Dualhead users post here...

[moreau]

let's poll the dual head users for some info.
Do you
<ol>[*]Use the same size monitor, or different?</li>[*]Use the same resolution, or different?</li>[*]Use the same model monitor, or different?</li>[*]Do you like the way the above are for you, or would you do something different.</li>[*]Do you notice any problems with interference, differing refresh rates, brightness
or color differences, etc?</li>[/list=a]
I ask, as my wife has greenlighted my purchase of a new monitor, for dualhead operation.

My current monitor is a CTX VL710, which I purchased when I built my computer in the fall of 1998.

I was contemplating buying a 19", possibly a viewsonic. But I wondered if size differences would be annoying.

Also, I don't want a tube that differs in geometry from my current one. i.e. I don't want a perfectly flat next the the FST on the CTX. It would be terribly annoying looking at the flat one, then the curved on repeatedly.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

[Maggi]

At home

1. 17" on primary & 14" on secondary
2. 1024x768 on primary & 800x600 on 2ndary (no real need for NT at home)
3. CTX VL710T 17" & MicroVitec 1438 14"
4. if I had the money, I'd go for two Eye-Qs 777 (22" and 127kHz horizontal refresh)
5. nope

At work

1. 22" on primary & 21" on secondary
2. same, cos NT is restricted and no need under W98 because my monis are about the same size
3. Eye-Q 22" & Nokia 21"
4. I'd love to have the option for different resolutions under NT, but that's a no-go
5. nope

One thing is not yet covered:

Sometimes (getting more often recently) I hook up my Sony 16:9 28" BigScreen with DolbySurround on the 2ndary output, either to enjoy DVD or games ...

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Cheers,
Maggi

Despite my nickname causing confusion, I am not female ...

[MultimediaMan]

I'm not running Matrox product for my multimonitor machine. (Scandalous, I know.)

However, I am running three #9 Revolution 3D PCIs on my secondary computer. Actually, its a proxy for my homenetwork or an operating table for other people's Hard Disks most of the time. MM makes sorting out networks and file management a breeze, but I digress.

3 x Dell 15" monitors running at 800x600, (1024x768 is too small for me to comfortably read on the 15s). Getting the monitors close in terms of color, contrast and brightness is bothersome without a color management utility that works for ALL displays (Which I've as yet been unable to locate). Since I'm running three cards, I get randomly frozen horizontal scanlines, but this thing isn't built for previewing the Playmate of the Month...If I run differing refresh rates, things get very wobbly and the scanlines track vertically. I've settled for something comfortable in between.

Anybody know of a good source of multi-monitor-ready Screensavers? OpenGL or DirectX?

------------------
My (Current) Primary system:

Abit BE6 (PL BIOS)
P3 450
384MB PC-100 SDRAM (Non-ECC)
Matrox Marvel G200-TV AGP (NTSC) v2.6 BIOS
3Com 905B-TX NIC
SBlive (W/ OD I/O Card, Liveware 3.0 + Update)
ADS Cadet Radio Data AM/FM Card (8 Bit ISA)
3x WD AC28400 EIDE HDDs (ATA66 Enabled)
Creative DVD5241E EIDE 5x DVD-ROM
M/S Windows 98SE (English)
DirectX 7

My (Current) Secondary system

Data General/ ALR 2650 Mobo (v6.004 BIOS)
2x P2 266 (SMP)
128 MB PC-100 SDRAM (ECC)
3 x Number9 Revolution 3D 8 MB PCI Adapters
Adaptec 6901 10BT NIC
Onboard Adaptec 2940 U2W
Onboard Intel 82558 NIC
Onboard Cirrus Logic SVGA adapter (Disabled)
Creative ModemBlaster 5601 Data/Voice/Fax Modem (ISA)
Creative AWE64 Gold
2x WD 4.5 GB Enterprise SCSI3 HDD
Panasonic LK-MW602 CD-R
Nakamichi MBR 7.4
2 EIDE HDD Swap bays
Windows 98SE/NT Server Dual boot
DirectX 7/SP-6

Tertiary system:
Dell Inspiron 7100 Laptop




[This message has been edited by MultimediaMan (edited 08 February 2000).]

[sesca]

I use a 19" KDS for my primary @1280x1024
and a 14" Radio Shack on my secondary @800x600

[Brian R.]

