Multiple Monitors Increase Productivity

eggoeater writes "An systematic study conducted by NEC-Mitsubishi, ATI Technologies and the University of Utah has concluded that the use of multiple monitors in the workplace increases productivity. The study is discussed on Tom's Hardware, EE Times, and there's a detailed press release on NEC-Mitsubishi. For those of us who use multi-monitors, this is not shocking. But maybe now that it's official, IT managers will view it as a good investment and not just for gamers."

Comments

Gamers?

[aliens]

I don;t know any gamers that use multiple monitors other than those who play flight Sims.

And as far as having multiple monitors at work, it rocks. Find a cheapo 15" CRT or something and you'll be amazed at how restricted you feel if you go back to one monitor.

I'd have to agree

[Bush_man10]

I'm typing this up right now on a multi-monitor setup. I can honestly say it is one of the best ways to organize your windows and screens. I don't nearly alt-tab as much as I used to with one monitor. It's just so handy to be able to glance with your eyes and read some documentation while your code is on the other monitor, or look at a header file while you code the cpp....you get the idea :)

Interesting

[JediTrainer]

Personally, though it sounds odd, I had an easier time convincing my company to give every member of my team a second computer, rather than a second monitor.

So we each now have our Windows boxes for running Outlook and doing tests with IE and such, and our Linux boxes for actually doing the coding. Since the app is in Java (some server, some client), it doesn't matter much which machine it runs on. I can say that our productivity has definitely gone up quite a bit since we've gone to this setup.

Well, duh.

[Pope]

Sorry, but I was using dual monitor Macs back in 1994-6 for Director projects, and having the stage on one screen and the score and cast on the other was the only way to go. Everytime I had to go troubleshoot a project on a PC with one dinky 14" monitor, it was painful as all hell. Macs have had this support since 1987 with the Mac II.

Re:What about widescreens...?

[gaj]

... I've found that the extra width is what really helps -- not so much the ability to have two desktops visible at once.

I disagree strongly. Though I agree that width (and the ablility to have either long lines or multiple side-by-side terms) is of major benifit, I've found the ability to independently switch two monitors through multiple workspaces to be a much bigger win.

Re:Neck strain?

[ChrisDolan]

It's not an issue for me. I find I just do an occasional eye flicker to the secondary monitor and work mostly on the primary monitor.

I use two identical 17" Sony E200 monitors at 1280x1024, side by side with about a 10 degree angle between them. Left is Mail, Mozilla, iTunes, and Dock. Right is Menubar, Terminal, and iChat and any other apps. I spend almost all my time looking at Right, with an occasional glance at Mail on Left. Left is AGP Radeon, Right is PCI Radeon.

A few ideas that helped me:

• Use identical monitors
  Any difference between the two (size, resolution, color) is grating
• Speed up your mouse settings (MouseZoom prefpanel on Mac)
  Moving horizontally across 2560 pixels takes times
• Choose one to be your primary and do all focused work there
• Put low-attention apps (mail, browser) on the other
• Choose a dark colored desktop unless you want a tan
• Sit back in your chair when reading mail and surfing Lean in when coding
• Turn off animated GIFs!!!!!! Otherwise the corner-of-the-eye flicker will kill concentration

A few problems (likely all Mac specific):

• VNC server can only see Right (the primary monitor)
• Booting with one monitor off may forget window placement
• Windows are only allowed to be as wide as the width of one monitor.
  Grr.