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J&P Group > J&P InfoSol > Hardware > Monitors

Monitors

 

Introduction <top>

Bits and pieces around monitors (screens), use of multiple screens (higher productivty), and related topics.

Multiple Screens <top>

Why?

Higher productivity.

  • Researchers at Utah University found people using two monitors being 44% more productive than people using one single monitor. (NY Times, 2009)
  • Older research, from 2006 by Jon Peddie Research, showed increase between 20% and 30% with dual monitors vs one monitor.
How?
  • Laptop: Today most if not all laptops immediately support a second, external, screen and with 'dual display' mode (different content on laptop's own screen and the external).
  • Desktop: Often a second graphic card is required (in same cases, the desktop's graphic card already support multiple screens - analog and digital).

 

Cost?
  1. Graphic card
    • Laptop: no cost for graphics card, in some cases special adapter cable may be requred.
    • Desktop: basic second graphic card from below $50 up to multiple hundreds USD depending on performance, speed (higher for gaming), memory, supported resolutions, ...
  2. 2nd/external monitor: Depending on size, from around $200 and up. A good 24" with higher performance and contrast ratio etc can be around $500. 30" are more expensive and can be found around $1000 to $2000. (Screens for professional photo/video work even more.)

  • GeekTech: Double Your Fun With a Second Monitor (PC World, 2005)
    Extract: "Another good example is how it impacts my work with spreadsheets. Here at PC World many of the editors spend a fair amount of time wrangling ridiculously large and scary spreadsheets. Before hooking up my second monitor, I occasionally had to print out parts of these gigantic spreadsheets in order to compare them with results in another spreadsheet. Now that I have a second monitor, I can see everything at once."

 

Computer-Platform Specific Notes <top>

MacBook, MacBook Pro <top>

E.g. MacBook Pro 15" (June 2009)

Dual-Link DVI adapter

Dual-Link DVI adapter - required if using resolution higher than 1920 x 1200, e.g. 30" monitor. For (e.g. modern variants, 2009-) of MacBook, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini.

 

Screen Resolutions <top>

From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vector_Video_Standards2.svg

Comparison tables - work in progress...

(Created Sep 2009; last updated July 2011)

TO Screen
720 HD WXGA WSXGA SXGA WSXGA+ 1080 HD WUXGA 1440p WQXGA name
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 row
From Screen  

1280x

720

1280x

800

1440x

900

1280x

1024

1680x

1050

1920x

1080

1920x

1200

2560x

1440

2560x

1600

hor. x

vert.

Row Name Hor. Vert. Ratio #Pixels   921600 1024000 1296000 1310720 1764000 2073600 2304000 3686400 4096000 #pixels
-

iPhone 1-3

480 320 1.5 153600 +500% +567% +744% +753% +1048% +1250% +1400% +2300% +2567% included for fun
- iPhone 4 960 640 1.5 614400 +50% +67% +111% +113% +187% +238% +275% +500% +567% included for fun
1 VGA 640 480 1.33 307200 +200% +233% +322% +327% +474% +575% +650% +1100% +1233%  
2 SVGA 800 600 1.33 480000 +92% +113% +170% +173% +268% +332% +380% +668% +753%  
3 XGA 1024 768 1.33 786432 +17% +30% +65% +67% +124% +164% +193% +369% +421% iPad (Apr 2010)
4 720 HD 1280 720 1.78 921600 - +11% +41% +42% +91% +125% +150% +300% +344%  
5 WXGA* 1280 800 1.6 1024000 -10% - +27% +28% +72% +103% +125% +260% +300% 15" Win laptop
6 WSXGA 1440 900 1.6 1296000 -29% -21% - +1% +36% +60% +78% +184% +216% 15" Mac laptop
7 SXGA 1280 1024 1.25 1310720 -30% -22% -1% - +35% +58% +76% +181% +213%  
8 WSXGA+ 1680 1050 1.6 1764000 -48% -42% -27% -26% - +18% +31% +109% +132% 17-22" ext. mon.
9 1080 HD 1920 1080 1.78 2073600 -56% -51% -38% -37% -15% - +11% +78% +98%

HD TV; 21.5" iMac

           

Many (most?) computer screens, even larger (like many 27") are nowadays 1080 HD.

 
10 WUXGA 1920 1200 1.6 2304000 -60% -56% -44% -43% -23% -10% - +60% +78%

19-24" screen

traditional (note)
11 1440p 2560 1440 1.78 3686400 -75% -72% -65% -64% -52% -44% -38% - +11% 27" (iMac, Dell,...)
12 WQXGA 2560 1600 1.6 4096000 -78% -75% -68% -68% -57% -49% -44% -10% - 30" screen
 
*Wide XGA is a set of non-standard resolutions
WXGA 1280 800 1.6 1024000   +11% - -21% -22% -42% -51% -56% -72% -75%  
WXGA 1366 768 1.78~ 1049088   +14% +2% -19% -20% -41% -49% -54% -72% -74%  

Examples:

1 A modern 2560x1440 27" monitor (watch out the the 1080 HD screens...) has 60% more pixels than a 1920x1200 24" screen
2 The same 2560x1440 27" monitor has 78% more pixels than a 1080 HD screen
3 A 1920x1200 WUXGA has 125% more pixels than a 1280x800 WXGA screen

iPhone screens -->

1440p: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_High_Definition

Avoid 1080 HD For Professional Computing! <top>

Ok, the higher-resolutions 27" screens from (e.g.) Apple and Dell come with a higher price tag but don't buy cheaper 1080 HD screens even it's a "27 in big screen". The increased number of pixels of 1440p / 2560x1440 makes a huge difference for professional work.

Hor. Vert. Ratio #Pixels  
1080 HD 1920 1080 1.78 2073600 Ok if you're only looking at videos...
1440p 2560 1440 1.78 3686400 If producing any content (documents, photos, software, video, ...)
Difference +33% +33% = +78%  

Considerations for a picking a nice 27" screen:

  • Make sure your computer's graphic card(s)
    1) can support the higher resolution
    2) has the appopriate hardware interface (e.g. Apple's 27-inch widescreen LED monitor requires Mini DisplayPort)
  • Viewing/use: Brightness, backlightning, viewing angle
  • Extra features: integrated USB hub, speakers, ... (may even have camera for web conferencing, and in the case of Apple's - power for laptop)

 

Dual-Screen Calculations <top>

 

(Common screen sizes per Sep 2009)

          Increased Screen Real-estate    
Config What Res. Ratio   1a 1b 1c 2a 2b 2c    
1a 15" Win laptop 1280x800

1.6

1 024 000 -              
1b + ext 24" 1920x1200 1.6 2 304 000 +125% -            
1c Combined     3 328 000 +225% +44% -          
2a 15" Mac laptop 1440x900 1.6 1 296 000       -        
2b + ext 24" 1920x1200 1.6 2 304 000       +78% -      
2c Combined     3 600 000       +178% +56% -    

Example: A standard 15" Mac laptop has 1296000 pixels and adding a 24" external monitor gives a total of 3600000 pixels, and increase by 178%.

 

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