Monitor Size

[fyarch135738]

Thanks to those who replied to my post about dual monitors.

I was at a Revit course yesterday and there was a van there with some large LCD screens (about 40") displaying Microsoft Vista. They were basically TV screens and about 2 years old according to the guy in the van. They seemed to have a very clear display and I asked him if they would be good enough to use for CAD work and he said that he thought they would be - he wasn't selling them by the way.

I've often wondered about using those screens as monitors, as I thought that they would give a much bigger work area and that there would also be space for other programs (e.g Autocad, e-mail, Word, Windows Explorer, to be on screen as well, albeit in a reduced format until it was time to use them.

My concerns have been -

- That the resolution on such a big screen wouldn't be good enough for close up work required for CAD.

- That the visual presentation of Revit on screen would expand horizontally to fill the screen, thus providing distortion in one dimension, or if the format can be maintained correctly, there would be a lot of useless blank space around it.

- If that blank space was in fact useful and could have other programs open and placed in those spaces, it could be very handy and time saving.

I've also seen a fantastic looking Mac big screen monitor (between $1500 and $2000) and thought that would be another good solution instead of multiple monitors. I run a PC.

I'd appreciate your input as to how to go with this, as obviously whatever way I go, there are big bucks involved and I don't want to leap in on the recommendation of a salesman. I'd rather get informed advice from fellow Revitters. I have asked this question of a number of people over the years, but never seemed to have got a clear and knowledgeable answer (e.g they often say "That should work" or "I'm not sure").

You see lots of banks of huge screen monitors on TV and in the movies, so it must be true!!!!!!!!

Frank Y

[.chad]

keep in mind that according to people that make up rules, you want to try and keep one foot between yourself and your screen for each inch of (tv) screen you have. that giant 40" monitor sounds great, but the eyestrain from it wouldnt be worth the extra real estate. new tv's that can function as monitors generally dont get much above 1400x900 resolution (or there abouts, i dont have exact numbers off hand) , which really isnt that great - my 19" LCD is sitting at 1280x1024. the lack of resolution is made up by the fact that you are farther away from the screen. now, in a conference room - those big screens hooked up to a PC are great. we just bought one for the office, and hopefully it will be set up this week. (and then im moving my desk to the conference room :p)

[david.kingham]

One of our animators has a 30" dell and it is beautiful, I would gladly trade my 3 monitors for that 1, the cost is pretty astronomical though, the monitor alone seems bad enough, then you realize you need a video card that costs more than monitor....

[Wesley]

I run two HP 24" monitors for a desktop of 3800x1200 - prior to that I ran three 19" monitors. The 24" widescreens are fantastic for Revit - I use it on one screen and then have email, calendar, contacts, spreadsheets, etc, etc on the other. These screens are nowhere near the price of a 30" screen...

[BillyGrey]

I don't know how well all large screen TV's work for computers, esp. today, but an associate of mine bought a large flat screen television monitor and hung it in his conference room.
I know it is an older (1 year or so) Sony, but it does not look good for working in cad. The line work is jaggy, etc. He is in the "oh well, it works for clients that don't know the difference" mode.

Otherwise, it's getting the NBA playoff treatment after hours, and it works great for that.

I'd like to hear other experiences.

I use two 21" LCD's, and will never go back to one, unless it is a jumbo (+30") LCD computer monitor.

[iru69]

There are really two classes of LCD displays:

(there are also "plasma" television displays that are similar in specs, but not appropriate for long-term computer work because of image burn-in)

Displays meant to be used as televisions :
Typical 720p 40"+ LCD panels have a resolution of 1366x768 (720p)
Typical 1080p 40"+ LCD panels have a resolution of 1920 x 1080 (1080p)

Displays meant to be used as computer monitors:
Typical 19" LCD is 1280x1024
Typical 24" LCD is 1920x1200
Typical 30" LCD is 2560x1600

All of these can be used as a computer monitor just fine, and almost any video card made in the last couple of years should be able to drive any one of these monitors except for something like the Dell or Apple 30" LCD which require a dual-link DVI-D video card.

While the 720p television panels look great and look sharp, their relatively low resolution makes them problematic for heavy revit usage - after you subtract the area for menus and toolbars and task bars and such, there really isn't much room left for the drawing. We have a 37" hooked up in our conference room, and we use it to show revit models and such, and it works great, but it would drive me a little nuts using it all day and every day.

However, the newer 1080p panels that have come on the scene do have enough screen real estate to be an attractive alternative. And the smaller ones (e.g. 40") are at a similar price point to the Dell 30". However, as someone else mentioned, it's not like you can just stick it a foot in front of you (though Chad might want to rethink the "one foot between yourself and your screen for each inch of (tv) screen you have" rule... 40" would equal 40 feet!). For a 40" screen, I'd say an absolute minimum of three feet (perfect to also lay out a big drawing sheet in front of you!), but maybe more; I've never sat that close to one all day. However, beyond five feet, and text might start getting a little hard to read for long periods of time. So, if you've got the room, that might be kind of cool.

It should also be pointed out that by "sharp", I mean not "fuzzy". The image on a 720p (and even a 1080p) does look more pixelated (i.e. jagged) when you're sitting very close. Whether the pixelation is bothersome is a bit of a personal preference. You're spreading out a relatively low number of pixels over a very large area.

Also, the resolution makes up for the change in screen aspect ratio, so a drawing of a square still looks more or less like a square.

But, we still haven't actually gained much screen real estate over the typical 19" LCD. So, how about two 40"+ 1080p displays? You might want to talk to your chiropractor first. Seriously, I think it could work, but it would be a very unusual workstation setup.

The 30" computer displays (like from Dell and Apple) are really more appropriate in most instances for getting more screen real estate. The massive resolution and crystal clear display is an amazing thing to behold. You just need an appropriate video card to drive one. I believe most laptops are out of the question at the moment. For most desktops, no problem - while dual-link dvi-d video cards used to be exorbitantly priced, they're actually pretty common now even on the $150 video card. If you want two 30" displays, you'll need dual PCIe-16x slots on your motherboard for two dual-link video cards.

Getting two 24" computer displays is a good way to go as well. Technically, you actually get more screen real estate then a single 30" display, though not as much more than you might think. Also, Revit does not play nicely with two screens... it's really a bit of a drag to use in my opinion. Aside from Revit use though, one of the nice thing about two screens is that it's really easy to drag a spreadsheet or web browser window or whatever over to the other screen and maximize it to full size rather than messing around with tiling views side by side on a single monitor. You also want to make sure you have a video card that supports dual dvi (assuming two displays).

Price obviously is very different around the world, and will be very different even a few months from now. Here in the US, a high quality 40" 1080p LCD is going to run close to $2K, though prices are dropping fast. The Dell 24" is ~$675, so two of those will run you ~$1350. The Dell 30" is ~$1,500, but if you need a new graphics card, that's another $200 or so.

[mlgatzke]

I run two HP 24" monitors for a desktop of 3800x1200 - prior to that I ran three 19" monitors. The 24" widescreens are fantastic for Revit - I use it on one screen and then have email, calendar, contacts, spreadsheets, etc, etc on the other. These screens are nowhere near the price of a 30" screen...Wess, me too. I just completed an installation of all new machines across the board. All have Dell 24" widescreens on DVI. They're awesome, 1000:1 contrast with 1920x1200 resolution each. Revit is REALLY easy on the eyes with these babies. Cheers.