dual monitors

eightiescrooner · 9 Aug 2007 at 22:43

hi, sorry if this seems a bit silly but i was wondering if i bought 2 x 19" widescreen monitors how do i run them in dual view if i only have one VGA port on my PC

also does the monitor surround get annoying as obviously there is a gap between the 2 displays?

thanks

Borden · 9 Aug 2007 at 22:54

You could get a Matrox DualHead2Go (http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/products/dh2go/home.php) which will allow two monitors to connect to the single output. If possible though it may be better to get a separate, cheap graphics card with dual output. The DualHead2Go will only support a max res of 2560*1024, with 1280*1024 per display whereas the widescreen 19" monitors are 1440*900 each.

What are your needs for the setup? Will you be using it for games? Are you able to add a PCI/AGP/PCI Express dedicated graphics card? I'm assuming you're currently using onboard graphics due to the single ouput?

eightiescrooner · 9 Aug 2007 at 22:57

hi. i currently have an ati x1600 pro with a VGA and DVI output, can i use both of those

also, can i add a second graphics card and use that as an output too?

does the panel between the two actual displays get annoying or do you get used to it?

Borden · 9 Aug 2007 at 23:01

Yes you will be able to use both ouputs on the X1600pro. If the monitors you get only support VGA then you can get DVI->VGA adapters. Yes you can add a second card, but seeing as you are able to use both outputs on the X1600 then another card will only really be necessary if you want to add more monitors.

I have about an 8cm gap between my two screens. I really don't notice it much as the secondary monitor is off to the side a bit. If you're going to have both monitors straight in front of you then it would be better to have them as close as possible. You will have to put up with the gap created by the monitor bezels but i'm sure you will get used to this and it shouldn't be a problem.

eightiescrooner · 9 Aug 2007 at 23:02

great thanks for your help!

Borden · 9 Aug 2007 at 23:07

No problem! Welcome to the forums and the wonderful world of dual screens

beano · 9 Aug 2007 at 23:16

mark1 said:
Welcome to the forums and the wonderful world of dual screens

Don't listen to him, it's not a wonderful world at all, it's plagued with problems.... Well okay, that might be just me.

Here's one example of the sort of grief you might run into: Link God knows how you play with the setting when you can't see anything lol!

Borden · 9 Aug 2007 at 23:25

Try giving Ultramon a try. It's the ultimate tool for dual displays and i suspect that it's nview that's giving you problems. I have it for my 20" ws and 17" and all is well in the dual screen world for me

beano · 9 Aug 2007 at 23:34

Okay, thanks for that Mark.

Do you know if this is a known issue with nview?

Borden · 9 Aug 2007 at 23:43

I'm not sure. The last time i used it (it's been a while since i've had an nvidia card) i had problems with it not doing what i wanted. Ultramon is widely used and supported, well worth the money for it. Give the free trial a go first to see if it fixes your problem.