Tech Talk (09/07)
Using Dual Monitors
by Brian K. Lewis, Ph.D.*
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
Have you ever wished you had more computer screen space? Maybe you keep many windows open on your computer and then you have to hunt for the one you want to find. Did you know that Windows makes it very simple to use more than one monitor with your computer? This has been built into Windows since Windows 98. The catch is that you have to have a "multi-headed" graphics card or more than one card installed in your computer. If you need more than two monitors Windows XP Professional allows for up to 10 monitors to be connected to your computer.
So let's start with a "multi-headed" graphics card. In my computer I have a Radeon 9600 AGP display adapter or graphics card. This has three video out ports: VGA (video graphics array), DVI (digital visual interface) and S-Video. The VGA is the standard 15 pin connection for an analog monitor or CRT. The DVI is a digital output for newer LCD or plasma monitors that accept digital signals. The S-Video can be used to connect to TV monitor or home theater setup. I have used the S-Video connection to display streaming video through my TV set. There are other brands of graphics cards that come with various output connections. You can find cards with two VGA or two DVI connections. So if you don't have a graphics card with multiple output connectors, your first consideration will be to buy and install a multi-headed card. There are still good AGP video cards available with VGA, DVI and S-Video connections for a very reasonable price.
There is another alternative if you are considering the purchase of a new computer. Many motherboards that have PCIe slots have two PCIe x16 slots to allow for the installation of an SLI (Scalable Link Interface) connection. These are referred to as SLI ready motherboards or computers. Graphics cards that are SLI ready usually come with two DVI connections. Some also provide DVI to VGA adapters that will provide an analog signal to non-digital monitors. With a new motherboard you can use two monitors from one card or four monitors from two cards.
For the working model for this discussion let's consider a single multi-headed graphics card and a computer running Windows XP. Other versions of Windows would be a similar software setup. Of course, you will need to have two monitors. For the graphics card we are considering they can either be two analog or one analog and one digital. To connect two analog monitors you will need a "DVI to VGA/sub-D" adapter to connect the DVI out signal to the analog monitor. Once you are connected to both monitors, turn your computer on and turn on the monitors.
In order to properly set up the two monitor system you need to access the "Display Properties" window. There are several ways you can do that. The long way is to go to Start-Control Panel-Appearance and Themes-Display. The short way is to right-click an empty area of your screen and select Properties from the menu. Then click on the Settings tab. Either way you should end up with this picture (Fig. 1).
If you have a multi-head graphics card installed that is recognized by Windows, then you will see the two boxes numbered 1 & 2. Either click on the #2 image or click on the down arrow in the display box and select the second monitor. If your second monitor is on the right of your primary monitor then you need to move the icon for the #2 monitor to the right of the #1 monitor icon. Otherwise, leave them in the 1-2 order. One other thing you need to do is to adjust the resolution of the secondary monitor to the same as the primary. Then check the box that says "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor". Your window should then resemble this second picture (Fig. 2).
Once you have completed the settings for the second monitor, click the Apply button. After a few seconds a picture should come up on the secondary monitor that shows your desktop. Now click the Close button.
So how do you use this new desk space? Open any program, document or whatever on your first monitor. If it is a full screen window, double click the bar across the top of the window and drag it to the secondary monitor. You will see the window moving from one monitor to the other. Your mouse will also move on to the second monitor. If the window is not full screen, simply drag it to the second monitor.
Now you can open multiple windows and be able to see them on your dual screen setup. For example, I frequently have multiple documents that I have researched to write a tech article. I can put the research article on one screen and my writing on another. Similarly, I frequently have to work with multiple spreadsheets. So now I can divide them between the two monitors and easily switch back and forth between them. It makes copying or cutting and pasting much easier.
If you have more than two monitors, the system works very much the same. It is best if the graphics cards are identical. However, if your primary card is an AGP then you can only add a PCI card. You should try to find the PCI version of the AGP card, otherwise they may, or may not, work together. If you have a new SLI system, don't connect the two graphics cards with the SLI cable. If they are connected Windows thinks they are just one card, not two. The SLI connection is very useful for gamers or those who are doing extensive graphics related calculations.
Another item to consider is when your only computer is a laptop. You might think that you can't use dual monitors. However, it depends on the graphics card installed in your laptop. Mine uses an ATI Radeon PCI adapter. It also has a VGA output for connecting a second monitor. Originally that was for connecting to a larger monitor and blanking the laptop display. By checking the display properties I was able to determine that it was capable of extending the Windows desktop onto the external monitor.
So it was simply a matter of connecting another monitor and making the same changes in the display properties that I mention previously. Now all I have to do is get rid of all the old CRT displays that I have and exchange them for LCD's that take up less desk space.
As I hope you can see, expanding your desktop to a second monitor is not really difficult. In fact, if you have a new computer you can quickly determine if you need any hardware other than a monitor. Just go to the Display Properties window and see if you
have the #1 and #2 icons. If you do, then you are ready to connect a second monitor. Once you've tried a two monitor system, believe me, you won't want to go back to a single monitor.
*Dr. Lewis is a former university & medical school professor. He has been working with personal computers for more than thirty years. He can be reached via e-mail at bwsail@yahoo.com.
Copyright 2007. This article is from the September 2007 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/
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