How exactly does running Dual Monitors work?

[thawolfman]

Like does the mouse just carry over into the other monitor while you're on screen, or is their some other software that it requires?

Also can you use monitors @ Different resolutions? I currently have a 17"LCD at home and a 15"LCD at school, and would like to set the second up on my machine at home when the semester's over.

Thx for any info

-Ben-

 

[Anubis]

yes they can run at different resolutions

I have my TI4600 view them as seperat displays and teh mouse just moves between them. i use a program called "UltraMon" to allow me to have 2 seperate wallpapers. it also goves me a taskbar on teh second monitor
I run dula 19is @ 1600x1200 and its operates flawlesly. i use dto run 1 19 and a 17 in CRT and it worked just as well

 

[iamme]

you can make one "long" display. good for people who need alot of screen real estate (like graphic designers, i think).

or you can mirror the display. good for playing a movie on one screen (like a TV) and working on the other. ATI has a control panel feature that keeps the DVD video maximized on the TV, even though you minimize it on your PC monitor. Kinda cool.

 

[thawolfman]

So say you wanted to have winamp and your playlist open, but have it on the second monitor...do you just drag it over?

 

[murphy55d]

I use Ultramon as well... great program.

 

[FoBoT]

i tried it when i got my gf4 ti4200 , but it didn't do what i expected, maybe i just don't know how to do it correctly, but i couldn't get two different desktops which is what i thought could be done, i will stick with two seperate computers on my desk

 

[0roo0roo]

ati comes iwth software called hydra vision, it lets you do a little more then just drag stuff over to extra desktop area. you can maximize a window to cross both windows. if you click on a picture in explorer in one, preview pops in other. watchd vd in one, nef in other u can tell it to remember applications last position so it opens on that side. we are used to using multiple windows, which is why we have a task bar. its much easier to have two apps open at once instead of trying to cascade or tile em in one window. drag and drop suddenly becomes more useful. once u get it... it becomes 2nd nature. would be nice to have as many monitors as physically possible really.. all that multitasking

your two monitors become one, dragging from one to the other is seamless. yet default maximize will only fill the screen its mostly on.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: thawolfman
So say you wanted to have winamp and your playlist open, but have it on the second monitor...do you just drag it over?

yes you can just dran teh windows back and forth. UltraMon will allow you to have windows "span" teh gap between the moniors or you can set iot sho it just jumps teh window over

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
ati comes iwth software called hydra vision, it lets you do a little more then just drag stuff over to extra desktop area. you can maximize a window to cross both windows. if you click on a picture in explorer in one, preview pops in other. watchd vd in one, nef in other u can tell it to remember applications last position so it opens on that side. we are used to using multiple windows, which is why we have a task bar. its much easier to have two apps open at once instead of trying to cascade or tile em in one window. drag and drop suddenly becomes more useful. once u get it... it becomes 2nd nature. would be nice to have as many monitors as physically possible really.. all that multitasking

your two monitors become one, dragging from one to the other is seamless. yet default maximize will only fill the screen its mostly on.

ultyra mon allows all of that also

 

[0roo0roo]

atleast with ati's hydra vision, right clicking on task bar lets you choose which monitor to snap a app to

 

[murphy55d]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
atleast with ati's hydra vision, right clicking on task bar lets you choose which monitor to snap a app to

Again, UltraMon does as well.

 

[thawolfman]

When a program is opened and moved to the second screen, would it be on the second screens taskbar or on the main taskbar?

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: thawolfman
When a program is opened and moved to the second screen, would it be on the second screens taskbar or on the main taskbar?

There is only one taskbar.

 

[Dragnov]

I thought dual monitors require the same resolution in Windows XP?

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: thawolfman
When a program is opened and moved to the second screen, would it be on the second screens taskbar or on the main taskbar?

There is only one taskbar.

WRONG!!! ultra mon allows you to have a second one

and if you are running it then the app appears in the taskbar on teh monitor it is running on

as you can see here

 

[murphy55d]

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I thought dual monitors require the same resolution in Windows XP?

Mine aren't. My main monitor is at 1280x1024 and my 2nd one is 1024x768.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I thought dual monitors require the same resolution in Windows XP?

Nope.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: TheEvil1

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: thawolfman
When a program is opened and moved to the second screen, would it be on the second screens taskbar or on the main taskbar?

There is only one taskbar.

WRONG!!! ultra mon allows you to have a second one

and if you are running it then the app appears in the taskbar on teh monitor it is running on

as you can see here

My apologies. I did not use attention software when running my dual and tri monitors. I see no reason to have additional resources being used.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I thought dual monitors require the same resolution in Windows XP?

they dont i know this for a fact cause i was running XP Pro with dual mons off my TI4600. i had a 17in running at 1152x768 and a 19in running 1600x1200. it didnt have any problims

 

[thawolfman]

Originally posted by: murphy55d

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I thought dual monitors require the same resolution in Windows XP?

Mine aren't. My main monitor is at 1280x1024 and my 2nd one is 1024x768.

That's what I'd be doing.

Any chance on a screenshot?

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: TheEvil1

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: thawolfman
When a program is opened and moved to the second screen, would it be on the second screens taskbar or on the main taskbar?

There is only one taskbar.

WRONG!!! ultra mon allows you to have a second one

and if you are running it then the app appears in the taskbar on teh monitor it is running on

as you can see here

My apologies. I did not use attention software when running my dual and tri monitors. I see no reason to have additional resources being used.

its ok didnt mean to sound mean
ultra mon is only useing 3.4 megs of mem on my system. out of a gig i can spare that

and i like haveing 2 taskbars

 

[Dragnov]

Ah cool thanks.

I'm thinking about doing this w/ my 19" flat CRT and 20" CRT.

Would you reccomend one AGP dual support video card or an AGP video card and a PCI video card?

 

[0roo0roo]

is ultramon free?

most features i need come with the free ati software. anyways, its nicer to have identical res because it makes it easier to move from one to another. well.. as long as they are close. it seems the gap to drag stuff between is 1:1 pixel. but u can tell apps to jump to monitors through taskbar anwyas

i'd recommend single agp. less likely to have something totally mess up

 

[murphy55d]

Originally posted by: thawolfman

Originally posted by: murphy55d

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I thought dual monitors require the same resolution in Windows XP?

Mine aren't. My main monitor is at 1280x1024 and my 2nd one is 1024x768.

That's what I'd be doing.

Any chance on a screenshot?

A screenshot of what, exactly? The 2nd monitor is basically a clone of your first desktop, minus the icons. Ultramon adds a taskbar onto the 2nd monitor, just think of it as what you have now, on the 2nd monitor, at the same time. I don't have a digital camera to take a picture of both at once... though you could probably find screenshots at ultramon's site. http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/

I don't always have my 2nd one turned on... hard to explain.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
Ah cool thanks.

I'm thinking about doing this w/ my 19" flat CRT and 20" CRT.

Would you reccomend one AGP dual support video card or an AGP video card and a PCI video card?

i dont think it makes a difference. i use a dual output AGP card. put it will work with a PCI card also.

i recomend having windows see each connection as a seperate desktop instead of spreading it across them both. i can run 2 moniters at 1600x1200 or have it see it as one at 3200x1200. and i really dont like how that stretched things