I'm currently working from home and I think one of my monitors is dying on me, so I'm thinking it might be an opportunity to streamline my setup. I was just wondering if anyone here already works on just one large monitor.

My system was cobbled together at the beginning of the pandemic and I've just stuck with it. So I've got a 24" monitor, a 15.6" monitor and no client monitor. (Please don't laugh!) I put all my project windows (bins, source/record, timeline) on the 24" monitor and use the 15" monitor for full-screen playback, which has worked fine for me.

Would, say, one 34" ultrawide monitor be practical (it would definitely help me with space) or are there good reasons to stick with 2 monitors?

Pulck:

are there good reasons to stick with 2 monitors?

FSP, and the second monitor can be used when not in FSP. Mixed resolution monitors used to confuse MC, so to speak, don't know if this still holds true with recent releases. Other than that there's more room with a two monitors setup over a sigle ultrawide monitor.

Some ultrawide monitors now have the facility to combine two separate inputs into a side-by-side mode on the screen, so that you have all the advantages of dual monitors without the bezels inbetween.

I was recenly looking at this too and asked on teh Avid facevbook, lots of ediors are happily using utra wide single monitors.

luca.mg:

Mixed resolution monitors used to confuse MC, so to speak, don't know if this still holds true with recent releases

I'm on MC2018.12 and my 24" monitor is 2560 x 1440 and my 15.6" monitor is 1920x1080. It doesn't seem to cause any issues. I think a 34" ultrawide would be 3440 x 1440, which would probably tax the GPU a bit more but is there any reason to suppose MC would find that problematic?

Bruno M:

Some ultrawide monitors now have the facility to combine two separate inputs into a side-by-side mode on the screen, so that you have all the advantages of dual monitors without the bezels inbetween.

Well this would solve all the issues. I'll look into that. Thank you.

Scott Carnegie:

I was recenly looking at this too and asked on teh Avid facevbook, lots of ediors are happily using utra wide single monitors.

Oh great. Did they recommend any particular models?

It may be preferred not just practical... on my single monitor v2018, PC, I can extend the entire UI outside the 1920 view-able area (to the right)  to include large always-open tools like Scripts, Find, Marker Tool, huge mixer, etc. then just slide the UI to the left with the mouse when I want to use them. We cannot workspace such UI shifts...If we could, MC screen would feel like an iPhone.

Telegram!:

It may be preferred not just practical... on my single monitor v2018, PC, I can extend the entire UI outside the 1920 view-able area (to the right)  to include large always-open tools like Scripts, Find, Marker Tool, huge mixer, etc. then just slide the UI to the left with the mouse when I want to use them. We cannot workspace such UI shifts...If we could, MC screen would feel like an iPhone.

Do you have an ultrawide monitor? If so, which one?

No, it is a very old 1920x1080 Dell. I think there are no rules now that software is workspace and tab oriented. Early on the 2019 version users sometimes struggled witb dual monitors... not sure that's still the case. Good luck. 

not practical in my opinion.  There comes a point where I start to get neck strain if my setup is too wide (3 27in monitors is too wide for example).  Also vertical space is useful which ultrawides often lack.  I like dual 4k 27in monitors.  one for UI and editing, the other for full screen playback.  UHD is cheap, just make sure you get 1ms displays for your full screen playback for sync.

cls105:

3 27in monitors is too wide for example

I do love my 3x 27" setup. All 1920x1080 monitors, otherwise everything is awfully tiny. I do mostly use the left two 27" screens, the third carries tools like the Mixer, Timecode Window, etc.

... in some Suits we us the HP z38 Monitor in contrast to two 24 inch, the editors are loving it.

cheers

What's the current situation with Avid re high DPI displays? Does it scale properly on a 4k display or does everything just get super tiny? My eyes are under enough strain as it is on my HD monitors.

FWIW I am rocking 2 x 24 inch Dell 1920x1080 connected to a macbook pro 15. I use the macbook for full screen playback and the 2 24 inch montors for the GUI and I love that setup for offlining.  The Dells have very thin bezels which makes it less annoying.  

Andi

thedarko:

... in some Suits we us the HP z38 Monitor in contrast to two 24 inch, the editors are loving it.

 

cheers

That's a curved monitor, right? Having never actually used a curved monitor, I'm wondering whether it would feel odd working on one without a flat client monitor.

ripvanmarlowe:

What's the current situation with Avid re high DPI displays? Does it scale properly on a 4k display or does everything just get super tiny?

That's true. But can't it all be sorted out at Windows level by changing the display scales settings to, say, 150%?

Pulck:

That's true. But can't it all be sorted out at Windows level by changing the display scales settings to, say, 150%?

Think I was remembering this thread where there seemed to be issues with scaling. Not sure if it is working all fine now or not.

Andi

As long as you get a monitor that's at least 3840x1080 and has dual input, side-by-side mode, you're essentially feeding two 1920x1080 monitors. You shouldn't need to worry about high DPI.

It's then down to the physical size of the monitor as to whether it's equivalent to a couple of 24-27" monitors.

Those I know that use these ultrawides have said that with the really big ones, it helps to have a curve to minimise head-turning.