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How many displays do I need?

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Darthmnkyrpm

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 4, 2012
52
0
Alright, so after a few years, I'm finally making the change from my old 15" MBP to the new Mac Pro. But one question still stands. How many monitors do I want?

I work at my desk in my dorm, so I don't have a lot of room. Half of me thinks it would be cool to work on a screen twice the size. But then again, since I do video, music, and sound editing, I feel like I might be able to put stuff on two screens. At home, I would have my laptop and a monitor and I really enjoyed having two displays. And now with Mavericks, multiple displays is even better.

So basically, to anyone that does any sort of editing, which do you think would be better? Having one bigger display, or two somewhat smaller displays?
 
nateo200

nateo200

macrumors 68030
Feb 4, 2009
2,906
42
Upstate NY
Darthmnkyrpm said:
Alright, so after a few years, I'm finally making the change from my old 15" MBP to the new Mac Pro. But one question still stands. How many monitors do I want?

I work at my desk in my dorm, so I don't have a lot of room. Half of me thinks it would be cool to work on a screen twice the size. But then again, since I do video, music, and sound editing, I feel like I might be able to put stuff on two screens. At home, I would have my laptop and a monitor and I really enjoyed having two displays. And now with Mavericks, multiple displays is even better.

So basically, to anyone that does any sort of editing, which do you think would be better? Having one bigger display, or two somewhat smaller displays?
Click to expand...

I definitely prefer two displays (not including the internal display). I'm VERY visual, and I have to have things organized or I can't function so I like to keep my event library / media on one screen (usually an older CRT 5:4 ratio since its only for media) then my timeline and settings with a small preview window on the internal display and the main viewer either via AV output from a capture card or HDMI to a nice monitor. I switch it up of course but thats just an example. Right now I'd say 1080p monitors just don't cut it anymore, if you go bigger than 30" 2560x1440p is the minimum, high resolution is so important when working with NLE's as you need all the space...so maybe consider a nice high res monitor or two + a nice TV as a sort of reference monitor.
 
L

Liffey

macrumors regular
Feb 2, 2010
178
38
I have a 27" and a 21". Honestly I don't use the second monitor all that much, I mainly just have iTunes on it. The 27" is big enough that you have to swivel your head to see the other monitor, so at that point it's just as easy to stack windows on the big monitor. If you've got the money to spend though I won't discourage you, it's cool to have.
 
S

snarfquest

macrumors regular
Jun 7, 2013
210
4
I recently went from 2x 21inch screen to a single 27inch on my MacPro. I would have gone 2x 27inch but that simply will not fit on my desk.

There's advantages to both setups it depends on how you work. I personally, don't like full screen apps (aside from games) and I like being able to have room on the display to place apps side by side. Being able to put apps side by side on the same screen is a plus to me. A lot less turning my head back and forth when doing work.
 
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Darthmnkyrpm

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 4, 2012
52
0
nateo200 said:
I definitely prefer two displays (not including the internal display). I'm VERY visual, and I have to have things organized or I can't function so I like to keep my event library / media on one screen (usually an older CRT 5:4 ratio since its only for media) then my timeline and settings with a small preview window on the internal display and the main viewer either via AV output from a capture card or HDMI to a nice monitor. I switch it up of course but thats just an example. Right now I'd say 1080p monitors just don't cut it anymore, if you go bigger than 30" 2560x1440p is the minimum, high resolution is so important when working with NLE's as you need all the space...so maybe consider a nice high res monitor or two + a nice TV as a sort of reference monitor.
Click to expand...

Alright thank you. And now here's the real question. Would it be worth it to get a 4K monitor since it is the new Mac Pro? And I would only be able to get one since they look so expensive, but I'm not sure if it would be worth it.
 
TyPod

TyPod

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2006
1,745
18
Minneapolis, MN
Darthmnkyrpm said:
Alright thank you. And now here's the real question. Would it be worth it to get a 4K monitor since it is the new Mac Pro? And I would only be able to get one since they look so expensive, but I'm not sure if it would be worth it.
Click to expand...

Seems unnecessary for where you're at in your life right now. Wait until you're out of the dorms to get a $4000 monitor.
 
Celedral

Celedral

macrumors 6502
May 29, 2008
332
14
Los Angeles
Two monitors would be ideal for editing. Two 27" would be perfect for editing. At my office I prefer to have dual monitors, at least one of them should be 2560x1440 for the main monitor and a secondary for supporting files. If space is an issue then a 27" should suffice, well at least for me.
 
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Darthmnkyrpm

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 4, 2012
52
0
TyPod said:
Seems unnecessary for where you're at in your life right now. Wait until you're out of the dorms to get a $4000 monitor.
Click to expand...

Good plan, at least it gives me something to look forward to.


Celedral said:
Two monitors would be ideal for editing. Two 27" would be perfect for editing. At my office I prefer to have dual monitors, at least one of them should be 2560x1440 for the main monitor and a secondary for supporting files. If space is an issue then a 27" should suffice, well at least for me.
Click to expand...

So, looking at my desk, I think at most I could fit two 24" or one 27". I'm thinking about getting the two 24" because it would be easier in the workspace. Maybe have Premiere on one and After Effects on the other? Also, does anyone know, can I run a game like League on one screen and Safari or something on the other to look up my build? And how would the mouse transfer over for that stuff, if it does. i've always been on a laptop so I don't know how multiple displays work, especially with Mavericks.
 
nateo200

nateo200

macrumors 68030
Feb 4, 2009
2,906
42
Upstate NY
4K monitors are not worth it unless your a video editor that deals with 4K...even if you were a video editor that delt with 4K I'd say get one 4K monitor as two is a bit overkill unless you have money to burn....anyways two displays is nice whether you need it or not you can always use one as your main display and another for things like facebook/itunes/notifications/etc. Of course thats a double edge sword and I find I need less multitasking when editing or doing really any kind of work on my computer but I generally spread FCP X across multiple displays instead of throwing facebook on one, good way to distract me and slow me down! Also if your in a dorm you DON'T want massive amounts of expensive stuff, put the Mac Pro under or on your desk in a place where its stable and won't get knocked down, a broken 4K display would make me cry even if someone was flipping the bill.


macuser453787 said:
Thanks that was hilarious! LOL!
Click to expand...

Non-sense! He can just remote desktop or whatever OS X calls it with his 15" MBP to his new Mac Pro XD XD
 
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