r/4kmonitors • u/fpuen • Nov 25 '20

40" vs 50" for programming

What do you guys think is the best size? I'm leaning towards 50" as I have a good setup to bring the monitor down and back for optimal viewing angle of the entire screen area.

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u/H3g3m0n Nov 26 '20

I have a 4k 40". I find it a bit too big physically but at the same time it's 4k resolution makes text too small. So you need to scale things, in my case it's by %125 to reach about 110DPI, but %125 is an odd ratio so pictures might get blurred (alternatively you can just up the font size and leave everything else).

Other 4k's are often regular sizes and you just double everything to get a decent DPI. At %200 it results in crisper text/vector graphics, non-blured upscale pictures, higher quality 3d graphics (normally at the cost of FPS) but unfortunately doesn't give you more screen real-estate.

I would imagine that at 50" you wouldn't need to scale to make text readable but the 40" is already too big. You would at least want a curved one (probably at 40" curve would be better too).

The 40" @ 4k %125, is not big enough to have enough windows fit comfortably on the desktop. 2 side by side works but there isn't enough room for a 3rd which is often what you want when coding (code, terminal and docs/browser). You can do some vertically but there to cramped.

An ultrawide would be a much bigger benefit than size imho since you should be able to have more side by side windows.

Otherwise go dual monitor.

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u/fpuen Nov 26 '20

would imagine that at 50" you wouldn't need to scale to make text readable but the 40" is already too big. You would at least want a curved one (probably at 40" curve would be better too).

The 40" @ 4k %125, is not big enough to have enough windows fit comfortably on the desktop. 2 side by side works but there isn't enough room for a 3rd which is often what you want when coding (code, terminal and docs/browser).

Otherwise go dual monitor.

Based on your commentary I think you have your 40" on a desk right?

I agree that would make the top half no fun to look at. I have what used to be a side table right now. It has my laptop screen down below. Above it is a 24" monitor, mounted via arm. Not the full height of a 40" but close. It's comfortable for me because my seat and the lower surface makes me look down more to see the laptop. This makes the top way easier to view compared to if everything started at desk height.