Ask HN: One Giant monitor, or multiple large monitors?

[hemancuso]

We're all stuck at home now and probably thinking a bit more about how to upgrade and optimize the home office. I have an old 27" QHD display which developed a column of dead pixels and I wanted to solicit thoughts regarding experiences with those monster 30"+ (curved?) displays, or multiple 27/28" displays. I will be driving them from a 16" MBP, peripherals aren't a concern for me.

Thoughts? Recommendations?

[gjvc]

At work I have two 27" Dell UltraSharp monitors. Landscape on the left, portrait on the right. (27" is the biggest of the range that may be rotated using the included stand) This is good for different content types. Logs can be wide. Code can be long.

At work I have two 30" Dell UltraSharp monitors, both landscape, because they don't rotate. I have to alter my work pattern a bit to make the most of the size when I need to view some things.

The immersive feeling is good. Tiling window managers (or an application like Tilix, a terminal emulator with tiling layout) make for efficient division of screen space.

[Ghjklov]

I was thinking about this one time. From a utilitarian standpoint, having multiple monitors provides a sort of redundancy. If one fails, you'll still have one to work on.

On the other hand, it also depends on your setup. If your setup can easily allow you to manage your workspaces across two different monitors, it might be better than managing everything on one screen. The opposite could be true, and you benefit from only having to deal with one screen and don't have to fiddle with anything.

[downerending]

Another factor to consider is how whatever window manager you use will interact with them. Things are probably better these days, but some WMs aren't very smart about multiple monitors.

[hemancuso]

For the most part, I'd just be using macOS WindowServer. Which isn't very helpful. That's part of what is driving the question about whether one big monitor is ultimately better.

[willcate]

I have the ASUS version of that monitor -- still works well, and a 24" horizontal-oriented next to it for inbox & document reading. If I upgraded I'd go for 34" curved.