Use of projectors for increased screen space / resolution size

I am starting to find that the limitations of using Logos compared to the way I'd use books relate to screen space or resolution. The screen shot below is my attempt to study the bible "medieval style" with as many[1] (relevant) commentaries open surrounding the resource as is possible. (It's using Logos as a kind of ultimate "anti sola scriptura" tool Geeked .) In the same way, in the olden days, I'd take all of the relevant books down from the book shelf and open them all over the floor/desk (balancing heavy weights in the middle to keep them open).

However, you'll see from the screen shot below that whilst the bible text in the middle of the screen is legible, most of the other commentaries are not, and require me to keep adjusting the panels so that I can view one or another commentary sensibly, which detracts from quickly flicking my eyes from one text to another.

My question is whether people have found using screen projectors to project on to a wall or other surface to be capable of generating something more akin to a typical desk space, or whether people use multiple monitors, and how effective this mode of studying is? I guess I could decrease the screen resolution, but I don't think my eyesight will hold out for much longer...!

[1] Yes, I know there are some duplicate commentaries open here. That was before I discovered that where a two-part commentary exists, Logos will automatically default to the correct commentary when the commentary is linked to the text. In any case, I have even more commentaries than are open here...

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David Taylor, Jr.

Can't afford the equipment but an interesting idea.

Kevin A Lewis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/715225#Comment_715225

Again not an answer - but I was considering similar issues (I have a since 19 inch monitor) - I was looking and enlarging my monitor AND adding a second.

Shalom.

Rayner

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/715233#Comment_715233

Again not an answer - but I was considering similar issues (I have a since 19 inch monitor) - I was looking and enlarging my monitor AND adding a second.

As with David, I'm not sure I can afford the solution if it involves projecting. I really want to avoid larger or extra screens as the idea is that with electronic resources, one has less physical stuff, but I'd be interested to know whether anybody has a multiple monitor solution.

I am concerned that projection might just lead to me projecting my smallish lap top screen on to the wall and not actually increasing screen "real estate". I'm not at all sure how or whether it would work.

Erwin Stull, Sr.

I think that a projector is too costly to run for consistent Logos use. The bulbs are very expensive and the space required is not economical. I would prefer to use multiple monitors with 1 being a 32", others being 19 to 22".

Graham Criddle

or whether people use multiple monitors, and how effective this mode of studying is?

I use multiple (I have two and I know others have quite a few more) monitors and find that very useful

But have you looked at "Parallel Resources" - https://wiki.logos.com/Parallel_Resources - this could be an alternative approach worth exploring?

Deacon Steve

However, you'll see from the screen shot below that whilst the bible text in the middle of the screen is legible, most of the other commentaries are not, and require me to keep adjusting the panels so that I can view one or another commentary sensibly, which detracts from quickly flicking my eyes from one text to another.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by other commentaries not being legible. Are you meaning that the text is fuzzy or garbled? Or are you saying that some of the panels are too small to contain enough information? Or something else?

Also, what are the specs on the graphics card and monitor that you are using?

Bill Shewmaker

Rayner, I'm thinking that a second monitor would be a cheaper alternative. You could put 5 or 6 of you windows onto that second screen (freeing up space on the first). The resources would still be linked and if you have the second monitor positioned at a slight angle, you could also see when something "interesting" pops up on it. Secondly, unless I'm mistaken, a projector will only enlarge what is already visible on your screen. It will not increase the amount a space for each window.

Jeff Jackson

It takes a couple clicks or F11 to get to, but you might try toggling reading view to zoom in on specific panes for reading. It would be kind of like picking up specific books from the table to get a closer look.

Lew Worthington

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/715237#Comment_715237

I deal with this for all of my software applications. By day, I'm a programmer, and I always have two large monitors to throw my stuff on. It still does not seem to be enough. At home, I use a fairly large TV in my office at 1920x1080 along with my laptop's built-in display, and that never seems like enough. A projector won't work for me because my eyes are not great at that distance, and it wouldn't provide the additional resolution I need.

Like Rayner, my work habits in a traditional environment would require a whole table with books lying about, and I'd love to replicate that for my PC, especially for Logos. So, years ago I thought it would be great if our whole literal desktop or tabletop would be our display, and now such things are available. Still cost-prohibitive for me, but they'll get cheaper.

Rayner

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/715241#Comment_715241

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by other commentaries not being legible. Are you meaning that the text is fuzzy or garbled? Or are you saying that some of the panels are too small to contain enough information? Or something else?

Also, what are the specs on the graphics card and monitor that you are using?

When I say that the other commentaries are not legible, I am saying that the panels are too small to contain enough information.

