Working daily with the cloud, we are usually separated from hardware by many layers of abstraction and dozens of automations. Just look at the EC2 instance family.
You might even develop a dismissive attitude towards hardware. Assuming that we meet the requirements for computing power and memory, every machine will work well. The rest is tuning and cost optimization. We practically never consider choosing from a full range of instance types consisting of hundreds of items. As a result, hardware loses its significance (commodification).
However, there is another category of hardware that we should pay much more attention to. I am talking about devices we use personally, not remotely, because they affect our health and well-being.
While working in an office, our choice is limited to what the employer provides. But in remote work, we are only limited by budget (or wife ๐).
Today I will present my journey to decide on purchasing a new monitor and describe what it's like to work on it after six weeks.
Are you perhaps thinking about changing your monitor but have been putting it off? In that case, I hope this article will encourage you to consider changes at your own desk.
I unnecessarily lost a few months to deliberations and pondering the topic. If someone had advised me at the beginning, offered knowledge that I am about to pass on to you, I would have saved time and enjoyed a better workplace much earlier.
Choice - the path leading to the goal
The impact of a display on the eyes is obvious. This was the main driver for me to change.
I had two very old Full HD LG monitors, which did not have any solutions to protect my eyesight. I had them connected via a docking station and KVM switch to a PC and a work MacBook.
This is how they looked a few years ago. All in all, they were good to work with. Unfortunately, the autumn-winter period, when dusk falls right after lunch, strongly affected the fatigue of my eyes.
Around November or December, I started looking for new monitors.
Since from my first job in 2006 I have always used two monitors, I still wanted to stay with this setup. The space I have allows for the installation of two twenty-seven-inch (27") monitors. That's what I started looking for.
While it is currently difficult to find hardware without eye protection features (no flickering + blue light filtering), I had other requirements that posed a challenge. I wanted to get rid of the tangle of cables under the desk along with additional devices (docking station and KVM switch).
My requirement became Daisy Chaining, also known as MST, allowing two monitors to be serially connected together, so that only one cable needs to be run from the computer to the first monitor.
Yes, it definitely solved my first world problem: connecting a MacBook Pro with two UBS-C/Thunderbolt cables - was to become a thing of the past ๐
Unfortunately, it soon turned out as follows (this is a story for at least two ๐ป beers, so I'll shorten it a lot):
- Apple does not support MST over USB-C
- Apple may support MST over Thunderbolt 3/4, but it is safest to have M2 chip hardware
- Monitors with Thunderbolt are at least 2 times more expensive than those with USB-C
In general, dozens of hours spent looking for equipment resulted in finding a model that might work with a MacBook, supported Daisy Chaining, and also had a built-in KVM switch.
The price was only ~1000 USD. Per piece. (BenQ PD2725U)
Unfortunately, someone figured out that when a monitor has Thunderbolt ports, it falls under the category of applications "computer graphics" and such equipment should be priced accordingly.
As you might guess, I don't care about the colors in VS Code and Chrome ๐ so I wasn't going to pay for parameters I didn't need.
At that point, I returned to the idea of a single Ultra-wide monitor, which physically replaces two 27-inch monitors. I write "returned" because such a thought crossed my mind at the very beginning, but I quickly dismissed it. At that time, I believed that 49-inch monitors were a segment for gamers (crazy refresh rates, low input lag, etc.) - and again, I would be paying for something I wouldn't use.
And here's another digression. It's us, programmers, who push this entire IT business forward, and yet there isn't even a segment of monitors for coding and the internet for us. And nobody will convince me that "office" is our segment because "office" is simply ordinary equipment without anything special for pro users like us.
The obvious advantage of a single monitor is the lack of the need for MST and Thunderbolt support. This significantly lowers the price and also positively impacts the minimalism of the final effect on the desk. That's why...
I started looking for a 49-inch Ultra-wide monitor.
The choice isn't vast (at least in Poland), and from several models available on the market from different manufacturers, I quickly decided on Samsung.
Wide, but not for gamers! Exactly what I needed ๐ฏ
The exact model is LS49A950UIUXEN.
Source: Manufacturer's materials, Samsung.
I bought it for less than 1300 USD. That's half the price of two BenQ 27-inch monitors. ๐
Unfortunately, it quickly turned out that I needed to buy a desk mount, as the Samsung stand takes up a ton of space. I chose the Ergotron HX Desk Monitor Arm for only 380 USD ๐ฌ.
