| Working with multiple monitors |
Multiple monitor support, or the ability to hook up more than one monitor to a computer and use them independently, has been around for some time, but only as recent as Windows 98 did Microsoft enable this feature for Windows users.
While some might find the task of installing a second monitor to be a difficult and complicated -task, especially compared to just buying a bigger monitor, there are several advantages to using multiple monitors off a single machine.
The most obvious advantage is price: upgrading to a 21-inch monitor can cost around RM1,500, while adding a good 17-inch monitor would cost only RM500. Or if you have recently replaced your computer, you could just dig your old monitor and PCI video card out of cold storage to use instead.
Multiple monitors are also neater: while a large monitor means that you can have the Windows desktop set at a larger resolution like 1,280 x 1,024, you can only maximise one window at a time, or alternately, float a lot of smaller Windows all over your desktop. With two monitors, you can have two 1,024 x 768 screens, and maximise a window for each screen!
While the larger resolution of the bigger monitor has its uses, like for looking at very wide spreadsheets, I find that two 1,024 x 768 screens to be more practical for day-to-day use.
What you need
To install multiple monitors on your machine, you will need an extra monitor and an additional PCI video card.
You could buy an AGP card with dual monitor outputs, such as high-end video cards based on the nVidia GeForce2 MX400 chipset or the ATI Radeon VE Dual Display Edition.
However, while installation of these cards is admittedly easier, they are relatively expensive.
Note -that with multiple monitors, Windows only allows the primary video card (preferably AGP card) to have 3D acceleration. The secondary card(s) are strictly for 2D graphics. Thus, you needn't spend money to buy an expensive TNT2, as a cheap PCI card will do just fine.
It is also important to note that not all cards support multiple monitors. Most cards from reputable brands such as S3, should offer multiple monitor support.
This is especially so if their drivers were updated after the release of Windows 98.
Microsoft used to maintain a list of multiple monitor supporting cards, but a redesign of their site has lost this resource.
If you have a motherboard with the AGP card built in, there is a chance that inserting the PCI card will deactivate your onboard AGP card and leave you with only one monitor.
However, today's more advanced chipsets actually allow the AGP card to keep running, so it doesn't hurt to experiment.
I have experimented on a motherboard with a built-in PCI card, but that failed as the on-board card refused to run with another PCI video card plugged in.
The secondary monitor can be of smaller size or resolution compare to your primary monitor.
Having two monitors of equal size and resolution is nice, but not a necessity.
Installation
The most straightforward method of installing the second video card is to just open up your computer case, and plug the video card into a spare PCI slot.
If the card works, Windows should ask for the drivers to the newly installed card after reboot.
If Windows does not ask for the drivers, go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Device Manager.
Look under "Display Adapters." ff you do not see an additional video card there, that means that Window did not detect the card.
If it is there, just double-click the new card, and install the drivers.
If the previous step failed, then try this: reboot the computer and enter the BIOS (you do this by pressing "Fl" or "Delete" when the computer is testing RAM; read the instructions on your screen as it boots).
Try to look for the Video Settings (the BIOS interface differs from chipset manufacturer) and then change it to make the PCI slot the primary video slot.
Save your BIOS settings and exit.
The computer should reboot, and if the PCI card works, you should see the 'computer using the secondary monitor instead. . After this, install the drivers.
Activating the secondary monitor
If your card has initialised properly, you should see a simple message on the secondary monitor informing you that Windows has identified the card.
To enable the monitor, go to Control Panel > Display > Settings.
You should see a display depicting your two monitors. Right click the shaded one and select "Enabled."
Make sure that the dialogue, "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor" is checked.
Finally, click "Apply" and your second monitor should spring to life.
If you have two physically different monitors, for example a 17-in arid a 15-in monitor, it is not a good idea to set them at the same screen resolution, as this can confuse your eyes.
Instead, lower the resolution of the second monitor so that the font sizes match.
You can drag the second monitor to align it properly with the primary monitor.
Doing so will allow your mouse to seamlessly move from one screen to the next.
Using both monitors
To move a window from one monitor to the other, just drag it there.
If your window is maximised, double-click the title bar (the big blue bar on the top of the window) to "restore" it to a floating window, then drag it to the other monitor, and double-click the title bar again to maximise it.
Some applications cannot save their' last position on the secondary monitor, so re-opening them will make them "float", in a weird position on the desktop.
While this is a minor inconvenience, several software developers are already updating their software to support multiple monitors. Winamp, for example, has a "multiple monitor" compatible mode that you can enable by accessing the "Preferences" menu.
Gaming
Video hardware acceleration will only work on the primary video card.
So it is a good idea to always make your AGP card the primary video device to maximise performance.
Unfortunately, this means that you cannot play Quake III in wide screen format.
Games that use the Microsoft Direct3D API can run- with the secondary monitor activated (for example, Max Payne).
You could leave some applications running in .the background, positioned in the other monitor.
I used this setup with Counter-Strike playing on one monitor, and the Half-Life server admin console on the other monitor.
Games that use the OpenGL-3D API (eg. Quake III) can only run with one monitor activated, so you will have to deactivate your second monitor by right-clicking the Desktop, going to Properties / Settings and unchecking the "Enabled" field on your second monitor.
Not doing so will result in errors initialising the game.
Turning off the second monitor will not disable the video card, so you cannot circumvent the above steps.
Games that do not require any fancy hardware acceleration, such as conventional 2D games, can be run on any monitor.
As a little quirk, if you run a 3D game without hardware acceleration (in software mode) and in "windowed" mode, you can stretch the window across the width of your multiple monitors! Performance will depend on your processor.
Safety tips
When using multiple monitors, it is a good idea to turn off the inactive ones if you are not going to use them for a while, like when you are playing games, or typing long reports on a single screen. There are two reasons for doing this:
It would be a good idea to test your screensaver out first before leaving your monitors on for extended periods of time.
Sometimes, if you put the two monitors close to each other, they might interfere with each other. This results in visible "bands" going up and down the screens.
This can be solved by differing the refresh rate of the monitors, by accessing the Control Panel > Display > Settings > Advanced > Adapter > Refresh Rate. Be careful not to set the refresh rate too high for the older monitor.
Wallpaper
Unlike the multiple monitor support for the Mac, Windows displays the same wallpaper on all screens.
Using an image that is larger than your screen itself will not help as the image will" be cropped on both screens.
There is a trick to making huge wallpapers that span your entire desktop. Try this:
<html> <body background="background.jpg" bgcolor="black"> </body> </html>
Just for fun, try downloading the "Matrix Code Multiple Monitor Screensaver 1.0". This funky screensaver mimics the "dripping" code seen in The Matrix, and has multiple monitor support!
Impress your peers while trying to provfrto them that you are "The One."
You can get the Screensaver from www.downldad.com.
Conclusion
I have been using multiple monitors for two years now, and I have to say that it is as useful as it is fun.
For web designers, you can preview your page on one screen while you refer to your code in another.
If you use Adobe Photoshop or Macromedia Dreamweaver, you can "float" all your toolbars in one screen, leaving nothing but a clean and pristine Canvas for you to work on the other (my graphic designer friend concluded that he: needed three screens: one for the Toolbars, one for the coding and graphics, and another to preview his work!).
So if you have a few old monitors lying around, I strongly suggest that you give this a try. And when you get bored, the "Starfield" screensaver can get pretty trippy on wide screen ....
This article is pick from IN.TECH - The Star, by Kenneth Lim