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I have recently upgraded from a dual-monitor setup to a tri-monitor setup, but after adding the third, I often find the overall placement to be awkward as I tend to readjust my position to what I was used to when I only had two monitors, leaving the third monitor to be somewhat "offside". Is there a more scientific way to determine the placement and angles of separation?

If it matters, these are 19' monitors.

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wondering whether this would be better suited on UX? – Rory Alsop Mar 15 '12 at 12:09
@Rory Alsop I have no objection to a move if that can attract more answers – prusswan Mar 15 '12 at 12:28
My personal opinion on this topic is, no matter what scientific study someone is going to present to you, the right position for your screen is the position you feel most comfortable with. – Oliver Salzburg♦ Mar 15 '12 at 12:30
@Oliver Salzburg true, but I was hoping to benefit from any possible advice from users who are experienced with such a setup, in case I missed something fundamental (which is likely) – prusswan Mar 15 '12 at 12:35
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@prusswan You might want to look around on Jeff Atwoods blog. He has written about monitors a couple of times. – Oliver Salzburg♦ Mar 15 '12 at 13:08

1 Answer

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Are you finding that you are positioned using just two because the majority of your work is on those two? If the third one is just there because it looks nice, then it may not be fulfilling any use.

Consider what you run on each screen. Do you need 3?

I tend to run my core applications on the centre screen, use the right screen for running compilers etc, and reviewing documents etc on the left hand screen (which I often run in portrait for this purpose) - this means that while I do use the left and right ones equally, I spend most of my time on the central one.

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majority of your work is on those two >> That might be the case, although I still intend to improve the placement if possible. I have been used to having only two monitors for a long time, and they are used about equally when I have a need for them (usually VMs so each monitor corresponds to one machine) – prusswan Mar 15 '12 at 12:15

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