One or Two computer monitors?

[LNerell]

My eight year old LCD monitor (has it been that long?) finally broke to the point that I can not use it in my studio. Originally I was thinking about replacing it with a single 27" monitor, but I noticed I could get two 22" monitors for about the same price. Any thoughts? Right now I am using two 17" monitors in its place which seems ok, but I would like more room.

[mgriffin]

I've often shot my mouth off about the benefits of one big monitor, rather than two medium-sized, but I've heard numerous people say that tested productivity gains are better for two monitors rather than one big one.  I guess having two separate monitors makes you more likely to keep multiple apps open in their own spaces, allowing you to refer to one while working in the other, whereas having one giant monitor often leads people to keep everything opened up HUGE.

When I use my big 30" Apple Cinema Display I try to keep an organized desktop so I can make the best use of the screen space, but right now I'd lean toward two decent-quality 23" (or so) monitors.  If you can get a couple of 1920x1080 monitors and a video card that will drive them both, you will be the king of screen real estate!

[Scott M2]

When working on audio/visual projects, it's great to have the video image on a separate monitor.
(At the moment I'm working with a laptop (with a 15.5" screen) and a 28" monitor.)

[petekelly]

Loren,

I don't know how relevant this is to your set-up, I'm currently just using one monitor - with two computers (there's a pic I recently posted in the
'studio shots' thread)

I have to say, I much prefer having the space on my desk than a second monitor and for me, the lack of distraction (focusing on one thing at a time) is a plus too.

[LNerell]

Thanks guys for the advice. I just ordered two 22" monitors for $140 each!  :o I can't believe how cheap monitors are now. I think its the way to go, I'll be able to put all my tracks in one monitor, and my mixer channels in the other with rooms for plugins. Hopefully it will make my music better as well.  ;D

[Scott M2]

It will inevitably be twice as good!

[darkenedsoul]

I share a 20" WS monitor between my two desktops. If you have an app for your desktop that allows for more than one screen why not put one pane on one virtual desktop, other pane (mixer) on other one vs 2 monitors? Granted two would be nice if using one PC and having the need for it but I don't. And on top of that I have the mid-range/size desk (kidney shaped?) from Guitar Center with my M-Audio BX8a's on the sides of the monitor and are right at ear level so it's about perfect for listening to music/audio stuff. I really can't go much bigger than maybe a 22" WS and have the speakers over the edge a tad or right on it. I would love one that takes dual DVI inputs though but haven't found one just yet and this one still works fine. And Ableton Live doesn't break out different panes/panels to separate windows so multiple monitors is a moot point (nor does it support duals yet and not sure when that support would come in).

Just my $0.02 worth.

[Scott M2]

What can also be useful is a second monitor on top of your main monitor
(if you can physically arrange it - perhaps one mounted on the wall).
This can be very handy for a video image or mixer or extended audio track visuals or more VSTs or ...

[LNerell]

I have the two monitors side by side. So in one I have audio tracks, and in the other is the mixer window plus any plug ins I'm using. I also bought a monitor arm that will take two monitors and a new desk as well. I'll take some photos and post them in the studio thread once everything is up and running.

[Paul Vnuk (Ma Ja Le)]

What kind of monitor arm did you buy? I am thinking about getting one I can move out of the way fop serious listening, but can pull up close as my eyes get tired.

[LNerell]

I bought an Atdec Visidec VF-AT-D



The cheapest price I could find was at the following link at buy.com http://www.buy.com/prod/atdec-visidec-vf-at-d-focus-lcd-double-swing-arm-18-lb-polished-silver/q/loc/111/210459678.html

[Blackinfinity]

I use two monitors, I could not live with only one monitor...to have more monitors certainly increase the work flow.

Now in the time of eyefinity etc there is really not much limitations on how many monitors you can have.
For my studio I plan to have a lot of moninotrs, especially since it is a digital studio... would not surprise me if I 8 monitors.
I also plan to use a big 50 inch LCD/LED TV both for my computer and for watching films..

[LinearNorth]

I use two monitors with Logic on a G5. I keep the track mixer and plugins on one and arrange on the other. This works well but it destroyed a high end video card and now it crashes a cheaper radeon occasionally. If it didn't do that I would totally recommend it.

[LNerell]

Thanks everyone for the input. I now have two 22" monitors on that stand I mentioned. I need to take some new studio pics, I'll get them up on the studio page in a few days. I'm doing exactly what LinearNorth is doing, G5 with two monitors. So far my video card is working fine, well fine as it has ever worked. Sometimes it doesn't see the monitors and I have to force quit my mac and restart, but it did that before when I had only one monitor. I think its on its way out, so I guess my next upgrade will be a new macpro, probably next year.

[mgriffin]

Twelve core, baby!  Or else just spend $150 or so for a new two-headed video card that works with your G5.

[LinearNorth]

To run AGP ADC/DVI on a g5 I was extremely limited to choices in replacement video cards. The comp came with a ATI radeon x900xt which I found out when it failed was super high-end (I was the second owner) and really hard to find working. Apparently of like 10 revisions of the card, only one was reliable.  So now I use a much cheaper Radeon 9600 (around $40).  And when it goes it just shuts down immediately.  But with my studio desk, I can only have one monitor on top of the other. 

[LNerell]

Twelve core, baby!  Or else just spend $150 or so for a new two-headed video card that works with your G5.

Yeah, I meant the whole computer is on its way out, not just the video card. I bought this mac new and its had problems since day one. Had to have the motherboard replaced twice, the last time the firewire chip on the motherboard blew up. :o It was still under warranty so no big deal, but the guy fixing it had a hard time getting it working again. Apple wanted to give me a quad core G5 as a replacement but it would have ended up costing me more money as I would have had to replace all my PCI cards for newer PCIe ones. Probably should have done it in hindsight but as I was thinking it over the guy fixing my computer called and said he got it working so I've kept it, and its worked pretty well every since, been about 3 years now.

Yeah a twelve core would be cool, but I still have this dilemma about replacing my audio card, powercore and UAD1 cards for newer ones that will work. So I'll probably end up going for a cheaper one, probably just a quad core.