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Dual monitor question
unclet:
I have WinXP installed and I have a motherboard with onboard video (of course) and one monitor attached. Now, if I add a video card (and a second monitor) to this computer system then will I be able to set up WinXP to show half of the display image on the left side monitor and the other half of the display on the right side monitor?
I am thinking of adding dual monitor support to my jukebox software, since I believe I finally convinced my wife into allowing me to build a jukebox cabinet (or something...) for the house. I would like to have the videos playing on one of the monitors while the song selection screen is on the other monitor.
What I planned on doing is displaying the video portion outside of the first monitor display boundry, this way the second monitor will pick the video being displayed on it's monitor, thus allowing the second monitor to show the video only while the first monitor has my current jukebox application displayed properly.
mccoy178:
Barcrests' Freebox has that ability. And it's free!
Flip_Willie:
EDIT. "Sorry, I was wrong." :•)
Are you saying you want to simultaneously run two video cards? (The On board video card, and an additional). If that is what you mean, then no, you can't.
You can only run one video card at a time. This means you would have to disable on board video before you could add another video card.
If you want to run two monitors, then you need to have a video card that has a VGA output and a DVI output. Then you would have to connect one monitor to the VGA and the other to the DVI by using a converter. (The converter usually comes with the video card.) Then you can set windows to make it split the screen horizontally. There are other ways to run two monitors, but this is the most direct method.
I hope that I understood you correctly.
Just as it is,
Flip Willie
unclet:
mccoy178:
I am not looking for jukebox software since I already have my own I created. I simply wanted some advice on dual monitor usage since this is new to me.
Flip_Willie:
Some more questions:
1) Are you saying that all video cards having DVI and VGA output actually stream output via the DVI and VGA ports all the time. I would think only one port would be active at a time for output, but then again, I really know nothing about this :P
2) If I go into WinXP (My Computer/Control Panel/ Display/Settings) then I can see dual monitor stuff. How would I go about using this setup once I have a new video card installed?
3) How would you disable the onboard video card after I connect a new video card?
4) Which video card would you recommend to run music videos for a jukebox (ie: 32 Meg, 64Meg, etc...)? Do not want to buy top of the line, but would like something which makes the videos look nice of course.
5) Instead of making the video card "split the screen" of one monitor's display to fill two monitors, would it be possible to have the first monitor keep displaying the same current image (ie: display region) and have the second monitor display an image which is currently off the screen somewhere?
(EDIT)
I found this video card (Radeon 7000 - most likely 32Meg) in my extra hardware pile. Seems like it has S-Video, DVI and VGA output. Unfortunately I do not have a DVI connector. Will you please explain what type of convertor I need? Is it a DVI to VGA convertor so I can connect a VGA monitor to it ..... possibly?
(EDIT)
FunWithFire:
Here is the kind of adapter you would need. Something along those lines.
When you put in the new video card, it usually automatically disables the onboard video. The second monitor does not affect the first monitor's settings, it has it's own settings. So your first monitor would stay the same, you just are given an additional monitor to work with (your mouse will actually move from one to the other).