Portrait Monitor…its “The Future!”

portrait-screens-01Just recently I made a massive change to the way I work as after over 20 years of using a PC I moved over to using a Mac as my main work device which to my surprise was quite simple and has left me tempted to change my personal device to a Macbook Pro.
So in addition to this I also added a second monitor for increased workflow and extended working space on my desktop, this would be a normal addition but i did something quirky and used the swivel function on the back of the monitor to orientate it to create a portrait monitor. Now to some this may seem a little weird and “out there” but when you think about it there is a portrait screen you look at every day with no real thought to it looking strange……Your Smart Phone!
When the PDA made the transition to smartphone the screen was always intended to be portrait with the option to switch to landscape and this I always found was for when we wanted to look at images or video.
So what are the benefits for a portrait screen over a landscape screen? well here are the top 5 things I have found over the last month of using the screen in this orientation.

  1. Websites can be displayed with an extended length allowing you to see more of your site and to give you a better overview. This is really useful when you want to copy your screen.
  2. Create several windows which can be viewed at once. Normally with 2 screens at landscape I would have possibly 2-3 applications open and viewable but I find with a tall thin portrait area I can have 3-4 applications open.
  3. You can view a full size A4 document on screen without scrolling.
  4. Reduced amount of desk space is used compared with a usual dual landscape setup.
  5. It seems to stack applications behind each other to enable you to have easy access and multi tasking.

I keep having people commenting on the screen in its current form and I was originally just trying it out, but I can quite safely say that I am going to keep going with the orientation as it is hugely useful as a portrait monitor.