Monitor positioned by window : pros & cons

[Cpl Ledanek]

I'm thinking of rearranging my desk.
Currently, I have my monitor in the corner of an L-shaped desk from IKEA.

Now I'm thinking of positioning my monitor behind the window. it doesn't have any curtains, it's two window pane, 35" across (is this standard in USA?)
it's rather bright, so I'm worried it my impair my eyes when doing light Photoshop and mostly gaming.

PRO to me
- is I gain that corner spot for more desktop real-estate.
- I can finally better position my G27 on a straight edge vs on the curve of the L-Shape desk (which worries me sometimes)

CON
- facing directly to the window may impair my viewing
- rearranging the wires going to be a

[Frag Maniac]

Having a hard time grasping the actual layout from your description, but as far as having a window behind a monitor in general, it depends a lot what kind of window covering it has if any, and IMO you should have something over it vs leaving it bare like it is. I have my PC desk at one end of my small apt living room, which isn't square ended. The living rooms in our apts actually are angled at the end that has the big picture window, meaning instead of one flat wall perpendicular to the length of the room, it's like facing the corner of a room. The left wall of the corner has the window, and it's big, about 53"x86". The right wall is just a wall. The window has horizontal venetian blinds which I louver backwards so the convex side is facing the window.

This is helpful in two ways. It allows indirect vs blinding light, and it makes cleaning them easier. I'll explain, with them backwards I can louver them so there's about 1/8" gap between the vanes, when standing up, but when sitting down I'm at an angle which keeps the light from coming straight through to my eyes. It's also enough of an angle for the vanes to catch the light and reflect it onto the ceiling quite strongly about 3-4' out from the window, and fainter light feathering back from there.

The backwards angle also means their shingle effect (imagine the dust falling as rain on a roof) is on the back side. So rather than a lot of dust falling on the vanes, the sides which would normally be exposed to dust settling on them are sort of under the blind's mounting rail, valance and the window frame itself. I still dust them of course, but it's not necessary nearly as often and it's pretty quick to do with a canister vac and a telescopic plastic wand and horse hair floor brush I happen to have from my last vac.

This of course means I don't have a view out the window when seated at my PC in the daytime, unless of course I'm merely doing some web surfing and it's not too bright outside (we get loads of cloudy days here) and I open the louvers wider. One tradeoff to having a monitor near a window that may not have occurred to you is it can make playing games that have dark maps difficult, unless you wait until it's dark out, cover them with something, or have drapes or blinds that block out lots of light.

You also need to be careful about UV damage. If you put it there with no drapes or blinds on the window I would treat the exposed plastic with some UV protectant like ArmorAll, being careful of course not to let any get inside the display or on the screen. You only need moisten a rag very lightly. I refurbed the shell of a used Dell CRT I traded my old Viewsonic for when it went out, and it literally made it look new.

One option you could consider if it's a house you own is building an awning for the outside of the window, or some kind of shutters or shade louvers that block sun but let light through and don't block your view. You can buy premade ones too. Another option is reflective window tinting if your window panes don't already have it, which is sold as a cut to size, self adhesive film with a peel off backing.

[Bobsama]

Get curtains or a shade. It's not feminine if it's for utility's sake.

[WangChung]

Get curtains or a shade. It's not feminine if it's for utility's sake.

This. Besides having my room close to absolutely dark 24/7 if I want, it's great for gaming or watching a movie, not to mention I work 3rd shift so I'm a day sleeper.

Walmart (or Tesco) - Mainstays Bennett curtains. Has like a burlap texture so it's nice and manly too

[little_scrapper]

Now I'm thinking of positioning my monitor behind the window. it doesn't have any curtains, it's two window pane, 35" across (is this standard in USA?)

Your putting your monitor BEHIND THE WINDOW?!?! So it will be sitting OUTSIDE on the window ledge? Arent you worried about it getting stolen or at least birds pooping on it?

[UltraNEO*]

Your putting your monitor BEHIND THE WINDOW?!?! So it will be sitting OUTSIDE on the window ledge? Arent you worried about it getting stolen or at least birds pooping on it?

Some parents do have them...



Thanks for the invite..
Sorry i missed the party!!!

In my opinion, if your displays are not permanently fixed to something (i.e. the wall) you should try various positions to find out what suits you best. Move them around a few times to experiment. Cause I originally want my display to be in front of the windows, thus creating a nice little alcove for my computing setup but there was a physical restriction. Maximum weight my glass desk would handle was 60Kg's so leaving them on the desk proposed a problem. After consulting some builders, I discovered it wasn't possible to wall mount heavy displays under the window sill with less than 12" clearance; they inform me the shear weight of three 25Kg+ panels could potentially loosen/weaken brickwork over of time - I for one ain't sure is this true or false... I just figured they're the experts :o

Now a days my room is permanently shaded from direct sunlight to reduce visual distractions, panel glares and impaired colours (if that's important). I find having them besides the window does offer some advantages however I'm still not completely content with the setup. I am planning moving everything to a purpose built room with higher security and improved acoustics.

1. I don't need to climb over the displays to open the damn window when the ambient temps reaches 30+°C.
2. Don't need to worry about dampness... Last thing you want is a open window and the possibilities of a thunderstorm
3. My desk is completely clutter free (when i tidy up)
4. being wall mounted I can adjust views with ease.
5. If there's too much sunlight, I can easily cover the windows with heavy felt.

[Cpl Ledanek]

Thanks so much for the input. Maybe 2012 will bring better things so I can get a better feel on what I really want to do

Thanks