Three 30 inch monitors... is it enough?

[Cdntrader]

Quote from tortoise:

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...

If you think the # of monitors is the reason a trader makes money , you are a fool.

 

[Cdntrader]

Quote from opt789:

I think three 30” monitors would be great. I have thought about replacing my three 24” ones with three 30” but all the 30” ones I know of tend to get hot. My 24” don’t put off hardly any heat at all, but my 30” NEC get quite hot. They are really good monitors and when calibrated properly have basically perfect color, I just wish they didn’t get hot. I am waiting for someone to come out with a good 30” IPS that runs cool.

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

I ditched my DELL 30" because it was way to hot.

 

[Dart]

Thanks for the input, I guess it depends on how many markets watched. I'll check the heat on these, but their the LED models (U3014) so hopefully they wont be running to hot. Definitely like the vertical space they offer, at 1600 pixels. I traded silver mini's in 2006 and three monitors seemed to cover it. We'll see.

 

[tortoise]

Quote from Cdntrader:

If you think the # of monitors is the reason a trader makes money , you are a fool.

If you think that's what I was saying, I hope you're the guy on the opposite side of my trades.

 

[opt789]

Quote from Dart:

Thanks for the input, I guess it depends on how many markets watched. I'll check the heat on these, but their the LED models (U3014) so hopefully they wont be running to hot. Definitely like the vertical space they offer, at 1600 pixels. I traded silver mini's in 2006 and three monitors seemed to cover it. We'll see.

Not to detract from the kids arguing, but I would be interested in your impressions of the u3014, especially how much heat they output over the day.

 

[Dart]

Quote from Cdntrader:

If you think the # of monitors is the reason a trader makes money , you are a fool.

I guess it boils down to personal preference, or what you trade. I couldn't function on one small monitor personally.

 

[mokwit]

I have found a 30" with vertical 20" either side is good as main focus area. Other monitors are above and to the side. I found 4 19" across way too wide.

With 3 Dell 30" you can have them vertical split into 6 screens with software - if you don't need unbroken across 30" a cheaper version is 6x secondhand Dell 20" 4:3 off ebay at around USD75 each but plus multimonitor stand cost.

 

[ofthomas]

the number of monitors is a personal choice... lots of factors will come into play... everyone will have their own opinions as to "what is best" and blah blah... but you can ignore them all and just determine how many and the resolution based on simple things like:

- how many markets do you trade?
- what is of value for you to watch for those markets?
- what are your preferences in terms of what you see?
- how good are your eyes?
- how quickly do you want to find your info?
- how much light in the room you are in?

questions like that will help you determine what is best for you, and then go from there..

like for example... let's say that I traded 4 correlated markets, I didnt wanted to strain my eyes too much, had plenty of desk space, good lighting, and I didnt wanted to ensure I was focused and I knew exactly what in a screen when I looked at it... I would pick a 6 monitor setup using 19" @ 1280x1024 and possibly with IPS panels... (depends on the angles of each screen)... why? simple..

I would have one chart with one market per screen... first 4 screens to my right... order management would be in my top rightmost screen and the bottom rightmost might have whatever else or something along those lines..

you get the idea... everyone will have different requirements... some guys will have 3 x 24" @ 1920x1080 with charts to each side and OE/OM on the center screen along with other stuff... others will have a single one, etc... it all comes down to your requirements...

so grab pen and paper, write down what you care about and model it in paper by just creating square boxes and write down on each wht you would look at and what would feel natural as you search for the information you will analyze real time...

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.

 

[Wide Tailz]

Quote from tortoise:

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.

I forgot to add: the 19ws is just for the console, I use the 14" laptop screen for the news page (for entertainment value mostly, since I just trade with charts & indicators)

:eek:

 

[stock777]

use 2 X 24" with killer free virtual desktop software.

and I have TOO much on those screens.

unless you're running bots, the human mind is too easily distracted.

never fails, something wild happens in some random stock and you miss a trade you were looking at because of the distraction.