Dual monitors

Art Scott · January 7, 2006

Is there any way to run dual monitors on a PC??
Really would like to have the workspace cleaned up.

David_S85 · January 8, 2006

ART SCOTT wrote:

Is there any way to run dual monitors on a PC??
Really would like to have the workspace cleaned up.

Probably, but we need more info...

Laptop or desktop unit?

What OS?

Your video card: discrete card or integrated on motherboard?

If you have a discrete video card, what type of outputs does it have?

Art Scott · January 8, 2006

David_S85 wrote:

Probably, but we need more info...

Laptop or desktop unit? I know it can be done with laptop but how about desktop

What OS? XP SP 2

Your video card: discrete card or integrated on motherboard? INTERGRATED

If you have a discrete video card, what type of outputs does it have?

tHANKS

davemj98 · January 8, 2006

Dual Monitors
They run off of the video card outputs on the back of your computer, if you have one. You can probably get one if your running an intergrated one now, with an improvement in speed. Just make sure the card you get will support your monitors. My set-up has one VGA and one DVI and I can actually pump it out to the 36HDTV if so disposed, via S-video.

Hope this Helps

Regards David

Art Scott · January 8, 2006

Reprieve.......THANKS.... I was told on another forum it could not be done without a switch to mac or laptop....

colourbox · January 8, 2006

ART SCOTT wrote:

Reprieve.......THANKS.... I was told on another forum it could not be done without a switch to mac or laptop....

I was just reading this thread where they were talking not only about how to run multiple monitors on XP, but how to calibrate them. Probably worth a read.

David_S85 · January 8, 2006

XP natively supports dual monitors. It is not an issue of needing a mac.

Laptops are another issue. Most laptops just don't have either the horsepower of the multiple video outputs. Higher-end laptops might allow for it.

cmason · January 9, 2006

David_S85 wrote:

Laptops are another issue. Most laptops just don't have either the horsepower of the multiple video outputs. Higher-end laptops might allow for it.

Not true. Most laptops, even simple ones, support multiple monitors to allow you to connect to a LCD projector or dock it to a external keyboard/monitor set up. If the laptop has a video out port, it will support both the built in LCD and the connected monitor.

For PCs the issue is there are rarely two monitor ports. You can solve this by doing one of these:

1) adding a video card, assuming that your internal video does not disable when you plug in a AGP card (a PCI video card may be needed if this is the case),or
2) getting a analog/digital card with both VGA and DVI out, and if one of your monitors has DVI, you can run it thru both ports. Check to see if the card will run on both ports, or
3) get an AGP card and a PCI card. If you are happy with your integrated video, then you don;t need to spend much for this setup...maybe two $45 cards will do,or
4) get a dual monitor card.

ivar · January 9, 2006

cmason wrote:

Not true. Most laptops, even simple ones, support multiple monitors to allow you to connect to a LCD projector or dock it to a external keyboard/monitor set up. If the laptop has a video out port, it will support both the built in LCD and the connected monitor.

True, but most laptops will project exactly the same image on both screens, except for the exceptions that is. And i am guessing that, as shown in the picture that davemj98 posted, Art Scott is looking for two seperate monitors with two seperate workspaces.

I have a dual output card in my home with two 19"NECs, and that works fine. It takes a few seconds of getting used to. The only issue i have (i am a nitpicker) is that on the left screen you actually have to "aim" at the little x that closes a window. On the right one i can just move my mouse to the top right position and click.
I must say that on my PC and laptop i don't run in the "too cluttered desktop" problem, because i have a pretty high resolution set (1600x1200 and higher) So if i am reading the first post correctly, and it is a matter of not enough space on your desktop, you might try that if at all possible.

Ivar

NHBubba · January 9, 2006

cmason wrote:

2) getting a analog/digital card with both VGA and DVI out, and if one of your monitors has DVI, you can run it thru both ports. Check to see if the card will run on both ports, or

Even if neither of your monitors are digital (take a DVI signal), you can still feed to monitors by using a simple ~$10 DVI to VGA adapter. As long as the DVI connector on the video card is DVI-I. DVI actually has three different types, -I (intergrated), -A (analog only), or -D (digital only). The connector is the same in all three cases.. only in the -D and -A cases some lines are not used.

Here is some decent background.

