What monitor size, resolution, etc. works best with Flare?

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Laura D
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 25, 2017 9:11 am

What monitor size, resolution, etc. works best with Flare?

Post by Laura D »

I've been having trouble fitting all of the various pop-ups and dialog boxes on my computer screen without scrolling up/down and left/right. Some controls never display on my monitor and I have to tab to, for example, hit the "OK" button (or whatever) on a dialog box. This is very annoying, as you can imagine, and somewhat dangerous. What size monitor (resolution, etc.) is Flare designed to be used on?
RamonS
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Location: The Electric City

Re: What monitor size, resolution, etc. works best with Flar

Post by RamonS »

These days 23" monitors are not too expensive including the 2k models (2560x1440). Key here is to get two monitors or if the graphics card on your system can operate more a third one. Dual monitor is the bare minimum, three is in my opinion the best. More is not necessarily better. I have at work two systems with two monitors each. I use three monitors regularly for any kind of work that I do, the fourth one is for following soccer tickers.
You may want to designate the desktops (monitors) for specific uses. I typically have the information source (application, text document, email) on one monitor and the rest on the other. If I had three monitors on one system I'd push all the tool windows to the third monitor leaving one exclusively for the Flare editor. Info source would be on the left, Flare editor in the middle, Flare tools and other editing apps on the third.

As far as hardware specs go, look for models that have fast response times and a high contrast ratio. Aim for 2ms response time, but definitely not more than 5ms. Contrast ratios on today's new panels are already quite high and it becomes more a marketing tool than that the different ratios have a noticeable impact. Also make sure that your system has a graphics card that can drive the monitors at their native resolution, otherwise you get blurry displays that do not allow for any kind of work.

As far as screen size goes, I wouldn't bother with anything larger than 23"/24" especially with a two or three monitor setup. If you line up three 28" monitors you will have a tough time to view them all at the same time.

At home I have two older Samsung 226BW monitors. They have 2ms response time and by today's standards a pathetic 3000:1 contrast ratio. With 21" and 1680x1050 they are OK, but if I'd have to use them for professional tech writing work I'd look for replacement. IMHO Samsung makes the best panels an both 226BW are as crisp as they were when I got them seven years ago. I had to fix the power supply on one of them, but the kit with the capacitors cost ten bucks and 20 minutes to do the repair.
I worked with Acer monitors as well and found them to be quite good. Same for Asus or anything Dell has to offer. They source the panels from third parties. As far as I know Samsung and LG are the main producers for panels and I'd opt for a Samsung any time. They make a wide variety of panels from craptastic to friggin awesome, means the mileage may vary. Also, Samsung themselves buy panels from other manufacturers to be used in their own product. I didn't get lucky with my 226BWs, one has a Samsung panel the other one is from a different manufacturer. Per specs they are the same, but the differences show.

Last pieces of advice: don't bother with monitors with speakers and make sure that the monitor has at least two inputs, ideally more. That way you can hook up a laptop or a tablet without having to plug cables around. If you run the chance to work with older hardware also make sure that the monitor has an analog input (VGA) although there are several fairly decent and by now inexpensive converters. USB ports on the monitor are nice, but the hubs tend to be weak power distributors. It's fine for hooking up a tablet for data transfer or a USB thumb drive. Also look into getting a decent monitor arm for at least one monitor that allows for rotating it 90°. That way you can save a lot on scrolling when working with long documents and previewing PDF/print output matches closer to the paper size ratio. Most graphics cards allow for rotating the desktop in 90° steps. Also, look for monitors with a really thin bezel. When you put them side by side the big fat black plastic frame in the middle of the entire set of displays gets old really fast.
Laura D
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 25, 2017 9:11 am

Re: What monitor size, resolution, etc. works best with Flar

Post by Laura D »

Wow! Excellent advice, RamonS! I really appreciate your thorough answer.

Now, to get the right monitors... :-)

--Laura D
RamonS
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 4293
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:29 am
Location: The Electric City

Re: What monitor size, resolution, etc. works best with Flar

Post by RamonS »

It all depends on the budget..and if your system can feed one, two, or three. Three (or four) monitors on two systems is also an option, the second system will be used to display any information sources, downside is that you cannot copy and paste across two systems...unless there is an app for that.
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