What is your display setup?

Dorico
1

I’m running Dorico on a Lenovo 23" touchscreen PC (an idea centre b540). It will flip to display portrait orientation, but then the screen width is about 12". It’s native resolution is 1920x 1080. It has an HDMI out and I need to check whether this is purely a copy of the desktop or whether it will stretch the desktop onto this output. It strikes me that an ideal setup for Dorico would be one where you are ‘zoomed’ in on one monitor, whilst another one displays an overview.

I wondered how everyone else manages scoring on the computer?

Al

2

Although I’m using 4 monitors on my scoring workstation, I think the perfect one for Dorico is the 28" 4K display in portrait mode. You can work on a full score in Galley view almost without zooming, and it’s wide enough to handle detailed editing in page/engrave mode :slight_smile:

3

If my computer is 1920 x 1080, this is HD size isn’t it? If it does stretch the desktop out to another monitor, then would this monitor have to be set to the same resolution ie. 1920 x 1080? And if it was 4K, would there be any advantage if I had to run it at basic HD size? I’m trying to work out what size and resolution I would need.

The PC is touchscreen which when zoomed in on Dorico works well for selecting notes, but is a bit hit and miss with a finger for writing notes in. Any recommendations for a stylus?

4

Sorry, my Lenovo is an Ideacentre B540, not 570.

5

Yep, that’s HD. No advantage using a 4K display at a lower resolution, rather a disadvantage. Monitors are best used at their native resolution. The desktop will extend to include all monitors, regardless of resolution. If you’re considering a higher resolution additional display, what you should check first is whether the graphics card can handle it. On HDMI a 4K will have a max refresh rate of 30hz, which is ok for static content such a music notation, but not ideal overall.

My only experience with touchscreens and pens is with Surface Pro. I’m using both the original Pro and the Pro 4 for Staffpad (rather occationally) but for just that, I actually prefer the former… :slight_smile:

6

When I get my next workstation (no idea when) I’m planning on a 40" 4K monitor so I can see 17x11" pages and keep the monitor orientation in landscape. Not sure where I’ll get the video card to support it (or the $$), which is one reason I am not in a hurry to upgrade.

7

I have four displays, and two computers — one for music, the other to run Pro Tools.

My music computer (a PC Audiolabs custom built laptop, with a 1920x1200 screen resolution (a/k/a 1080p or HD) runs my music programs – Reaper, Sibelius, Dorico. The video card allows for two monitors, my extra monitor is a 27 inch Dell, mounted on an arm. Picture is super sharp and bright and that’s actually my favorite monitor to look at when it comes to Sibelius and Dorico. I can double that second image on a 59" Samsung plasma screen, mounted overhead, though the image on such a large screen is not ideal – kind of blurry. Despite cranking up the brightness, it is pretty hard to see anything. Though sometimes I use it when just working in Reaper - it’s kind of nice to have the movie on a big screen.

The second computer is a rack mounted desktop which I now mainly use to run Pro Tools. It has its own 27" monitor, plus the same 59" Samsung plasma screen. Normally I use that big screen to display movies, run in Pro Tools. I can switch the big monitor back and forth with remote control.

Bottom line is that the 1080p LED or LCD screens are great for Dorico (as well as Sibelius) - they are huge, they can be mounted, they are compatible with most computers. Plus they are relatively inexpensive, couple of hundred $ maybe.

And, by the way, my computers are pretty old by now - 2008 and 2009 - upgrades over the past years, but they have no trouble running today’s programs. My music computer can run Reaper, Sibelius, Dorico, all at the same time, including audio, with no problems. All on Windows 7 professional, 64 bit.

Pictures of setup (Dorico is not in these pictures - I took them sometime last year or year before, before Dorico was released):

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8

Thanks for those replies guys. I’ve been selling off a load of gear as I move a bit more ITB (in the box). I’m going to stick with the Lenovo and the stock Halion / Dorico for the time being, especially until Dorico is more established.If I use the Lenovo on a wall-mounted Vesa bracket, then spinning it between portrait and landscape is easy. I’m going to keep mocking things up in either Reason or the Yamaha AW2400 as opposed to tying them into the scoring package.

That’s the great thing with forums…you find out what everyone else is doing and can use them as a sounding board to decide what you want to do.

9

That’s true for HDMI 1.4, but the newer HDMI 2.0 standard supports 4k at 60Hz. HDMI 2.0 is starting to appear in new motherboards but is not widespread yet.

10

Are there any problems with running Dorico on a 4k screen on Windows 10?

I’m planning a new computer and wondering whether to jump to 4k. I heard Windows still has problems with blurry and unscaled apps.

I’d be interested to hear your experiences of running Dorico on a HiDPI Windows system.

11

I’m running on W7 only, so can’t say anything about W10 (which I’m only using on my Surface Pro’s). I would imagine it’s dependent upon the graphics adapter. The one I have supports three 4K monitors, and there are no problems whatsoever. I’m using a 2K and a 4K in portrait mode flanked by two 27" HD. The latter are connected to a different adapter.
On a 4K in portrait mode you can work on a full symphonic score without zooming or scrolling vertically, which is the most important factor for me. The picture quality is razor sharp.

12

I would really appreciate portrait and landscape screenshots of a hi-res monitor. I’m trying to figure out if my gripes with the UI will go away with higher resolutions…
Thanks!

Benji

13

Here’s a dump of 4K portrait

14

Hmm that wasted space on the left makes a good case for the notes toolbox to float over the document.

15

But it’s so easy to hide/show… I always keep it closed, relying on the shortcuts, but thought I should show it in the dump :slight_smile:

16

I like to keep it open so I can see what the currently selected duration is. Thank you for posting the screenshot, interesting!

17

I really appreciated the 4k shot, and while I DO have access to a 4k machine, it’s unpractical to install Dorico on it… But the screenshot helps a lot!
Now, I would like to ask for one more thing:

A screenshot from a “retina” Mac or a Surface Pro 3 or 4, i.e. at 1440p or 1824p.

This way, I could determine what kind of monitor I need to get in order to use Dorico’s UI satisfactorily for me.

Thanks!
Benji

18

here is one from the Surface Pro4 at native res. with desktop at 150%
and one from same with desktop at 100%

19

Great!! Thanks…
Unfortunately, I now realize that resolution alone will not solve the thing that bugs me with the size of the panels.
Desktop scaling has much more impact apparently. I just checked the scaling on my wife’s SP4, and it’s at 200%, very nice to look at indeed. At 100% on a 12" 1440P or higher panel, Dorico’s UI will be mostly unusable, I guess… that’s why apparently higher scaling factors look nice on the SP4.
But, in your 100% screenshot the panels are mostly the right size relative to the working area!

It might turn out like when I start to work with Dorico for real, I might have to get a big 27" or 30" hi-res Monitor at low scaling factors, to keep the panels under control AND everything readable.

Good to know.

Thx,
Benji

P.S.: I realize this particular horse is long deceased, and I’ve found my own personal solution now, but FWIW, the attachment shows Dorico on a 1080P HD screen, using Dorico’s built-in full-screen option, btw…

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