Single monitor setups once dominated most home and office spaces, but computer users looking to enhance their productivity have consistently turned to larger-screened workstations in recent years. For the most part, there are two main ways to add screen real estate to your desk setup. You can either swap your monitor’s standard aspect ratio for an ultrawide monitor, or add more regular-sized monitors to build a multi-screened workstation. On paper, an ultrawide might sound incredibly appealing, because it provides the desktop space of a dual monitor setup without the bezels and clunkiness.

However, you shouldn’t rush into buying a new ultrawide monitor before fully considering a dual monitor setup instead. If you’re on the fence, here are four reasons (in the linked article below) why you should create a dual monitor setup instead of buying an ultrawide.

Since I started testing out using a second monitor, I could never go back to using a single monitor. Even at both work locations I used to sit at, I had a separate monitor to plug into my laptop.

I now use 3 monitors as standard at home, and I’ve upgraded them bit by bit (costs less, yes), and it’s true you can choose to have one in portrait orientation (which I’ve only tested once). It does mean, though, you also need to ensure you have a graphics card (GPU) with enough outputs.

See xda-developers.com/dual-monito…
#Blog, #monitors, #technology

I never thought about this before, really for a monitor. I’ve heard about them being used as standalone switches, and still think that may be more flexible.

However, if you have one ultra-wide monitor, maybe it would make sense to split that display into two sides, and have a computer working on each side (a bit like having two physical monitors).

The main point of a KVM switch is to improve your productivity by allowing you to use multiple computers with one monitor, mouse, and keyboard. It’s there in the name: KVM stands for “keyboard, video, mouse,” and when a monitor is equipped with a KVM switch, you can easily swap between multiple devices utilizing it.

Where I certainly can use a KVM switch is for the times I just want to connect my Macbook Air, or maybe even my Samsung Dex on my phone, to one of my monitors. The reason is right now when I connect a different device to one of my monitors, the OS recognises the monitor as disconnected, and it rearranges my desktop. If a KVM switch can make that operation a bit slicker and smoother, it could be useful.

I’ll certainly not be rushing out though to go buy a monitor just to get a KVM switch. I’d really only think about this when buying another monitor, and I’d also need to consider whether I’ll just replace one of my three monitors, or buy an expensive ultra-wide monitor with a KVM switch. Really decisions only for a future time, I hope.

I’ve only previously looked at KVM switches for remote management of a computer, but I’m thinking it is time to get to know more about just how KVM switches can be used.

See lifehacker.com/tech/your-next-…
#Blog, #KVM, #KVMswitch, #monitors, #technology

Calibrate and characterize your display devices using one of many supported measurement instruments, with support for multi-display setups and a variety of available options for advanced users, such as verification and reporting functionality to evaluate ICC profiles and display devices, creating video 3D LUTs, as well as optional CIECAM02 gamut mapping to take into account varying viewing conditions.

Many years ago I bought a ColorVision Spyder2 colorimeter which worked on Windows, but when I changed to Linux there were just no drivers to work with it. Today I found that DisplayCAL just worked straight out the box to work perfectly with my Spyder2 on Linux.

When I say worked, I mean reads and calibrates etc, but I’m still figuring out how to actually write back to the profiles to execute the corrections. But at least it is actually reading the levels and responding to adjustments. It’s not a simple tool to understand (well for me right now) and standard calibration testing has taken up to an hour per monitor, but I see very quick mode was about 15 minutes.

It is open source and written in Python, I see.

See displaycal.net
#Blog, #calibration, #DisaplyCAL, #monitors, #opensource, #technology

We’re rapidly reaching the point where 1080p PC gaming is considered “outdated,” and many players are looking to upgrade. Most people likely assume 4K is the natural next step; that was the upgrade path for most TV owners, after all. However, 4K monitors are more expensive and harder to come by than 4K TVs, so many PC builders opt for 1440p displays instead.

Yes, monitors can be pricey, and they are also items that can be used for many years, so are not something you just replace every year or two. It is also true that as you up the resolution, as well as refresh rate, then your CPU and/or GPU has to work harder to achieve a smooth performance.

Other practical things to also consider with a new monitor are whether you require VESA mounts (to mount on a wall or above a desk on arms), the types of ports your graphics card supports (don’t just default to HDMI), and the refresh type that is compatible with your GPU card (otherwise you may not be able to take advantage of the monitor’s peak performance). So I always consider these basic requirements first, so as to narrow down what I need to consider choosing. A simple spreadsheet really goes a long way!

For me personally, I’m still fine with my three 1080p, but my newest addition was an upgraded refresh rate to 144 Hz.

See lifehacker.com/should-you-upgr…

#technology #hardware #monitors #4K
#Blog, ##4k, ##hardware, ##monitors, ##technology

I posted a while ago about criteria to choose a new monitor, and although the connectivity aspect was listed, I've delved a bit deeper into it now seeing I need to replace a monitor myself.

What I've noted is more DisplayPort (DP) connectors on new video cards, as well as the fact that DisplayPort is giving better bandwidth throughput. Both HDMI and DP will handle sound (although speakers on monitors are usually awful). A problem seems to be that monitors are lagging behind a bit (if I look at what is locally available to me in South Africa), with all carrying HDMI connectivity but a lot fewer having DP, and I also note that for both types, the versions are a lot older than the video cards themselves. Also interesting that I see far more monitors with AMD FreeSync certification, and a lot fewer with NVidia's G-Sync, and a few have both.

It's good to see, even budget priced gaming monitors, are standardising on 144Hz upwards, with 1ms response times. But based on the DP evolvement and AMD FreeSync, it is interesting to see how the market seems to be shifting a bit now.

However, the product description on most online retailer sites are just terrible. They are especially bad with omissions around all the port connectivity options and the sync options. I've had to do a lot of double-checking because I had discarded options based purely on the retailers' sites, which were incorrect.

See DisplayPort vs. HDMI: Which Is Better For Gaming?

#technology #monitors #DisplayPort #HDMI #gaming

We look at bandwidth, resolution, refresh rate and more to see the differences between DisplayPort and HDMI connections.

gadgeteer.co.za/displayport-vs…