Acclimation is a huge factor: if you’re used to writing on a small laptop that will seem normal but few people won’t see a benefit moving to a larger display even if they don’t expect it. That’s one of the few durable research findings over the decades.
Multiple monitors are slightly different: the physical gap means it’s not a seamless switch and not every task benefits.
I agree, and not. I like having many windows side-by-side (code, docs, thing I'm developing), but I also like having more vertical space. I keep one of my monitors vertical for coding, although that's a little too tall so there's some lost space at the top and bottom (9:12 would be better for me).
Really I want a single plus-shaped monitor that can act in several display modes:
- mimic 3 monitors. Left and right are 4:3 (ideal for single application), center is 9:12 and larger. Shape: -|-
- Single vertical monitor. Same as above but with left and right "virtual monitors" turned off for reduced eye strain. Shape: |
- Single ultrawide horizontal monitor (connect the left and right parts with the strip in the middle, turn off unused pixels at the top and bottom). Shape: ---
Multiple monitors are slightly different: the physical gap means it’s not a seamless switch and not every task benefits.