Dual Monitors??

blink3times wrote on 6/21/2008, 7:16 PM
I say.... NOT.

I was toying with the idea of going dual monitors, but when I went to have a look, they have all pretty much gone (or are going) wide screen. As a result I had a tough time finding a match for my square Samsung. So I said the heck with it and bought ONE larger size wide screen (25.5"). Glad I did.... with a screen this size, who needs dual monitors!?

Vegas looks absolutely super!! HUGE viewing display (compared to my 19" square Samsung) and the time line is now wonderfully stretched out!

Forget the dual monitor stuff.... go BIG widescreen... it's much better.

Comments

farss wrote on 6/21/2008, 7:44 PM
There's other advantages to dual monitors. Two 24" Dells are hardly a kings ransom these days, down here they're on special at the moment at $AU800 with a set of headphones.

Bob.
baysidebas wrote on 6/21/2008, 7:50 PM
"with a screen this size, who needs dual monitors!?"

You do! Relegate the widescreen to timeline display and stuff all the other windows onto the other monitor. It'll do wonders for your workflow efficiency.
John_Cline wrote on 6/21/2008, 7:52 PM
Just think how much happier you'd be with TWO of your fancy new monitors.

I have two 24" LCD monitors running at 1920x1200 each. I don't care how big the single montor is, I am completely spoiled by dual monitors.
Malcolm D wrote on 6/21/2008, 7:54 PM
When I got my 27" Dell 1920x1200 and saw Vegas on it I was inclined to agree, however, I do like having it as a full rez secondary display for HDV and EX1 editing though when I use my Sony 19" or Dell 17" (1920x1200) laptop for the timeline etc, or move just the preview window over at full setting.
Do not have preview window set to other than full when it is on the primary monitor else speed takes a huge hit.
Malcolm
DSCalef wrote on 6/21/2008, 8:25 PM
Some of us are obsessive.

I started with two, I now have 3 Samsung 226bw's side by side and still a fourth, an Acer 24" beside that. It will be replaced with another Samsung.

I have used 3 monitors will editing and it really speeds my workflow. The fourth is just a wee bit too much...... so far. These are all on a Quad core Vista 64 machine.

Just to make the layout more impressive, if only for myself, I have two more monitors on top of these four, one for my server, and the other an XP computer I use while my Quad Core is busy rendering, etc..

David S. Calef

www.EventVideoTeam.com
Harold Brown wrote on 6/21/2008, 10:28 PM
If I had a 26" monitor I would want another one! Duals rule. Unless, as mentioned, you are running quad monitors!
TheHappyFriar wrote on 6/22/2008, 12:45 AM
Forget the dual monitor stuff.... go BIG widescreen... it's much better.

http://img515.imageshack.us/my.php?image=duelmonitorhm4.jpg[/link]

i'm betting it can display all that at once too, eh? :D
blink3times wrote on 6/22/2008, 3:31 AM
Okay, so I noted what others are saying and I hooked up the other monitor and had a look.

While dual monitors certainly look manly, beastly, impressive and all of that, they are quite inefficient (IMO) for the eye. It seems to slow down my work flow while my eye flips from one monitor to the other.

A single large monitor does not interrupt the flow of the eye as much as dual monitors do. (My personal opinion only of course).
John_Cline wrote on 6/22/2008, 4:12 AM
I guess I come from the "old school" where I was constantly scanning a wall of video monitors. Glancing back and forth between two monitors doesn't seem to be all that big a deal.

Blink, did you place the two monitors side-by-side so they appear as essentially one monitor? (Well, one monitor with a little bit of a gap in the center due to the monitor's bezels.)
Tinle wrote on 6/22/2008, 4:37 AM
Many of us have perfectly good, moderate size screens, that get upstaged by purchase of a newer, larger screen.

My older 19" square monitor became a second monitor devoted to project previewing. The new, larger screen went to the editing part of Vegas. When combined with Vegas's ability to save several screen setups as presets, it improves workflow convenience & speed.

