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2/3 Monitors

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CTrainBEB

Member
I have dual monitors now, but the secondary monitor is set up as a tv and i can't see it from my desk. If I were to get a third monitor and put it on my desk, is there a way to switch the output from my computer between the tv monitor and the third monitor?

Also, would there be any way to run 3 monitors, with 1 of them cloned. I have a radeon 9600XT card so i know i can't truely run 3 monitors, but is there some type of jerry rigged thing i can do to make it work?
 
Originally posted by: CTrainBEB
I have dual monitors now, but the secondary monitor is set up as a tv and i can't see it from my desk. If I were to get a third monitor and put it on my desk, is there a way to switch the output from my computer between the tv monitor and the third monitor?

Also, would there be any way to run 3 monitors, with 1 of them cloned. I have a radeon 9600XT card so i know i can't truely run 3 monitors, but is there some type of jerry rigged thing i can do to make it work?
Click to expand...

Um, just enable clone mode from the driver options (under Control Panels/Display/Settings/"Advanced..."). Make the TV-out a clone of the second monitor (or vice versa).

There's not a *real* easy way to dynamically switch it back and forth; can't you just turn off whichever one you're not using?
 
Originally posted by: CTrainBEB
i can't possibly have 3 monitors connected to my machine at one time though
Click to expand...

Your current card only supports 2 monitors + TV-out (with two independent displays split up any way you like between them). Sorry, I didn't realize you were actually unsure about this. I thought this was blatantly obvious from the fact that there are only two places to plug a monitor into your card...

If you want a third monitor, you will need to add a PCI video card, or get one of the Matrox triple-head cards (the G550, I think?).
 
sorry, i was unclear. I don't want to get another video card. I'm looking for something like and A/V switcher for consoles and televisions. Where 3 different things go in and you can choose which the tv selects with a physical switch. Is there such a thing or am I insane?
 
I had a physical switch like that about 4-5 years ago. The problem was all of the switched video had horrible ghosting. You can get high quality switches but they generally run $500+

Here is an example KVM: http://www.cybex.com/web/en.nsf/Content/SwitchView+PC+4-port
Actually it seems like you are looking for the opposite of a KVM. I'm guessing you can use a passive KVM in reverse.

Maybe this is what you are looking for:
http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/vs92a.html
Almost cheaper to get a second video card.
 
Originally posted by: CTrainBEB
sorry, i was unclear. I don't want to get another video card. I'm looking for something like and A/V switcher for consoles and televisions. Where 3 different things go in and you can choose which the tv selects with a physical switch. Is there such a thing or am I insane?
Click to expand...

You mean a VGA or KVM-style switch? Sure, they make them, in fact I was using one for the longest time to switch my display between two CRTs in two locations, hooked up to a single machine. (Until I got my dual-head R9200 AGP card.)

Unfortunately, they tend to attenuate the signal noticably, and while the display is still decently-sharp (with a small amount of ghosting) at 1024x768, I would hate to imagine what it would be like at 1600x1200, probably unreadable. Mine was a mechanical switcher, an electronic one (with nice heavily-shielded cables) should be much better. But you'll pay a decent amount for it too, it's probably cheaper to buy another video card.
 
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