Displays How many displays?!

HAving seen a couple of posts recently on people buying and selling screens, thought i'd ask the great bit-tech gurus my particular question, so here goes...

...How many screens do i need?!

Simple it is not.
From a productivity PoV (Across 2 machine) i have had felt the best with 3 screens, 1 each and centre shared. This also works from a gaming PoV, as i can just use the central screen.
BUT
my current work are cheap-skates and will only give us one 22" screen for home use. So i'm pairing that with my 16:10 24", and a crappy 4:3 19" (24" in the centre).

Should i continue this 3 screen shenanigans, and try to upgrade/replace the side screens; or should i look at ultra-wides (curved or not); or could i "get away" with 2 bigger 27/32" screens?

help!

EDIT: rig in question is the "gaming" one in my sig

 

I've never tried (nor had an obvious use for) a portrait screen... what do you use that one for?

EDIT: and how matched are the screens? are they a miss-match, or do the side 24"s match?

 

I need a bigger table, I only have one 27"

 

Its all personal preference, one big screen works best for me generally and in my various office spaces I have 43” 4k and one 38” ultra wide (3840x1600) I would like bigger than 43” personally and have been toying with upto 55” but the resolution step is a bit high at 8k and not high enough at 4k.

I do use a second small screen 14” for mails etc.

Down side of one big screen is the large native res if you want to game at it, it needs big GPU grunt, though things like DLSS etc mitigate if you are happy with the image degradation.

My missus works much like your self on 3 screens, she prefers the break the screens give to compartmentalize her systems, so has 2x32” QHD screens and the oddball laptop in the middle. so 1440p 1080p and 1440p but when she goes into work it is all 1080p on three at about 22", she hates that down grade.

This setup frustrates me but she likes it, I’d much rather get a larger screen in the middle for her, or go for one of those nutter 49” ultrawides but actually she has a lot of screen real estate and resolution here, in width much more than my 4k so can understand with the sheets and databases she works with, this works just looks messy.

Workspace examples

Hard to say what is right for you, only you know, what is the problem with what you have, a lack of consistency, what are you trying to fix?

One big screen would use less power generally than 3 smaller ones.

 

You'd be surprised how useful a portrait screen is if you've never used one. Anything web based out document based generally displays very well with the added vertical real estate.

Home I'm on 27" 1440p, 23" 1050p (portrait).
Work I add laptop screen on a riser to the same monitors. Joy of working from home.

Laptop generally houses email/Teams etc. Main work on the 27, with anything I need to refer to on the portrait.

 

One 40" ultrawide (5120x2160) has made me convert from the multi-screen brigade

 

I've rarely been in a situation where I can have more than one screen, and when I have been in that situation, the second screen is a laptop screen. Over the years I've just become accustomed to virtual desktops. Though at least a second screen would be very welcome. When I do have a second screen I typically use it with a window for something I want available on all virtual desktops like a text editor when doing actual work or an email client when doing administrative work and documentation.

 

Ever since the first lockdown I've been using a single 32" 1440p monitor at home for everything, and it's been perfect. I'd have expected to miss my second monitor but nope... it's still down at the office, where it's been for over two and a half years now.

I'm not denying the benefits of a second screen, but with the very high resolutions and screen sizes available to us now I just don't think multi display setups are as much of a big deal as they used to be.

 

Was going to write a rant about only needing one. But I have 3, one on the right, the Pen display in the middle, a tablet on the left on a stand. So it's 3.

For general farting about I only use the monitor, when working/painting I use all 3.

 

One 34 inch 3440x1440 144 Hz (that's a lot of 4's) display is enough for me for leisure and working on my home automation.
The same one also used for work with work laptop as secondary display.
At work, I have two 24 inch 1920x1200 monitors, doesn't work as well as one ultrawide but this is the max size IT provides.

I have a 21 inch 1080p as backup in storage. Never felt the need to hook it up.

 

I used to have three 24" 1920x1200's, I transitioned to one 30" 2,560x1,600, then back to one 24" 1920x1200, into what I use now - a 27" 2560x2440.

Multiple monitors is very useful, but physical space and the faff with games that I used to have to endure, and the likelihood that there would be a mismatch between colour profiles.. Eh. I can't be bothered.

 

Main monitor and secondary vertical monitor has been my setup for a while now even if the monitors themselves have changed.
Main monitor for playing/watching/working and secondary for things like bit-tech/email/whatever.

Currently have a main 32" 4k (got via work, was unsure as previously I had a U2711 and felt that was big) but really like it, then a 24" 1080p monitor vertical.
When working I use my work laptop and main monitor.

 

Just the one 27 incher for me.
Work have offered me more but the laptop they supply won't drive 2 or more above 60hz, so that won't work for me

 

USB Display link adaptors will sort that out if its just office type stuff, though on LCDs in a non gaming scenario 60hz doesn't really matter 30hz is fine unless you are a twitch spreadsheet user

 

Not for me, but I am very special.
You can dig around these hallowed pages and find a thread or 2, but I can not look at a sub 100hz monitor without having as physiological response, my right eye goes proper wonky and becomes painful in about 10 minutes of being sat in front of one.

Hell I only ditched CRT a year or 2 ago when this was figured out and they got me a 144hz jobbie.

 

Fair enough, was that refresh rate or the frequency of PWM backlights?

Still Displaylink adaptors will give you higher refresh regardless of the laptops ability. (well it will require some CPU grunt)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com-USB32DP24K60-DisplayPort-Adapter-Monitors/dp/B07C69HG33