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Bigger IS Better
March 17, 2008

Sometimes, size does matter. In a recent study at the University of Utah, researchers discovered that the size of a worker's computer monitor could have a profound impact on productivity. When working with a 24" monitor, tasks were completed 52% faster than on an 18" monitor. Dual 20" screens provided a 44% increase in productivity as compared to the 18" monitor.

I can certainly attest to this. For a number of years now, I have been using a 24" widescreen monitor. People who come to my office make jokes about my having a TV on my desk, but I know that it has helped me be more productive. I can have two windows open side-by-side for full visibility. Most of the office here has moved to larger monitors or dual monitors. One of the group who does more graphical work for our websites and newsletter even uses dual 24" widescreen monitors!

To use two monitors at once, you need a special graphics card capable of dual monitor display. This will run about $100 when added to a new computer or around $150 as an add-on to an existing computer. If you are looking at upgrading to a larger monitor, you can get a 22" widescreen monitor for about $300 or a 24" widescreen monitor for about $500. To use one of these larger monitors effectively, however, you will have to have a graphics card in your computer that uses DVI (digital video). Instead of the traditional blue VGA video cable and plug, the DVI cable is white and the plug is much larger. Trying to run a 20" or larger widescreen monitor on regular VGA will result in a blurry image.

If you spend quite a bit of time working on the computer, especially working with multiple sites or documents as librarians often do, then an upgrade to a large widescreen or dual monitor setup could help provide a major productivity boost. $500 for a 50% productivity gain? Sounds like a good investment to me!

Posted by Chris Harris on March 17, 2008 | Comments (0)