I only use Two monitors (two Apple Cinema displays) and an LCD TV for entertainment (Jerry Springer is a hoot) <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mRnIXnBcAAo?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mRnIXnBcAAo?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
i run 4 24 inch led full HD 1920 1080 . you can get 2 windows minimum on each screen , they use less than 30w each and they cost 250 bucks each . incredible value . use gt220 vid cards at 79 bucks each . multiple monitors increase productivity no doubt but i do know one very successful trader who trades of a single large screen notebook
What's really interesting about running two computers, is that you can get utilities that allow you to run them both from one keyboard and one mouse that are installed on one computer. Software is installed on both computers and communicate through a network connection. The KB and mouse work on the computer they're attached to and when you move the mouse to go off the monitor toward a monitor on the second computer, the software transfers the mouse and KB inputs to the second computer. To the user, it appears seamlessly as though it's one computer with applications limited to one computor's monitor(s) or another's. Saw this working with XP and Vista. Don't know about other OSs. Plus side of two or more computers: distributed load and you can immediately run SW on a remaining computer upon a failure. Downside of two or more computers: more points of failure. I usually run with six 28" 1920x1200 LCD monitors (a mix of Hannspree TV and Hanns G HH & HZ). They generate a lot of heat. LED would be way better, but a lot more expensive right now. I blew a graphic card and am temporarily running on four monitors. I feel vulnerable not having the usual info available for visual scan. Note that there are more cases of some people having difficulty with backlighting flicker in the standard LCD monitors, but problem solved with LED backlit monitors. Less energy, less heat and less user fatigue.
You are entirely forgiven to think so, because the area is far more confusing than anyone could have thought. Actually, those 'new' TN panels with LED backlight (Edge or white LED, not RGB LED), have worse color gamut (being 6 bit only, with 2-bit dithering) than good (i.e. 8-, 10-, or 12-bit) x-IPS panels with 'old-fashioned' CCFL backlight (e-IPS, S-IPS, H-IPS being the ascending quality order). Not to mention their appalling viewing angles, unsuitable for multi-monitor setups. A good Dell / NEC LCD monitor with an x-IPS matrix plus the 'old-fashioned' CCFL backlight wins hands down (viewing angles, contrast at high angles, color gamut, static contrast /only static is useful!/, black point) over 99% of TN's with LED backlight. This is because TN, the entry level panel technology, is never combined with good versions of LED backlight (RGB), while good panel technology, such as the x-IPS family is still too expensive to be combined with any LED backlight, not to mention a good one. The only exception I know of was the LG W2420R 24-incher where an excellent S-IPS panel was combined with top RGB LED backlight. Apple cheaped out with their Cinema Displays (and indeed iPads) and used white LEDs for backlight (which are worse than CCFL when it comes to color accuracy, but sure they are thinner). The eye fatigue is the thing of the past, gone with CRTs, not even substandard 60 Hz 'refresh rates' still prevalent in virtually all LCDs can cause you a headache, because there is no flicker to speak of in LCD panels, no periods of darkness that is. Just like with an old-fashioned lightbulb, there is considerable momentum in those liquid cristals, they just don't find time to go dark in between frames. As to the LCD backlight flickering, that is another misconception probably from substandard energy-saving lightbulbs that used to flicker at the 60 or 100 Hz rate, depending on continent (they did manage to go dark, being cold). CCFL backlight which is used for LCD panels has sufficiently high frequency not to bother with, varying from 200 Hz to... 60 kHz. Yes, backlight refresh rates are measured in kHz's... the field is full of confusion The more modern LED backlight has frequency range also measured in kHz's (20-30), so nothing better really with respect to eyestrain. So do avoid the overhyped poor Edge implementations of the LED backlight, wait until the good one, RGB LED, becomes mainstream and choose x-IPS panels any day, even though they invariably have the older backlight technology. More importantly, pixel reaction times, while indeed slightly lower in TN's (than x-IPS), don't really matter. It is the little known input lag than accounts for most of the latency, not the advertised pixel reaction times. For a 'fast' 5 ms monitor, the input lag can be 10 times higher, i.e. as large as your network latency! And you would never know unless you found that information in some geeky in-depth review... Since backlight flicker cannot be an issue, and pixel reaction times are already minimal everywhere, low input lag is the only thing a trader