E228WFP, too high, lower or adjustable stand?

Question

This is a great monitor, but it's way too high and gives me a neck ache! Is there a lower or adjustable stand? Or do you have any other suggestions, like an easel?

jphughan · Accepted Answer

@sammykaye The best way I can describe viewing angle without the benefit of visual aids is to first define "face-on" viewing. "Face-on" basically means that if you start at a point at the center of the display and draw an imaginary line coming forward from the display surface at an angle perpendicular to that display surface, then that straight line should hit your eye. If you're sitting at your desk centered on your display both horizontally and vertically, then you are viewing the display face-on. Now picture yourself standing up at your desk looking down on the display, or sitting on the floor looking up at it -- or standing off to one side or the other. In those cases, the line from the center of your display to your eye would have to be diagonal rather than perpendicular to the display surface, and therefore you are vertically and/or horizontally off-angle. Displays don't look as good when viewed off-angle, typically displaying washed out or incorrect colors and low contrast. Less expensive displays tend to look worse when viewed off-angle than more expensive displays.

Only having 4 degrees of downward tilt is unlikely to be enough to compensate for you being on the floor rather than sitting directly in front of the display. If you start with a display that is NOT tilted, that imaginary line I described above would project outward from the display running parallel to the floor, so it would never touch the floor. If you tilt it 4 degrees downward, then it will eventually touch the floor, but it's such a gentle slope that you'd have to be pretty far away on the floor for your eyes to be where that happened. If the imaginary line would pass over your head where you actually ARE on the floor, then you are viewing the display off-angle from that position. I guess if you were sitting up on the floor rather than having your face closer to the ground AND you were far enough away from the display, then a 4-degree slope might be enough to achieve "face-on" viewing of the display from the floor -- it's just geometry -- but it seems unlikely.

If you've got a second display, then that might indeed be easier. I'm not sure what exact system model you have or what input connectors would be available on your display, but the vast majority of systems sold in the last 10+ years support at least two displays, if not more. But even if your system doesn't and/or you don't have the right cables to connect your particular system to your particular display at the same time as what you have, you could potentially just disconnect your main display and connect this "floor display" whenever you wanted to use it so that you'd only have one display active at any given time.

jphughan · Answer

@sammykaye  There are certainly third party ergonomic display mounting stands and arms, and the E228WFP does support being removed from its included stand and mounted to any other solution that supports VESA 100mm x 100mm (the most common setup for displays), so you could mount your display to one of those options.  I've used mounting arms made by Ergotron in the past.  Otherwise, the E Series is Dell's budget display line, which is why it doesn't come with a height-adjustable stand from the factory.  The higher-end P and U Series displays do.  I'm not sure about the S Series.

sammykaye · Answer

Thank you for your prompt response. I did check out Ergotron, which has a 33-310-060 Neo-Flex monitor stand which adjusts from the desktop to higher and has a 30 degree tile (15 up or down). They also have more expensive ajustable arms.

In order to decide what kind of stand I need, I would appreciate it if you have knowledge on the following issue of what kind of tilt would work best to resolve brightness/contrast issues. I have tried forward/down as well as backward/up, but get varied results and would appreciate any input you have.

When I view an online course and sit across the room from the monitor, the screen goes quite dark. Also, when I do an online yoga, etc., class, I may be on the floor and the monitor, is on the 20.5" high desk,; the instructor looks very dark with a "sheen" in places. The Ergotron representative suggested it was more due to the monitor's pixels than to the position of the monitor.

Thanks in advance.

jphughan · Answer

@sammykaye Happy to help. I don't have personal experience with the E228WFP specifically, but it sounds like it may have narrow optimal viewing angles both horizontally and vertically. A narrower vertical viewing angle would probably explain the yoga situation. As for the across the room situation, if you're still looking at the display "face-on", i.e. with your eyes at the same height as the display AND not from off to one side, then I'm not sure why the display would be dark. But if you ARE viewing from off to the side and/or from a different height, then that may be the issue. (Although a 22" display seems a bit small to view from across a room anyway.)

Correcting off-angle viewing requires the ability to adjust swivel (to avoid horizontal off-angle viewing) and tilt (to avoid vertical off-angle viewing). The Neo-Flex doesn't look like it offers much adjustability there, even though it has a nice range of height adjustment. The Ergotron LX here gives you a huge range of adjustment in terms of swivel and tilt -- on top of height adjustment and pivot support (rotating a display to portrait) -- due to its very different design. That should allow you to achieve a "face-on" view from just about any horizontal or vertical position as long as your view isn't blocked by your desk itself when you're on the floor doing yoga. But even there, the LX would help since it would allow you to bring your display fairly far forward on your desk. The LX in particular is also available in some other variants, such as dual display side-by-side, dual display stacked, and "tall pole" variants meant for very large displays and/or for more height adjustment.

Other than that, displays that have wider viewing angles to begin with might help -- displays with IPS panels tend to perform best in this regard -- but of course those can be expensive too.

Hopefully this helps!

sammykaye · Answer

thank you. I looked up 'viewing angle,' but not sure I understand how it applies to my 'viewing from on the floor' problem. My current monitor has a 4' downward and a 21' upper tilt. DO you have any idea if down or up might make a difference? The Ergotron Neo-Flex has a 30' tilt, 15 each way.  Yes, the Ergotron LX you linked is nice, but out of my price-range. As this won't be a problem when we come out of stay-at-home, I don't want to spend a lot just to solve the looking-up-from-the-floor issue. The Neo-flex retails at $55, so it's more reasonable. I'm going to look for other stands, as well. Or maybe even see if I have a smaller monitor in the garage I could set up on the floor, if my Inspiron can handle two monitors.

sammykaye · Answer

Thank you so much for your very detailed and excellent explanation. Yes, just a 4 degree downward tilt would definitely not be enough for a linear eye-on view; it is so much better when I'm at a more level angle.

I think my Inspiron 660 probably does have an extra monitor input and will see if I can find the second monitor I mentioned. In the meantime, I think I'll look for other monitor stands, as well.

When I am sitting across the room on a couch, the instructor on the screen does appear darker, but not as blacked-out as on the floor.

Thank you! Stay Safe!!

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E228WFP, too high, lower or adjustable stand?

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