Multi-monitor setups : Current reality an… Survey Results Question Answers Skips Do you use (or have used) a multi-monitor setup on your computer ? (Mandatory) 1,204 1 01 100% <1% 0% 46.5% 93% COUNT PERCENT Yes 1,113 92% No 91 8% PAGE 2 Question Answers Skips Is that setup horizontal, or are some monitors stacked up vertically ? (Mandatory) 1,116 89 02 93% 7% 0% 46.5% 93% COUNT PERCENT Horizontal setup 1,028 92% Some vertical stacking too 88 8% Question Answers Skips How did you acquire your monitors ? (Mandatory) 1,116 89 03 93% 7% 0% 33% 66% COUNT PERCENT They were unrelated purchases which I put together 735 66% later on All at once, specifically to make a multi-monitor 288 26% setup Initially all at once, but isolated replacements have 93 8% occured Question Answers Skips Do all of your monitors share a common dot density (DPI) ? (Mandatory) 1,116 89 04 93% 7% 0% 26.5% 53% COUNT PERCENT No 589 53% Yes 527 47% Question Answers Skips Are the monitor edges touching each other roughly of the same size ? (Mandatory) 1,116 89 05 93% 7% 0% 26% 52% COUNT PERCENT Yes 578 52% No 538 48% PAGE 3 Question Answers Skips Would you make it horizontal or stack monitors vertically as well ? (Mandatory) 1,204 1 06 100% <1% 0% 38% 76% COUNT PERCENT Purely horizontal setup 912 76% Some vertical stacking too 292 24% Question Answers Skips For a seamless experience, what OS-side restrictions on monitor choice would you consider fair ? (Mandatory) 1,204 1 07 100% <1% 0% 23% 46% COUNT PERCENT None of the above 544 45% Both of the above 418 35% Dot density (DPI) should match 145 12% Edges touching each other should have the same 97 8% size PAGE 4 Question Answers Skips Thanks for your answers ! Anything else you want to tell us ? 239 966 08 20% 80% Friday, Sep 2nd 14,638,561 a good windowmanager makes a big differnence - I'm to my missfortune bound to windows :( 8:25AM Friday, Sep 2nd 14,635,361 ion3 4:01AM I bought an 8.5 fl oz can of sprite because I thought it'd be cheaper than the 16 oz Coke next to it. They Thursday, Sep 1st 14,628,142 both cost $1.70. I am displeased. 8:06PM Thursday, Sep 1st 14,627,676 One big monitor would be better! 7:41PM Thursday, Sep 1st 14,615,314 1920x1200 is much preferred to 1920x1080. Give me back my pixels (= 8:06AM Thursday, Sep 1st 14,614,564 I use multimonitor an also I use multi monitor with my laptop. 6:40AM I routinely plug a monitor in to my laptop. So, matching DPI and/or screen size is not an option. The Thursday, Sep 1st 14,614,511 assumption of a rectangular desktop region should be relaxed to allow. 6:32AM the user interface matters too! i like what gnome 3 does for 2 screens, keeping one consistent between Thursday, Sep 1st 14,614,327 all virtual desktops. 6:09AM Mac OS X 10.7, Macbook 13", one monitor on MiniDisplayPort to VGA, another one on a DisplayLink USB to Thursday, Sep 1st 14,609,847 DVI adapter 12:27AM Wednesday, Aug 14,609,126 what a silly poll...what was the argument which this was based off of? 31st 11:45PM Wednesday, Aug 14,607,815 My second monitor is my TV. I use it for watching DVDs, with the first monitor for general use. 31st 10:33PM Wednesday, Aug 14,606,816 LG IPS231 x 2, Ubuntu 11.04, Nvidia GT 430 31st 9:46PM i use DisplayLink technology - very painless and gives me 2 extra monitors that I can do what I want with Wednesday, Aug 14,603,164 connected to my laptop via USB. Once you've tried it, you'll never go back. 31st 7:22PM Wednesday, Aug 14,601,783 I wish vertical stacking were easier! But that's a hardware thing... 31st 6:37PM Wednesday, Aug 14,597,076 I only use desktop pcs 31st 2:51PM For my setup, I used a USB video device with a separate driver. It would be nice if programs worked Wednesday, Aug 14,595,313 seamlessly with all my monitors, but not all of them do. 31st 1:23PM Wednesday, Aug 14,594,471 Must still work when DPI doesn't match, even if it runs very slowly or displays the window as a weird shape. 31st 12:31PM Wednesday, Aug 14,592,912 single monitors and things like 'mission control' will prevail for everyday use in the future 31st 10:40AM Wednesday, Aug 14,592,503 I feel cramped with only one monitor! 31st 10:08AM Wednesday, Aug 14,589,674 I run linux & nvidia cards because when I began using two monitors, nvidia was a better choice. 