should prefer (to minimize) in monitors for the trading station. Apart of course from contrast and color at high viewing angles (important with multi-monitor setups), which currently require an x-IPS panel. So which monitor would have the lowest input lag? A gaming one of course Here's a recent example from LG: their W2363D 23" model has the so-called "Thru-mode" designed with the sole purpose of reducing the input lag (which is very bad for gamers and traders alike. Without the Thru-mode enabled this "3 ms" GtG monitor clocks a respectable 6-15 ms input lag (yes, 2-5 times the advertised latency. But once the Thru-mode is activated, then according to a series of tests run by a FlatpanelsHD rewiever, this beauty showed an input lag reduced to 0 ms! This is as low as it gets, and a perfect monitor for traders it would make, if it also used a decent panel technology (sadly, it is the usual suspect, TN, so no multi-monitor setups possible here). Disclosure: still an unashamed owner of two old-timers: NEC 1980FXi S-IPS's, but switching to three Dell U2311H monitors with e-IPS panels and a respectable 10.6 ms average input lag (4 ms faster than the 24" version (14.4ms) at half the price and 3 times faster than the 27" model (30ms). This explains the extensive research which I shared with you, because the LCD area is very complex indeed. Someone may in return share their graphics card choice for their multi-monitor setup
Recently, I bought a couple of Dell P190S 19-inch flat panel monitors (non-widescreen) to flank both sides of my widescreen monitor for $149 and love them! The are basic TN panels and use either VGA or DVI inputs and are height adjustable.
I forgot to mention that the main advantage of IPS panels is their ergonomics. They do reduce eyestrain, but only if you know how to use them properly. Take a hint from Bloomberg or indeed Linux... do you see what those professional tools have in common? Remember that black is also a color... The simplest, universally available method of reducing eye fatigue is to switch your system color scheme to one with a black background (and a basic-color foreground)... But that would be simply impossible with TN panels. Until I stumbled upon my S-IPS-based NEC's (pricey), I had to return all of the "new and improved" LCD panels, such appallingly full of glare was the alleged "black" point on TN panels placed side-by-side with my trusted Sony CRTs (yes, i'm that old. The so-called "black" on those new LCD devices usually meant more like "dark violet" with grayish tinge growing steadily towards the edges. Trying to read an e-book from a TN-based screen I can last for 2 hours tops without getting the well known "office fatigue syndrome". While the black depth on IPS panels is so deep, that in a dark room you literally can't tell if they are turned off or not (assuming you already dealt with their only weak spot - the LED indicator - by stealing some of your kids plasticine - other brands of modeling clay are available at all good DTP stores. Here's what a true 850:1 (calibrated) contrast ratio looks like: I suppose if those claims of 5'000'000:1 contrast ratios in white-LED-backlighted TN panels were true, they would be sucking me into a black hole! But luckily, those refer only to dynamic contrast (immediately switched off by most users, after watching their first movie that is). Notice the TFTCentral's reviewer who made the above photo is obviously a non-trader, because his LED indicator is lit up like a Christmas tree! (those were dimmable in my financial-specialty 1980FXi NEC's - here's ergonomics for you Those days of quality hardware are long gone, but you can still use plasticine (it would start adding value only once you dealt with the paper-white background though). Paradoxically, just like with the input lag v. pixel refresh rates, we were looking at the wrong culprit. Those constantly visible LED indicators are the only truly flickering (at 60 Hz) element still left in modern LCD panels... they are far worse than the unjustly maligned CCFL backlight with its huge refresh rates measured in kHz. But obviously switching away from the white background adds more value than the plasticine. Unless... you acquire the Elite Trader's speciality brand, yours at only $1400 an ounce (price may go up as well as down. (unless you are Landis82, in which case the price stays the same, but "$" now means: NZD. Remember those walls of brilliant flat-screen TV's? This is precisely the contrast quality I'm referring to - those wide screen TV's have been based on IPS panels for years, because you could not use TN there, so large are the contrast and color distortions with small changes in viewing angles, i.e. when looking towards the edges of a wide screen. And black is where IPS astounding contrast ratios shine the most.
Many traders on ET have claimed that a black background causes the most eye strain. That has not been my experience... I've used black for years.
It isn't just ETer's. Every opthamologist will tell you that a light gray background is the best for long term eye care. Not black Not white.