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A question about working on larger monitors

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Dasherd

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 25, 2023
14
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I currently have a 27" monitor with 2560 x 1440 resolution. I need to open many PDF documents at the same time and find that this monitor is a little small for that. I would like to go up to a 32" monitor with higher resolution for this purpose, but I have a question first.

Currently with my 27" monitor I feel like if I have to read something near the far left or right edge of the screen I have to move my body a bit over to the side to get in front of it. So that would be worse with a larger 32" monitor. So that is why I was thinking that a curved monitor might be better for me. It would wrap those outer edges around so they are facing inward, and also keep them at a similar distance to my eye as the center of the screen.

Is this a reasonable way of thinking? I ask because I probably won't be able to test one out before I order it. And curved monitors don't seem as popular anymore.
 
Dasherd said:
So that would be worse with a larger 32" monitor.
Click to expand...

I don't find that and use a 32" monitor. But it's an individual thing. If you are doing that on a 27" monitor then you are going to do it on anything bigger is the only reasonable outcome.

A curved monitor may help but the curve on many is more subtle than you think.
 
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Dasherd said:
Is this a reasonable way of thinking?
Click to expand...
I use two old Aluminum 30" Apple Cinema Displays every day and I don't experience that. However, I'm always preoccupied with centering myself directly where the two displays come together. So that there is 'equal' distance between the right and left displays when I'm viewing them

As a single display it's possible you are subconsciously trying to center yourself to the PDF document. But depending on sidebars that may be forcing you one way or the other. Normally, the sidebar for PDFs is on the right side which would explain moving a bit left.

Otherwise, IDK. Just speculating.
 
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I use a 32" ultrawide with a 27" on each side. I usually work with 2-5 different documents/SS/programs at a time and never this.
 
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I use a 32” @ full 3840x2160 resolution. I can fit 6 1280x1080 windows on the screen at the same time, and it’s fantastic when I need to reference a lot of documents simultaneously. (Rectangle is a great app for snapping windows in a 3x2 grid and it’s free). Choosing to display at looks like 3008x1692 provides screen elements that are the same size as 2560x1440 on a 27” display. This resolution looks great on a 32” display as well.

After a few months of use I bumped up the font size/scaling just a bit in text-heavy apps to make it easier to read when leaning back in my chair.

Yes, I do find myself shifting my position a bit when I need to really focus on material at the edges of the screen. That’s just one of the tradeoffs from using a larger screen. If you push the screen far enough away that it fits comfortably in your field of view, then you will like choose a scaling that cancels the benefit of the extra pixels.

A curved display may help, but I’ve never used one for an extended period to say whether it would reduce shifting around. If anything, you’ll likely trade off small shifts in position with head turns.

Quite a few office and big box stores usually have a few curved screens on display. Usually not the high res ones, but you may be able to get a sense of how one might work for you.
 
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Thank you for the replies! So a curved monitor isn’t necessary, is there any advantage to it at all or should I just forget the idea completely?
 
Fishrrman said:
Sit a little further back.
(this is a serious reply)
Click to expand...
If I go any further back then it's hard to read the text. Increasing the text size will mean that I can't get enough of the documents on the screen.
 
I have a couple of 32" LG monitors, running at 3840x2160... and I've experimented with rotating both 90º and using them side-by-side as a 4320x3840 workspace... and you could angle them towards each other so as to gain the effect of a curved monitor... and of course you can play with the resolution to find a setting that works for you.
 
I have a 34 inch ultrawide monitor and enjoy it, but the curvature is pretty subtle. I wouldn’t view it as a game-changing or “must have” feature.

On the other hand, if you have issues with a 27 inch monitor, then it sounds like you’re pretty sensitive to the distance to your eye, so perhaps even a little bit of curvature would help.
 
It sounds like you sit pretty close to the display, so it might work for you. I use a curved display but I find that at the distance I sit, I don't really notice the difference from a flat display.
 
Dasherd said:
Is this a reasonable way of thinking? I ask because I probably won't be able to test one out before I order it. And curved monitors don't seem as popular anymore.
Click to expand...
Yes, that’s reasonable. A curved monitor also helps reduce the off-axis shifts in color and contrast. Curved monitors are mostly popular for gaming, due to the increased immersion.
 
I work from home and have FLAT external 32" (4k) and 21" (HD) monitors in addition to the integrated 16". There's really no avoiding moving left and right to see things on the edges. Ergonomically speaking, it's good to move -and it's really no different from having printouts laid out on my desk.

I do wonder about curved monitors. I've seen some great deals lately, but I'm concerned it would be harder to angle them to avoid reflections from several windows behind me.
 
Curved monitors are somewhat of a gimmick until you get into the 40"+ size range where it can make a bit of a difference.

As @Arran stated earlier, there's no getting around the issues. You can get a larger display with a higher resolution to view more windows on the screen, but then everything (text, graphics, and the OS GUI) will be smaller which will eventually lead you to want to lower the resolution to make everything appear larger and more readable. But at that point, you're back to where you started with the 27" display.

Look into reading glasses, or get used to moving your head to read the sides/corners... those are really the only two options in your case.
 
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