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[DaCocoBrova]

I just came up on a bunch of 17" HP LCD flat panels this weekend for cheap. I figured I'd try the dual monitor thing. Pretty cool so far, but I have some questions.

How do I watch something on both screens simultaneously? As it is, I can watch a DVD full screen on one monitor or the other, not both.

Are there any apps out there that allow for more freedom in configuring dual monitors?

Also, how do I stretch my task bar across both screens?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[signet]

You are the kind of guy who love to throw away money on your computer aren't you?

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Nope... That's not me.

My computer makes me a tremendous amount of money.

 

[Idle Will Kill]

You are the kind of guy who love to throw away money on your computer aren't you?

You are the kind of guy who needs to be negative towards others to feel good about yourself.

 

[G4life98]

You are the kind of guy who love to throw away money on your computer aren't you?

using dual monitors is not throwing away money...it is great, I first used the setup at a place i used to work and I fell in love with it.

have you tried just stretching the box accross both screens to get the desired effect and have you tried ati's hydravision to configure the monitors.

 

[xsarien]

Unchecking the "Extend my desktop..." option should make the computer just send the same output to both monitors.

 

[Burger]

There is a clone option somewhere, that will duplicate your primary display. Both ATI and Nvidia have good utilities for dual display setups.

Don't know if there is a utility that allows a quick change over though. Both ATI and Nvidia have that tray icon thingy, that might help.

 

[Gantz]

Dual monitors suck. Get a cinema display instead.

 

[Cerebral Palsy]

Dual monitors suck. Get a cinema display instead.

What about dual cinema displays? mmmmmm

 

[DaCocoBrova]

I'm installing Hydravision now...

 

[Shogmaster]

I just came up on a bunch of 17" HP LCD flat panels this weekend for cheap. I figured I'd try the dual monitor thing. Pretty cool so far, but I have some questions.

How do I watch something on both screens simultaneously? As it is, I can watch a DVD full screen on one monitor or the other, not both.

Are there any apps out there that allow for more freedom in configuring dual monitors?

Also, how do I stretch my task bar across both screens?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

You'd do much better if you had nVidia card(s) instead of ATI for dual monitors since nView multi monitor utility is so much more flexible than what ATI offers.

However, there is always solutions like Ultramon available for you to buy and use.

 

[tmdorsey]

Dual monitors suck. Get a cinema display instead.

At work, I currently have the best both worlds. A cinema display and 21" monitor running dual.

 

[marsomega]

I had dual monitors.....but one of them just blew....<cry>

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Maybe I'm not configuring it correctly, but I still can't seem to watch a movie full screen(s). But I can surf that way.

Haven't played any games yet tho.

 

[Gantz]

What about dual cinema displays? mmmmmm

Excessive.

 

[Burger]

Most DVD's and movies (ala Media Player, Quicktime etc) are played using 'overlays'. You'll find settings for overlays under advanced properties from your display config.

You want something like 'stretch to fullscreen' or something similar.

 

[aaaaa0]

Triple-mon is TEH WAY TO GO.

Email on the right, code editor on the middle, docs on the left.

w00t!

 

[DaCocoBrova]

I can see myself being way more efficient this way. I can't imagine 3 monitors. Pleasure overload. Makes it easy to watch DVD's too.

 

[Pochacco]

With 2 monitors I could like watch 48 hours of porn a day!

 

[btrboyev]

My computer makes me a tremendous amount of money.

Porn site?

 

[sc0la]

With 2 monitors I could like watch 48 hours of porn a day!

If you were my employee I would give you a raise and promote you.

 

[ChrisReid]

I've run four monitors off one machine before.
http://www.wcnews.com/chrisreid/chrisreidroom.jpg

 

[Vark]

How are your dual monitors set up? One videocard per monitor, or a videocard with dual outputs?

If they're two discreet videocards you're not going to be able to span most things across both screens due to the program sending info to just your primary card, and some games won't work with both monitors turned on because they get confused.

If you're using dual outputs on one videocard the utilities they've mentioned will have an option to treat both monitors as a continous line but it will force them to be at the same vertical resolution (not a problem since your monitors are the same size).

