Do You Need a 4K Monitor?

When I started to build my first dual-monitor system in late 2020 it was to work remotely during Covid. I picked up a monitor stand and a new LG 4K (3840x2160) 32-inch monitor and repurposed an old HP 24-inch monitor. 

Having two monitors is definitely nice and fantastic when you have to have two applications open that you need to reference simultaneously. But I've learned that there are some quirks to using a 4K monitor and going forward I may not use them except for TV watching.

4K Brings a Lot, but Here's What People don't Tell You

First, I'll cover what I liked. The 4K monitor is huge and 32 inches is plenty of screen space to display it. The colors on HDR mode really pop. Text looks great on it and I really appreciated that with my failing, aging eyes. Prices are gradually getting better too.

However, with such a high resolution, apps and text look really small and without excellent eyesight or magnification, can be too small to read. The Windows solution is something called "scaling". It's a setting in Display Properties, which you can bring up by secondary-clicking on the desktop and choosing from the context menu.

Scaling will increase the size of text and apps by a certain percentage. Windows gives you presets to choose from of 100% (no scaling), 125%, 150%, and more up to 350%. It will also label the one it recommends. 

This works well in most cases. The text increases and becomes more legible, and the high pixel density of the 4K monitor makes the text look great. But there is a cost for scaling. You lose some of the gains you got from going to a higher resolution. It's a fair tradeoff, because something has to give.

On a 32-inch 4K monitor, Windows will recommend a scaling of 150%. After experimenting a bit, I've settled for now on 125%, which is legible and still gives me most of the benefits of the improved resolution. I found that at 150% I couldn't have as many apps open. At 125%, I can have a browser or work processor open on half the screen, and split the remainder of the monitor between an email client and a file manager or maybe a media app. 

On my work laptop, however, I found that scaling could cause some apps to behave differently. One app runs fine but there were some icons and small GUI gadgets that did not display correctly when scaled. So, the scaling is a good solution, but can be problematic in some instances.

2K is a Nice Option

So for use with my work laptop when I'm working from home, I tried out a 34-inch Dell curved widescreen monitor. It's a beast and it offers a resolution of 3440x1440. The 1440 vertical resolution is higher than full HD (1080) but much lower than 4K's 2160. 

The other key difference is that when I run with this monitor, I don't have to turn on scaling, and apps run normally. The app I was having problems with on the 4K runs fine at 2K. 

What's Better, one Big Monitor or Two Smaller ones?

There's another interesting argument about what's better, one monitor or two? There's nothing wrong with either option, but having worked now with both the dual monitor and single extra-wide monitor setups, I like the single monitor a little better. Here's why:

• No bezel gap. While it's nice if you have two apps loaded each on one screen, the reality is you may need more than that. I found it was easier to arrange everything on one super screen than constantly be moving things around between two.
• Differing resolutions. If your dual-monitor setup has two different resolutions as mine does, then sometimes expanding an app across an extended desktop can yield some odd results.
• Fewer port requirements. One monitor is logistically easier to deal with than two.
• Sometimes it's just easier to look at one screen than constantly be shifting your gaze between two.

To be fair, I'm using both types of setups and they're both great if you need the space.