Correct viewing distance 23" LCD

[Currency]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to get this question out there and get some great advice from everyone.

I have a 23" Acer LCD, budget gaming rig, and I wanted to know what the correct viewing distance is? I sit around 2 1/2 to 3 feet away but sometimes lean in towards the monitor.

I catch myself leaning in so much, that I broke my walmart $50 desk which has a glass top and full keyboard tray, reason I bought it. It held the keyboard and mouse on the tray. For me it's easier this way since I'm either gaming or typing up reports for College. So my hand jumps around from the keyboard to the mouse a lot. Off topic but a little additional information never killed anyone.

I plan on building a new desk at some point this year, but again this is about monitor's and not desk's. The size of the monitor is good if you ask me, but I've also thought about going up to one 27" LCD or dual 24" LCD's. I was recently offered dual 26" LCD's from a local computer shop, but at $400 each, I could have purchased them brand new @ $425 each.

Any advice will be helpful. Thanks guys.

 

[tremmor]

Not sure what ya want to know. I have dual 24" monitors about 2-1/2 feet from chair.
If ya need to enlarge screen at certain sites for reading like I then just hold the 'CTL key and rotate the wheel on the mouse. Every time you goto that site the text will be that big for that site. Hope it helped.

Beside distance being different for everybody.

 

[dug987654]

I personally find it most comfortable to sit about 2 foot away. But I guess its a personal thing.

If your eyes don't hurt/ache then I would think that you are OK as you are. Having the area around the screen helps as well.

Doug.

 

[Currency]

Find this online.

Screen size (in inch) Viewing distance (in feet)
20 2 ~ 5
23 2.5 ~ 5.5
26 3 ~ 6
27 3 ~ 6.5
32 4 ~ 8
37 4.5 ~ 9
40 5 ~ 10
42 5.5 ~ 11

Overall I also think it's personal preference. There are some sites I have to hold Ctrl and spin my mouse wheel to be able to view properly. Only running 1680x1050 highest supported resolution for my Acer monitor, I generally don't push it any higher in games either so my 5770 doesn't have any major issues powering the one monitor.

Sometimes when doing my course work I will have my course syllabus open on the left side and MS office or a PDF of my current chapter open on the right. When I do that things get a little hairy. Meaning a bit to small and some times I can adjust the text and still be able to view the pages without scrolling side to side, but some times it doesn't work out really well.

Do you guys think going from a 23" up to a 24-27" display will help when I have multiple things open?
I'm planning a highend/lowend over haul of my motherboard, memory, and CPU going up to an I5 2500K with low end motherboard and 8GB's of memory. But I may be able to get a decent, brand, 24-27" LCD. Overall I don't think the 5770 will have any issues powering it even if I am gaming, but I may end up getting an ATI 7xxx video card in a few months.

Whatever I end up doing, I would like to keep the Acer 23" on as well as the new monitor, that way if I need my syllabus open along with a chapter or MS office I can use both monitors.