Best Monitor Stands and TV Mounts
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Best Monitor Stands
Whether you are watching the TV or using computer monitors at work, viewing comfort is important. Yes, monitors often come with their built-in stands. However, they do not offer the best positioning and height adjustments. The best solution is, therefore, to consider the best monitor stands.
In this ultimate guide, we focus on providing you with the comprehensive information about monitor stands. We will go through various types of monitor stands. Moreover, we will also answer the frequently asked questions and thus help you choose the best stand for your comfort.
Best Monitor Stand by Monitor’s Quantity
Best Tripple Monitor Stand:
What is a monitor stand?
A monitor stand is a supportive equipment that holds any display screen in a desired position. The name monitor stand is often used interchangeably with monitor arm and monitor mount. The monitor stand stands on the desk either with c-clamps, grommets or as a freestanding design.
The convenient part of the monitor stands is that you can move them to any desired workspace depending on the design. Freestanding stands, for example, are easy to move around. Grommet-mounted stands, on the other hand, will need the new workstation to be drilled. The c-clamp is also relatively easy to move around.
Installing monitors on the monitor stand is a cinch. Install the stand first on the desk using any of the mounting options and then mount the monitors on the arms. A typical stand has the base, the pole/post and the arms which can vary according to the number of monitors. Each monitor stand can have unique features such as angle of rotation, height adjustability, weight/size capacity, tilt angle range, and the mount type.
- Rotation: some monitor stands rotate at 360 degrees or less. If you want viewing versatility then you may prioritize this feature. You can position the monitors in a portrait or landscape.
- Tilt angles: to reduce glare in the office where sunlight strikes, you need the best tilt angle ranges. Also, the tilt angle enhances collaboration as you can tilt the monitor to the convenience of other co-workers.
- Height adjustments: height adjustment is a must to boost your healthy-viewing position. While these monitor stands come with varying adjustments, an up and down height adjustment is common. In other stands, you can raise the pole or the arms to adjust the height. Along with height adjustment you should be able to adjust the depth of the monitors.
- Weight/size capacity: each monitor stand comes with the weight or the size capacity. It tells you how much weight you should put under each arm. The size refers to the inches of the monitors. Other stands can accommodate up to 32 inches, more or less. Beware of the weight capacity as any bulk weight can compromise the sturdiness of the monitor mount.
- Number of monitors: the monitor stands range from a single monitor stand to hex monitor stand. The 6-monitor-carrying stands are heavy-duty ones often used in programming-dominated corporates.
Common to all the monitor stands should be the VESA compatibility which serves as a guideline to the construction of mounting holes. If your monitor stand is not VESA compliant, you may have to get the VESA adapter.
Who needs it?
Are you using monitors at your workplace? Do you often feel the pain on your back after watching your TV? Do you find it inconvenient working with colleagues on a single or multiple monitors? Is your desk cluttered with monitors lying on it? If you’ve answered yes to these questions, you are the right person to get these monitor stands.
The benefits of monitor stands need not be overlooked. Yes, monitor stands incur extra costs, but the benefits are immense. In many corporate offices, workers deal with programming tasks or large Excel spreadsheets which need multiple monitors. The stands are the best companions to align your monitors.
It’s easy to adjust the display screens depending on the swivel, tilt or rotation angle. Height adjustment comes standard in many monitor stands so gone will be your neck or back fatigue. We discuss the benefits of screen stands in the following section.
What are the main issues that the customer can solve with the monitor stand?
Have you ever watched a movie using a poorly positioned monitor and noticed how your back aches thereafter? Or, have you noticed how inconvenient it is to line up 2 or more monitors on your desk? There is a solution to these inconveniences.
Oftentimes, workspaces get cluttered due to the monitors occupying more space on the desk. The built-in monitor stands do not solve the problem of a cluttered desk. You can solve this challenge by getting the best monitor stand with fully articulating arms, height adjustments, and tilt angles.
The monitor’s awkward viewing position can lead to work-related musculoskeletal injuries. You may, for instance, suffer from a blurred vision, neck strains, eye irritation, and headaches when viewing in uncomfortable positions. For these reasons, getting the monitor stand should be your priority.
Computer monitors are an integral part of the corporate world where users work with multiples of them. Some are, however, not aligned with your healthy viewing positions. Typically, you should not bend your body, move up or down while trying to view in a great position. Instead, the monitor should be adjustable in any desired position.
Monitor stands can also enhance collaboration at work. If you used to share monitors with co-workers, then the stands can make your viewing experience excellent. In other stands, you can adjust the arms individually. The tilt ranges and rotation angles are different, and they can help improve collaboration of colleagues when working on a single desk.
What kind of monitor stands exists?
Monitor riser
The monitor riser elevates the monitor to your ergonomic viewing position. Essentially, the monitor must be positioned at eye level. Even if you’re using multiple screens, they should be in contact with each other to save you space and to boost productivity. The monitor riser is a solution. As in the name, it rises the monitor to your eye level.
