What is your recommended monitor resolution?

Question

I just got a new monitor to replace one of the ones I have at work. I went from this*:

1: 1600x1280
2: 1400x768

to this**:

1: 1768x1340
2: 1600x1280 (was formerly 1)

This was a pretty big jump up for me, although in my office I seem to be a bit unusual in that I seem to be the only one who still has two CRT monitors on my desk (two pretty freaking huge ones at that). The thing about the CRTs is that currently none of the LCDs we have can do this high a resolution so I think it's pretty sweet.

What kind of resolution is recommended these days for serious development work?

* & **: these numbers are approximate

Answer 1

As high as possible? What your monitor can handle?

Answer 2

I use 2 LCD screens at 1600 by 1200. I perfer the same res on both and like the taller aspect ratio (1.3) over widescreen for reading long web pages and seeing more lines of code in visual studio. Of course 1920 by 1200 (LCD) would be better but I can't afford it.

Answer 3

I run my screens at the highest res they go to, for CRT's I tend to stick to the highest res where I still can have 75hz+ refresh rates. Anything below that makes me dizzy.

As a sidenote, I'm very surprised by the amount people I see running their LCD's at the "wrong" resolution. In my opinion they should be flogged.

Answer 4

As high as you can without getting headaches. It might be better to go up slowly, let yourself get used to it

Answer 5

I would say at a minimum, you want it the smallest size your application/web page is designed to run at plus the size of your IDE menus, nothing worse than having to scroll from left to right when viewing the gui.

Answer 6

I love 1920x1200 on my 24" (i precisely bought a 24" instead of a 22" because of the higher resolution).

If I could, I would use a 30" with 2560 x 1600, but i neither have the space nor the money.

Two screens are almost mandatory, but I find that most IDEs work best on only one screen. So i'd like to have a large primary monitor for Visual Studio and then a secondary one for Internet, notepad and stuff.

Answer 7

I vote for : As High as Possible :) with normal refresh rate (>= 60 flat screen).

Answer 8

Watch the refresh rate; if it gets too low, the display gets flickery, causing fatigue. If your monitor won't grive >= 60hz, don't use that mode.

Answer 9

LCD screens have a "native" (Highest) resolution that they should always be run at. They tend to be blurry when run at lower resolutions. CRT's don't have this problem.

In general I find that for best results you should crank up resolution to the highest value you can while still being able to read fonts. This depends on your screen size, how far away you sit, and your vision/glasses.

Some people are more sensitive (they get headaches after a while) to screen refresh rates than others and will want to set the screen refresh frequency rate above their personal threshhold (I can tolerate 60 but you may want to set it as high as 70 or 80).

Also be aware that many modern video cards have resolutions that are optimized for either wide screen or normal 4:3 monitor aspects (1600x900=wide screen, 1600x1200=4:3 screen)

Answer 10

I would say to customize it to whatever based on the sites you read and dev IDE you are working on so that maximum amount of work is done without scrolling.

Answer 11

I run 3840x1200 (dual screen). My minimum requirement is that the screen be widescreen . The extra space for solution explorer and properties windows in VS makes widescreen mandatory.

Answer 12

Enough resolution to keep two or three large-ish windows next to each other and see it all at the same time. Your editor and one or two other windows to find other info, such as the API, other documentation etc.

Answer 13

My current setup is 3 monitors running Windows 7: 2 x Samsung 24" Syncmasters - running 1920x1080 each 1 x Dell 24" Widescreen (can't remember model) - running at 1050 x 1680 (rotated by 90deg)

Total screen resolution = 5.9MP(!!)

I tried 4 monitors and just ended up getting wrist ache moving the mouse so much + some windows/dialogs would open and you literally wouldn't see then appear.

Usage now is VS 2008 in central monitor, 2 or 3 browsers in left monitor + right (portrait) has all my social media/periphery applications - i.e. Tweetdeck, Messenger, some little perf charts, etc.

Using Windows 7 in this setup is pretty awesome because of the new window docking mechanisms available - i.e. when you resize a window to the top of the screen it automagically does the bottom as well + you can dock to the side of a screen. Nice stuff.

And a 12.1" laptop running Outlook.

Answer 14

80 columns, 24 rows.

Answer 15

I run LCD displays at their native resolution, but I try to adjust (usually up) the font size so that it's comfortable for my eyes.

Answer 16

LCD: always run it at the native resolution. I can't stand them when they are running a different resolution, and I have no idea how other people can.

CRT: run it at the maximum comfortable resolution. This is when the refresh rate is high enough to not be annoying (so at least 75Hz, or maybe even higher) and text is still clear.

I don't think there's any recommended resolution for development work - it just needs to be high enough so that you can fit everything you want on the screen at once. By the sound of it, you should have a fair bit of screen real estate whatever you do.