I've yet to see a video card that did not spit DVI-I (both -A and -D) out of it's DVI port. This means you can connect a simple adapter (most decent aftermarket cards ship w/ at least one of these adapters) to adapt from DVI-A or DVI-I to a standard 15-pin VGA D-sub.

ivar wrote:

True, but most laptops will project exactly the same image on both screens, except for the exceptions that is. And i am guessing that, as shown in the picture that davemj98 posted, Art Scott is looking for two seperate monitors with two seperate workspaces.

Not so w/ many modern mid to high range laptops. Most newer laptops w/ the more modern video chipsets will easily support multiple unique monitor spaces. This issue is almost exclusively a video card hardware & driver issue. Main system CPU and memory specs do not matter.

Another issue is video memory. Remember that you must have a byte of video memory for each color of each pixel you try to draw. For 1600x1200 @ 32 bit color depth that works out to ~7.3 MB. If you just want to draw the same output (the same desktop) on multiple screens, that can be handled aftewards in the analog domain (or at least outside of video memory). But if you want multiple different workspaces.. start multiplying.

So for 1600x1200 @ 32 bits you'll need at least 16 MB of video memory. That's trivial in most cases nowadays.. but not universal.

One last comment.. If you're in the market for a new video card, I would aim to get one that had dual DVI connectors. This way you have the ability to connect any dual-screen setup now or in the future.. even if you go w/ dual digital flat-pannels. XFX makes several NVidia based cards that have this feature.

System · January 25, 2006

just got my wife a flat screen for her computer-
extra monitor?-dual monitors!-
had a card on my computer with the vga hookup and a dvi hookup-
got a $4.00 dvi to vga adapter, hooked up the second monitor, went to display and settings and voila!--photo on one screen and toolboxes etc. on the second screen-
now my son calls me a geek-
heh--not that smart--

george

David_S85 · January 26, 2006

gefillmore wrote:

just got my wife a flat screen for her computer-
extra monitor?-dual monitors!-
had a card on my computer with the vga hookup and a dvi hookup-
got a $4.00 dvi to vga adapter, hooked up the second monitor, went to display and settings and voila!--photo on one screen and toolboxes etc. on the second screen-
now my son calls me a geek-
heh--not that smart--

george

In pixels, how wide can you go with that setup, both monitors combined?

System · January 26, 2006

hey David-

my resolution is set at 1152x864, if that means anything-

practically speaking, I have not lost anything resolution wise, but have doubled the width of the application-

my photo looks the same on one screen and the toolboxes look no different on the other screen-

I guess I've lost some speed though of application processing-

I hope I've answered your question; I'm no computer jock so if I didn't, I apologize-

george

David_S85 · January 26, 2006

gefillmore wrote:

hey David-
my resolution is set at 1152x864, if that means anything-
practically speaking, I have not lost anything resolution wise, but have doubled the width of the application-
my photo looks the same on one screen and the toolboxes look no different on the other screen-
I guess I've lost some speed though of application processing-
I hope I've answered your question; I'm no computer jock so if I didn't, I apologize-
george

OK, I was just wondering, since some graphics cards allow up to 1920 across. Looks like you found a way to get more room fairly cheaply.

System · January 26, 2006

David

just changed bridge to compact mode so I've got it up on the other screen along with the other toolboxes and can expand or contract bridge as I wish-

george

Art Scott · January 26, 2006

Thanks again everyone...that sounds like what I need to do ...is get a decent graphics card ( I do have an open graphics slot) so that I can have 2 video outs....

Thanks again.

USAIR · February 26, 2006

I am also in the process of going the dual monitor setup and found this photo
I am thinking of two Acer LCDs one (expensive) Ferrari F-20 for the editing and one cheper Acer AL1912s
Any thoughts on this setup ?

13 monitors wow

Art Scott · February 26, 2006

USAIR wrote:

I am also in the process of going the dual monitor setup and found this photo
I am thinking of two Acer LCDs one (expensive) Ferrari F-20 for the editing and one cheper Acer AL1912s
Any thoughts on this setup ?

13 monitors wow

Yeah and look at all those CPU's...can you imagine the cooling that goes into that room to keep you from melting in there?

colourbox · February 26, 2006

Art Scott wrote:

Yeah and look at all those CPU's...can you imagine the cooling that goes into that room to keep you from melting in there?

A former co-worker used to call his CRT monitor "a cathode ray gun pointed at my head." Well, there's 13 of them. I'd worry about brain cell mutations before worrying about cooling the room!! :yikes

David_S85 · February 26, 2006

Art Scott wrote:

Yeah and look at all those CPU's...can you imagine the cooling that goes into that room to keep you from melting in there?

