Nikita Prokopov has a very informative post about computer monitors and how they influence our programming experiences. It’s a long post that begins with an excellent tutorial on how monitor resolution effects the display of characters and the various mitigating techniques that have traditionally been used to compensate for low resolution monitors.
Mitigating techniques, Prokopov says, can only make horrible rendering a bit less horrible but still poor. It’s an important issue for programmers because what we do involves looking at text all day and it’s important that that text be rendered as clearly as possible if only to prevent things like eye strain. If you think it’s an abstract issue, consider that Prokopov says that more than 40% of programmers are using monitors with inadequate resolution and that it’s time to upgrade.
That’s not the end of the story though. The best monitors are those like the Apple Retina but even those won’t deliver optimal performance without some tweaking of the settings. The most valuable part of his post for me was that he provides a step by step procedure for adjusting those settings. This is mainly of use to macOS and Windows users because he doesn’t address the procedures for Linux users, although you can probably extrapolate.
I followed his suggestions on my MacBook Pro and am pleased with the results. One of the suggestions means that you have about 15% less screen real estate but the text is clearer and a bit larger so I’m finding it easier to read and the modest loss of screen space is worth it to me.
You may have a different calculus, of course, but it costs nothing to experiment. If you don’t like the changes you can simply restore the defaults. Whatever you decide, it’s worthwhile taking a look at Prokopov’s post to see what the possibilities are. We spend our days staring at a screen so it makes sense to make the experience as pleasant as possible.