUD design limitations keeping HUDs, notifications, pointers, chat , etc to the periphery in the majority of games. Were the larger monitor to add actual game world real estate for immersion with all aforementioned critical focal elements centralized or integrated to the character somehow (like vr games are tending to do) it would be a completely different matter.

A vice versa scenario might be mouse looking around while using head tracking in vr. Imo if you are mouse looking in 1st/3rd person, you shouldn't be scanning your gaze around the screen as well since the virtual camera is supposed to be "you" and where you are looking.
 
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Setting up a new studio, all LED, kinda cool
One PC, 8 outputs to the individual monitor section(s)
(Ill have to try and get a [H] logon on them lol
 

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Guess its time for my biennial desktop showoff pic:

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I'm out of practice with the camera. Forgot how tricky it was to balance all the lighting sources (Sun, Indoor lights, screens and LED's) in the same pic. Taking this shot took me way longer than it should have, and it is still imperfect.
 
Guess its time for my biennial desktop showoff pic:

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I'm out of practice with the camera. Forgot how tricky it was to balance all the lighting sources (Sun, Indoor lights, screens and LED's) in the same pic. Taking this shot took me way longer than it should have, and it is still imperfect.

Nice PLP Setup. Also I'm typing this reply on my own Unicomp. I love this keyboard.

How do you like your JS9000? I'm really thinking of downsizing from 4x30" monitors.
 
Nice PLP Setup. Also I'm typing this reply on my own Unicomp. I love this keyboard.

How do you like your JS9000? I'm really thinking of downsizing from 4x30" monitors.


Agreed. Unicomps are great. The fit and finish isn't quite as good as the IBM Model M's were, but the model M's only come in in beige (unless they are collectors items like my Black Model M13 Trackpoint II that I have retired) lack windows keys, and USB support.

IMHO, buckling spring is the ideal switch for mechanical keyboards. I wish someone would come out with a modern version of a buckling spring keyboard, with a modern industrial design, some subtle backlighting, and NKRO. That would be the perfect keyboard.

I love my JS9000, but if I could do it all again, I'd go slightly smaller. At ~92dpi 4k @48" is just slightly too big. I'd target 422-44" to get into that 100 - 110dpi sweet spot on the desktop.

Even as it is though it is fantastic. Games are incredibly immersive, giving me that peripheral vision when I play, and I have never had more spreadsheet desktop real estate.
 
Agreed. Unicomps are great. The fit and finish isn't quite as good as the IBM Model M's were, but the model M's only come in in beige (unless they are collectors items like my Black Model M13 Trackpoint II that I have retired) lack windows keys, and USB support.

IMHO, buckling spring is the ideal switch for mechanical keyboards. I wish someone would come out with a modern version of a buckling spring keyboard, with a modern industrial design, some subtle backlighting, and NKRO. That would be the perfect keyboard.

I love my JS9000, but if I could do it all again, I'd go slightly smaller. At ~92dpi 4k @48" is just slightly too big. I'd target 422-44" to get into that 100 - 110dpi sweet spot on the desktop.

Even as it is though it is fantastic. Games are incredibly immersive, giving me that peripheral vision when I play, and I have never had more spreadsheet desktop real estate.
Yes, a new buckling spring keyboard would be amazing. The closest I've felt is Cherry MX Greens in which are blues, but require more force. They are okay.

I've got a friend with a 40" 4K and it's just too small for me. 44" 4k would matchup nicely with my 30"rs, but I think I want to go to a single screen.
Do you think that you could get a away with a single screen? I've had multiple screens since I could afford it, so I'm wondering if I could even do that.
 
Agreed. Unicomps are great. The fit and finish isn't quite as good as the IBM Model M's were, but the model M's only come in in beige (unless they are collectors items like my Black Model M13 Trackpoint II that I have retired) lack windows keys, and USB support.

IMHO, buckling spring is the ideal switch for mechanical keyboards. I wish someone would come out with a modern version of a buckling spring keyboard, with a modern industrial design, some subtle backlighting, and NKRO. That would be the perfect keyboard.
Backlighting would be tricky with the buckling-spring mechanism as it currently stands. I wonder how that would work out.

Other than that, I wouldn't mind having a Model F (capacitive NKRO buckling spring) equivalent of the reclusive Model M15 split keyboard, but as things currently stand, that's probably not happening. Nobody else makes buckling spring boards, and the tooling for the M15 is out of Unicomp's hands, as I understand. That and M15s are ludicrously expensive. It's a shame, as buckling springs are by far my favorite switch type in terms of tactility.