Monitor arm
The monitor arm is the holder of monitors. It comes with articulating joints where it can adjust monitors in many positions. Whether you want to rotate, tilt or swivel the monitor, the best monitor arm allows you to achieve that. For each monitor stand, there could be numerous arms.
Monitor stand
There is a variety of monitor stands such as single monitor stand to hex monitor stand. If you use multiple display screens, you can get multi-display stands per your monitors.
Monitor stands can have different monitor arms with different parameters. In the following section we look at parameters that differentiate monitor stands.
Buyer’s Guide/FAQ
Main characteristics of monitor stands
Design materials
These stands are made from a plethora of materials. These include PVC, steel, aluminum, or any other metal. The materials differ with durability and resistance to other elements such as corrosion. When choosing, make sure you choose a long-lasting material. Because the stand can carry multiple monitors, you may consider metals such as steel and aluminum. They are both durable and sturdy.
Construction form
Other stands may, depending on the number of monitors to hold, have multiple arms that can articulate individually. There is basically the pole, the base and the arms. For wall-mounted stands, you do not need articulating arms. They are often fixed with no or fewer adjustments.
Weight
Whenever making purchases, take note of the weight limit that each monitor needs. Each arm has a specific weight limit, and so the pole has to be strong to accommodate the overall weight.
Exceeding this weight limit can break the monitor mount. Also, the monitor mount that is accommodating to heavy weights should sit on a sturdy desk. Glass desks are not the best workstations to install these stands.
Mounting types
We have different mounting types for the monitor stands. There are wall-mounts and desk mounts. And on desk mounts, there is still grommet installation, c-clamp, and a freestanding design.
The stands with grommet mounts com with grommets. It will be advantageous if your desk is pre-drilled to seamlessly install these stands. Otherwise you may have to drill the holes and probably damage your desk if you’re inexperienced.
C-clamps easily attach at the edge of your desk. They are stable, too, and can be moved from one location to the other with ease. Some stands allow you to use grommets in combination with the c-clamps.
A freestanding design needs no further emphasis it is self-explanatory. However, a freestanding design needs to be too sturdy especially with multiple monitors. The tension these monitors put on the pole can lead to a fall. You need a sturdy base design.
Benefits of Monitor Stands
For the desk
The monitor stand can help clear a cluttered desk. Imagine not having enough space to have a cup of coffee or put your family photos because multiple monitors have consumed your available space. With the best monitor stand that has height adjustments you can clear a valuable space on the desk.
For the glass desk
The monitor stand can save your glass desk from the scratches that monitors could cause. Leave the desk with a free space thus showing off the beauty of the glass while the screens are elevated to eye level.
For the PC
With the best monitor mount, you can enjoy working on your PC to a convenient position. This will not only benefit you from a health standpoint but will also improve your productivity. Research has proved the correlation between productivity and monitor stand setups.
For laptop
Laptops can also benefit from monitor stands. You may find the Portable Folding Laptop Stand that will elevate your laptop so you can work efficiently. It boosts your posture and thus improve productivity as well.
For iMac
Although iMac comes with its built-in stand, it is insufficient to elevate it to your desired position. Also, it does not match the best features of monitor stands such as height adjustments, rotation, tilt or swivel. So, having the monitor stand can help lift your iMac and eventually improve your productivity.
For curved monitors
Curved monitors can benefit a lot from the monitor stands. They will look as though they’re surrounding you as in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EDO2mrokdI
The desk looks much clearer and cleaner when mounting curved monitors on a monitor stand. It is even advantageous to collaborate with co-workers.
For ultrawide monitors
It is quite challenging to view multiple ultrawide monitors on a desk. Issues such sunlight reflection or far reach of the monitors can be a problem. With the monitor stand you can bring them closer, tilt them to reduce glare, rotate for portrait or landscape view, and do more things.
For wall
You’ve probably seen game stations or some offices with mounted monitors. That improves the viewing comfort especially where you work as a group. There are monitor stands that can be mounted on the wall.
Monitor stand for bed
One of the good days you just feel like spending the day on your bed to watch some movies. The best monitor stand suspended above your bed can improve your view. There is no need to bend your bed trying to align with the TV on the desk. Check the image below to get a glimpse.
Monitor stand for recliner
To enjoy watching movies or games, get the best monitor stand for recliner. It positions your screen to your preferred position while you’re busy relaxing on your couch. See the picture below:
Classification
Number of monitors
Single monitor stand
A single monitor stand, as in the name, holds just a single monitor. There is a pole and the arm that can adjust up or down or sideways. It can also rotate to any configured angle. These types of monitors are best suited to home use to mount TVs or workstations where a single monitor is used.
Dual monitor stand
For two display screens, you may opt for double monitor stands. These monitors can be stacked or positioned in parallel with their edges touching. Dual monitors are common for a professional who’s more into large spreadsheets and other web applications.
