Dual monitor setups - what's the score?

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Dual monitor setups - what's the score?

18 posts & 13 voices | Started 1 year ago by spacemonkey | Latest reply from molgrips

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spacemonkey - Member

Have a PC with an ATI 6870 (dual output) and am awaiting delivery of a Mac Mini (also with two outputs) and a second screen.

Am thinking about having everything around the same desk so I can run both screens off of both machines (obviously after physically switching connections). Or I might just keep work stuff (PC) on one side of the room and personal stuff (Mac) on the other.

If I go dual screen, is it easy to tell it what to display on each one? i.e. do you get a kind of default desktop of say 3800x1050 or whatever, and you just drag your windows around? Or do you have to split them in some way?

Same question for both PC (Win 7) and Mac (OSX).

Ta

Posted 1 year ago #
ourkidsam - Member

Win 7: Control panel -> Display -> Change Display Settings gets you to here:

Then set 'em up how you want. Easy. No idea about a mac though I've heard it should just work

EDIT: Sorry, I've realised what you are getting at.

do you get a kind of default desktop of say 3800x1050 or whatever, and you just drag your windows around?

Yes, exactly.

Posted 1 year ago #
nickjb - Member

Running two screens is easy. Effectively one big screen, just drag stuff around. Running them from two computers will be trickier, you either need a KVM switch or monitors with dual input. Lots have dual input but usually one in DVI and the other analogue

Posted 1 year ago #
molgrips - Member

You can have to separate desktops or one big one, it's up to you.

Btw if you want two computers at the same desk look for a KVM switch (keyboard video mouse). It lets you operate two machines with one set of keyboard, monitor(s) and mouse. Very useful.

Posted 1 year ago #
Wozza - Member

If both screens have 2 inputs each you can plug an output from each machine into each screen and switch using the monitor.

On your pc you have a few options with nvidia, dual view or desktop span (the ati version of this is probably similar)

Dual view allows you to configure each display differently, double clicking on a window will fill only that monitor. This is how I have mine.

Desktop span makes a large desktop across the two screens, you only want to do this if the monitors are the same resolution but it doesn't look that good.

On a mac it's pretty similar.

EDIT:

Don't get a KVM, get this: Synergy

Posted 1 year ago #
ir_bandito - Member

I use 2 monitors at work, act like one big screen.
Run Multimon to extend the taskbar across both screens and update what windows are on which screen.
Some programs see both screens when maximised, some only see one. You get used to it. But it is ace.

Posted 1 year ago #
clubber - Member

It's a doddle with W7 - I don't know how I'd live without it TBH. You can also adjust the relative height of the monitors in the control panel so that the mouse moves from one screen to the next at the same physical height (Useful when running a monitor and laptop screen as dual screen since they're different sizes/heights).

Posted 1 year ago #
IA - Member

As above, dead easy on both. +1 on synergy, and then most monitors have DVI + vga input, so just have both hooked up all the time

KVM is better, but costs.

Posted 1 year ago #
spacemonkey - Member

Cheers guys - pretty much what I hoped for.

- KVM - forgot about those, so might just get one anyway (or else look at Synergy - whatever that is).
- "Extend these displays" is just what I'm looking for

The only reason I mention running machines on separate sides of the room is so I can literally step away from my daily workspace and sit at a totally different desk with different surroundings. Clearing one's head space is key!

Posted 1 year ago #
xiphon - Member

Posted 1 year ago #
MrSmith - Member

easy in OSX.
just detect screens, select extended desctop mode (not mirroring) you get to move the menu bar and arrange the screens you want them.
you will possibly need a mini-dvi to dvi adapter for the mac mini

Posted 1 year ago #
elliptic - Member

What they said above. I'm still in XP, keep taskbar etc on the main screen along with the text editor where I do most of my actual work (software dev).

Then email, specification docs etc etc on the other screen so I can cross reference without switching between windows all the time. Works great.

Colleague of mine used to VM Windows and Linux together with two screens positioned to look like they belonged to different boxes. Doing demos he'd work in one screen for a while, then casually swing the mouse pointer across to the other and wait for the delayed reaction as the visitor's jaw dropped

Posted 1 year ago #
GlitterGary - Member

xiphon - That rug really ties the room together.

Posted 1 year ago #
Wozza - Member

All off one PC

Posted 1 year ago #
xiphon - Member

( Disclaimer - not my pics! )

Posted 1 year ago #
BigEaredBiker - Member

Plug both into the Mac Mini and download the Microsoft Remote Desktop util to take control of your PC.

Unless you are using that 6870 card for some high powered 3D graphics work in which case you could look at VNC or similar to do it the other way around.

The other thing to consider is that most modern monitors have 2 or 3 inputs so you could just plug the mac mini into the HDMI ports and the PC into the DVI-D ports and then flick between them as required.

Posted 1 year ago #
spacemonkey - Member

BEB, you mean this?

Which basically means the PC sits out the way but is connected to the Mac in order for it to be controlled remotely? Hmm, might well try that.

Cheers

Posted 1 year ago #
molgrips - Member

download the Microsoft Remote Desktop util to take control of your PC.

It's not as good as being at the actual PC tho.

Posted 1 year ago #

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