Why stop at two? I have recently added a third screen in my office ( one vertical) using this USB gadget when it was on sale for $40 and can now see not just my IDE and a browser (each one takes a screen), but also the app I’m working on, all at the same time. Four screens would be better, of course.
There is probably an upper bound on the number of monitors that one can comfortably and actively use, though I do not know how high it is. I’ve noticed that with more monitors that one is more likely to place static informational windows (social media, system monitoring, email/instant messaging) that aren’t really necessary as an immediate concern. I’m not sure if it can be exploited to put valuable information there, or if one can train themselves to actively use it for work.
Managing windows and workflows with more monitors is also quite a bit more difficult than it is with a single screen. I’ve had some success at reducing wasted space by using a tiling WM, but having to learn key combinations to navigate is tedious.
Having static informational windows that you can view without getting rid of what your working on is highly valuable in my experience.
I’ve found I can successfully use 4 screens (primary screen for document editing, secondary for documentation, tertiary for viewing of test output, extra laptop with all my chats open (so I don’t have to change mouse focus to talk to someone)), but I’ve never tried more.
Why stop at two? I have recently added a third screen in my office ( one vertical) using this USB gadget when it was on sale for $40 and can now see not just my IDE and a browser (each one takes a screen), but also the app I’m working on, all at the same time. Four screens would be better, of course.
There is probably an upper bound on the number of monitors that one can comfortably and actively use, though I do not know how high it is. I’ve noticed that with more monitors that one is more likely to place static informational windows (social media, system monitoring, email/instant messaging) that aren’t really necessary as an immediate concern. I’m not sure if it can be exploited to put valuable information there, or if one can train themselves to actively use it for work.
Managing windows and workflows with more monitors is also quite a bit more difficult than it is with a single screen. I’ve had some success at reducing wasted space by using a tiling WM, but having to learn key combinations to navigate is tedious.
Having static informational windows that you can view without getting rid of what your working on is highly valuable in my experience.
I’ve found I can successfully use 4 screens (primary screen for document editing, secondary for documentation, tertiary for viewing of test output, extra laptop with all my chats open (so I don’t have to change mouse focus to talk to someone)), but I’ve never tried more.