Dual Monitors Different Sizes Yea or Nay

Barbarian

I'm currently running dual 23" LED monitors. The new 27" LED monitors look great, but I can't afford two. I sat a 27" LED and 23" LED next to each other in Best Buy and "just had a feeling" that having dual monitors of different sizes may not be a good thing to do. I don't want to spend the money and discover I don't like the set up.

Anyone have any experience with different size dual monitors? Share your vibes please.

Thanks

aesir

Yea, I have a widescreen and a fullscreen monitor, both at work and home. I could see it being nice for them to be the same, but it doesn't cause any problems. The only problem I could see would be if you wanted something to span from one screen to another, like a super wide image or videogame? I never want/need to do that, so there's no problem.

Dylan Brady

22" widescreen main, and a 17" fullscreen secondary.
AND there separated by about 8 inches to make room for my Left speaker (I have studio monitors)
no problem for me.

m4dcow

I had a 24" and a 20" setup for awhile, and when I needed it worked well. However they were at different resolutions which led to a few annoying quirks where mouse pointer wouldn't go across the screen when it was coming from the bottom. The colors were also different which annoyed me too, even bought a calibration tool to fix this but they were still off.

Long story short, none of those things bothered me when I had work which really benefitted from dual screens, be it udk content browser, animation curves or just reference up on the alternate screen. When I didn't have to do that type of work, I just turned the other monitor off and pushed it to the side (had them on arms).

EarthQuake

I have a 24" and 20" and really, once you get over the fact that moving your mouse across the bottom of the 24 to the 20 will not work, and you need to move it up 200 pixels instead, its fine. Really this is a minor annoyance that you will get used to quickly.

I love the two monitors, I keep secondary work functions, like uvs, reference, etc on the 20" while working, as well as IM or any other misc stuff.

I've also had 2x 20" monitors in the past, and I really cant say there is that much of a difference having matching sizes, i'm sure if you had a 15" and a 27" it would be an issue thought.

I would rather have two 23" monitors than one 27" to tell you the truth, because I like separating apps to specific windows. But would prefer 27 + 23 over either.

Barbarian

Thanks for the quick replies. I was standing and looking at the two screens in the store and they were not hooked up to a computer (just had some repeating ads running). At least now I have a better idea of the pros and cons. Muchas gracias for the feedback.

Sean VanGorder

I currently have dual 23 inch widescreens, and I'm loving it, for what it's worth. Before these I was using a two different sized monitors, and I have to say I much prefer having matching sizes.

HitmonInfinity

I have a 24 widescreen and a 17 standard. It's well worth having the 17, but I'd love two 24's instead. I would recommend getting two 24s or other size. Might be cheaper than getting a 27 and something else.

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't read your first post carefully. I wouldn't recommend getting two 24s if you currently have two 23s lol.

iconoplast

I've had both matched sets and mismatched monitors -- the only time the mismatched ones have really bothered me has been when I can't make the resolutions match. Otherwise it's nice to have them match but not a big deal.

Barbarian

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

Oniram

right now ive upgraded to a 23" and 21", before it was a 21" and 17". ive got to admit i do like having both widescreen, it just makes it easier not to have to resize a window to fit on a smaller screen. and having 2 monitors of the same resolution is good too. only downside to mine tho is that they are different monitors, so colors are a bit off for them, but generally i dont work on the second monitor so its all good.

maze

I have a 24 and 22, and works good! although havent figure out how to move fast wit the wacom between both, when I have it mapped at both at the same time, the cursor works bad, is there a way to set a up a keyboard shortcut to switch between monitors?

Skillmister

24" widescreen, 19" fullscreen. Works out nice because they are both the same physical height

maze

hey Dado! Thanks man! I'll check those out, thanks for helping me!!

PogoP

What I find annoying with different size monitors is that, for example, when working with UDK you may need to drag the generic browser from one monitor to the other, and it will stay either too small or too big. Luckily though, with Windows 7 you can drag it to the top to maximise it. Also, when print+screening, you get one monitor on a smaller resolution which is a bit annoying.

MrOneTwo

I've got 22 and 17. The 17s max res is lower than 22. After changing refresh rate to the lower one it works in higher resolution ;p I know its not technically higher res. It covers almost all 22 height though and doesn't cut anything. It shows all working space. 2 monitors = must have (for me at least...).

Barbarian

Lots of good points to consider before spending the moola. Thanks again.

Frump

I've got one 24" 16:9 monitor and one 20" 16:10 monitor. The vertical difference in size isn't huge so they go really well together. I've never had any big issues at all with them being different sizes. Dual montors of different sizes probably works less and less well as the difference in size/resolution increases. In my case the vertical resolutions are 1080/1050.

yeman

EarthQuake wrote: »

I have a 24" and 20" and really, once you get over the fact that moving your mouse across the bottom of the 24 to the 20 will not work, and you need to move it up 200 pixels instead, its fine. Really this is a minor annoyance that you will get used to quickly.

In case you don't know(or anybody that doesn't know), you can adjust it in your "screen resolutin" to make the bottoms lined up, except then you won't be able to move your mouse across the top. Just drag the monitor icons marked 1 and 2, and align them whichever way you please.

slipsius

im running a 32" and a 21". Before the 32(my tv), i had a 19 full, because i didnt have a widescreen tablet. I never had an issue. You get use to whatever you have

EarthQuake

yeman wrote: »

In case you don't know(or anybody that doesn't know), you can adjust it in your "screen resolutin" to make the bottoms lined up, except then you won't be able to move your mouse across the top. Just drag the monitor icons marked 1 and 2, and align them whichever way you please.

Thanks, I prefer to be able to run across the top, because honestly, I dont really have any problem going across the bottom. I mean I drag apps across the top etc. Really its a very minor issue, and something you get used to after a day or two.

ariofighter

I am running a 24" at 1920x1200 and a 22" at 1920x1080. I have also been using a program called DisplayFusion to handle the integration. The res difference took some getting used to, but its not a problem for me anymore. It is definitly better then only having one, but I would be lying if I said I wouldn't prefer having two 24"s. On that note though I would love to have two 26" or 30"s, I just don't have the space...and more importantly the finances. That being said I love having my smaller monitor to run other programs on while I work. Makes me feel important...lol.

BadgerBaiter

Ah cheers for that info, it seems to be increasingly hard to find a monitor at 1920x1200 in the 24" range--- my current one is about to die
I have spied a dell 23" IPS monitor for £200 which I am going to get, will be nice to plug my laptop into it via the display port.

e-freak

24" and 19" here, the first being 1920x1200 and the second one being 1280x1024. it never has been a problem, is an ideal setup and works just fine. even at work my screens are of different size and resolution. I actually find it more usefull that way as it gives you a clear center of attention and helps in organizing stuff on one screen and having fewports/canvases on the bigger one (where my wacom is mapped to as well).

windows 7: pressing [win]+[arrowkey] is an awesome helper as well, when you need to shift stuff (especially udk content browser etc).

Kwramm

30" and 20". turn the 20" display by 90 degrees, and it becomes the perfect extension for the 30" model with the same vertical resolution. nice

tablet, gaming, all no issues. Displayfusion is nice though. Biggest annoyance is that the colors don't entirely match, but for that its best to buy identical monitors

ariofighter

Kwramm wrote: »

Biggest annoyance is that the colors don't entirely match, but for that its best to buy identical monitors

THAT is the biggest truth that I forgot to mention. I have one warm monitor and one cool monitor. I have messed with all of the settings and no 'good' match. If you are a painter or do a lot of really accurate photo work, you will need to pick a monitor you like best.