Using two monitors

[Alice Morrison]

Flat panel monitors have come down a lot in price over the past few months. They are to the point where I am listening closely to those tech people who say that using two monitors can enhance productivity tremendously.

Is anyone here using two monitors? What do I need to consider before I convert my system to a dual-monitor setup?

I can see the obvious advantages. I could have, say, PhotoCamel open on one monitor while I actually pretend to get some work done using the other one. Any advice about anything - graphics cards, etc.? Thanks.

[d2creative]

Hardware wise you need to make sure your graphics card can support two monitors of if you can add a second card.

Then like you said, you could keep email and browser up on one screen and work on the other, or what i used to do years ago was put my palletes from photoshop of whatever software i was using on one screen and the page I was working on on the other. The palletes can take up so much room sometimes!

Get 3 monitors and you can play some serious flight simulator.

[Oikku]

I couldn´t do it anymore without! Actually, I wanted three monitors but need to wait for the next pc because otherwise I needed to update too many things. Apples Cinema 30" in the middle would be nice . *Now I have Formac 21" and LG 19" flats and it really is nice with PS and Indesign... *actual work in one screen and the palettes in the other... *

http://www.oikkus.com/th/tyohuone.jpg

Greets, Oikku

[Alice Morrison]

What do you need in the PC for three monitors? Three different graphics cards?

[Oikku]

It depends of the resolution of your monitors. For example Matrox Parhelia can handle even three but not enough resolution... When I bought this system Iwanted two 1600x1200 panels but parhelia was not enough - I needed to buy another card for that - so I settled with this setup. Also I wanted all digital plugs but no go... the other goes analog. At the moment I have only one Ati Radeon 9600 Series 128 graphic card and for that third I needed a totally new card and if I remember right it brought some other needs with it, too. (I am no expert in PC ). I´ve been told that in the beginning of next year it will be easier. At least to me it is a problem that in the little city of Rauma I live, there is no expertice for this and I myself am not one either - far from that. I always manage to ask such things that in the local computer shops they don´t know what to answer... I would love to get a suggestion for a good PC combination with three big flat panels and lots of power for 2D work! I use mostly Adobe CS2, InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat and Nikons View and Capture. Also C1 pro is on the list of workhorses but at the moment when it does not support D2x white balance it has been resting more.

Oikku
www.oikkus.com

[metalstorm]

Originally Posted by Alice Morrison

What do you need in the PC for three monitors? Three different graphics cards?

Most decent video cards come with two outputs these days.

[fuentes]

you won't always need two cards, as there are now usb adaptors to handle a second monitor - i think they're around $100.

look here: http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000527043311/ and here: http://engadget.com/entry/1234000030051629/

[Michele]

Is there a place to go for researching using two monitors or more and what all you need and how you know what you need and might already have? I hope that makes sense. Thank you.....

[metalstorm]

Not sure what you are really asking. If you get a card with two video outs, it's as simple as plugging in two monitors after you install the correct video drivers that came with the card. I use a dual port video card. It's very handy.

As an alternative, windows can also handle two video cards. Once they are installed, you can tell it there are two cards and then it will work.

Performance is best with a new dual port card. I recommend a card with dual DVI video out.

[Michele]

Thank you Richard. I guess I am a little confuse over this two monitor thing, so I was wanting all the info on it. I understand what you are saying, but once you get it all set up, how can you do one thing on one monitor and then do something else at the same time on another monitor if you are using the same computer? At times I have thought about doing the two monitor thing so I can be doing something on one and something else on the other but didn't quite understand how to go about it.

Michele

[metalstorm]

It acts like one big desktop. Your mouse will be able to cross the border seamless to one or the another.

[Bill Gordon]

I use two monitors and would not go back to one. I have the Matrox hardware mentioned above.

