Dual Monitors

MantridMantrid Lockpick Join Date: 2003-12-07 Member: 24109Members
Okay, so I finally pulled an old 800x600 monitor that I had lying around and hooked it up to my computer. Its going to be more of a launch pad than anything, and I've already moved my entire desktop over so I can use this monitor (1024x768) as a full screen for applications.

The only thing I want is the task bar. It appears I can only have it on one monitor or the other. Is there anyway I can have it on both?

Comments

  • UnderDOGUnderDOG Join Date: 2003-04-05 Member: 15221Members
    I would like to know this too, been using dual monitors for almost 3 months now and I still havnt figured it out.
  • Marik_SteeleMarik_Steele To rule in hell... Join Date: 2002-11-20 Member: 9466Members
    Welcome to the world of dual monitors. Trust me, you won't want to go back <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->

    There's no feature built into Windows to let you extend the taskbar. So far the only tool I'm aware of to do it is <a href='http://www.mediachance.com/free/multimon.htm' target='_blank'>this</a>, but it seems to come with other multimonitor-related features you might not want, such as an extra button near the minimize/restore/close buttons. I'm also seeing a note that the monitors must be run at the same resolution.
  • UnCriticalUnCritical Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 73Members, Constellation
    Depends on your vid card make. NVidia cards have something called (I bleieve) nview and ati cards have....hypervision, i believe. Both these programs help set up and run dual monitors, including cool little features.

    You should look into those official programs.
  • Marik_SteeleMarik_Steele To rule in hell... Join Date: 2002-11-20 Member: 9466Members
    Ah, yes, I forgot to say you should try these if you haven't already. NVidia's is called "nView" and you already have it if you have recent drivers installed. ATI's is called "Hydravision" and you download them from the ATI site separately from the drivers. (Despite this I doubt they'd work with non-ati cards).
  • UnderDOGUnderDOG Join Date: 2003-04-05 Member: 15221Members
    ah excelent, ill check this out when I get home from work.

    While we are on the topic, is it possible to have to different backgrounds on each monitor or have one panaromic image that streches over both?
  • remiremi remedy [blu.knight] Join Date: 2003-11-18 Member: 23112Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester
    I know that atleast the second is possible.
  • UnCriticalUnCritical Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 73Members, Constellation
    I've seen people who have two different wallpapers per screen, but I've never figured out a way to do it myself.
  • Marik_SteeleMarik_Steele To rule in hell... Join Date: 2002-11-20 Member: 9466Members
    <!--QuoteBegin-UnderDOG+Jul 7 2005, 01:52 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (UnderDOG @ Jul 7 2005, 01:52 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> ah excelent, ill check this out when I get home from work.

    While we are on the topic, is it possible to have to different backgrounds on each monitor or have one panaromic image that streches over both? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    The last time I was running an nVidia card I remember the 1st of those was a built-in option in nView...but back then it was buggy and resulted in a background that I couldn't change at *all* until my next reformat. They may have fixed it since then.

    The easiest thing to do is take the two backgrounds you want to use (or the one big one), put them together in MSPaint or similar, ensure it's resized to the resolution you'll run things at, and set it as the "tiled" background. Sounds strange to have it tiled instead of centered or stretched, but centering or stretching will duplicate the image, having one on each screen. Defeats the entire point of panorama or 2 wallpapers.
  • ironpancakeironpancake Join Date: 2003-05-23 Member: 16643Members
    I don't really know anything about dual monitors so if anyone could answer my two questions it would be much appreciated.

    Does the mouse cross over to the other monitor as if the two screens were a single monitor? Or do i need to press hotkeys to switch between the two monitors?

    Will having two screens running at the same time bog down my computer? Will my fps during games slip because of the extra load?
  • Marik_SteeleMarik_Steele To rule in hell... Join Date: 2002-11-20 Member: 9466Members
    <!--QuoteBegin-ironpancake+Jul 7 2005, 04:29 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (ironpancake @ Jul 7 2005, 04:29 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I don't really know anything about dual monitors so if anyone could answer my two questions it would be much appreciated.

    Does the mouse cross over to the other monitor as if the two screens were a single monitor? Or do i need to press hotkeys to switch between the two monitors?

    Will having two screens running at the same time bog down my computer? Will my fps during games slip because of the extra load? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    The mouse moves between the two monitors as if it's a big one. If you *want* it to stick on one monitor, there may be a 3rd party program to set it up like that. I just haven't heard of it.

    Having two screens doesn't seem to cause my computer significant performance drain in plain old Windows. In games, the issue isn't performance: it's that the game might not be meant for running on monitor ? out of ?. It might think it needs to be windowed (resulting in performance drop), it might let the mouse "slip" off the edge of the screen out into non-game territory (horrid for RTS games where you use screen-edge scrolling) or it may have any number of other problems. Fortunately enabling/disabling the 2nd monitor is a rather quick thing -- doesn't require a restart or anything, it's as quick as, say, changing monitor resolutions.
  • UnCriticalUnCritical Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 73Members, Constellation
    <!--QuoteBegin-ironpancake+Jul 7 2005, 10:29 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (ironpancake @ Jul 7 2005, 10:29 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I don't really know anything about dual monitors so if anyone could answer my two questions it would be much appreciated.

    Does the mouse cross over to the other monitor as if the two screens were a single monitor? Or do i need to press hotkeys to switch between the two monitors?

    Will having two screens running at the same time bog down my computer? Will my fps during games slip because of the extra load? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Both monitors act like one, and there is some slow down, but any decent graphics card cah handle it with no problems, and as for games, the game is only displayed on the one monitor so fps arn't really affected.

    And thanks marik, I've been wanting two wallpapers for ages, that tile setting sorted it out <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • airyKairyK Join Date: 2002-12-19 Member: 11126Members
    I run 2 19inch monitors @ 1024 each. Works really well for what i need to do. Keep in mind that you will have a performance if you game and leave the second monitor on. I use this program <a href='http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/' target='_blank'>ultramon</a> to have an additional task bar to use on the second monitor, it will also allow you to have a different wallpaper for the second monitor, here is a SS of my desktop.

    <img src='http://team-2id.net/hawt.JPG' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
  • JimmehJimmeh Join Date: 2003-08-24 Member: 20173Members, Constellation
    <!--QuoteBegin-airyK+Jul 7 2005, 11:03 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (airyK @ Jul 7 2005, 11:03 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Image goes here <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Bleach <3
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