Background:
Extremely large TVs have now become cheap enough to use as gigantic computer monitors. It’s possible to find a 55+” television with high enough resolution and low enough latency to work as an external monitor for even the most discerning computer-ologist.
The issue:
Most desks are not set up to accommodate a 55″ television as a monitor. In particular, the most immediately obvious arrangement—laptop in front of monitor—has the disadvantage of having a large area of the monitor blocked by the laptop (Figure 1).
![](https://worstplans.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/1-monitor-shadow-loop-red.gif?w=1014)
Proposal:
In order to fix this laptop-blocking-screen issue, we turn to a simple software fix: simply split the monitor into three rectangular sub-monitors that are NOT blocked by the laptop screen (Figure 2).
![](https://worstplans.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2-screen-split-in-3.jpg?w=1024)
![](https://worstplans.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/3-screen-gif.gif?w=1014)
Instead of splitting up a monitor into three rectangular sub-displays, it might also be possible to allow a user to “mask out” an arbitrary region of a monitor as a “dead zone” to be ignored by the system (Figure 4). This would allow the external display to still be treated as a single monitor, rather than 3 separate ones. Although a non-rectangular display may seem odd, there is precedent for it in smartphones: the Apple iPhone X “notch” and the “hole punch displays” introduced in 2019 are common examples.
![](https://worstplans.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/4-irregular-monitor-masked-off-area.jpg?w=1024)
Conclusion:
Is it possible that a far-away television is better for eyestrain than a smaller-but-closer computer monitor? Maybe! Some sort of legitimate eyeball scientist should weigh in on this matter.
PROS: The multi-monitor setup would probably actually work, although irregularly-shaped displays might be a hassle.
CONS: Could have very limited appeal.
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