2nd Monitor, landscape v portrait - pros v con

[Major Eazy]

I am planning on buying two monitors, and had been looking at images on Google to get some ideas of how best to place them on desk.

I have actually noticed some photos of other people having their second monitor turned on its side, they have one monitor in landscape view, and the other in a portrait view.

I'm just wondering, where's the benefit in this? I'm just wondering if it would offer some benefits. What are your options on that?

I'm not interested in the pros and cons of using it for Internet, I don;t mind really, but I would like to consider how it can benefit the use of photo editing, graphic design, word processing, 3D designs (like CAD) and such.

After years of using Windows in the proper landscape format, I can't image in what way can I use the second monitor in a tall format.

Do any of you use it that way? What do you do with it? How do it helps?

On a side note: Just in case I decided to have a go anyway, I was wondering, would they be troublesome if I have to turn them around between landscape and portrait, I know the screen would not automatically right itself like an iPad do, and that you would have to use properties dialog box, I only meant surely it's a bit of a stress having to get the screwdriver, unscrew the monitor from the stand, turn it around, screw it back on? (Or are there actually any monitors that you can actually turn it around on its stand??)

All I could think of as to what good do having a second monitor in portrait format is good for is just a full page word processing document, so how do I take advantage of it for graphic design or photo-editing?

Many thank.

 

[rich_]

Typically there are keyboard shortcuts to flip the orientation round, It may depend on the graphics card you own. I haven't gone into my display properties to check, but google can help with that.

Monitors with the stands that allow the monitors to spin around aren't that much more pricey, so why not get them anyway then you can check it out yourself! Sorry I can't be of more use, but I don't use 2 monitors at home for photo editing. My previous work monitors spun, but I never found myself using the feature for my requirements (Excel, Outlook, Browsers)

 

[Steeps]

Make sure the monitors you're looking at have swivel/rotate in their descriptions, most premium Iiyamas and Dells have stands that allow you to rotate the screens by pushing them round. Also make sure you don't get "TN" panels for the portrait screen as the colour shift when you move your head is more noticeable (IPS is fine)

I've had landscape and portrait for about 5 years now. First started when I had a 22" monitor next to a 32" HDTV it made sense to match the height, but I found it really useful and I've kept the format with 2x 24" 16:10 monitors and now 2x 27" 16:9 with another portrait 22" on the other side.

The biggest benefit is the ability to see a full page in portrait (a4/a3) without having to zoom out so much most of the landscape screen is blank, so word documents when set to "page width" you can see pretty much the whole page and still read the text. It's more comfortable to read paragraphs like this than having half an empty screen on the landscape one. If I'm working on a 2 page spread or landscape document then I'd use the landscape monitor, but have all the tools and resources on the portrait one so they're easy to use. For sorting out files most of the time on my system they're displayed as a list/details, so more can be seen without scrolling. With photos it allows me to preview both portrait and landscape photos without losing screen real estate (more pixels on the picture), as most of my work is landscape it's easier to have the preview gallery on the portrait screen (easier to scan, like reading a magazine) then editing on the landscape one. Internet use it's a no brainer, most of the time we're scrolling for more content to read and I prefer paragraphs to read rather than long lines of text.

When using 2 screens it's nice to have the other portrait because it takes up slightly less desk space and there's less distance to move your eyes/mouse if you need to get from one screen edge to the next. It might seem trivial but 2 27" screens is over 120cm wide, having one in portrait reduces this by over 25cm for an extra bit of height that is usually taken up by the stand.

 

[dejongj]

I'm with steeps in this. He has highlighted almost all benefits already. Space saving and full page a4 are the main benefits for me.

Often I've also got many of my tools parked on that screen such as multiple terminals when choosing with log files and console messages.

 

[Major Eazy]

Typically there are keyboard shortcuts to flip the orientation round, It may depend on the graphics card you own. I haven't gone into my display properties to check, but google can help with that.

Monitors with the stands that allow the monitors to spin around aren't that much more pricey, so why not get them anyway then you can check it out yourself! Sorry I can't be of more use, but I don't use 2 monitors at home for photo editing. My previous work monitors spun, but I never found myself using the feature for my requirements (Excel, Outlook, Browsers)

Nah, you've actually helped a bit. I forgotten to consider taking into allowance shortcuts, even if there are no shortcuts, I could create one.

 

[Major Eazy]

The biggest benefit is the ability to see a full page in portrait (a4/a3) without having to zoom out so much most of the landscape screen is blank, so word documents when set to "page width" you can see pretty much the whole page and still read the text. It's more comfortable to read paragraphs like this than having half an empty screen on the landscape one. If I'm working on a 2 page spread or landscape document then I'd use the landscape monitor, but have all the tools and resources on the portrait one so they're easy to use. For sorting out files most of the time on my system they're displayed as a list/details, so more can be seen without scrolling. With photos it allows me to preview both portrait and landscape photos without losing screen real estate (more pixels on the picture), as most of my work is landscape it's easier to have the preview gallery on the portrait screen (easier to scan, like reading a magazine) then editing on the landscape one. Internet use it's a no brainer, most of the time we're scrolling for more content to read and I prefer paragraphs to read rather than long lines of text.

I see your point, yeah, it do make sense to view a full page in portrait. Althought I'll admit that I'm usually the kind of writer to prefer to print out a full page in draft mode for editing, but still I see your idea. On the other hand, I suppose since I don't really mind a word prcessor document in landscape at page wide, I guess what you say could also apply to graphic design work (like CorelDRAW or Abode Illustrator) if working on a portrait format poster.

And when looking at image files, I prefer mainly thumbnail, but I can see your reference to "more can be seen without scrolling" would work great with thumbnails.

Even thought I really don't mind surting the Internet in landscape mode, you've sold me, on the above points. Okay, I'll have a go.

Many thanks.

 

[Steeps]

I still work on all my graphics work on the landscape screen zoomed in, but it's useful to have a full scale preview on the portrait screen so I don't have to print it out straight away to see any changes. I only started with a portrait 2nd screen because I did a lot of web coding and it made sense to have the page preview on the landscape screen and all the code in portrait so there was less scrolling to see all the elements, the habit has stuck since then, might take a while of getting used to.

If you don't like it and you have swivel screens then it's fairly easy to physically rotate it round then change the direction in screen properties.

I was considering at one point trying one of the large (29"ish+) super wide 21:9 screens and having two programs side by side, but I'd already bought the 27" screens by then.

 

[Major Eazy]

I agree with you Steeps, I'm going to have a go with the idea of the 2nd monitor in portrait, and if I find it feeling not right, yes, I can put it back into landscape.

However I figure, there's no harm in having a go with portrait for a week, then landscape for another week, then portrait for yet another week. Either just to give myself some time to be sure or give myself some time to get used to it.

I do see your points, and think that do sounds interesting enough to have a go anyway. Thanks for great advice.

 

[Pookeyhead]

I use a second screen in portrait, as it's a better format to have all the photoshop tools, or lightroom grid view. Also, as my main screen is 30" (2560x1600) I have a 20" 4:3 monitor in portrait (1200x1600). This means the desktop is the same size vertically, and physically a 20" 4:3 screen on it's end is the same height as a 30" screen in landscape. Works well for me, saves desk space, and still allows me to shift all the tolls from the main screen.