Yesterday's post on the ultimate
display for mind mapping has
already generated considerable discussion, both on and off the blog. Special
thanks to my friends in the blogsphere for getting the word out.
I'm presently exploring whether (or not) the extra screen area a 30"
display running at 2048x1536 represents a substantial productivity gain
over a 24" display at its native 1920x1200 resolution for mind mapping
with MindManager. (Assume, for a moment, that price is not an issue.)
The native resolution of a 30" cinema display exceeds the maximum
resolution of the Toshiba Tecra M4 - or any other laptop, for that
matter. If I used a 30" display, there would be a black border around
the image - wasted space. The question I am now pondering is whether the
extra pixels would be a benefit. Since mindmapping on an exterrnal monitor
would primarliy be a a text application (and not an extreme graphics application)the
additional pixels may be overkill for the viewing area.
I'll have to see what I can find out about this. I'm open to feedback.
Discussion/Comments (10):
I saw this 37" monitor at Best Buy. It's the only one to support 1080 vertical at DVI inputs. Might be nice for a conference room, as it will support 1920x1080.
{ Link }
Posted at 02/10/2006 0:13:05 by Eric Mack
I think if I had a 30" screen, with black borders down each side that the computer couldn't drive, I would cry for the unused pixels every time I looked at it.
Posted at 02/10/2006 2:59:37 by Michael Randall
Michael Wrote: "I think if I had a 30" screen, with black borders down each side that the computer couldn't drive, I would cry for the unused pixels every time I looked at it."
I agree with you, Michael, to a limited extent. I'm trying to determine whether the pixels I would use - the additional pixels between 1920x1200 and 2048x1536 - would add significant productive value, even if the pixels between 2048x1536 and the monitor's native resolution of 2560x1600 remain unused.
Until an LCD manufacturer introduces a monitor with a native resolution of 2048x1536, I have no choice but to waste a few pixels if I want to get the maximum screen space with my Tablet PC.
You'll notice that I'm not including cost considerations at this time. Monitor prices will continue to fall. I'm looking at the potential for productive boost in work. If this were a desktop, I'd purchase a few LCD monitors as they represent a great value. For programming, where it is common to use multiple windows, multiple monitors work great. For mind mapping, however, it's not practical - at last as far as I know - to split a map across multiple screens. Now, if the folks at MindJet want to allow me to move the various window elements (i.e. Note pad, helps, libraries) to another monitor, leaving even more space for my map - that would be sweet!
Posted at 02/10/2006 11:21:42 by Eric Mack
Hmmm. I see your predicament. That's not enough extra pixels of width to worry over, but it's quite a lot of extra *height* - over 25% extra.
I think the unused pixels would still bug me too much to do it, but maybe you could excuse it because your *next* tablet will probably make better use of it all ;)
Shame the Cinema display isn't like a Wacom Cintiq - 30" of tablet-able area would be pretty impressive.
There's a thought, actually - I wonder if a Cintiq attached as an external screen to a tablet would let you use the tablet features on the Cintiq screen as well as the tablet screen?
Posted at 02/10/2006 11:54:17 by Michael Randall
I think that the is always best for these things if you can afford it, have the space and don't need to carry it around. A few extra pixels around the edges wouldn't bother me at all.
Posted at 02/11/2006 8:35:10 by Matthew Bennett
I have just one rule: The bigger the better! I have just written an article about it at { Link }
Posted at 02/11/2006 13:11:57 by Oyvind
I hope I didn't miss something obvious in the above discussion, but you can stretch MindManager across multiple screens. Granted, you have to be OK with mentally connecting the displays. I have done this in a pinch by unmaximizing MM and then dragging the edges across multiple displays to get the size of window I wanted.
Posted at 02/14/2006 5:44:02 by Gordon Staley
I've just found the answer to the question of the Cintiq, in case anyone's interested. If you install the Wacom driver from...
{ Link }
...you should be able to use a Cintiq as an external display, *and* ink onto both the tablet display and the Cintiq. See the FAQ at the bottom of the linked page. Sounds like that could be the ultimage 'money no object' solution to me.
Posted at 03/05/2006 13:33:12 by Michael Randall
Could someone tell us if there is 37'' (or bigger) LCD monitor for PC (HDTV ready) with DVI connector input to support 85hz Refresh rate at resolutions up to 2560 x 1600 pix?
Posted at 06/20/2006 8:12:57 by Nikola Djurovic
Why buy a crazy cinema apple display, when the new Cintiq monitor allows you to write directly on it.
Has anyone tried the cintiq and mind mapping?
R
Posted at 03/08/2010 10:03:26 by RICH
Discussion for this entry is now closed.