What's the best size TFT screen for 3+ monitor setup?

[Chubbardo]

Hi

need some hardware advice from traders who are using a 3 or more TFT monitors.

What's the best TFT screen size and resolution?

Cost isn't an issue.
more concerned about desktop area and chart size being easy on the eyes

So would 3 x 17" TFT running at 1024 x 768 be ideal or would 3 x 19" TFT running at 1280 x 1024 make a better choice?

 

[peterpr]

Hi
need some hardware advice from traders who are using a 3 or more TFT monitors.

I've been using 3 screens for about 6 months now. 2 x Iiama 20" TFT's + my original 17" CRT.

The TFT's run at 1600 X 1200 resolution and are absolutely superb in terms of definition, detail and clarity. The CRT is long in the tooth and I'm on the brink of replacing it with another 20" TFT. Will probably still keep the CRT running as well though (for email client etc).

I've tried running the TFT's at lower resolution but soon returned to the highest.

It's funny how, even having two large top class screens can seem inadequate after a while when you start doing serious graphical work on charts + watching a few instruments concurrently + Trading platform + News, web site monitoring etc. My CPU is also a bit long in the tooth (3 year old Dell Dimension 8100 - 512Mb Ram + additional HD) but it seems to run the multi monitor set up with no glitches whatsoever, so I have no plans to upgrade it yet a while. 2 graphics cards - Matrox P750 + GForce MX4000 - could support 5 monitors - so I'll probably end up with 5 eventually !!

 

[Chubbardo]

thanks

I also asked 2 friends working as IT support on 2 city trading floors... 19"TFT running at 1280 x 1024 is the standard setup at both.

 

[ewilcox]

If cost is not an issue then the really best tft's can be found at apple - www.apple.com. If only I could afford one....

 

[zeeuk]

I look at quite a few markets and have been using 3*19"TFT. Do the job good - prefer them way above the 17s. All on 1280. I would definitely say 'bigger is better!'

 

[DaveJB]

Only running 2, but it doesn't differ from 3 in that the bigger the better is best.... I have 2 x 19" TFTs, replacing a 19 paired with a 17" previously.
More screen area/higher res is better - I would strongly suggest you buy identical monitors, with identical stands etc it then becomes easier to ensure they are level with each other. Worth considering quality of course, you should probably end up with a short list of likely buys, it's then worth adding a consideration of screen border to the mix... some TFT screens have smaller, thinner, neater bezels than others - if you have 2 or 3 alongside each other then the plastic filled gap between each should be as unobtrusive as you can get.

I run two Iiiyama Prolite E481S screens, which I find very nice indeed... there are other screens as neat and pretty etc. If you opt for 17" screens, which are currently very cheap indeed, I think you'll regret it - that extra screen area on a 19 is very noticeable when placed next to a 17, as is the resolution change.

Dave

 

[Chubbardo]

Thanks for the suggestions.

have gone for 3 x Dell Ultrasharp 1905FP 19" TFT. 1 priced at £150 (with CPU from Dell) the other 2 for £220 each from ebay. £590 total.