Oh well, I'll probably just return to Cherry MX Blues whenever my Kinesis Freestyle Edge arrives in a few months. They aren't MX Clears, but they'll suffice. I just want a split board that'll let me bring the Cintiq in closer.
 
Backlighting would be tricky with the buckling-spring mechanism as it currently stands. I wonder how that would work out.

I think there might be an opportunity to have led's shine down the center of the spring into a double shot keycap with transparent lettering, so that it shines through. Sure the keylight would go out momentarily when the key is pressed, but I'm not sure that is a big deal.

Other than that, I wouldn't mind having a Model F (capacitive NKRO buckling spring) equivalent of the reclusive Model M15 split keyboard, but as things currently stand, that's probably not happening. Nobody else makes buckling spring boards, and the tooling for the M15 is out of Unicomp's hands, as I understand. That and M15s are ludicrously expensive. It's a shame, as buckling springs are by far my favorite switch type in terms of tactility.

I don't care for the odd layouts. I like the standard modern 104 key layout. It would be awesome to have a keyboard with that layout, but with Model F type switches and NKRO, a more modern industrial design (same layout though) and a better USB controller than Unicomp currently uses (god that thin initializes so slowly, its a pain to get into the BIOS sometimes). Backlighting isn't strictly necessary to me, but it would be a nice tough, and I don't think it would be impossible.

I keep hoping Unicomp will partner with a third party, like maybe Corsair to make something like this happen. I know chances are small, but...

Oh well, I'll probably just return to Cherry MX Blues whenever my Kinesis Freestyle Edge arrives in a few months. They aren't MX Clears, but they'll suffice. I just want a split board that'll let me bring the Cintiq in closer.

I don't think I have it in me to buy a non-buckling spring keyboard.
 
Yes, a new buckling spring keyboard would be amazing. The closest I've felt is Cherry MX Greens in which are blues, but require more force. They are okay.

I've got a friend with a 40" 4K and it's just too small for me. 44" 4k would matchup nicely with my 30"rs, but I think I want to go to a single screen.
Do you think that you could get a away with a single screen? I've had multiple screens since I could afford it, so I'm wondering if I could even do that.

I don't think a single screen would work for you short of 8K - I just switched from 3x 30" to a single 43" 4K and it isn't wide enough for my tastes, if you are doing 4x 30" you'll really notice.

The problem with a 65" 4K is that it is 68ppi, which is relatively low compared to the 30" at 100ppi. Even though the screen would be big enough I think you'd hate how the pixels are so much bigger. My personal limit is about 90ppi for a computer monitor at standard desk distances.

An 88" 8K would be perfect for you as it would be 100ppi. If you like 90ppi (the same as 24" 1080p) get the LG UH9800.
 
Qnix 2710 27" 1440p. Only reason I'm using the Qnix is because It's the only glossy, overclockable, 1440p IPS monitor that I could find. I tried using a ROG Swift and Dell S2716DG but I couldn't stand the matte coating so I returned them. Also tried a Dell 4K P2715Q, again the matte coating and 60hz made me return it. 60hz just feels so laggy compared to 96-144hz.

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Work in progress. Home being redecorated so workstation unfinished, but for now:
 

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Never could have imagined how much of a difference G-Sync makes before I tried my new X34. It truly is incredible to play games this buttery smooth now. G-sync is even more impressive to me than the size and curved design of the display. I upgraded from a 27" 60hz BenQ... and this is the biggest difference I have ever noticed and I don't think i'll ever get another monitor without G-Sync again. It's incredible. This is not the final look. I have a articulating piston-powered arm coming in the mail today I will mount this on b/c that stand takes up way too much desktop real-estate.

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This is my current setup. I've just ordered a 40" Samsung 4K from Costco that I plan to mount to the wall directly above the X34.

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I was wondering your decision to use the wider screens as your main instead of the 4k 40"? You mostly game / watch movies so they are better for that? Or the fact that you have 3 similar sized monitors
 
I moved into a new home and changed my setup a bit. I mounted my speakers differently and I like them a lot more this way.







I tried to manage the wires in the back but it is still pretty messy. I'm not really sure what to do there, but you don't really notice unless you're behind it.




Sweet. What size monitors and pc are you running? Since you do development, what kind of stuff do you do and how do you use the monitors? One machine or Synergy?
 
Sweet. What size monitors and pc are you running? Since you do development, what kind of stuff do you do and how do you use the monitors? One machine or Synergy?

The top center is 27" 2560x1440 144hz with GSYNC, most of the others are 24" 1920x1080.

I used to make games but now I work on websites and AI.

I have them all running off one tower. The main screen is on a 1080 ti all by itself (upgraded from a 770 just recently). 3 use the onboard intel graphics and 4 are on a geforce 650.

