
Two Screens - tosh
https://avc.com/2020/06/two-screens/
======
m0xte
Disagree. Just got rid of my second screen after neck aches and headaches.

I’ll take one decent sized (27” for me) 4K screen over two. Completely solved
all problems.

Productivity? I can only focus on one thing at a time. Managing windows and
which screens they are on is an overhead I don’t need to deal with.

~~~
strig
For me, the second screen isn't there for me to focus on. It's there to keep
the focus on the main screen. I keep my less-used programs (spotify, discord,
etc) on the secondary display so I don't have to constantly alt-tab on my main
display.

~~~
julbaxter
What an electronic and energy waste only to avoid doing some keystrokes!

~~~
majewsky
I have a work notebook, so the second screen in my setup is the notebook
screen. This screen is there anyway, so there is no electronic waste. As for
the energy, the notebook overall consumes about 10 W during normal use. My
estimate for the screen's power usage is about half of that, so maybe 4-6 W.
To put that into perspective, my body's baseline energy usage is 90 W.

~~~
julbaxter
I do also have two screens: one laptop for work and one PC for personal usage
(my company does not allow me to use the laptop for personal usage).
Individually we can all find "mitigating factors" but collectively we failed
finding the right balance between comfort and sustainability.

The multi-screen trend is now pursuing its mainstreamification to every
offices and home desktops. But at the same time Earth is sending us warnings:
we need to slow down. Given the state of our knowledge on that matter, I am
surprised that the general consensus on YN is not to have less screens and
reserve the resources to better usage.

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graton
Two screens seems like a no-brainer for what I consider the typical HN reader
as I think they are likely a software developer.

Especially if the one screen is a laptop screen.

I find myself much more productive having a standard keyboard, mouse, and
large monitors. Then when I have to attempt to do my work using just a laptop
with no accessories.

I am impressed with the people who are highly productive with a tiny laptop
screen. I have seen them in action. Unfortunately that isn't me :(

~~~
odonnellryan
I haven't used two screens in years! A 4k single display is great for me. I
can get two windows side-by-side and that is the most I ever need. If I need
more than 2 windows I feel my workflow needs help.

~~~
dvtrn
I recently went back to the world of two screens, laptop and external display,
after being a 4 screen freak. It's my way of forcing myself to stop lying
about being a multitasker and allow myself to focus on one thing, get it done
or at least to a state where I can safely walk away from it, and move to the
next without excess cognitive load.

Found that the more screens I accumulated the more work I tried doing
concurrently, and, well:

Fuck _that_ noise.

MUCH more productive, and feel much less jittery about workload by allowing
myself to focus on the _cadence_ of work instead of the _volume_ of work. Boss
is happy with it too ;)

~~~
jodrellblank
I don't know if it's Anne Robinson's legacy, but what on earth does the winky
face add to an otherwise serious and reasonable comment?

Are you implying the workload is some form of sexually satisfying your boss,
that you're keeping them happy nudge nudge wink wink say no more?

Are you implying sarcasm, that your boss is actually NOT happy with your
improved mood and improved productivity?

Are you implying that the boss is "happy", nudge nudge wink wink, so now _you
're_ the one getting extra favours, if you know what I mean?

Are you implying you're not more productive, you're doing less, and you're
putting on a sham act which your boss is falling for?

I'm trying to imagine someone actually saying in-person "I rethought my
workflow and now I'm calmer and more productive. And my boss is happy with it
too". and then winking at me. And me not feeling skeeved out by it.

~~~
qmmmur
Who hurt you?

~~~
jodrellblank
Nobody ;)

and if that's not the most frustrating reply I could put to that, because of
the winky face, I don't know what is. btw, after reading all of the entire
comment ... wink wink, not serious, just kidding, gotcha!

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abeppu
Just to be clear, he decided he needed a second screen after he decided he
needed a second home, and a home office with a separate room for a video-
conference app.

He may be right that the second screen helps. But maybe it's worth saying it
in a way that isn't tied in with a level of wealth that signals that his
problems are often unlike most people's problems.

~~~
TechBro8615
You can get a decent monitor for $100 nowadays.