I've been using dual monitors since they added it to Win98 and I can't really function without it. Theres just something right about being able to work on one monitor, and have all your info on the other.

Its damn near worthless for gaming though.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

^^

That's a lot of radiation...

Here's an image I took last night after making this thread:

or a videocard with dual outputs?

One card (9800 Pro).

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

I had dual monitors.....but one of them just blew....<cry>

its all my fault!!!!

 

[SteveMeister]

Dual monitors can be really useful.

If you're a programmer, you can have your IDE on one screen, and the application running on the other. This is extremely handy for debugging, as you can see the app and the code at the same time. All of the programmers at my company have dual monitors.

It's also very handy for artists. They can run 3D Studio Max on one screen and Photoshop on the other.

As far as watching DVD's, I personally wouldn't want to have that division in the middle of the video. I'd rather watch the DVD on just one monitor.

 

[cubicle47b]

I'll be doing this very soon. I just acquired a 23" HDTV LCD for a couple hundred bucks and will be running that with the DVI output on whatever my new video card happens to be and I'll hook my old 19" monitor up to the VGA out. I've got the HDTV for games (PC and console), TV, and DVDs. And then I've got my old monitor for text heavy applications. Life is good.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

I'm happy with it as is. The only thing I want to be able to do is stretch my taskbar across both screens. As you can see above, it stays on one side only.

 

[tmdorsey]

I'm happy with it as is. The only thing I want to be able to do is stretch my taskbar across both screens. As you can see above, it stays on one side only.

You will need a third-party program like the ones mentioned already, Ultramon, Nview, etc to do that.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

But not Hydravision? I didn't see the option.

 

[tmdorsey]

But not Hydravision? I didn't see the option.

Don't know about Hydravision, my video card is a Nvidia card.

 

[Shogmaster]

But not Hydravision? I didn't see the option.

Cripes, didn't you read my post? Hydravision is really basic compared to nView. That's why I said nVidia > ATI for multiple monitors.

Use Ultramon to circumvent Hydravision's limitations. It shouldn't cost too much.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

I read what you wrote, but I'm not about to go run out and buy an nVidia card, you know? I sold one of the monitors yesterday. I'm going to buy another Samsung 172X and run a dual set up then...

 

[dark10x]

DaCoco, I thought you were into PC games? I can't imagine why anyone who enjoys playing PC games would ever own an LCD (at least current LCDs)...

 

[tedtropy]

While dual monitors are cool, the initial awe seems to wear off pretty quick unless you have a real need for such a configuration (i.e. CAD work, programming, etc). It doesn't make alot of sense for gaming, as few games take advantage of multiple monitors and you'll typically be limited to only one display having output. When I do use a dual monitor setup, I tend to have one display directly in the center of my view (the one I'd game or watch DVDs on) and one to the left or right of it for other tasks. I really don't like to game at an angle. Presently, I still think a traditional high-quality aperture grill CRT monitor has the advantage over LCDs when it comes to gaming. You're not stuck with one native resolution, there's none of the ghosting issues, and you can actually obtain accurate black levels. To each his own, of course...

 

[darscot]

I couldn't work without dual monitors. Hydravisions sucks large. If you going to run dual monitors I would get a Matrox card.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

DaCoco, I thought you were into PC games? I can't imagine why anyone who enjoys playing PC games would ever own an LCD (at least current LCDs)...

The LCD I use for gaming (above) has a 12ms pixel repsonse time. My HP 1702, which I have no idea what the specs are, exhibits no blur during DVD or gaming (I only played Far Cry and MotoGP2).

I do graphic design and video editing. Dual screens is a God send.

 

[Hitokage]

What's better than dual monitors? Having one be your TV set with audio connection. Yesterday I bought a 12' stereo composite cable and plugged it into my gf5 and audigy 2plat.

Now I can pipe movies and games over to my more comfortable tv setup and still have stuff like IRC and web browsing on my monitor.

...and yes, I have a gamepad, why the hell would I have it otherwise?

 

[dark10x]

The LCD I use for gaming (above) has a 12ms pixel repsonse time.

