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Can dual-monitors show different things???

C

cloudkat

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 22, 2004
Messages
140
I know that there is a similer thread to this topic currently going, but it skips a few steps ahead of my noobie question.

I am an on-line gamer.(America's Army, UT2003, BF1942, ect..) I also run Teamspeak (a voice chat program for talking to my Clan-mates while playing) as well as sometimes running system monitoring programs for performance data, all at the same time.

My question is this; with a dual-monitor set-up, can I have my FPS game going on my primary monitor (NOT streched across both monitors) while the secondary one displays my Teamspeak list (so I can see who logs on and off, as well at see who is talking if I can not recognize their voice) and sys. monitoring programs??

I have an ATI Radeon 9800XT graphics card w/dual-heads, and I have never set-up a dual-monitor system before. I have been playing with the settings, but can not seem to get them to act as two seperate monitors.

Do I need to instal a second graphics card??

Is it even possible to do what I am trying to do??

If so, what am I doing wrong, and is there any good links anyone can give for a tutorial on how to set everything up??

Also, isn't the DVI output the "primary" monitor output and the other the "secondary" monitor output?? Or does it really matter??

(I told you guys it was a "noobie" question:) )
 
I think you video card probably comes with a program within the driver. Right click on the desktop, go to properties, then go to the settings tab, under video adapter go to properties. In there you should see some settings that you could play around with.
 
you may have it on horizontal span...
that usually spreads it accross the 2 screens

see if you can set it to be dualview...
this will make a copy of your background but is extra workspace...
 
Originally posted by cloudkat

My question is this; with a dual-monitor set-up, can I have my FPS game going on my primary monitor (NOT streched across both monitors) while the secondary one displays my Teamspeak list (so I can see who logs on and off, as well at see who is talking if I can not recognize their voice) and sys. monitoring programs??

Do I need to instal a second graphics card??

Is it even possible to do what I am trying to do??

Also, isn't the DVI output the "primary" monitor output and the other the "secondary" monitor output?? Or does it really matter??

(I told you guys it was a "noobie" question:) )
Click to expand...

Yes this is possible...I do it all the time.
No you do not need another graphics card.
It doesn't matter which output defaults to primary cuz you can set it in windows (hopefully you have win 2000 or xp).

This is how I do it...(not sure if its different for ATI cards)...right click on desktop and go to properties-->settings.
You can then highlight either monitor 1 or 2 and set which one is primary with the little check box that says "Use this device as the primary monitor".
There is also another checkbox that allows you to extend my windows desktop to this monitor. I check that on my secondary display. (BTW...the numbers 1 and 2 that show up for each display don't matter as far as primary is concerned).
Then you should just be able to open or drag whateer status/performance apps to your secondary monitor and have them open while playing games on your primary monitor...
Hope that helps!
 
Thanks for the help guys. I'm off to play with all the advice now. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Exactly what i do :D. I play a game on my first moniter, and on my second i have teamspeak, irc, xfire(http://xfire.com), and AIM open.. too bad i cant chat in AIM/ irc without alt tabbing though :( . Atleast i can see what other people are saying to me and if i have anymessages on AIM
 
ok. Here is what I have done:

My 20" monitor is set-up as my primary, and my 15" monitor is set-up as my secondary.
My secondary has the "extend my desktop" thingy checked.

But now all the secondary monitor showes is my wallpaper.

How do I get programs to actually run on my secondary monitor, (ie..teamspeak) and not on my primary monitor??

BOBN4BURTON mentioned in His reply something about open or drag the program I want to my secondary monitor. How do I do this?? My mouse cursor will not go onto my secondary monitor's screen.
 
just drag the program over to the second monitor? Or download a program called ultramon
it will allow you to customize dual monitors quite well, sorry i cant be more help but im single monitor atm
Drew
 
Originally posted by cloudkat
ok. Here is what I have done:

But now all the secondary monitor showes is my wallpaper.

How do I get programs to actually run on my secondary monitor, (ie..teamspeak) and not on my primary monitor??

BOBN4BURTON mentioned in His reply something about open or drag the program I want to my secondary monitor. How do I do this?? My mouse cursor will not go onto my secondary monitor's screen.
Click to expand...

Yes...your wallpaper is all that you should see on the second monitor. Unless you get something like ultramon--which I use--and then you can have a taskbar and other cool options on the secondary monitor.

You shoud just be able to drag them onto your second monitor...I'm not sure why you can't get your monitor to go onto your second monitor. In the settings window you can drag each monitor around. For instance, if your secondary (15") monitor is number "1" and is on the left side of your primary 20" monitor, you can just drag it to the right side in the settings window and then when you move your mouse to the right off your 20" monitor, it should move onto your secondary 15" monitor. You really should be able to drag programs back and forth with the mouse.

You might just wanna check one thing however since you are using a 20" and 15" monitor. I'm sure you are usualy drastically different resolutions (i.e. 800x600 on 15" and possible 1600x1200 on 20"). In this case, the mouse may not go from your 20" to your 15" everywhere...this is hard to explain but with that much of a resolution difference, if you try to move you mouse to the second monitor on the bottom of your 20" monitor...it may not move over to the 15" unless you move the mouse up the screen (say halfway up the screen). Sorry...this is hard to explain.
Let me know if this doesn't help or if I didn't explain well enough.

**EDIT: I just tried this and if you have 1600x1200 on the 'left' monitor and 800x600 on the 'right' monitor then you mouse will only move to the 'right' monitor if you have the mouse in the top half of the 'left' screen.
 
hes right but you can repostion the second monitor in display properties. If you move it exactly to the right of your default monitor with space space above and below then with your cursor in the middle of the default monitor you should horizontal to the right and meet the ofhter screen. You problem may be that your monitor is on the left and in display you have it on the right. Again hard to explain.
 
OK guys, thanks alot for the help. With the combination of ultramon and the other advice from you guys, I finally have it working!!!:D

Again, thank you to all who helped me with this...you guys ROCK!!!
 
your welcome, never be afraid to ask here. Post some pics of your setup as i am curious.
drew
 
I think I can explain the dragging to the other monitor better.

My laptop has a 1600x1200 uxga screen. If I enable the secondary (External VGA) monitor, at a lower resolution, it shows the two monitors and their relationship to each other, and I can actually drag it around, so that the top of both monitors are aligned, the bottoms, or the center.

either way, there will be a "window" on the primary monitor, equal to the vertical height of the secondary, and if the cursor moves across that boundary, it jumps to the other screen.

Also, some dual head video cards have the option to treat both monitors as a single one, with a resolution of 1600x600 for example, and the most obvious sign is that a stretched wallpaper will show half on either monitor, and the start button will be on the left monitor, and the clock and system tray on the right one. and I believe that some older dual-head cards can only operate in this manner, but I believe most modern ones are capable of driving both monitors at different resolutions and refresh rates
 
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