A 39 inch monitor is not nearly as bad as it sounds.
I am currently using 3 1080p monitors in portrait[0], a setup that I like quite a lot. Here are some measurements:
Width : 39 inches
Height: 22 inches
Avg. distance from eyes to monitor:
22 inches
Maximum head movement to look left/right edge of monitors:
40 degrees
Estimated maximum head movement during use:
20 degrees
It's a very comfortable setup, and allows for a huge amount of screen real-estate[1]. However, I will say that I use it in a somewhat "different" way compared to other setups. The middle monitor is the main workspace, and is where windows with active work on them go. The left and right monitors hold the 4+ windows with non-active or asynchronous information, like chat windows, documentation, comparison code windows, etc.
I am currently using 3 1080p monitors in portrait[0], a setup that I like quite a lot. Here are some measurements:
It's a very comfortable setup, and allows for a huge amount of screen real-estate[1]. However, I will say that I use it in a somewhat "different" way compared to other setups. The middle monitor is the main workspace, and is where windows with active work on them go. The left and right monitors hold the 4+ windows with non-active or asynchronous information, like chat windows, documentation, comparison code windows, etc.[0] - http://i.imgur.com/JPY2sum.jpg
[1] - http://i.imgur.com/FEumEXi.png