Triple monitor stand
Monitor stands can hold three monitors as well. They provide a great setup of monitors off the desk. This will surely save you a valuable space. Imagine if all the three monitors are on the desk. It will look messy with cables lying around. A triple monitor stand can elevate three display screens to your comfortable viewing positions.
Quad monitor stands
Quad means 4. These stands can hold up to four monitor stands. Such monitor stands are also popular in gaming environments. Even in some corporate offices where colleagues collaborate often, 4 monitors are common. The best stand will have to articulate arms with individual adjustments so that anyone can have a custom view.
Hex monitor stand
This is the last number of monitor stands. We’ve not any stand exceeding 6 monitors. That would require a very strong base so the monitors do not weigh down the stand. There are still corporate offices that use 6 monitors. Hospitals are also frequent users of these multiple monitors. The best monitor stand can help you position the screens accordingly.
Mounting Options
Monitor stands also come in different mounting styles. Their convenience and ease of installation differ. We have grommet (bolt), edge (c-clamp) and wall and Slatwall.
Wall and Slatwall
Many retailers have monitors mounted on the wall. This is convenient as it clears some space from their desks. It also helps work on the monitor with ease. But, wall mounts do not accommodate multiple monitors compared to desk mounts. Oftentimes, wall mounts accommodate larger screens that may not fit on desks.
Households are also regular customers of wall-mounted monitors. If you have a small room, a wall mount can come at an advantage to clear some space. Everyone will be positioned to watch the movies conveniently without bending upward or downward.
Grommet (bolt)
This is by far the most common especially in pre-drilled desks. A grommet mounting option is more stable. Monitor stands come with bolts so you can bolt through to fasten the stand to the desk. However, glass desks are an exclusion when using grommets unless they have the pre-drilled holes already. But, we do not encourage you to install the stands on glass desks.
The downside of grommet mounting option is lack of mobility. You will have to take time to unbolt the stand so you can move it around.
C-clamp (edge)
The stand can also be installed with c-clamps. The c-clamp allows you to install the monitor at the edge of your desk. So, you do not have to drill the desk unless you want to combine grommets with c-clamps. It is possible! Other monitor stands come with both c-clamps and grommets. That will give your stand more stability.
Adjustment types
Not all monitor stands adjust the same. Some use screws, gas spring/pneumatic cylinder or knob.
Pneumatic/gas spring
This adjustment allows you to adjust the height by sliding the pole down. Often, these adjustments are calibrated according to the monitor weight hence you have to be vigilant of weight capacity.
Knob/screws:
These adjustment options allow you to slide the pole up or down to adjust the height. The arms are attached to the pole through brackets that can be adjusted by sliding up or down.
Features of monitor stands
Monitor stands are further characterized by number of features they have. These could be the inclusion of docking station, USB and cable management.
Monitor stand with USB
USB ports form an integral part of media sharing between electronics. The monitor stand with USB ports is a must-have as it allows you to connect with ease without needing long cables to the monitor mounted. Not all monitors have this feature, but reputable brands do.
Monitor stand with docking station
If the monitor does not have the USB integrated, at least let it have the docking station. It enables ease connection of power cables and USBs to the monitors. The docking station is a hardware with a set of electrical connections. It can include the Network Interface Card (NIC) that connects the monitor to the Local Area Network (LAN).
What is the monitor stand port?
This refers to electrical connection interface that serves as the audio and USB hub. You need a port to connect your USB where you can easily share files with your monitor hence you have to look for monitor stands with the docking station or USB features.
How to mount monitor stand?
Mounting the monitor stand shouldn’t be cumbersome at all. As we have highlighted already, monitor stands are mounted using the grommets, c-clamps on the desk or on the wall.
Other come as freestanding designs so no need to mount them. Each product usually comes with the mounting instructions and that should be clear enough. The grommets mounting needs a pre-drilled desk or otherwise you have to drill it. C-clamps, on the other hand, have to be attached at the edge of the desk.
What brands and manufacturers of monitor stands exist?
While there are many monitor stand brands, some are at the top of the game. Dell, VIVO, and Fujitsu are some of the brands to consider when shopping for the best monitor stands. They have a wide range of monitors that accommodate a variety and multiple of display screens. Also, they are renowned for their best durability and quality materials.
There are, of course, numerous brands. We do not discourage you with any brand as long as you are vigilant when shopping. Check for the best features such as rotation angles, tilt and swivel angles, and other adjustments.
Accesories
The beauty of using monitors lies in the type of accessories you have. These could include the VESA mounts or adapters where you can install the monitors with ease. Not all monitor stands are VESA compliant.
That being said, you have to look for VESA dimensions before buying, unless you are prepared to purchase the VESA adapter. You may also need a desk with the keyboard and mouse shelves such as the Mount-It! Keyboard Drawer under Desk with Mouse Platform.
