Keep Split on the Screen, but Check the Effort

I wouldn't switch the ergo screen to watts because someone says it tells you more about effort. Watts show power. Split shows how long each 500 metres would take at that output. Neither tells you how hard you're working relative to what you can manage.

If split helps you settle into a session, keep it. The rowing machine doesn't need to be more complicated.

But a small change on the screen can mean quite a large change in what you're asking yourself to do. The relationship isn't linear: power increases with the cube of speed. Halving your split would take eight times the power. Not a session suggestion.

Going from a 1:40 split to 1:35 is already a substantial increase in output. It looks like a few seconds. When you're trying to hold it, it doesn't feel like a small adjustment. Watts can make the size of that change easier to see when you look back at a session. You don't have to watch them throughout it.

And on the same type of ergo, the same split means the same displayed watts, regardless of the rower's weight. That doesn't mean it feels equally hard. A blanket wattage target has the same problem as a blanket split target: manageable for one person, far too hard for another. Individual targets based on threshold power can help account for that difference, but watts on their own don't do it.

For a distance test, I'd generally watch split because it connects directly to finishing time. For steady rowing, I'd use whichever display is easiest to settle with. Holding a repeatable number is useful as a reference. It doesn't prove you're at the effort the session calls for.

So on your next steady row, check the effort before trying to hold your usual number. If keeping that split means pushing harder than the session is meant to feel, let it get a little slower. I'd leave the screen on split while doing that.