------
mabbo
I was thinking that the author was going to be arguing that anything more than
2 screens is a bad idea. (Because seriously, where the heck did my mouse go? I
can't find it and it's somewhere on one of these 3 monitors in front of me).

I can't fathom being a professional in the tech world and _not_ having two
monitors.

~~~
jodrellblank
> where the heck did my mouse go?

Windows' mouse properties control panel has " _Display pointer trails_ " and "
_Show location of pointer when I press the Ctrl key_ " options to make the
pomouse pointer more findable.

~~~
weaksauce
there's also the mac shake the mouse pointer to enlarge it momentarily
feature.

~~~
powersnail
It's quite smart, considering shaking the mouse is the first thing I do when I
cannot find my mouse. And it becomes hilariously huge.

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dustingetz
Primary 4k monitor center of desk; macbook on a stand to the side. Put the
speaker video fullscreen on the macbook and now you are making eye contact
when you are looking at them, and not when you're not.

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localhost
I've been sharing this tip (joining an online meeting using two devices /
screens) ever since the beginning of WFH. I will join a meeting using my phone
as the camera and have the UI set to display a grid of faces. I will join that
same meeting using my PC and have the UI set to display whatever the presenter
is projecting. This lets me minimize the parallax when I'm talking to someone
and it lets me use my 43" monitor to see whatever it is that the presenter is
projecting (often in some tiny font because ... we're all learning).

This works for both Zoom and Teams - I haven't tried other meeting solutions.

~~~
credit_guy
I'm doing something similar. I have a laptop for communications (mainly Zoom,
but a bit of Cisco SeeMe as well) and an iMac for remoting into my work
machine. Many times I put Zoom on full screen on the laptop, it's great. The
screen dedicated to work is not very large (24in), can't wait for a new iMac
to be released so I can upgrade. But for the time being, I can function.

~~~
localhost
The nice thing about a laptop is that it has a much bigger screen than my
phone, but the tradeoff in the phone case is that I can't see the other people
as clearly when I'm looking at a 4-box of people. The tradeoff in the laptop
case is that (usually) laptops have a pretty crappy integrated webcam.

Another solution that I'm going to experiment with sometime soon is to use my
iPad Pro as the video conferencing device so that I can (hopefully - haven't
tried yet) see a 9 box of people on the device. It's probably a step down in
video quality for other folks looking at me, but that's OK :)

------
nmstoker
I've gone the opposite way and invested in a lovely Ultrawide Dell for home
work and it's a huge benefit.

Coupled with FancyZones from PowerToys
([https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys)
) it's even better.

You might think, well if you're just using FancyZones to split the screen up
again doesn't that take you back to close to a two monitor setup, but the key
is the flexible sizing. I have a main pane centrally for core focus and then I
have really small side windows for scripts, upcoming reminders, and a bigger
side section for calendar and chat, which are both handy to glance at (eg to
confirm things during calls)

I honestly think it'll be a struggle to compete with "home me" when I go back
to the office, as it's just so much better. A certain amount may be a placebo
effect but I sense the effect all the same!

------
geocrasher
Why just two? I have two 1080p 23's stacked on top of each other with a mount
specifically for that.

The first screen is 27" away from my eyes with the top of the screen bezel
being level with my eyes. This works great.

The second screen is the 23" above the first and is generally used in terminal
sessions or when I'm presenting something in a meeting.

The screen on the right is portrait mode. It's only 20" or so, but that
doesn't matter. Slack works SO WELL in portrait mode.

The 4th screen on the left is 22" and is 1680x1050. It works fine for email,
stuff I need but not immediately.

My total investment in monitors? About $50. I do need two video cards though,
but since it's for work, not gaming, that was cheap too.

The monitor on the right is no longer there, it was for my ham radio shack
computer, which I now just teamviewer into.

[https://imgur.com/lJFITgX](https://imgur.com/lJFITgX)

------
lr
Time for a reminder...?

Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule
[http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html)

As a maker (and permanent remote worker, even before COVID-19), I am
constantly struggling to convince people to have fewer meetings, and having a
second screen for the meetings I do have, isn't the answer: the answer is
_fewer_ meetings!

I know this whole "remote-work" thing is somehow new to people, but, in a
word: evolve!

I am so not into a second screen that I have embarked on using a cellular-
capable tablet as my sole device, so that I can do work anywhere, anytime. The
"home office" with multiple monitors is not the answer to remote-work, doing
your job with simple tools, is. But, of course, this is just my opinion.

