Design & Plan · Ergonomic Accessories
Monitor Arms
The screens moved. The desk did not. Getting a monitor to the right height, at the right distance, without losing the desk underneath it — that is what an arm is for, and which arm depends almost entirely on the desk it has to hold on to.
We carry a deep bench of arms, and we specify them rather than sell them off a shelf. Most of the decisions that matter happen before the model number: how many screens, whether they match, what the desk edge will accept, and how much room there is behind it. Get those right and almost any good arm works. Get them wrong and the best arm on the market will not mount.
What the decision actually turns on.
How many screens — and do they match?
One screen is a single arm. Two identical screens can share one arm on a crossbar. Two screens that differ in size or weight need independent arms. Three or more, or screens facing opposite ways, moves the whole thing off the desk and onto a pole.
What the desk edge will accept
Thickness, a flat and reachable edge, and nothing underneath where the clamp base lands. Glass, a lip or an apron rules a clamp out and sends you to bolt-through, wall or pole. A dual-arm clamp is considerably wider than a single.
Clearance behind
About 3/8″ for a bare clamp, about 1″ for arms that carry cables in a rear clip. On a panel workstation, check the back gap before anything else — some systems sit too tight for a rear clamp to seat at all.
Mechanism and weight range
Gas spring rides smooth and carries a narrower band per strut, and can lose force over the years. A mechanical coil spring does not leak and holds its force. Match the arm’s rated range to the actual screen — monitors keep splitting lighter and heavier every year.
The crossbar is the answer to a room that has to do two jobs.
A private office is a place for long-form solo work most of the day, and a place where someone sits across from you the rest of the time. Desks get specified for the first job and then have to survive the second — with the monitors sitting between you and your guest. The fix is not a bigger desk. It is putting both screens on one arm instead of two: swing the pair aside to clear the sightline, or spin them to share what is on screen. It reads strongest on a straight desk; on a corner desk, mount toward the rounded corner. Identical monitors only — a crossbar carries a matched pair.
Which style of arm belongs where.
Specifiers arrive from two directions — from the room, or from the desk. Both routes are below.
Single arm plus a crossbar, clamped toward the corner — matched monitors only. Swing both screens aside for a guest, or rotate to share what is on them.
Check the back gap first. Some panel systems sit tight to the surface and a rear clamp cannot seat. A dual arm with the desk tight to a wall or panel makes sliders essential — without them the screens end up far too close to the person. The spec note below is the whole argument.
OSHA already calls for 1″ of clearance all round for pinch-point safety, which also satisfies the arm’s rear clearance. Pair with an under-surface power bar so everything plugged in rises with the desk.
Pole. Once the count or the geometry goes past what an edge clamp can carry, the mount moves off the desk.
Single arm. The quick-connect bracket earns its place even for one screen at home.
Wall mount territory. Healthcare mounting is a specialty of its own and is documented separately.
Wall mount primarily.
Without sliders, two screens get closer together by getting closer to your face.
Almost everyone wants their two monitors side by side, touching. Almost every desk sits close to a wall or a panel. Those two facts collide, and the collision is the reason to specify sliders.
On a dual arm without sliders, the only way to bring the screens together is to pivot the arms. With a wall or panel behind the desk there is nowhere to pivot but forward — so the screens swing toward the person. A comfortable viewing distance is roughly arm’s length, about three feet. The screens can end up as close as 18 inches from the face. Half the distance it should be, and nobody in the room connects it to the monitor arm.
Arms pivot forward to close the gap. Screens advance on the user — as close as 18″. The desk is tight to the wall, so there is no other move.
The arms stay folded back against the panel and the screens slide across to meet each other. Side by side, touching, and still at arm’s length.
This is why the Ergo Snob Align dual arms ship with two sliders as standard — not as an upgrade you discover later you wish you had, once the desks are in and the screens are already too close.
Organised by what the desk needs, not by brand.
We carry all of these lines and have long relationships with each maker, so this section is arranged by the decision rather than by supplier: each arm sits where it is genuinely the answer. Named models are confirmed; where a slot says “product to be selected”, the model is chosen against the project.
Ergo Snob Align is our own line. We did not find these arms — we built them, because the two problems above (two screens on one arm, and two screens that cannot come together without advancing on the user) did not have a clean answer at a sensible price. That is also why Align turns up in most of the groups below.
One screen, one arm — the majority of what gets specified, and where the mounting condition does all the deciding.
Matched monitors only. The private-office answer, and the reason the Align crossbar exists.
Where the desk sits tight to a wall or panel and the screens still have to meet. See the viewing-distance note above.
A kit that grows rather than a fixed product. Where the count, the height or opposite-facing screens go past what one arm carries.
Because the arm is where the cables already are.
No desk edge to work with, or a room that says otherwise — healthcare and industrial most often.
Specifying arms for a floor?
Tell us the screens, the desks and what is behind them — we will come back with arms that mount, carry the weight and stay put.
Questions, answered.
About Monitor Arms
Do dual arms really need sliders?
Clamp or bolt-through?
When is a crossbar the right answer?
Working with Applied Ergonomics
What types of projects does Applied Ergonomics work on?
How does the consultation process work?
Do you work with architects and interior designers?
What geographic areas do you serve?
Do you support ongoing facility needs after a project is complete?
We’re here to help.
We read every inquiry and follow up personally to help move your project forward.
Not sure exactly what you need? Tell us the space and the teams who’ll use it, and we’ll bring the options to you. Specifying is what we do.
Prefer to talk it through? Call 847-679-5148.
Phone: 847-679-5148 Email: info@appliedergonomics.com