The monitor is 5K, meaning its resolution is 5120 by 1440 pixels, and the screen aspect ratio is 32:9.
Curved R1800 screen
Source: Manufacturer's materials, Samsung.
Since my old monitors were also set at an angle, I essentially wanted a curved monitor. However, there are two types of them: R1800 and R1000. 'R' as in the radius of the circle of which the screen is a part. 1800 gives a lesser curvature, while 1000 gives a greater one.
First impression
Very positive.
Although I must admit, on such a wide monitor this curvature could be greater, so R = 1000 would also be suitable. This type dominates in monitors intended for gaming due to a greater immersion in the game world. Unfortunately, I didn't find any 49" monitor on display anywhere in my home town to sit in front of, so I bought it blindly.
The transition from twice Full HD (1920 x 1080) to 5120 x 1440 pixels also did the job. The difference in the vertical is very noticeable for the better, although the physical dimension is the same as in the old equipment.
The monitor, even with a new desk mount, protrudes much more from the wall than my old monitors, thereby taking up space above the desk and shortening the distance to the screen. In the center it is 22 cm, and on the sides 32 cm from the wall.
The last note is about the rear panel of the monitor and connecting cables - a real torment, they made it very inconvenient.
Current setup
My Mac Book Pro is connected to the monitor with a single USB-C cable (and it is charged from it). The old PC, on the other hand, is connected via two HDMI cables (in Picture-by-Picture monitor mode - for the PC it's like two physical 27" monitors). I got rid of the docking station and KVM switch under the desk (along with dozens of cables). It's now simpler and more minimalistic.
Unfortunately, the KVM switch built into the monitor only half works. That is, it only switches the image, but not everything that is plugged into the monitor via USB. In practice, this means that my Logitech mouse and keyboard must be switched separately between computers (each device has such a switch - the Easy Switch technology in Logitech Unifying Receiver).
Perhaps I am too stupid to figure it out, and honestly, I didn't want to invest more time in it because I use the PC sporadically, and these three clicks don't annoy me (monitor, keyboard, and mouse). In summary, I have a lot of devices plugged into the monitor, and everything communicates with the laptop via a single USB-C cable along with the image - and that's a great thing.
Impressions after 6 weeks of use
Not much to say - it's awesome and that's why I'm writing about it.
Perhaps you are thinking about changing your monitor, but you have put it off until later? Or maybe you didn't even know that there are such ultra-wide ones? In that case, I hope this article will encourage you to consider upgrading your workspace. If someone had advised me earlier, I could have enjoyed better equipment for longer. I, personally, recommend it.
For me, the biggest surprise is how big a difference the lack of bezels (frames) in the middle of the screen makes compared to a setup of two monitors.
For years I sat slightly crooked because my left monitor was the main one. Now I sit totally perpendicular and look straight ahead (area no. 2 in the picture).
The lack of a bezel in the middle enables better work. For years, I worked in two work areas (right and left monitor). Now I work on three.
I have divided the screen into 3 areas, where the middle one is centrally located and is about 20% wider than the side ones. It works incredibly well! The side areas are auxiliary, for example, email and company messenger. To define these working areas and manage windows, I use an application on MacOS called Rectangle Pro.
The comfort of work and the health benefits of sitting straight and looking straight are incomparably better than with two monitors. I know, I am very excited about it, but I still feel that I do not accurately convey how big a difference the lack of bezels makes!
I must also add that before the change, I was very afraid of not having two monitors, because of how the fullscreen mode works on Mac. For those who don't know, I will just say that it creates a virtual desktop for each maximized window. This was a feature I used heavily with two monitors. On one, it only makes sense with some applications (for example, Miro looks awesome ๐๐, video editing or VS Code), but in most cases it is hopeless, for example, maximized Chrome, or YouTube leaves a lot of empty, unused space on the sides. Fortunately, the aforementioned screen areas work so well that I don't miss the Mac's virtual desktops at all!
Summary
I am very pleased with the change, even though it is not perfect (lack of one-button computer switching). The quality of work has definitely improved, and importantly, I have taken care of my body (eyes and spine).
Ultra-wide 49" monitors are still relatively rare equipment, so I hope this article will be helpful for you in making or not the purchase decision.
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