Extended Monitor Display

Hello All,

I have desktop system (dell) with DVI port and I want to get two displays from that (extended). How would that be possible as I think I need to buy a splitter cable and have two outputs. What do you recommend.

Thanks

You can't just split the signal with just a cable. You'll need something like a Matrox DualHead2Go.

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/dh2go/

Yes, an external USB device is a neat solution because you can port it easily from one PC to another. They are also relatively inexpensive. Nice one SirDice! :D

However, you did say Dell, so it might just depend on what video card you have installed?

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=A2829978&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=0&~ck=baynoteSearch

Here you have a dual monitor capable video card that uses a splitter cable to support two displays from a single outlet on the card. If you have the right card you actually might have that cable lying around somewhere as the Dell would have certainly shipped with one if it has a dual monitor supporting card of that type.

I have just had a look at the machine next to me which has a CRT monitor and D-sub connection. The card is an NVidia Geforce 6200 (AGP), that cost £12.99 ($20) It has D-sub, DVI-I and S-Video connectors.

The NVidia software supports dual monitors either "clone" or "extended desktop". I suspect that I would have to connect the second monitor via one of the other connectors.

My more modern cards (PCI-E x16) all have DVI-I, HDMI and D-sub connections apart from the more "gaming" one that has 2 x DVI and 2 x HDMI. All support dual displays but I believe that it is a one display to one port relationship.

Exactly what video solution does your Dell have? If it only has one connection, then it looks like the splitter cable shown in my link is what you want.

Hope that helps. :)

A DVI port comes in single and dual flavors. If your card has a dual device connector you can use a DVI "Y" cable. My nVidia Quadro NVS card has this port and came with a "Y" cable among others. To view various DVI connectors follow the link. Either of the dual link connectors will support a "Y" cable.

http://tinyurl.com/6rpemnr

Hey, ua549 rides again!

I didn't know that until you posted it. It may seem surprising, but I have never ever tried dual monitors with anything other than a laptop. Sure I have used data projectors, but never with another monitor.

I belong to the old (professional) school of college lecturers................ if I can't see it on the screen then neither can they................ a second monitor is irrelevant or worse. ;)

All my video cards have DVI-I and support dual monitors. This implies that the splitter cable will work?

Hell it's close to me buying my surprise Christmas present :D

And be careful................ no more good (expensive) ideas until the January sales huh?

Cheers :)

My workstation currently has dual monitors. It used to have 4. Back in the day I had Viewsonic VP2290b's with 3840 x 2400 resolution in a 22.2" LCD. The nice thing is that multiple monitors are actually a single desktop. So application windows can be placed on any monitor. The mouse moves between monitors because it is a single desktop.

If you wish a second monitor can be a mirror of the first, but that isn't how I use mine.

If your connectors have all of the pins populated it is a multilink and capable of supporting 2 devices.

If you're using a multiple monitor setup, there's also a software called Ultramon, which adds some extra features:

Ultramon - http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/

a) efficiently move windows and maximize windows across the desktop
b) manage more applications with the Smart Taskbar
c) control application positioning with UltraMon Shortcuts
d) multi-monitor support for desktop wallpapers and screen savers
e) mirror your main monitor to secondary monitors for a presentation