Using dual monitor mode (?)

[Ummon]

You know, in your graphics card's properties. Does anybody use this for anything? What is it good for?

[havic626]

good if you wanna see 2 things at once?

[headkaze]

I have two LCD's sitting next to each other and my desktop stretches across the two screens. This means I can browse the web on one monitor and watch a video on the other. Dual monitor is actually really handy. Most video cards have a VGA out and a digital out. I have the digital out converted to VGA so I can have two of the same model LCD's running side by side.

There are some good uses for dual monitor setup in Mame as well. For example GameEx has a feature called "Game Extender" where you can display the Mame artwork of the selected game on the secondary monitor. There is other software that can do this too like CPWizard. Some people have dual monitor setup's in their cabs.

There are different modes for dual monitor. First is clone where the second screen shows a clone of the first. The second extends the desktop across two monitors (the one I use) and the other will stretch the display across both monitors effectively doubling your horizontal resolution. The interesting thing about the last one is running games. With a fast enough video card you can play Far Cry stretched across two screens. Only problem is the cross hair is where the two monitors meet. So really it would be better to have 3 monitors for something like that.

[ark_ader]

I use it to span 2 LCD monitors to make a larger viewing area.  The TV out can produce a mirror display or make a fuzzy version of the above.

If you are thinking Play Choice 10 with dual monitor or Punchout, then it is possible to get this working in Mame [apparently].

Pinmame has dual dislpay options so you can have playfield and backglass.  

[Ginsu Victim]

I'm thinking about putting an old 13" CRT PC monitor I have in the closet in the back of my cabinet, so I can open it up and make changes from the back. (I didn't install a keyboard drawer, though I left space for one if I decide to install later)

[Ummon]

I have two LCD's sitting next to each other and my desktop stretches across the two screens. This means I can browse the web on one monitor and watch a video on the other. Dual monitor is actually really handy. Most video cards have a VGA out and a digital out. I have the digital out converted to VGA so I can have two of the same model LCD's running side by side.

There are some good uses for dual monitor setup in Mame as well. For example GameEx has a feature called "Game Extender" where you can display the Mame artwork of the selected game on the secondary monitor. There is other software that can do this too like CPWizard. Some people have dual monitor setup's in their cabs.

There are different modes for dual monitor. First is clone where the second screen shows a clone of the first. The second extends the desktop across two monitors (the one I use) and the other will stretch the display across both monitors effectively doubling your horizontal resolution. The interesting thing about the last one is running games. With a fast enough video card you can play Far Cry stretched across two screens. Only problem is the cross hair is where the two monitors meet. So really it would be better to have 3 monitors for something like that.

Okay, I messed around with it a bit. I was thinking more about two different displays, for example using Mame on one and something else on another, but once Mame starts it co-opts the mouse arrow. Plus, to get it set up, I had to drag screens from one to the other. Is there some way to automate this for future runs?

[Afterburner]

Some video card drivers for dualview mode allow you to specify that certain applications get sent to certain displays.  You might check and see if yours allows that.

It is amazing how much productivity increase there is with two monitors.  I would never have believed it was as much as it was until I did it.

At work I used to have two 19" LCD's.  At some point I was lucky and acquired a 30" Dell widescreen with the idea that it was equivalent to the two smaller displays.  It wasn't.

So now I have a 30" and a 19"!   

[headkaze]

Some video card drivers for dualview mode allow you to specify that certain applications get sent to certain displays.  You might check and see if yours allows that.

It is amazing how much productivity increase there is with two monitors.  I would never have believed it was as much as it was until I did it.

At work I used to have two 19" LCD's.  At some point I was lucky and acquired a 30" Dell widescreen with the idea that it was equivalent to the two smaller displays.  It wasn't.

So now I have a 30" and a 19"!   

I totally agree, two monitors is great like that. And you also look like Captain Kurt on the star ship Enterprise

Ummon: You can edit mame.ini (if it doesn't exist run "mame.exe -cc") and change the screen option to have Mame start on your secondary display by default.

[leapinlew]

I totally agree, two monitors is great like that. And you also look like Captain Kurt on the star ship Enterprise

I'm going to pretend that I didn't read that.

[Ummon]

Ummon: You can edit mame.ini (if it doesn't exist run "mame.exe -cc") and change the screen option to have Mame start on your secondary display by default.

Yeah, I tried that and it blanked out the other screen. I'll check it out again. I don't know if I'll use this feature, I'm just playing around.

I totally agree, two monitors is great like that. And you also look like Captain Kurt on the star ship Enterprise

I'm going to pretend that I didn't read that.

HA.

[padstack]

I totally agree, two monitors is great like that. And you also look like Captain Kurt on the star ship Enterprise

I'm going to pretend that I didn't read that.

Dude...  Kurt ROCKED!  WAY better than that Kirk joker... 

[lanman31337]

6 player x-men looks great on dual monitor.  Heck even 4 player does too.

[shardian]

I used to use dual monitor to show movies on the tv screen, while still using the desktop pc to surf the net. Now that I have a divx dvd player, I don't mess with that anymore.

[Stub]

I run triple screens on my pc. But as for the cloning I clone one screen and it is routed though a booster from the den to my projector in the living room. With some remote devices it come in very handy.

[protokatie]

Last year when I got my laptop, I played around with dual screens since I had never had the option before. After discovering how incredably usefull and productive dual screen is, I will never never go back to single screen. To many who have gotten used to the luxury of dual screen, going back to one screen feels like you were neutered...(With a dull rusty knife at that!  )