I’ve got the LG 2-UP monitor and a plain-Jane 1080p monitor in portrait mode. I use the second monitor for mostly-PDF mostly-letter paper document review. I would love to find an ergonomic reason for my org to purchase an eink monitor for that, but I haven’t come up with any excuses ;)

Two monitors let me compartmentalize my workflow. Window management is otherwise too messy for my needs with a single display.

What are your thoughts on the LG DualUp for programming workflows?

I use it for R Studio occasionally, and I appreciate being able to see my code and my data at the same time.

My main use is writing, and it can a little overwhelming to see all my copy at once. I tend to fill out my screen with other resources that I’ll use.

Since it’s an odd-ball ratio, built-in Windows 11 window snapping also has some weird default behaviour that assumes that I want my windows a third of the height and stacked.

I have a dual up from LG and it is the greatest coding monitor ever made!

In Intellij and VSCode, I can see project outline, 120 columns of code, and DB details all on the same screen. I use it as a side monitor, with main monitor being a Dell 32 inch 4k.

I used an EIZO FlexScan EV2730Q (1:1), and upgraded to a DualUp.

It is the best configuration I've found for programming and CLI work. For gaming I typically use one of the normal widescreens to the left/right of it.

Only downside I've found is that I screen share often, and the odd aspect ratio means sometimes I have to use one of the normal widescreens instead to avoid small text on the audience's side.

Also I ran into some scaling issues on Mac but got past these using BetterDisplay.

Overall - love the LG DualUp, my only suggestion is to pair it with a normal monitor :)

Does the LG display appear as 1 or 2 monitors in the OS?

I'm intrigued by it, potentially as a replacement for a vertical screen, but I'm unsure if it would work well with my Mac-based work environment.

It shows up as one device. The res you get depends on your source. You won’t get full res if your device only has an older HDMI or Display Link output.

I’ve got it set up for occasional PIP with a Bay Trail home server. That device has an HDMI out that does max 1920 x 1080 and won’t do the full width of 2560 x whatever.

I think it's down to personal preference, so obviously do what works for you!

I have the triple-27" monitors @4k setup described elsewhere..

Left-side monitor is Slack and Discord, and sometimes a File explorer or other misc apps that usually live minimized (Spotify, etc)

Center monitor is my IDE and terminal, or whatever "main" app I'm working in at the moment (sometimes Lightroom etc)

Right-side monitor is work browser (we use GSuite so lots of various tabs in GDrive, Calendar, Gmail, Docs etc)

You can certainly do this all on one screen, but I like to be able to glance at those things while still having my main screen laid out for ongoing work.

I also use multiple desktops so I have one for work and one for personal, and I can swipe all 3 monitors over to a different workspace with one key command, which makes macro context switching easier.

Similar setup here since about 2015. 5K iMac in the center and a thunderbolt display on either side (2560x1440). IDE, terminals, and/or primary task in the center, application output on the left side, documentation/browsers/e-mail/calendar on the right.

My only complaint is one of the thunderbolt displays is getting flaky. It likes to briefly turn itself off and on again, and unfortunately Apple's braindead software flashes all three monitors on and off when this happens. I've tried replacing the display's power supply, main board, and thunderbolt cable with no luck. Other than that, the setup has been rock solid and being surrounded by monitors makes me feel like I'm running The Matrix.

I have one of those Thunderbolt Displays and it’s been a trooper. Sitting at around a decade old now and still works great. Its connector is getting worn out but as long as I don’t bump the TB2 → TB3 adapter it’s connected with it’s solid.

It’ll be a bummer when it finally goes. In addition to being a secondary monitor it also gets used to test how graphics appear on“normal” DPI displays (main monitor is a Studio Display) and while decent 2560x1440 are now cheap and ubiquitous none of them are going to be controllable via keyboard without third party software.

Interesting fact: you can use the other Thunderbolt port and a regular Thunderbolt cable (with the Thunderbolt 2-3 adapter) instead of the permanently attached one (the one with the MagSafe power cable) so there’s less stuff dangling.

That is very interesting, thanks. Will have to pick up an extra TB cable and do this.

I heard about this kind of set up often, dedicated monitors for dedicated applications/tasks. Great that it works for you, for me it just doesn't seem to make any sense.

I usually use all the monitors for the task I'm currently working on, and not for different serial tasks. For context switches I use Alt+Tab or sometimes virtual desktops.

