26 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
26 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Multiple monitors

by bengirwb
22 replies
Anyone using more than one monitor on your computer?
What do I need to hook up more than one monitor? Hardware? Software?

How do multiple monitors improve your work?
#monitors #multiple
  • Profile picture of the author Rob Howard
    Yes, I do and so does my wife. You would not believe the increase in productivity that can happen if you use it.

    All you need is a graphics card that supports multiple outputs and both monitors. If the graphics card is new and the monitors are new, you won't have a cable problem.

    Rob
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3879640].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author bengirwb
      Rob

      How do you display one program on the first monitor and another program on the 2nd monitor?

      Software?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3879659].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Rob Howard
        Originally Posted by bengirwb View Post

        Rob

        How do you display one program on the first monitor and another program on the 2nd monitor?

        Software?
        Windows will do this for you - you just have to set it up as stated in the post above.

        Once it's set up, you just drag windows between the two monitors. It's quite intuitive.

        Rob
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3879684].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author bengirwb
          Thanks Rob and Ron for quick responses.

          Great info that explained what I needed to know.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3879742].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author bengirwb
            Thanks Blogging Pro for examples of how you use multiple monitors.
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3879761].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author Michael D Forbes
              I do a lot of video/content creation, and I don't have any idea how I used to do it on one monitor. I have two fairly large monitors and I still scramble for screen space. I'm seriously thinking of going to three. Two is easy setup under windows, as has been mentioned, more than that gets a little more involved but multiple graphics cards and a screen management software is the short answer.

              A lesson from the Forex Crowd:

              Signature

              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3879898].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author NicheMayhem
                What you need is to look for a Dual DVI Video Card. DVI is the connector type just like VGA, but different. If your monitors use only VGA (blue connector) cables, you will need to look for DVI to VGA adapters to go with your Dual DVI Video Card. I would recommend NVIDIA 9600GT PCI-E or better, you can get them pretty cheap and they work great. I have had great experience with NVIDIA cards but most video cards are setup the same way so the most important thing to make sure it has is Dual DVI.

                Once you have the hardware (video card) installed, simply go to your NVIDIA control panel(which will be there after you install the drivers from the disc which comes with the video card) and find dual monitor setup or setup multiple displays. Then just extend your desktop onto the second monitor.

                A common misconception is that a video card with a VGA and a DVI port will run two monitors. While the card may run both monitors it can still only display the same image on each, not very useful. The ability for a card to display separate imagery on multiple displays is most commonly referred to as Dual DVI. Try to get at least 512MB and DDR3 but if your budget allows, most any DDR5 PCI-E card will handle all the video graphics leaving your CPU plenty of leg room to run everything else.

                Hope that helps!

                Edit: By the way, a video card with a single DVI and a single VGA connector TYPICALLY will only display a single image through each, there are some cards which can utilize both connectors on separate channels. Just make sure you read as much as you can about the card before buying and verify it is capable of multiple display.
                Signature
                Whether you think you can, or think you can't, YOU'RE RIGHT!! <~~Henry Ford

                Check out my video gigs on fiverr!
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3880130].message }}
                • Profile picture of the author Domenic Carlson
                  I would go so far as to say that using 2 vs 1 monitor can nearly double your productivity. The gain will be less going from 2 to 3, but there will still be a gain. Here is a good primer on the topic: Multi-monitor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
                  Signature

                  Always interested in news about Bing, SEO, SEM Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization.

                  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3880156].message }}
                • Profile picture of the author ronc0011
                  Originally Posted by NicheMayhem View Post

                  A common misconception is that a video card with a VGA and a DVI port will run two monitors. While the card may run both monitors it can still only display the same image on each, not very useful. The ability for a card to display separate imagery on multiple displays is most commonly referred to as Dual DVI. Try to get at least 512MB and DDR3 but if your budget allows, most any DDR5 PCI-E card will handle all the video graphics leaving your CPU plenty of leg room to run everything else.

                  This is not correct. Most any video card these days will have both a DVI and an AVG connection (just like the one in this machine) All that's needed is an adapter to connect the second monitor to the card. In my case that is a DVI to VGA as both of my monitors are AVG. Setting up your Display settings is a pretty simple exorcize and you can configure it to split or span the display across both monitors so that you can drag things between screens. This is a Windows function and becomes available as soon as you have two monitors hooked up.
                  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3881726].message }}
                  • Profile picture of the author topan
                    Multiple monitor really help improve my productivity.
                    What I do is just plug my second monitor to second DVI port in my PC. I think most modern PC support at least two monitor. Yo can PM me if you need personal help .
                    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3882200].message }}
                  • Profile picture of the author NicheMayhem
                    Originally Posted by ronc0011 View Post

                    This is not correct. Most any video card these days will have both a DVI and an AVG connection (just like the one in this machine) All that's needed is an adapter to connect the second monitor to the card. In my case that is a DVI to VGA as both of my monitors are AVG. Setting up your Display settings is a pretty simple exorcize and you can configure it to split or span the display across both monitors so that you can drag things between screens. This is a Windows function and becomes available as soon as you have two monitors hooked up.
                    As I added into the bottom of my post:

                    SOME CAN, SOME CAN'T!

