Larger Monitors, Better Productivity

And I thought it was common knowledge that the more screen real-estate you have, the more work you can do for the same amount of time. A published article from the Wall Street Journal says it true, but to a certain number of inches.

The magic number seems to be 24.

Researchers at the University of Utah tested how quickly people performed tasks like editing a document and copying numbers between spreadsheets while using different computer configurations: one with an 18-inch monitor, one with a 24-inch monitor and with two 20-inch monitors. Their finding: People using the 24-inch screen completed the tasks 52% faster than people who used the 18-inch monitor; people who used the two 20-inch monitors were 44% faster than those with the 18-inch ones. There is an upper limit, however: Productivity dropped off again when people used a 26-inch screen. (source)

And I thought a 24-inch monitor was an overkill. My money is on dual-monitors though. More horizontal space is better than additional screen height. Ever since I got my second monitor, all I ended up was watching more downloaded vids from bittorent, running Joost or vidcasts from Revision3.

Multi-monitors

So, size really matters, huh?

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

16 Comments

Rachael @ Utah 4G Wireless says:

14 years ago

Hello there, just browsing for information for my Utah 4g site. Lots of information out there. Not what I was looking for, but great site. Have a great day.
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Chell says:

17 years ago

I must be weird. I feel I’m more productive when I’m using an 18″ monitor than when I’m using 21″ dual-monitor desktop. Could it be because large screen encourages putting one’s feet up, popcorn and great movies?
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Jomark Osabel says:

17 years ago

This is quite true specially if you are into video production. The larger the better.
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Showbiz Intriga? Get It From Boy! says:

17 years ago

where did you buy that lamp and for how much??i love it!
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Rico Zuniga says:

17 years ago

You won’t have to scroll too much with a larger screen real estate. Especially useful in programming, you can see the whole function block without scrolling. Also with dual screens you can have your reference open on the other while having the IDE on your main monitor.
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Abe Olandres says:

17 years ago

@brianb, I’m not Chinese.
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BrianB says:

17 years ago

Abe,

You might want to have someone work out the proper feng shui for your home setup. It looks terrible. You need to be near a window, not a window unit. It gives me pain just looking at it.
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issai says:

17 years ago

i have 22″ but at home, twas 4 gaming :(
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blozoom! says:

17 years ago

i love the xmas tree, all year round!

21″ tops for office productivity. for gaming and movies, go beyond.
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jash says:

17 years ago

love the effect emitted by your lamp :D
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LiNTEK says:

17 years ago

size really matters….. *wink*
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vance says:

17 years ago

I think bigger screen means better detail hehehe….

For me it will be a distraction, why??? I’ll be wathing alot of HD movies on a 22″ to 24″ Incher than doing any productive stuff
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Miguel says:

17 years ago

I guess it’s because: beyond 24″ or so, you have to turn your head to look at different parts of your screen!
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minor says:

17 years ago

2 screens here for multi-task mode
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sylv3rblade says:

17 years ago

nice screens. I’m using a 19″ CRT at home. Much easier to read things than on my old 15″
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noemi says:

17 years ago

when I am in work mode, I always use my large 21 inches desktop monitor . I work faster nga.
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