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I've been using dual 20" computer monitors for my tax work and still been having problems reading small text. With dual monitors and a two head video card I can have emails/PDF's etc on one monitor and my tax program on the other monitor so it's easy for me to enter data in the tax program from the other monitor.

As a test I grabbed my old Sony 32" 720P HDTV that I've been using for music stuff and hooked that up to my tax computer and it looks decent, much larger text but since it's like 10 years old a bit blurry but in concept yes, I would love to use a big monitor like that.

Prices are so cheap now on 4K TV's I can get a great 32" for like $200 or something. Is it possible using overlays or another tech trick to have one big monitor act like two? Another possibility is to use a true computer monitor like this one instead of a 4K HDTV:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lg-34wl500-b-34-ips-led-ultrawide-fhd-freesync-monitor-with-hdr-black/6329954.p?skuId=6329954

Bob
A television with picture-in-picture, or pip, can display two pictures on one screen. The issue is one picture is primary and occupies about 3/4 the screen while the secondary picture is smaller and occupies the other 1/4 of the screen. Most televisions with pip lets you select which quadrant the secondary picture occupies. The secondary picture can also be turned on or off.
PIP won't work because that part is too small for me to work with unless it's somehow resizable?

Bob
You can get software to split a 4K into 4 1920x1080 desktops.
You can also use windows magnifier in full screen mode, then use ctr+alt and mouse wheel to zoom in/out
Your comment about Windows magnifier got me checking into what Windows has and I found something. Win 10 has a feature called Snap. Hit the Windows key + L or R arrow key and whatever window is front snaps to the L or R in half screen size. Pick another app or window, do the same thing for the other side. Works great but...Not exactly with my tax program. You can open multiple sub windows with it for data entry, I got one of those windows to snap but not others. That's major progress, I think I can make this work, I'll keep messing with it.

It didn't occur to me that Windows itself would have something like this, thanks for the suggestion.

Bob
You can also get snap to work merely by dragging a window toward either side. But the resulting shape is higher than wider, so I don’t know how well it might work here.
I think I'm figuring it out. The data entry screens are floating and resizable by dragging the edges. If I open one of those, put the mouse inside it and click once to "activate it" then use Snap it works great. I was trying to snap the home page of the program thinking that would handle all the sub windows. I'm still missing something about using the mouse for that instead of the Windows key but it doesn't matter. Problem solved and I'm going to order a new 4K 32". And of course, now I'm geeking out on all the different options they can have. When I buy any computer related gear it's with an eye towards dual use, business and music. Thanks for the replies.

Bob
Another trick is to select a window, hold the Windows key down and tap the left arrow, causing that window to take the left half of the display, then do the same to move a different window to the right half
Totally possible, in fact this is exactly what I do.

I don't actually watch TV (weird I know)...

I have my television hooked to my computer via HDMI.

I usually use the "normal" not minimized or maximized window of a programs so that I can use more than one at a time without having to change tabs.

This works seamlessly.

So you can write lyrics on Word or Notepad while BIAB is open...

Makes it a lot easier.

Also, you can use the magnifier feature so that you can do this from across the room... HA!
Thanks, I figured that out too. If I don't maximize the main tax program then all the child windows snap exactly like Rharv said. My old 32" Sony is 720P and not that good for text but still works ok as TV but I don't need that so I'll take it to Goodwill.

I researched the new 34" Ultrawide monitors and they have built in software that does all kinds of things, resizing PIP, split the monitor into 4 discrete windows, or simply split screen like I need. I ordered one from Amazon and it should be here in a few days, I'll write some comments on it here.

Like you I've been using a 60" 4K for my computer monitor in the living room and I stream some shows and movies too. A 4K makes a great monitor but I've tried using it for some of my tax work and while I can do it I find a dedicated computer monitor is a bit better for that.
Are Goodwills taking donations right now? I have a driveway full of stuff waiting for them to open back up. I can't see throwing good stuff in the trash just because I don't need it any more.
Our local ones are still closed. We have several bags to donate.
A followup. I got a new LG 34" Ultra widescreen and holy crap, is it awesome! Wow, I had no idea I would like it so much. I didn't get the one I posted the link for because I found out the stand isn't height adjustable but the higher model of LG is. This is it:

https://www.amazon.com/LG-34UM68-P-34-Inch-21-UltraWide/dp/B01BMES072

A bit more expensive but it's worth it. I sit at my desk at the usual 3 feet from the monitor and it's so wide if I have any one program full screen both edges are basically out of my field of vision but when I use two programs running half screen it's perfect! I measured both halves and they measure 20.5" diagonal and are a bit wider than tall.

