If there’s one thing that pandemic taught us, it is that we all need reliable internet and working space at home. Luckily for me, I already have a pretty good home office which is my bedroom. But I get it – not everyone has dedicated working space at home but still needs one.
So in today’s video, we’re just going to be casual and talk about how I work at home efficiently with dual-monitors.
Dell Technology’s recent study regarding the Remote Work Readiness (RWR) index surveyed a total of 7,192 working professionals in the Asia Pacific and Japan region and a large majority said that they are ready to work remotely, away from the office.
But how do we maximize our workflow at home? How do we work comfortably? Well, there is no clear answer. So, I’ll share my experience instead.
Okay, for me personally, I never got into the idea of using two displays at first until I eventually plugged in a laptop and used two screens at once. It was a literally life-changing experience as I now get to have the main display to focus on my work and my secondary screen for peripheral stuff that doesn’t need constant attention but needs constant monitoring – like messages and emails.
And I also prefer to work on a larger, external monitor for a more comfortable experience. The secondary monitor is used for references on some other facts or screenshots that I need to take and incorporate into the video. Since our work is revolving around tech products with lots of specs and numbers and factual quotes or data, we need to get proper citations and sources to back up our points – and having a second monitor definitely improves the workflow.
But sometimes, we need to crosscheck a few things – and we can use Windows 10’s multitasking feature which is able to snap apps into parts of the screen, taking half or quarter of the screen. It works well – especially if you know the keyboard shortcuts for it – but it’s not perfect.
My first Dell ultrawide monitor – which I am still using in the studio – introduced me to an app that is developed by Dell, and it is still being improved upon today. That is – the Dell Display Manager. Also known as DDM for short. If you enabled a feature called DDC/CI in the OSD menu – which is enabled by default – then the app on Windows 10 can communicate with the display’s firmware directly without fiddling with the monitor.
In this DDM, we can directly adjust the brightness, contrast, color profile, and a very advanced concept of the Windows 10 window snapping feature. It’s intuitive to use and I highly recommend you to try it out if you have a Dell monitor.
In the DDM menu, you can also customize a lot more things but I’m not going to go into detail here. Perhaps in another video.
One of the best parts about the Dell P2721Q is that I’m only connecting the XPS 15 to it via a single USB-C cable. This single cable is all I need for that glorious 4K monitor to light up, for all its USB ports to work, and to charge the laptop as well. Yes, this monitor supports 65W of output power.
By the way, this Dell P2721Q also comes with a little soundbar that attaches to the bottom of the monitor magnetically. This makes the whole setup very minimalistic and occupies only a small area on the desk – but sacrifices a USB port. Still, it’s great for meetings.
And when we’re done with work, we can also unwind and watch movies with its magnificent 27-inch screen with 4K resolution. The DDM can automatically switch to certain color profiles when certain apps are opened.
Too bright? Well, the DDM can handle that as well.
I mean, Dell’s displays aren’t exactly low in price but the quality and companion apps that it has to offer make it worth its price – it’s just that not many people know about such things.
And, we also have to mention the services that Dell included – Premium Panel Exchange and also Advanced Exchange Service so that you can continue working with the least amount of interruption.
By the way, if you want to check out the review of the Dell P2721Q, check it out here.
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