While I still don't support an LCD over a good CRT, that's pretty darn nice. Anything higher than 16ms, and you're in blur city...

Why use an LCD over a CRT, though?

 

[bionic77]

While I still don't support an LCD over a good CRT, that's pretty darn nice. Anything higher than 16ms, and you're in blur city...

Why use an LCD over a CRT, though?

I can't speak for DaCova, but I have to read and write on my monitor all day and IMHO they CRTs put more strain on my eye then LCDs when reading text. And for me the only games I play are emulated 2D games that I output to my TV.

On a side note, is there any place that sells USB adapters for the SNES or Genesis controllers? I would love to play them with a SNES pad, currently I use a PS2 pad, but it really doesn't compare to a SNES or Genny pad.

 

[btrboyev]

Once you go LCD..you can't go back.

I have a cheap 15" lcd and there is absolutely no blurring or ghosting playing movies or games and the monitor costed me $200 new.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

While I still don't support an LCD over a good CRT, that's pretty darn nice. Anything higher than 16ms, and you're in blur city...

Why use an LCD over a CRT, though?

I'll put it to you like this... I will never go back to CRT. Only the sh!tty low end ones will blur, and will usually only go up to 1024x768.

The space saved, the ease on the eyes, less radiation, larger screen size...

Don't read so much into reviews and what not. Just use one.

 

[dark10x]

I'll put it to you like this... I will never go back to CRT. Only the sh!tty low end ones will blur, and will usually only go up to 1024x768.

The space saved, the ease on the eyes, less radiation, larger screen size...

Don't read so much into reviews and what not. Just use one.

I don't listen to reviews, though. I was always under the impression that reviews loved these things...

I have experienced MANY different types of LCDs, and NOT ONE has impressed me. I know someone who just dropped $1000 on a 19" Samsung LCD with a fairly low response time (sub 16 ms). When I actually tried it out, all of my complaints were still present.

I have yet to find a single LCD that was capable of removing the flaws. Singular "hard" resolutions, ghosting, and shit black levels will keep me away from those awful devices until they can make a drastic change.

The -ONLY- benefit that I see is that it really is a bit easier on the eyes. I use an LCD at work, and it makes computer usage a lot better after several hours. However, my PC at home is primarily a games machine...and there isn't a single LCD I've used that could meet my expectations. Quite frankly, I'm tired of people telling ME that there is "no ghosting" present when there clearly f*cking is.

If you can find me an LCD with well under 10 ms response time, 1600x1200 resolution support, and a size of 19" for under $400, I will start to believe...but until then, my opinion stands. My needs don't exist in the LCD market at this time.

 

[Marty Chinn]

Those are the exact same reasons as to why when I went dual monitor set up that I had one CRT for games, and the second as an LCD for space. It's a great combination IMO, especially when I have a really nice 19" CRT. Ghosting is still an issue from what I've seen of various LCD monitors.

The biggest problem is that there is no standard for response times which is why it's hard to even figure out what everyone is reporting. Everyone is trying to report the lowest response time but don't list how they came up with that figure. That's why you can see a 16 ms get its ass kicked by a 25 ms LCD monitor in the amount of blur. It's all up to the individual company to report their response times and they don't tell you how. So 12 ms is sorta meaningless without the context.

I remember this being the case when I was shopping for my LCD monitor. Samsung was reporting the lowest but in actual usage, it wasn't the best for response time.

 

[tmdorsey]

I have to side with the LCD folks on this one. I have a 17" LCD at home and at work I've had the privilage(sp?) to test out this baby HP 2335.


I also have a dual monitor setup here at work with the HP 2335 and a 21" CRT monitor. I can tell you first hand that the LCD is much better on the eyes than the CRT. The LCD has a slight advantage over the CRT in that he LCD is set to 1920x1200 while the CRT is only set to 1280x1024, but the difference is not only related to that however. The text is much sharper and color saturation is much better on the LCD. I can't speak about gaming, but for business related computer tasks and surfing, I think LCD is best choice.


TV viewing, particulary HDTV viewing is different story. CRT is still tops in that area.