Totally get that.. I actually don't like alt-tabbing between windows, I find it clunky.. Much like you don't like to turn your head to look at other screens.. :-)

Last detail to add is that I use Powertoys FancyZones in Windows 10 to set up zones in my screens that let me snap windows into specific layouts easily on the side monitors, so setting up dedicated layouts per-monitor is more intuitive and easy for me.

You setup is similar to mine in terms of workflow but I just have a single 48” split into three vertical panels.

This kills deep work.

Thanks for sharing your opinion! I don't have the same experience, thankfully.

Apps and window managers understand full screen. With my wide monitori often want full height, but not full width this needs manual adjustment to work. Windows can sometimes be made full height (tripple click), but this somehow always seems to get the wrong width

I'm using most applications not in full screen mode, and don't have a lot of issues with that on windows. I think the only thing I commonly run in full screen is IDEs.

That's why I use picture-by-picture (PBP) on my 32" 4K. Two DisplayPort connected to the same computer and control them independent of each other. I also love how my Ubuntu virtual Desktop only rotates the primary screen leaving the other half static.

When needed I can fullscreen across both.

No borders!

My setup has evolved over time and fits how I work now.

3 screens, all 4K, in | - - arrangement (portrait, landscape, landscape)

Left, vertical screen: terminals, Dash app, and documentation.

Middle, horizontal screen: Emacs showing org-journal+org-roam, VSCode, Firefox.

Right, horizontal screen: Chats and email, devtools from Firefox, separate VSCode workspaces, etc.

Main problem I've ran into was the newer M1-based non-Ultra/Max Macbook Pros don't support more than 2 external displays unless you use DisplayLink which is CPU-based and lags enough to notice. I wasn't able to convince our client to buy a laptop that would support my layout :/

I also have similar single monitor (a BENQ EW3270U) set to 200% scale. I use Linux, and my productivity is good by binding F1 to F5 keys to switch to different virtual desktops.

F1 -> Terminals. (Wezterm showing 4 terminals in a 2x2 grid)

F2 -> Code editor or IDE. Sublime Text in my case.

F3 -> Internet Browser. Firefox with Container extension.

F4 -> File Manager or any other misc apps.

F5 -> unused

I'm so used to these keybindings, that when I'm on foreign computers I involuntarily find myself pressing F1 or F3 when I want to enter some command or browse some web page.

I do that as well, and I’m on a MacBook Pro. So when I’m on MacBook Pro that has macOS, well, that’s funny, as it takes some time to remember what macOS is and how I had been using it before.

I started with a lot of monitors and I've ended up with just one 27" UHD monitor. It works great and i like the focus it forces on me.

My 32" 4K is configured with 150% zoom on Windows. So it's usable resolution is in practice the same as an UHD monitor, just a bit sharper and bigger. More crisp fonts, icons and images. Totally enough.

I use two displays with the same specs as yours, but have them both vertical. Code goes on one, browser/documentation on the other, and I don't have to turn my head too much to go between them.

But then I _really_ like a vertical display for coding.

It all depends on your workflow of course. I run 3 monitors for my main workstation. Admittedly the third is mostly for rare events (e.g. debugging a performance issue across many services) or most of the time background TV/security cameras.

I get motion sick on anything over 27" so that kind of limits my screen real-estate. I also like to be able to quickly reference material across two apps without having to mess around with window sizing or the like.

It's sort of like having two computers from back in the 90's I guess, which is likely where I picked up the habit.

I still find it difficult to work on a laptop due to the lack of a second display. It's fine, but not quite as mentally satisfying to me.

I would also argue any ops-oriented position where you need to have a lot of graphs and logging displayed at once can benefit from multiple screens - or at least screen real estate. Using multiple monitors for these setups is usually more practical just due to desk layouts.

I use three monitors for my multimedia development work, and I can't imagine using fewer. I would get a fourth one if I could.

#1: My main 4k monitor, where I do the bulk of my work. I need the whole screen for this.

#2: My second 4k monitor, which I use for looking through documentation, taking notes, and working with the file system. (I have it split into quarters using PowerToys, but it's still very busy with many overlapping windows that I have to flip between frequently, which is why I wish I had a fourth monitor.)

#3: My old Cintiq, which I use when I need to hand draw something. In the meantime, it is dedicated to monitoring communication with colleagues (it's too low res for much else).