Three 30 inch monitors... is it enough?

Dart · Jun 15, 2013

I'm looking at setting my system up with three 30 inch dell monitors (LED ones run about 1300 a pop). Would this be good enough for active trading, or would you recommend a different setup (say 6 little monitors instead).

In my experience, little monitors didn't serve well. When I traded in 2006 I used six 19 inch monitors and I ended up with three only in use as the other three didn't seem to serve a lot of use.

What are your thoughts? I have invested in two of them already, and am looking at adding a third. Am I barking up the wrong tree with this approach?

EDIT: Note these monitors run 2560x1600 resolution... they are not enlarged versions of little monitors (i.e. tv's). Their like having a bigger screen at laptop size resolutions.

Cdntrader · Jun 15, 2013

Quote from Dart:

I'm looking at setting my system up with three 30 inch dell monitors (LED ones run about 1300 a pop). Would this be good enough for active trading, or would you recommend a different setup (say 6 little monitors instead).

In my experience, little monitors didn't serve well. When I traded in 2006 I used six 19 inch monitors and I ended up with three only in use as the other three didn't seem to serve a lot of use.

What are your thoughts? I have invested in two of them already, and am looking at adding a third. Am I barking up the wrong tree with this approach?

EDIT: Note these monitors run 2560x1600 resolution... they are not enlarged versions of little monitors (i.e. tv's). Their like having a bigger screen at laptop size resolutions.

Depends what kind of trading you do.

Personally I always stick with one monitor. Your field of vision only takes in so much. Otherwise your always turning your head.

And I focus on a few things- not zillions of symbols and charts.

tortoise · Jun 15, 2013

Quote from Cdntrader:

Depends what kind of trading you do.

Personally I always stick with one monitor. Your field of vision only takes in so much. Otherwise your always turning your head.

And I focus on a few things- not zillions of symbols and charts.

that's nice. do you make money?

more isn't always better, but it isn't always worse, either. if you're monitoring multiple markets, multiple monitors are essential. but you have to know what to focus on and why. if you're "always turning your head" with your multiple monitor setup, you don't know what you're doing and are best off with a single monitor until you do.

Dart, I use 27" 2560 x 1440 (Dell) and love them. Higher DPI than 30" 2560 x 1600. I've not found myself wishing the screen was bigger.

Except for the other day, when I caught myself fantasizing about wall-sized screen with same DPI but...

dev · Jun 15, 2013

Quote from tortoise:

that's nice. do you make money?

more isn't always better, but it isnt always worse, either. if you're monitoring multiple markets, multiple monitors are essential. but you have to know what to focus on and why. if you're "always turning your head" with your multiple monitor setup, you don't know what you're doing and are best off with a single monitor until you do.

Dart, I use 27" 2560 x 1440 (Dell) and love them. Higher DPI than 30" 2560 x 1600. I've not found myself wishing the screen was bigger.

Except for the other day, when I caught myself fantasizing about wall-sized screen with same DPI but...

I use a single 30".
Its a great piece of kit.

I can assure you that single monitor involves a lot of head turning.
3x 30" will lead to a lot more head turning.

Nothing to do with "knowing what youre doing" (lmao)

opt789 · Jun 15, 2013

I think three 30â monitors would be great. I have thought about replacing my three 24â ones with three 30â but all the 30â ones I know of tend to get hot. My 24â donât put off hardly any heat at all, but my 30â NEC get quite hot. They are really good monitors and when calibrated properly have basically perfect color, I just wish they didnât get hot. I am waiting for someone to come out with a good 30â IPS that runs cool.

If you like the 30â from Dell that you have, I think a third would be good setup.

tortoise · Jun 15, 2013

Quote from dev:

I can assure you that single monitor involves a lot of head turning.
3x 30" will lead to a lot more head turning.

Nothing to do with "knowing what youre doing" (lmao)

ok amateur-boy, party on!

Wide Tailz · Jun 15, 2013

Quote from tortoise:

that's nice. do you make money?

Yes, and one 19"widescreen is working great for my day & swing trading, but I only tackle one scalp at a time.

dev · Jun 15, 2013

Quote from tortoise:

ok amateur-boy, party on!

Impressive response. Not quite as impressive as your initial statement though.

You must be very very clever.
On the basis I can't compete with such monstrous intellect, I'll leave you with free run of the playground.

You go get em, tiger!

tomdavis · Jun 15, 2013

I use one 30" monitor for each of the three markets I trade.

I used 23" monitors for many years, but I find that 30" screens are much easier on the eyes. Anything larger than 30" requires too much eye movement to be practical for me.

tortoise · Jun 15, 2013

Quote from Wide Tailz:

Yes, and one 19"widescreen is working great for my day & swing trading, but I only tackle one scalp at a time.

Fair enough. If you're not following multiple markets, there's no need to complicate things. I like seeing what's up "under the hood" but it's not essential. Bottom line, my main screen is my screen. The rest is, more-or-less, entertainment and exploration.