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The logitech system I had back then died so I replaced it with a receiver and subwoofer. When I move my desk later this year I'll have nicer in-ceiling speakers and will get rid of the mounted ones.

I'm also using a UPS.
 
The top center is 27" 2560x1440 144hz with GSYNC, most of the others are 24" 1920x1080.

I used to make games but now I work on websites and AI.

I have them all running off one tower. The main screen is on a 1080 ti all by itself (upgraded from a 770 just recently). 3 use the onboard intel graphics and 4 are on a geforce 650.

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The logitech system I had back then died so I replaced it with a receiver and subwoofer. When I move my desk later this year I'll have nicer in-ceiling speakers and will get rid of the mounted ones.

I'm also using a UPS.


Very nice. My favorite part is that your monitors go below and not just stack up. That's smart thinking, I will have to plan my own system around this concept :)

Do you use the 1080TI for the AI stuff or is it mostly for gaming? Since you said you only have it hooked up to one monitor. What are the rest of your specs. What do people say when they see this :) Swordfish?
 
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Very nice. My favorite part is that your monitors go below and not just stack up. That's smart thinking, I will have to plan my own system around this concept :)

Do you use the 1080TI for the AI stuff or is it mostly for gaming? Since you said you only have it hooked up to one monitor. What are the rest of your specs. What do people say when they see this :) Swordfish?


Thanks, that is why I made my own desk. Looking up at monitors above will destroy your neck and back.
I got the 1080 ti just for gaming. I built my PC about 4 years ago and I plan on building a new one later this year. I have an i7 4770k overclocked to 4.5 GHz, 16 GB memory, 2 256GB ssds and 2 2TB hdds.
People usually ask what I do and want to take a picture when they see it. :)
 
Thanks, that is why I made my own desk. Looking up at monitors above will destroy your neck and back.
I got the 1080 ti just for gaming. I built my PC about 4 years ago and I plan on building a new one later this year. I have an i7 4770k overclocked to 4.5 GHz, 16 GB memory, 2 256GB ssds and 2 2TB hdds.
People usually ask what I do and want to take a picture when they see it. :)

Wow.... that screen real estate... Wow...

I recently upgraded to a 34inch 21:9 monitor. I honestly don't think I could handle that much visual input. I actually get a sore neck from concentrating on one side or another too long.
 
Thanks, that is why I made my own desk. Looking up at monitors above will destroy your neck and back.
I got the 1080 ti just for gaming. I built my PC about 4 years ago and I plan on building a new one later this year. I have an i7 4770k overclocked to 4.5 GHz, 16 GB memory, 2 256GB ssds and 2 2TB hdds.
People usually ask what I do and want to take a picture when they see it. :)


For the monitor mounts, what are you using? You DIY those too? I have a few ergotrons but they get pricey quick ;)
 
Setup my new ASUS MG279Q monitor on the amazonbasics single monitor arm on my tiny Ikea desk and the $8 side table to go along with it.. the arm gave me a lot of desk space though which is good. Don't have the huge ikea galant desk anymore otherwise I'll be running dual monitors with my Dell U2715H.

Got lucky with the ASUS, no dead pixels and minimum BLB in a dark room =)

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I'm using 2 EasyMountLCD hex monitor stands. They're only $120 each. I've seen people DIY their own monitor stands and they end up way more expensive than that.

I was looking for a mount a long time ago and people wanted too much money. That is until I came across EasyMountLCD. The best made and least expensive mounts out there. When ever someone is in the market I don't hesitate to recommend them.
 
I was wondering your decision to use the wider screens as your main instead of the 4k 40"? You mostly game / watch movies so they are better for that? Or the fact that you have 3 similar sized monitors

I already had one of the Dell 2560x1440, then got the other Dell (used) and the Predator X34 (refurb). I naively thought I could have a 3-monitor surround setup using the two Dells and the Predator, but turns out all monitors have to be same size and display for surround.

I noticed many wall-mounted monitors on this thread and realized I had a nice space on the wall just above the Predator to do this. Got the 4K monitor after finding deals at Costco and stuck it on the wall. At that point I'd sunk a lot of cash into the Predator and decided to keep it as a gaming monitor. The wall-mounted 4K is used for TV and movies (mostly) while the other three monitors are used for gaming/work/etc. If I did not already have the Predator I probably would have gone with a large 4K monitor (not the 40" on the wall but something bigger) and stuck it between the Dells. But I do like the Predator so this will probably be my setup for the next few years. Unless I can figure out a way to a) afford and b) fit two more Predators on my desk. Now THAT would be a sweet surround setup.
 
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