I use a Nokia 445XPro (21" shadow mask) as the primary monitor and a Compaq QVision 172 (17" trinitron) as the secondary monitor. The colors are slightly different, but I have no problem with using these two. I run the Nokia at 1800 x 1440 and the Compaq at 1280 x 1024. There is no noticable interference between the two monitors.

[Dyre]

Two Sylvania f72 17's at 1152..

[Chucky Cheese]

moreau

1) different
2) different
3) different
4) i think given the many possibilities, that matrox did it right for 98 and i hope that through clever programming that they can make win2k do exactly the same, with out the rebooting when enabling the dual-head though.
5) the only glitch that i've seen is that my secondary monitor does not remember the contrast and brightness setting when rebooting or enabling the dual-head

Primary monitor is a PanaSync E21, secondary monitor is a first generation TFT flat panel display, Viewsonic VP150

chucky

[Vlip]

I'm using a 19" Sony at 1280X1024x32 at 85hz as primary and a 15" Sony at 1024x768x32 at 85hz at secondary.

I was sceptical about the usefulness of this dualhead (I bought this 19" and while installing it I saw the two outputs and, well, I just thought I'd try it for fun, I never went back) but it's incredibly usefull, especially for programming or surfing on the net.

Have fun, Vlip

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"Il est toujours intéressant de parler avec quelqu'un d'intelligent"
Dostoïevski

AMD Athlon 500, Asus K7M, 128Mb PC100 SDRAM, Matrox G400MAX, Sb Live and a lot more toys and gadgets.

[Targon]

I'm running a G400 MAX with a Viewsonic 17PS for my primary, and an ancient NEC 3V as my secondary. Works fine, except that the NEC is such a piece of junk that I need to run in 800x600 mode to keep from going blind on it. :-) Needless to say, I'm going to replace the NEC with a Viewsonic PS790 in a few days since I just can't take it anymore.

[Nicap]

1st head: A201HT@1600X1200@85Hz
2nd head: ?Harsper@1024X768@70Hz
There are differences in color and brightness, but i'm not complaining.


Nicap

[jsb]

1. 22" on primary & 17" on secondary
2. 1280*1024 on primary & 1024x768 on 2ndary
3. Iiyama Pro510 22" & Iiyama Pro 17"
4. I'd go for two Pro510
5. no
Nicap how have you managed to run 1st head: @1600X1200@85Hz 2nd head: 1024X768@70Hz?
i cant go over 1280*1024*2
Stefan

[moreau]

Thanks for the input, fellas.

I think in a few weeks I'm going to opt for the Viewsonic E790.

Given the viewable areas of both mons, I'll probably try 1280x1024 on the 19, and 1152x864 on the 17. This will yield similar dpi on both mons, and, I quess, similar font sizes.

I did bring my home computer to work and hook it up to two manitors, and saw the wandering scan line. Is this from having different refreshes? or is it from having refreshes too close together (beats)?

[merchant2112]

i don't know about that but i was useing two ctx monitors one a vl950 and the other a gm 1765. then i was given a mag pro 17in and moved the 17 up to the mom's computer (she was useing a 15in no name (pixie?)monitor. the ctx have i mask, the mag has a trinatron tube. to get the color right (close match u sed colorific it works on dual monitor setups.) i also happen to have the ref card from an old cl banshee card. (i was bad and tryed voodoo)ohter than the ocational monitor game hickup (open gl mostly in witch all i had to do was disable the second monitor to get atround) all was /is well with the dual head (i use the expanded desktop.) 75 hz on the mag 100 on the ctx vl950 with diffrent res 1024x768 on the mag and 11x8 on the ctx
(i think i might be late in posting this but the colorrific program works well to match up two difrent monitors)

[Targon]

Not sure if this will matter to you, but the Viewsonic monitors that start with a P(as opposed to E and G series), come with two inputs to the monitor. This allows you to use the Viewsonic with two seperate computers and use the [2] button to toggle back and forth. It comes in handy if you have more than 1 computer. The picture quality on the P series is also a bit better. The current prices for the PS790(19 inch), is $509, though it may be available for less. For the G400, since you already went for picture quality over the slightly higher speed of a geforce, this might make a difference to you.

[SJRACER]

Just got my MAX installed the other day. I too was unsure about the usefullness of the second display, but WOW. It is awsome. I am running a CTX VL700 17inch at 1024 X 768 for my primary, and an old ACER 15 inch monitor at 800 X 600 for my secondary. You are all right, it is very handy for surfing the web, as well as many other things. Anyway that is my two cents.


Gotta Luv that G400 MAX!!!!!!