It's a very high resolution monitor and the text and everything else is extremely sharp even being that close to it. It is great for watching movies too, I watched a couple YouTube shows on it and it looks great. I'm not a gamer but I can see the appeal for that too. Watching a movie on that thing is a bigger widescreen experience than me sitting in the living room in front of my 60" 4K HDTV. I estimated it's about equivalent to me using an 75" in the living room.

One of the review vids I watched on YT is done by a guy like most of us here. He uses it for business and music. After he demo'd it using some spreadsheets and his email client like I do, he then switched to Sonar and music programs. For that he used it's own software that allows for multiple floating windows that can be configured anyway you want. I haven't even tried the built in software yet.

I like it so much I may wind up buying a second one for the studio. Being shut in the house for weeks has actually saved me money because I normally go out to restaurants a lot but that's not happening and of course not much driving either so no gasoline buying so I may as well buy something like this and have some fun with it. Plus of course, it's a legit write off.

Speaking of a home studio I read that while live performance is dead right now music related buying is booming. Sweetwater said their sales are up over 50%. I guess there's always a silver lining somewhere.

EDIT

Hahaha... So easy to get tripped up by the most obvious things. I just downloaded and installed the latest software for this monitor. It's split screen controls are pretty cool and while I was playing with them it hit me. My business computer has special software on it allowing me to log into my office computer at my desk in LA. This monitor software is installed on my local machine which has nothing to do with my office machine when I'm logged in. DUH!! If I really want to I can call our IT company on Monday and see if they're willing to install the monitor software.

At least the Windows Snap function works great so no problem and I can have all the fun I want with this monitor when I'm NOT logged into the office.

Bob
This is interesting Bob. I've long thought about a 21:9 format monitor, but have heard some programs might reduce the height of the screen image or not display it at all. Have also heard that some programs are not programmed for this format. What's been your experience with BIAB and RB?

Jeff
Don't worry about that, all programs I've used display fine, no stretching or distortions. And, you just made me do a proper test of what some music programs look like. I don't have any of that installed on the machine I have the monitor hooked up to but I took the PG hard drive and did the basic install with it. Biab and RB look great side by side in a split screen, there's no reason Studio One or any other DAW wouldn't look good too next to Biab. I took some pics with my phone but there's always a delay before they show up in my Google Photos so I can copy them and add them to a post here. I'll do that when they're ready.

Bob
Thanks Bob, looking forward to seeing what the apps look like. How about your VSTi's, how do those look?

Jeff
Tangential, but this discussion of splitting the screen made me try using a second monitor. I'm liking it. My favorite example is my music notation program, zoomed in, on the higher resolution monitor, then the mixer on the other lower-resolution monitor. Cool. So I can see the appeal of trying to emulate that on one very high resolution monitor.
Here's the pics. I can only show Biab and RB because this is not my music computer all I did was plug in the PG hard drive and do the basic install. The first one is showing the monitors software app that gives you all the different screen configurations you can use. The second one is Biab and RB side by side and the third one is a shot of my continually messy desk that gives you an idea of how big this thing is.

Attached picture Monitor split options.jpg
Attached picture Biab RB Split.jpg
Attached picture Desk.jpg
Shot two is very impressive!

In shot three, is the calculator-like object some sort of new MIDI input device?
Of course! You don't miss a thing...

Btw, I have another pic I didn't bother posting of RB full screen. Nothing changes as far as the text or any type of skewing, all it does is snap to the left and the tracks continue to the right so you just get a longer track view.

Bob
I'm really surprised "that calculator thingy" doesn't have a printer and paper roll.

Seriously, that is a nice looking display. I'm counting 13 tracks in the RealBand view with the piano window also displayed. My laptop shows 9 tracks with the piano track hidden.

I'm jealous!
Maybe it's just me...but I'm really starting to dislike monitors and TV screens with bezels. Some of them are just too much! On the other hand, even with thin bezel monitors, it really irks me that the display doesn't go to the edges.

Sorry for the rant...guess I hijacked the thread...sorry.

Jeff
The calculator has a printer I just never use it.

Mountainside, I hear you about bezels but other than TV studios and other places where they have big screens mounted together to make an even bigger screen the bezel is required to hold everything together I guess.

I got the answer I was asking about, when our IT guy was working on my system yesterday he did install the LG software onto my office PC to give me all the different split screen options but it didn't work because it's a remote session. The office computer has to be physically connected to the monitor in order for that software to work. A bit of a bummer but at least Snap works well enough.

Bob
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