Graphics Card Description:	Nvidia G840
Graphics RAM Type:	DDR3 SDRAM
Graphics Card Ram Size:	4 GB

Full HD (1920 x 1080) display

Rayner

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/715243#Comment_715243

It takes a couple clicks or F11 to get to, but you might try toggling reading view to zoom in on specific panes for reading. It would be kind of like picking up specific books from the table to get a closer look.

Jeff, thanks. That sounds like a useful tip. I'll give it a go.

Michael

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/715250#Comment_715250

It's not really an issue of size so much as it is resolution. I'd recommend looking at 2560x1440, 3840x2160 (4K), or the fangled 3440x1440 (21:9) monitors.

A 1080p projector will display exactly what you've shown, just bigger. It won't fit more text into each box to make it more usable. A higher resolution monitor on the other hand would be able to accomplish that. Although I don't have a high resolution monitor to confirm what Logos will look like.

EDIT: Here is a screenshot of Logos 6 on my Surface Pro 3 with DPI scaling off so you can see what it looks like at the native resolution of 2160x1440. So a normal 1440p monitor would be wider.

It's not displaying correctly on my screen, if it's not showing correctly on yours either use this link.

http://i.imgur.com/nUK3WpB.png

Surface Pro 3

David J. Wilson

For me the solution is multiple monitors (three) at a minimum 1920 * 1080 resolution each:
24 or 25 inch size work well and you may want to try at least one in portrait mode rather than landscape orientation.

I take it your machine is a laptop and may only have one external monitor connection.

If it has USB 3.0 ports you could use these to add additional monitor adapters.
Many desktop video cards these days can support four displays so there are still advantages to desktops if you have a fixed work desk/table location available (as I presume you have if you were considering a projector)

Using a protector, unless it is a relatively expensive new monitor is actually likely to give you a much LOWER resolution (way less than 1920 *1080) so that you can fit far less windows on a screen. Useful it you have a group audience but not the best solution for individual study of the type you envisage.

All my monitors were purchased at great sale prices from different places, over a period of several years: but are all the same brand.

A good sale price on a brand with a high reputation will serve you better in the longer term than a low priced low end monitor: check in-store what they look like when displaying large amounts of text with a small font size: many monitors seem to be intended for video/movie type displays rather than the type of text display you want: you would also probably find it annoying in the longer term if the default color tuning was different between displays so it is worth it to verify that the monitors are of good quality and have adjustable color tuning rather than just what you see is what you get. [:)]

John Duffy

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/715340#Comment_715340

It's not really an issue of size so much as it is resolution. I'd recommend looking at 2560x1440, 3840x2160 (4K), or the fangled 3440x1440 (21:9) monitors.

A 1080p projector will display exactly what you've shown, just bigger. It won't fit more text into each box to make it more usable. A higher resolution monitor on the other hand would be able to accomplish that. Although I don't have a high resolution monitor to confirm what Logos will look like.

I agree, it's mostly about resolution not size. A projector also requires a throw distance, and if it is behind you then if you're sitting in the middle of the image you would get a shadow the same shape as your head and shoulders I would imagine, unless it were ceiling mounted.

I use 3 x monitors, one older 21" (1680 x 1050), and two newer 22" (1920 x 1080), with floating windows on one monitor as well as the main Logos window on the centre monitor. Not only does it give me good desktop coverage for Logos usually just on two monitors, but it allows me to have two Word documents open (or two windows of the same document) side by side on the third monitor, which avoids having to switch to and from windows on the same screen. I prefer turning my head sideways to view multiple monitors, rather than also up and down which would presumably be the case using a 4k monitor. I'm really happy with the three monitor setup. I know that others have more, but this works really well for me.

Allen Browne

The screen shot below is my attempt to study the bible "medieval style" with as many[1] (relevant) commentaries open surrounding the resource as is possible.

I think you'll find multiple monitors to be crisper than projectors, and so better on the eyes when working for a sustained period.

I personally use 2 monitors for study. I use projectors only for teaching from.

And I prefer to put my commentaries in tabs rather than all on screen at one as in your screenshot. That way I can see several paragraphs of one commentary on screen at one time, which I find helps me to scan for the paragraph I really want. Then I do that in the commentary on the next tab, and so on. You certainly want your Bible and commentary on screen together so you can view them both at the same time at the same time. However, I rarely need to compare commentaries with each other--it's more a matter of catching the scope and thread of a commentator.

That's my experience anyway. The way you work may be different.

David Thomas

Get one of these with the loose change in your sofa - https://youtu.be/kmOku92MlQc

Lew Worthington

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/715391#Comment_715391

Get one of these with the loose change in your sofa - https://youtu.be/kmOku92MlQc

Yeah, that's the kind of thing I was referring to above. Can you imagine running Logos on that? [<:o)]