NT 4 G400 Max dual head question

[Tuna]

Hi All,

You may remember me having problems with NT file corruption from before.

Well, I took a deep breath and completely reformatted and reloaded NT4 but when I got the Matrox G400 installed (IRQ 9), my maximum dual-head resolution is 1152 X 864.

I have 2 Viewsonic 21" P815 graphics monitors, whose max resolution is 1800 X 1440 and although the G400 Display Properties dual-head resolution slider indicates a much high resolution is possible, the second monitor "turns off" if I try to boot with any higher resolution.

I have tried lower color settings (than 32-bit true), and refresh rates seem to be set...nothing above 75 HZ, although these monitors can be run at over 100 HZ at 1280 X 1024 resolution.

Dell XPS 300D, 128megRam, 28 gigs, G400 Max Dual Head, NT 4 SP 6
The display looks great but I was hoping to gain some screen real estate with the dual heads, and I'm a little dissappointed that I'm forced to smaller sized screen on both monitors.

Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[RoGuE]

I've had problems with NT4 dual head, in fact at the moment, the machine I use at work, with twin Mitsubishi Pro 900u monitors - my resolution is 2560x1024, 85Hz on screen one - but I cannot get higher than 75Hz on screen two.

BTW, The G400's second head is limited to 1280x1024.

[Tuna]

Hi Rogue,

How do you tell that your 2 monitors have different refresh rates ? My Matrox display properties box only has one frequency setting box for both monitors and one slider bar for both resolutions. (They have to be the same I guess ?)

But my MAXIMUM resolution is still 1152 X 864 if I want both screens to come up......Any higher, and only one monitor works on booting up.

And my maximum refresh rate (no other choices) is 75 HZ.

It's certainly not the monitors limitations....they're both professional graphics monitors and can display 1800 X 1600.

Any ideas ?

[RoGuE]

Hello again Tuna,
What do you have your monitor type set to in the Matrox display properties? The setting here controls which resolutions are available - Very awkward to get it workin how you want it as I remember. Also on the monitor tab it says 'Display 1' near the top - there is a button you can press near the bottom called 'Next Display' or something like that. Sorry I can't be more specific, I don't have access to my work machine again until Monday.

Another way of checking the refresh is via the monitors OSD.

Sorry I can't be of more help at the moment.

[Tuna]

Hi RoGuE,

Thanks for the reply. The Matrox Display Properties / monitor tab has a listing of monitors under the "Current Display" - 3rd radio button down, and when I choose "Matrox Monitor", I get a list of various monitors made by many manufacturers.

Mine are listed (Viewsonic P815) but strangely enough, my maximum resolution from the Matrox G400 card is still 1152 X 864, even though my monitors are graphics displays and capable of much higher resolution and refresh rates.

If I set the "Desktop Area" (under the settings tab) any higher than this, only one monitor will work when the new resolution test sequence ends.

I guess I should be grateful for what I've got, but I'd like a little bit higher resolution.....that's why I went to 2 monitors....to get more screen "real estate."

I hope somebody else has a solution.

Thanks again.

[RoGuE]

I've had chance to have a brief look at my NT system - I have it set to 2560x1024, 16-bit. My monitors are set to 'VESA settings' (which as I mentioned above result in my secondary screen being 75Hz). With my Mitsubishi monitors I have an additional problem - unless your refresh is a 'standard' setting, such as 75, 85, or 100Hz etc, the edges of the screen go irregular. No amount of OSD tinkering can correct it.
At this setting, my max resolution is what I am currently set on. If I move the slider any further left if goes to 1600x1200. Also like yourself, I had no luck at all using any of the pre-defined Matrox monitors. I even tried all the different revisions of the NT G400 drivers.

Sorry I can't help further.

Chris

[[INF]Psycho]

The second Head is limited to 1280x1024@75 Hz Max... it should be possible to run 2560x1024@75Hz, i run it under win2k(2195), but i don't know about nt4...

good luck...

[Laristan]

I've noticced that one of you has stated a resolution of 2560x1024 85Hz ... I thought the Matrox G400MAX could only do up to 1600x1200 ... how can I change this? Is it monitor dependent? (I have a sony 21" platinum series)

[RoGuE]

You must have DualHead multi-display enabled and be using NT4 to access reolutions such as the one above.