Not to mention his monthly power bill. I would wonder if a real used airplane could be cheaper than his gaming habit?

Might that setup be photoshopped? The graphics to run something like that would be obscenely complicated. Yikes. Could also lead to a quick divorce. Women hate that stuff.

pathfinder · February 26, 2006

USAIR wrote:

I am also in the process of going the dual monitor setup and found this photo
I am thinking of two Acer LCDs one (expensive) Ferrari F-20 for the editing and one cheper Acer AL1912s
Any thoughts on this setup ?

13 monitors wow

Fred, I used two different LCDs on my Windows XP2 box, until I abandoned Windows and bought a MAC> WIn XP supports dual monitors natively.

I used a Gateway 19" LCD, and a cheap Samsung 17". The Gateway was via a DVI plug, and the Samsung was via a VGA plug.

The only real downside was I could not calibrate the smaller monitor with my colorimeter, because I could not figure out how to get windows to cooridinate two ICC profiles. But for holding palettes and brushes it worked fine.

I thought I would never return to a single monitor system, but my 23" display does not seem too cramped at this time. And I can always add a second 23" Cinema Display if I feel the need.

Pick up a cheap 15 in or 17 in LCD to off load your tools, brushes and palette wells - You'll love the extra room for your image!!

LuckyBob · February 28, 2006

David_S85 wrote:

Might that setup be photoshopped? The graphics to run something like that would be obscenely complicated. Yikes. Could also lead to a quick divorce. Women hate that stuff.

I'll agree with the divorce side of things

, but as far as complexity it's not really that bad. Companies like Colorgraphic make some quite well thought-out cards (such as this PCI 8 output version, which I've personally set up for a client http://www.colorgraphic.net/newsite/products/xentera_gt8_models.html) which make it pretty easy to accomplish a setup like that.

StevenV · February 28, 2006

pathfinder wrote:

Fred, I used two different LCDs on my Windows XP2 box, until I abandoned Windows and bought a MAC> WIn XP supports dual monitors natively.

So has the Mac, since the early 90's. The only caveat these days is that some Mac models come with a video card that doesn't (officially) support spanning, just mirroring. There's a hack that works around that limitation (though it probably also works around the warranty

). But then again, XP has the same limitation, needing video card support.

negativehape1 · May 25, 2006

StevenV wrote:

So has the Mac, since the early 90's. The only caveat these days is that some Mac models come with a video card that doesn't (officially) support spanning, just mirroring. There's a hack that works around that limitation (though it probably also works around the warranty ). But then again, XP has the same limitation, needing video card support.

I HAVE a question i need to run dual screen off a geforce 6600gt i know there are 2 outputs and i think its possible but i dont have the dam plug that switchs 1 out put to the output i can use to plug the monitor in ((help me!))

System · May 25, 2006

had a card on my computer with the vga hookup and a dvi hookup-
got a $4.00 dvi to vga adapter, hooked up the second monitor, went to display and settings and voila!--photo on one screen and toolboxes etc. on the second screen-

this is what I needed to do for my hookup-

you might need to provide more info-

what's the output or connection or what does it look like-

what's the monitor you're wanting to hook up- standard vga or something else-

I don't know that I can help but my guess is there's someone who can--just give them all the info that you can-

negativehape1 · May 25, 2006

well i think it is simple like yours...i bought my graphics card it came with a plug that looks identical to the head of the monitor plug that u plug into the graphics card.....kinda hard to put it but i think if i find that it will work....well be back in like 30mins gonna clean my room and see if i cant find that dam plug

Forehead · May 25, 2006

Not to mention all the cussing and f-words emanated everytime a toe gets stubbed!

Art Scott wrote:

Yeah and look at all those CPU's...can you imagine the cooling that goes into that room to keep you from melting in there?

tived · June 6, 2006

You can get a Matrox card which does 8 screens, but probably not your all that suited for photo editing, I think it is mainly for finance applications

You could also get yourself a couple of cards with Dual Link DVI and hook up 4 30" screens

, that wouldn't be too bad.

I run two Dell 24" off two nVidia Quadro FX 3400, though I get a sore neck

every now and then

...should I feel weak, they could 'em SLI'ed and pop a game in the machine

but that is probably unlikely to happen:cry

Henrik

Dual monitors

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