Adding a 4th monitor to a triple screen system - top? bottom?

I'd like to hear from people who have a 4th monitor mounted above or below their Eyefinity/Surround displays - how are the ergonomics and does it make sense to get a larger screen or to go smaller?

I currently have a 3 screen array of Asus VG248QE screens on a good Chief mount which is fixed to my desk.

My desk is an electric sit/stand desk with an articulating keyboard surface with 15" of travel (up/down). This is a nice advantage because it lets me lower the desk and raise the keyboard to be in a better position to use an additional screen that I'm considering mounting above my current array.

I have both a work PC and my personal PC on my desk and I use the center and right screen for work. I'd like to add the 4th screen so I can monitor my email after hours while having my NV Surround system available. Alternately, I'd like to be able to try a game on the IPS screen and possibly watch TV or movies on it.

I'm thinking of a 21:9 screen - it would give me more space for work, would be interesting in Guild Wars 2 and possibly wide screen TV/movies (which will be rare).

Of course the 34" screens would be fantastic, but I think it's too large to be able to position it correctly as a primary screen. I think the 29" would be a good compromise, but I'm also looking at the small 25" version since it will be less obtrusive and easier to get into the center of my vision. Also - this really will be an accessory screen, not a main screen so the 29" ones seem like overkill.

Also, I'd consider a 27" 1440p screen, but again, it seems like it will just loom over the other displays and look ridiculous.

I thought about adding a 4th monitor to my triple monitor setup. However if I were to do so I would probably have to go with portrait mode over the current landscape mode. I'm not sure I would like that,...

If you have it above it will strain your neck having to look up constantly.

Not necessarily. We're talking about lousy x1080 screens here. Having two on top of each others gives 2160; or just 35% more than you get with a 30". Of course the pixelpitch is a bit larger, but you still end up with only 68cm height minus two bezels.

If you put it under it; you must have the space there. Meaning your normal screen will be rather high. And all kinds of junk on your desk will block the view if you put it under your normal screen.

For primary screen I wouldn´t go portrait. You get horizontal tearing if you do.

The Chief KTP325 has a 3 screen cross bar supported by 2 vertical poles. The whole array can be moved up or down and I have both the 14" and the 28" poles with the 14" ones currently installed and preferred.

I have just enough space between the screens and the desk top to lean my ipad against them - I watch the news a lot like that (Tivo stream).

Also, the relative height of the current screens to the keyboard/mouse surface is completely adjustable - if I put the keyboard surface at maximum height, it's just under the screens:



If I add a top screen, I'll probably drop the main array a few more inches so I can get the keyboard surface closer to it if I need to.

Also, It's probably going to be more for just monitoring things than for intensive use. I like to have as much flexibility as possible - the LG 21:9 monitors have dual HDMI, DVI and DP - that's enough to hook up the PC, work PC, Tivo and maybe a console or my Shield on the last HDMI. I was thinking about the Korean 1440p monitors but most of them just have 1 DVI which wouldn't be ideal for me.

DoubleTap said:

The Chief KTP325 has a 3 screen cross bar supported by 2 vertical poles. The whole array can be moved up or down and I have both the 14" and the 28" poles with the 14" ones currently installed and preferred.

I have just enough space between the screens and the desk top to lean my ipad against them - I watch the news a lot like that (Tivo stream).

Also, the relative height of the current screens to the keyboard/mouse surface is completely adjustable - if I put the keyboard surface at maximum height, it's just under the screens:

If I add a top screen, I'll probably drop the main array a few more inches so I can get the keyboard surface closer to it if I need to.

Also, It's probably going to be more for just monitoring things than for intensive use. I like to have as much flexibility as possible - the LG 21:9 monitors have dual HDMI, DVI and DP - that's enough to hook up the PC, work PC, Tivo and maybe a console or my Shield on the last HDMI. I was thinking about the Korean 1440p monitors but most of them just have 1 DVI which wouldn't be ideal for me.

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I didn't realize you could adjust your keyboard/mouse height separately. I would definitely go under if you can get the top screen to the correct height and still have room under. Even just looking up for a little gets very uncomfortable whereas looking below isn't nearly as bad. But if you're always having to look slightly up for your main display that would obviously be worse.

I used to have a setup where I had a monitor above and it just seemed like a waste because it was such a pain in the neck. I'm much happier with the secondary row below like how I have here.

I'm considering how much I want to spend on this. I have a lot of down time with work and I'd like to be able to have my Surround rig fully operational but still keep an eye on email and IMs.

I'm thinking a cheap monitor might be the best idea - at least until I decide whether the concept is workable or not.

Here was my set up for quite some time. I recently moved the top 32" TV off to to the right. It worked out nicer when sitting on the couch as it was a directly in front. It was nice being able to put a movie or whatever right above while working however when playing on the n64, 360, or PS4 you could easily see the pixels. I may put another smaller screen above.

Ok, after thinking about this a lot, I don't think a top mount is viable at all:

1. I would have to redo my Left/Center/Right speakers which are just above the current screens. Not a major deal but I would prefer not to.

2. Looking up at the extra screen is a deal breaker - ergonomics are important to me and the idea of a screen above eye level seems like a chiropractor conspiracy.

3. After much careful measurement, I believe I could easily raise my main screens and put the new screen center/bottom.

Currently my 3 screens are in the vertical middle of where I could mount them - the problem is that if I lower the 3 screens, the keyboard surface will hit them (because the side screens are angled toward me). However, a single center/bottom screen won't create that problem. Also, I think it's much easier to glance down than glance up and I'll still be able to raise the desk and lower the keyboard surface to put that center screen in the optimal position.

I think I could even squeeze in a 34UM95 but I'm not sure I would survive the domestic fallout so I'm looking at a 29" ultra wide.

I ordered this 7" Liliput monitor from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ABWYFG2/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It has HDMI/DVI and composite inputs. I decided I didn't need a full extra monitor but this will allow me to either monitor work during slow/down times or run the Tivo through it so I can listen to news/late night tv while while freeing up my Surround screens for other things.

I got the 7" liliput monitor and set it up. It mostly works - it will display resolutions higher than the native panel resolution.

The problem is that the screen has serious overscan - I'm losing about a 5% border around the entire screen - I can't see the start button, the status bar, etc. I've tried every resolution and it does not matter. There are no OSD adjustments to fix this either.

I'll probably end up sending it back just for this reason.

There should be overscan in the Nvidia control panel. It's not there?

King Icewind said:

There should be overscan in the Nvidia control panel. It's not there?

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My work computer does have the Nvidia control panel and the image adjust does work - the problem is that if I change the input or do much of anything, it loses the setting and goes back to overscan. It does remember that section of the menu so it's easy to reapply the adjustment it's still a hassle.

It feels like a $59 solution to me, not a $159 solution.