~~~
Bishonen88
One does not disqualify the other. Over time, I managed to get my weekly calls
from 10+ to 4. That’s great.

At the same time, if I’d lose my second screen, I’d lose more productivity
than I gained from all the won time. I think most dev related jobs benefit
greatly from a 2nd monitor. I couldn’t imagine working on a website, having an
IDE open, browser dev tools etc. and constantly alt-tabbing between all of
those.

~~~
lr
I have done the command-tab, command-tilde, control-arrow (for workspaces)
dance for years (and it is so ingrained in me, that sometimes a second monitor
makes things worse). But my point was more in reference to Fred's notion that
this "new normal" of remote meetings via video somehow requires a second
screen. To that I say, if you are a manager, yes, sure thing! Otherwise, no.

------
yummypaint
Im a big fan of using a single ~36" 4k display. The pixel pitch ends up being
about the same as for a typical 1080p monitor, but it comfortably fills the
whole field of view without bezels. Any larger and its uncomfortable to read
the edges without moving.

------
edw
In other screen-related news, I recently ditched my LG 24” 4K display and
replaced it with Sidecar and one of my iPads. What a change in perspective!
While with the large external display, my MacBook’s internal display felt like
an irritating afterthought.

An iPad screen is much closer in size to the MacBook display, and I find I
make better use of this more balanced setup than I did my very lopsided
previous big monitor and small laptop display configuration. Less can be more.

NB: Sidecar sometimes flakes out on wakeup, so it’s not a total win.

------
oftenwrong
I stopped using multiple monitors when I started using a keyboard-driven
tiling window manager. At the time I had a 3-monitor setup in my office. I
found that it was more efficient to switch applications by keyboard than to
turn my head. I have used a single monitor ever since. At times I put 2
windows side-by-side, but mostly I display a single window at a time.

------
gumby
I use a laptop and an iPad that way. Instead of being fixed I can go to a
convenient corner, esp if my gf has a meeting at the same time.

Another trick that works well is to use my phone as the Zoom camera. There are
a bunch of apps you can use (why? Quicktime can just connect to the phone) but
I simply connect in multiple times.

------
TurplePurtle
FYI Google Meet supports two screens as well.

~~~
JBiserkov
Tell me more :-)

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11235813213455
Well, the point is to _not_ spend too much time in video-meetings, so you can
be fine with a laptop for work

~~~
winrid
A laptop is terrible ergonomically.

~~~
11235813213455
I work in any kind of position, but never on a chair/desk, I put my laptop on
boxes and I move a few meters away during the day, depending on the sun. For
me a laptop is perfect: movable, light, silent. I use only the touchpad, no
more mouse

~~~
winrid
About thirty minutes on a laptop and my hands/arms/elbows start to hurt :/

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throwaway888abc
Sorry, i don't understand. So you are attending meeting which require your
focus and valuable time and input while still intend to do something else ?

When I'm on meeting, I'm on meeting.

Actually, like the couch setup from article a lot.

Is this new Slack hell ?

~~~
drewrv
They're not exactly clear about it, but I think the use case they're getting
at is that you can have one screen for videoconferencing and a second one for
materials that are being presented. We had a setup like this at my office that
I miss. If you're in a lot of meetings, it's nice to have a powerpoint slide
or a screenshare in full screen, while still having the video streams up for
questions and discussion.

~~~
throwaway888abc
I see. So you basically expanding the meeting area. Should be more immersing.
Make sense. Will try for sure. Thanks

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zitterbewegung
Other than two screens (which I do agree is a great idea) pay attention to how
you position those two screens and the ergonomics behind them.

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xtiansimon
One Wave, One Fin. Two Eyes, Two Screens. Peace!

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JumpCrisscross
Second screens are a productivity boost. But this article is a poorly-
concealed submarine [1] for Zoom.

[1]
[http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html](http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html)

~~~
pidg
Yeah, the one thing I took away from this timely endorsement of using two
screens(?) is that Zoom has a special two-screen mode.

