Any advice for cheap to mid-range 27" monitors?
Best resolution for DAW work ( sitting 1 and a half arm lengths away ) any recommendations of brands?
Also, i will be using 2 screens. Will the outputs from both monitors have to be the same?
or can for example, HDMI be teamed with another monitor using VGA or D-sub etc?
The sound for both screens will be coming through a scarlett focusrite…
Many thanks for any tips.
violet
At home I have 2 x 22" one is LG the other is Packard bell, they are both VGA - at work I had a 27" and a 17" inch on mixed outputs cant remember what they were but they worked fine together. I originally had two LGs at home but one had a line down it after a few months so I returned it and they had no more stock so refunded my money I couldn’t get a match on-line anywhere so in the end I chose a Packard bell from the local outlet to get me up and running quickly. I use one screen for the main editor and the other for fx mixer transport etc. after a while you don’t notice any difference between the slight variations that different manufacturers models will inevitably have. i.e. shade etc.
Hi Violet
Not sure if you’re in the UK or not but I recently bought 2 27" Acer S271HL from PC World.
They’re a huge improvement on my 8 year old Samsung 22" ones.
I think your outputs to the screens will depend on the graphics card(s)/ports you have on the PC, but I’m running 1 HDMI and one DSub and there is no difference to my aging eyes!
The extra space or screen real estate is really worthwhile.
What I’m not sure about is your query about sound output as I use outputs from my Scarletti through an amp/mixer/speakers.
Hope that helps.
Thanks so much Qbase5 and Neil B
Yes i have been looking at Acer and will check your one out Neil. I’m hoping to get 2560x1440.
My question is, if i am using 2 monitors, do the outputs from the monitors have to be the same? ie both HDMI or both D-sub?
I’ve never worked with 2 monitors before and assume both have to be linked to my focusrite soundcard. So, for instance, if one is from HDMI and the from D-sub how will it work? My 20" is connected from D-sub then converted to VGA…or does none of this matter?
I am in the process of buying, so want to buy the correct connections!
I asked the same questions when I came to purchase.
The screens I suggested have inputs for all 3 types of connector.
It will therefore depend on the outputs from your graphics card. Some have 2 HDMI’s, some 1 plus a VGA and so on.
I was informed though that as long as you’re not doing serious gaming or, say, Photoshop editing, that you won’t really notice much difference.
It’s fair to say that when I used the old Samsungs I had one HDMI and one VGA and couldn’t tell any difference.
Others (with better eyes) may disagree.
What I’m not sure about is how many monitors these days actually have speakers. You mention running it through your focusrite and I simply can’t advise on that. In fact looking at the focusrite spec, there aren’t any monitor outputs that I can see. Bit confused there. Hope others will step in to help on that one.
To be sure at work I had one dsub and one vga I am not sure about sound though I never considered using the monitors built in speakers (tbh I’ve not even checked if there are any built in!) as I have a sound system running from the Focusrite stereo output. in Cubase its possible to set up both mono and stereo and easily switch between to check for phase cancellation etc.
After researching and much appreciated help on this forum, i have bought this…
ASUS-PB277Q-LED-monitor-27" QHD
It has 1ms response and both 1920 x 1080 and 2560 x 1440 resolution. It also has display port.
Re-designing my home studio too…looking for the perfect computer desk for my workflow is next on the list!
Many thanks
violet
Only one?
Neil
Thanks for letting us know how you got on with the monitor it’s nice when posters follow up with there decision, all too often I see posts that presumably are solved but the poster never completes the loop, it could be my age but I think it’s just good manners.
Now to my real point! decent desks cost a fortune and I wanted a large desk that felt like it was sturdy, the desk I inherited was a flat pack standard computer style desk with a couple of pull out slabs on slides for scanner and keyboard etc. And here is the cunning part, I went to the DIY store - here in the UK Wickes are local to me and bought a fire door! Heavy, nicely finished with teak top and bottom and 1981mm wide x 762mm deep x 44mm thick it’s 21.3kg so you may need a lift with it. On the plus side if your monitor ever catches fire you’ve got 30 mins before it gets to your hardware under the worktop. 
I have room for two monitors, keyboard and mousemat, monitor speakers, cd player, amp and two work lights. I was going to glue it or pin it to the old desk top but it’s that heavy I never bothered, also I left it untreated it has a nice smooth finish, you could wax it if you needed to or varnish it if want to protect it from the odd misplaced coffee cup!
That’s an interesting idea Qbase5…it does need to be big to get everything onto it.
There are so many ways to do it. I have to really think about how i want to work…then build from there. I just wish these desks had a few more slot type shelves under them for things like my mac mini or focusrite and amp etc. I’m not only doing my own stuff, but work with my piano students too on their songs, so quite a complicated set up!
I’m going to use my old smaller monitor for my 2nd screen Neil. It is going to be luxury once i work out how to do it!
violet
Last update! Have just ordered the Fame W-201 Studio workstation. For the price, it’s covers most space requirements for a home studio!
violet