A Trader Monitor Setup: Why You Need a Huge Screen For Trading

Anyone who tells you that size doesn't matter is lying to you. At least when it comes to your trader monitor setup.

You see, I have tried it all….

• Just a laptop
• Four small screens on a PC
• Two computers and 6 small screens
• My laptop and one small external screen

The one that worked best was my laptop + a small external screen. For awhile, at least.

I got some great tips from another trader and one of them was to get at least one big monitor. The reason is that you can see more price history with a larger monitor. 

That means more support and resistance zones. You might miss this on a smaller monitor.

Before my new monitor, I was working with this…

Just for fun, you can compare it to other trading stations from around the world, on this page.

So let's take a look at what I got and if it really makes a difference or not.

The New Trader Monitor Setup

Here is the new setup. As you can see, my laptop got smaller and my external screen got much larger 🙂

It's a 28″ Samsung LED TV. Here's what I think of it…

The Review

For starters, yes, I can see so much more price history with the larger monitor. It is almost ridiculous how much more I can see.

This picture might not give you the full effect of how much more I can see, but trust me, it's a lot.

I really like this TV because it has two HDMI ports. That allows me to keep both my Apple TV and my computer plugged in at the same time.

A Few Pointers

A few pointers, if this is what you want to do too.

First, I would recommend going with a TV that has a 1080p resolution.

If you get a 720p TV, the picture might look funky when you push the resolution up to 1080p. It can be usable, but not ideal.

Get anything over 1080p, like a 4K, and your graphics card might not be able to handle it, so you are just wasting your money. If you want to get a 4K for movies, then that's fine.

But just for trading, it's kind of a waste.

Next, I would recommend getting a desk mount for your trader monitor setup. This keeps your new monitor off your desk and gives you a lot more desk space. I love mine and highly recommend it.

If you want to get one, I have a dual mount. I may want to get another monitor one of these days. It is similar to this one.

This monitor actually required special mounting screws because the metal part where the screws actually screw in, is recessed quite a bit from the surface. But getting the screws from Amazon was easy. They are 3/4″ screws.

Finally, I needed a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable to connect my Macbook Air to the HDMI port.

That was it! I just plugged it in and it worked.

Conclusion

Others traders agree, a larger screen helps a lot. When I asked people in my private Facebook trading group, these are the answers that I got. 32″ seems like a common monitor size. 

If you would like to talk to other traders from around the world, feel free to join the group on Facebook. We would love to have you there.

What about you? How big is your trading monitor and how many do you have?

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