There are a number of good reasons why you should use a monitor arm on your sit stand desk but you might be surprised about some of them ? Here is our spin in order of importance:
They save desk space
Desk tops are getting smaller. The main drivers behind this trend is firstly the fact that office space is getting more expensive and smaller desks take up less office space. It’s a simple numbers game. If you have 40 x 1600 x 800 mm on a floor - you can save over 30% floor space by moving them to 1200 x 700 mm tops.
You may argue that this results in a more cramped workplace and you may be right but the reason for larger desks was predominantly the amount of paper and other items (pens, pads etc) that needed to be spread over the desktop. The digitalisation of workspaces means that this paper simply isn’t there. People are more accustomed to working without paper and they have become more adept at organising their screens to display the information for multiple tasks.
So if desktops are getting smaller why would you allow monitors to take up such a large proportion of your space ? So many modern screens come with their own stands but these stands have massive footprints. We estimate that two screens (on their own stands) will take up over 35% of the desktop on a standard 1200 x 700 mm desk.
With the move to digital workflows - 2 screens is becoming the norm. You can’t organise your work effectively without two screens. In effect, the two screens provide the space that the old desktop did for paper based work.
A dual monitor arm clamps on to the back of your desk and takes up virtually no room on the desktop.
We think that desktop space saving is the biggest single reason for monitor arms.
They will save your neck and upper back
Regardless of whether you stand or sit at your desk the important factor is that your screen is approximately at your eye level. And from an ergonomic viewpoint, you must have the right distance from hands to eye level. But we are all made differently and without the ability to adjust your screen height so your lower arms are positioned at a right angle to your upper arms AND your eyes are at screen level (or slightly below) you are never going to be able to avoid looking down at your screen.
Think about it. Non-adjustable screen stands will mean that the distance from the desktop (hand level) and the middle of the screen will ALWAYS be the same.
This will mean that shorter people ( shorter from waist to eye level in this context) will always be looking up at the screen and taller people will always be looking down. One is as bad as the other. In this situation it pays to be of average height.
So if you are fitting out an office you are by definition going to have to allow for people of many different shapes and sizes. We cannot see how you can achieve this without monitor arms.
Most people are using laptops and need an external monitor
The number of people using laptops as their main work device has exploded. It has been precipitated by the fact that all of us had to work from home during covid but the move to hot desking in offices has also pushed it along.
Anyone who uses a laptop for long periods of time know that it presents some new ergonomic challenges. In fact you simply can’t use a laptop for extended periods of time without an external monitor. If you do - you are forced to look down at your laptop screen putting unbearable stress on your neck and upper back.
So if we accept that you need an external monitor you are going to be plugging an hdmi cable into your laptop regularly. A monitor arm gives you way better access to the back of the screen and it also allows you to use your laptop screen as a second screen by fitting a laptop tray to one of the arms.
Laptops are here to stay but their portable nature means they have to be easy to plug in and remove. Monitor arms have become an essential part of an office set up that is built for laptop use.
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