31st 5:14AM Idealy I'd have an array of identical monitors. Eventually my home setup will be that way but currently it's Wednesday, Aug 14,586,267 comprised of 1 16:9 LCD, 1 4:3 CRT, 1 4:3 LCD. Resolutions are all different. I'm hoping for IPS monitors in 31st 12:43AM the future but they are still too pricy. Effectively I make use of different DPI and sizes. In such layout I never install monitors side-by-side: the Wednesday, Aug 14,586,183 higher DPI device is always closer to me. 31st 12:51AM Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,584,350 Didn't understand the last question 10:49PM Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,582,060 Used to have MCGA and CGA way back when. EGA changed all that... 8:30PM I tried two different things: workstation with 2 monitors anf laptop + monitor. Both the configs are very Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,581,708 practical and I really enjoy them (while I write the laptop+external monitor) 8:10PM My monitors are independent. I don't use xinerama; I can't drag a window from one to the other. My Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,581,559 workspaces on each monitor are seperate. Nvidia, Sun Solaris, Matrox do this. ATI does not 8:01PM Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,581,395 a need for a color profile for every display has locked me to the mac (X11 ....) 7:52PM Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,580,388 Poor support in both Windows and OSX requires 3rd party hacks e.g. Multi monitor taskbar 7:07PM Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,580,263 I use different monitors for different programs not a big desktop 7:00PM Would be nice for OS to stretch/compress, if have different resolutions or DPI next to each other, seamless Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,577,807 transisition between with windows aligned etc. 5:11PM The ability to extend the desktop and have applications open on both monitors is a huge help. DPI and screen size shouldn't necessarily be important in handling this, and if this were a requirement, would Tuesday, Aug 30th Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,576,261 hinder laptop setups. I currently have a Thinkpad T400 with a 14.1" 1280x800 display and a 22.3" 4:03PM 1680x1050 display as a second monitor, this setup works very well, though not as seamless as two monitors of the same size is the setup permanent or not ? is the primary screen a notebook ? which displays are in portrait or Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,576,065 landscape positions ? 3:53PM Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,575,494 It would have been nice to easily set it up to use a different virtual desktop for each monitor. 3:27PM the OS / window manager must allow to change content of each monitor indipendently (e.g. as awesome Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,574,874 wm, e17, xmonad do ... not like gnome, kde, etc) 3:02PM Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,574,010 The Monitors have to be identical, same brand, model etc... 2:14PM Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,573,037 Full screen apps on one monitor while windowed on the other should be allowed. 1:42PM Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,572,665 Using a 17" laptop and a 26" screen together. 1:13PM I also use a laptop with a multi-montor setup. This means that I need flexibility in the configuration. It's Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,571,986 preferable to not have to logout/restart to unplug/attach a monitor. 12:18PM Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,570,614 Surprised there were no questions on aspect ratios or resolutions 10:33AM Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,569,898 I admit to not having what I would consider an ideal setup. 9:28AM Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,569,537 Make it easy to use, not the most options 8:54AM I think apps should be thought from the start for multimonitor. Eg: Image you're writing a document in openoffice. The document could be displayed in one monitor for editing and in the other in a smaller zoom Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,569,490 for whole page or multipage overview. That way you get really useful multimonitor setup. Else you can just 8:51AM run more applications at once, but it's not that useful. A good example of programs that do this right is trading programs which show charts in one monitor, price list in other, etc. I do not use multi-monitor setups nowadays. One sufficiently big monitor is fine for my use. 1920x1080 Tuesday, Aug 30th 14,569,470 resolution at least is fine. And the monitor should not be huge, 21.5-23 " is fine for this resolution.