[cameraguy21773]

I built a dual processor AMD system that can support 3 monitors for a stand alone photography processing machine. I currently use just two, a 19" Mag high contrast high res LCD for Photoshop menus, etc., and an older Viewsonic 21" high res .21 CRT for the images. I am replacing the CRT with a very highly regarded Dell 24" LCD.

Considerations: 1) Good system with a minimum of 1GB fast ram (I use 3GB); 2) a video card that supports 2 or 3 monitors (recommend 256MB video memory; 3) the best CRT or LCD you can afford for displaying images, the other one (or two) can be more along the lines of the types that come with most user systems.

[riha]

But what about monitor profiles.

I think i read, in an forum that if you connect two monitors to an Graphics card with Two connectors, you can only assign one profile for both displays!?

I think this is only an issue in windows, not in MacosX.


Is that really correct, if it is, then it is bad. Today i only work with callibrated monitors.

[metalstorm]

I can assign independent drivers/profiles to each moniter on my card.

[Jetsprinter]

I have been using two monitors for a couple of years now and wouldn't go back. I have one system mounted in my van (mobile digital darkroom) and one at home. When using PS you can put your pallets on one monitor whilst working on the image on the other monitor. This can give you heaps more workspace and well worth it.

[PhotoJoe]

I, too, would never go back, if I had a choice. I have a Dual 800 Mac G4 that is running dual monitors. Love it. My imac is a G4 1ghz, so single is my only option. Well, it can run dual monitors, however, it is mirrored. Basically useless.

For G5 imacs, though, I hear there is hope. I HAVE NOT TEST THIS!!!! I don't have a G5 imac. However, a friend emailed me a link to make the second monitor work as a true second monitor. Not mirrored anymore. Again, this is a hack, but he says it supposedly works. Maybe it will help someone.

http://www.ppcnux.de/modules.php?nam...ticle&sid=4350

[ChrisD]

I have a dual CRT setup with 21' Screens and have had this for about 3 years now. One thing that could be annoying at times is the bezel/frame size around the monitor especially if you connect them side by side for the ultra widescreen effect.
As a photographer/designer my main issue has always been with colour management with my current setup. I have one graphics card which is capable of handling 2 monitors and a TV screen simultaneously but it can only profile one screen. Emailing and reading Gretag Macbeth they gave me a link which shows that to profile multiple screens you either need a graphics card with 2 processors (Found in some High End Cards) or a Graphics Card per monitor. At that time I decided it was out of my budget to change my current system configuration as I find computer parts depreciate the fastest in value and thus better to spend on other items that would last longer..ie lenses.
I think for my next system I'll that PCI Express with SLI looks promising though still not many boards with more then one PCI-E Port but would definately be nice to get a third screen.

[islandtime]

Originally Posted by fuentes

you won't always need two cards, as there are now usb adaptors to handle a second monitor - i think they're around $100.

look here: Tritton USB 2.0 Video Card for Mac mini - Engadget and here: Viewport USB to VGA adapter for Windows - Engadget

From the Website linked above:

USB 2.0 isn't fast enough to drive graphics-intensive games or DirectX, and if you want 32-bit color, you're limited to 800x600

Go with a dual port video card. You can get a great card for $65 and up. You don't need a big horsepower card for photo processing. Most new card with dual ports support profileing 2 monitors separately.

[SquirrelDip]

Once you go dual you will find it really hard to go back.

At home I'm currently using 2 LCDs, a 20" wide and a 17" - I've had them for about 6 months now. Cost is what held me back for so long and not willing to give up on 1600 resolution...

I've gotten used to having 1600x1200 on the old CRTs and didn't want to give that up, the new 20" wides will do 1600 wide but lose a couple of hundred vertically. Close enough so I decided to try and have to say I love the LCDs. The reason I went with a 17" for the second is it has virtually the same vertical resolution, is virtually the same height as the 20" wide and (at the time) cost about $100 less than the 20".

I couldn't justify going to 22" and 19" as their resolutions are the same as the 20" and 17" - you have to go to 24" to see an improvement (and hundreds more $).