                    Obviously you have one which can output two video signals. The point is though don't make assumptions when buying a card, find out if it is capable of multiple displays.

                    Read up:

                    Can I use the DVI port too?

                    All About DVI

                    Dual Monitor Setup, Using Dual Computer Monitors, Connecting Dual Monitors, Building a Dual Monitor Computer
                    Signature
                    Whether you think you can, or think you can't, YOU'RE RIGHT!! <~~Henry Ford

                    Check out my video gigs on fiverr!
                    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3882207].message }}
                    • Profile picture of the author khut
                      Once you get used to working on two monitors it's very difficult to go back to one, I highly recommend it.
                      Signature


                      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3882257].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
                Originally Posted by Micheal D Forbes View Post

                This guy looks like he works for NASA. What in the hell do you need THAT many monitors for?
                Signature
                You're going to fail. If you're afraid of failure then you do not belong in the Internet Marketing Business. Period.
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3880897].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author ronc0011
    Most video cards these days have both a DVI and an AVG connector on them. So depending on your monitors you may need an adapter to go from DVI to AVG or visa versa, again depending on your monitors. After that you just need to configure it in Windows. Where you do that depends on if you are running XP or Vista. In any event it should be under "Display Setting" Just do some digging around in there. If you have both monitors hooked up then you should see an option to configure it to use both monitors and to split the screen across both monitors. Also depending on the video card you choose it will probably have it's own place to make these configurations.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3879670].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
    How to two monitors improve my work? More desktop space, which means more open windows, which means less time spent minimizing windows to find things. Rewriting articles is a breeze with a two monitor setup.

    I originally went with two monitors for video editing purposes. Edit on one screen and preview my shots on another. Now I use it mainly for photo editing on one screen and a site mock up on another.

    Other than that they are used for entertainment purposes. For example I can watch some news on one screen and continue working on another. Or I can load up a game of Starcraft 2 on one screen and work in between online matches on the other.
    Signature
    You're going to fail. If you're afraid of failure then you do not belong in the Internet Marketing Business. Period.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3879692].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Bradley J Anderson
    Highly recommended to use at least dual monitors if you find yourself switching desktops and/or windows a lot. Back in the day I had software that allowed me to have multiple desktops, which definitely helped to organize things, but there's nothing like being able to just look to your right or left and there is what you need.

    I do a LOT of programming, and having to switch back forth from my coding screen to the website was excruciating. Sure, you can have multiple windows, but it's nowhere near the same as seeing everything in full-size on both screens.
    Signature
    BRADLEY ANDERSON - Tips, reviews & resources to make your online business more profitable.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3882309].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author alanbluecat
    Couldn't live without it. As noted above, setup of two is easy. It is a real pain when ever I'm in a situation where I only have one screen. Go for it, you won't regret it!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3882835].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author thehobbster
    I got a Mac Pro recently and upgraded the video card to the newest one out and it natively supports three monitors. I'm currently rocking out with three 24" widesscreen 1080p moniotrs. I'll have two web browsers, a virtual private server, email, itunes, a movie playing, quicken, market samurai, and tons of other stuff open at once. So cool!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3883478].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author joscarff
      Utterly essential! Like everyone else I don't know how I managed with just one screen. I've settled on two. I had three for a while, but found it a bit unnecessary and I had nowhere left for my coffee cup.

      Don't you love that twitchy wrist you get when you're using someone else's single screen computer and you're just trying to throw screens left and right rather than that so-old-fashioned alt-tab
      Signature
      PLR Articles - www.plrarticlesmarketplace.com
      PLR Websites - www.plrwebsites.net
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3883519].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Shazia Mirza
    Trust me, multiple monitors is a must once you want to seriously make the most out of every second of your time.

    A fried of mine actually runs a triple monitor via his HP Envy laptop.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3883504].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Jay Moreno
    I have a tri screen set up can't imagine going back to two let alone one!

    Depends on the type of work you do I guess I typically have outlook, one note, FTP software and my mobile phone emulator software on far right screen

    Middle screen is my main work horse, typically photoshop, dreamweaver, firefox

    Left screen is my reference screen, for Skype, PDFs, word, notepad, file manager, calc, music, video, other web browsers for checking cross browser compatibilty etc
    Signature
    Sorry, I am too busy helping people to think of a cool signature!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3883520].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Feador
      I'm using two monitors on Radeon 8600 GT with 'Actual Multiple Monitors' software. Greatly works.

      To extend taskbar you can use any multi monitor software. See Comparison_of_multi-monitor_software on Wiki.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3891845].message }}

Trending Topics