Tinle

TheHappyFriar wrote on 6/22/2008, 5:40 AM
A single large monitor does not interrupt the flow of the eye as much as dual monitors do

that's because of the size you choose. it's like putting two 30" HDTV's right infront of you, it'll be annoying. take that "big" monitor back & get two 19"'s.
blink3times wrote on 6/22/2008, 5:42 AM
"Blink, did you place the two monitors side-by-side so they appear as essentially one monitor? (Well, one monitor with a little bit of a gap in the center due to the monitor's bezels.)"

Yes, both monitors side by side. I find that the framing of the monitors a bit disturbing. I guess you hit the nail on the head.... with the sizes of the screens you can get today (particularly wide screen), dual monitors may be a bit old school.

I now find myself wondering how Vegas would look on that 32" monitor that I passed up because it was $200 more.
FuTz wrote on 6/22/2008, 5:52 AM
depends of resolution
Chienworks wrote on 6/22/2008, 5:58 AM
I've got two 17" side by side, total resolution 2560x1024. I'd like more, but it works for now. I find myself running Vegas on one of them and lots of utilities on the other, so that for me the gap between them doesn't matter at all. I also use the other for full screen preview. It's very handy not having to switch windows around anymore.
JJKizak wrote on 6/22/2008, 6:03 AM
I use two 32" 1920 x 1080 resolution. It's a real wonderment. A 24" looks like kid stuff now. So I gave it to mom.
JJK
farss wrote on 6/22/2008, 6:06 AM
Unless you need to edit 2K at full raster then a 24" monitor is big enough, I've used a 17" 4:3 with a 24" 16:9 so I can get ful raster HD preview and that's not too bad at all.
I suspect it really depends what you're doing, I do agree having to look around too far gets to me too but the solution is probably to have at least the preview monitor at the correct viewing distance. I've noticed in a number of edit suites the monitors are on floor stands at the back of the desk, same with the monitor speakers.

Bob.
winrockpost wrote on 6/22/2008, 6:15 AM
................I use two 32" 1920 x 1080 resolution.........

I think I'd have to cut out a wall to fit two 32",,,,,hmmm,,,, I do have a sawzall, and its only my wifes office on the other side,,,
MarkWWW wrote on 6/22/2008, 6:16 AM
It's worth mentioning that dual monitors do not have to "match". It's perfectly possible to work using two different sizes/resolutions. (Cheap too; my second monitor was found in a skip - fully functional, just a bit dirty, didn't cost me a penny.)

I'm working quite happily here with the timeline on my main screen (19" 1280x1024) and the other windows I like to have open all the time (Edit Details, Video Preview, Mixer) on my secondary screen (17" 1024x768).

Mark
JJKizak wrote on 6/22/2008, 6:34 AM
I forgot to mention that the third computer is set for 1360 x 768 for going online and it does look very good. The other two use 1920 x 1080.
JJK
blink3times wrote on 6/22/2008, 7:19 AM
[I]"I find myself running Vegas on one of them and lots of utilities on the other"[/I]

Now THAT is a rather simple (and great) idea and it never occurred to me. Leave Vegas on the big monitor and use the smaller one for other utilities.
Harold Brown wrote on 6/22/2008, 3:21 PM
When I am working on one of my clients lecture DVDs I sometimes bring up two sessions of Vegas to look at the settings of one segment compared to the others. Dual 24inch monitors makes this a nice task. Main project to the left and previous project to the right. I use this a lot to play with Chroma Key adjustments.
John_Cline wrote on 6/22/2008, 3:42 PM
Blink,

I'm actually running three displays; two 24" 1920x1200 and one 42" 1920x1080. I have two dual-head graphics cards, so I can run all three monitors as computer monitors, but when editing, I use the 42" as a program monitor.

I think you'll get used to dual monitors pretty quicky and, after a while, you'll never be able to go back to a single monitor.

Here's my default Vegas screen layout at 3840x1200:

http://www.johncline.com/cline3840x1200.jpg
video777 wrote on 6/22/2008, 6:10 PM
Dual Monitors all the way! I would never go back to a single monitor no matter how big it is. I do a full screen preview in my right monitor. I also drag tools, etc. to that monitor depending on what app I'm in.

I have 2 BenQ 20.1" wide screen monitors set to 1680x1050.
Darren Powell wrote on 6/22/2008, 6:26 PM
I use three monitors hanging off a Matrox TripleHead2Go ... it's good.

Darren Powell
Sydney Australia