New 2nd Monitor

[Hwy101]

Hi Everyone - It's looking like Santa might be Nice to me this Christmas!
New 2nd Monitor on the Short List... (I am having dreams of Tools on one monitor and the Graphic on the Other New Better Bigger Monitor) ((woo hoo))

Anything to watch out for or be aware of in Xara?
(thanks to all you have dual monitors already)

Should I Look a Dock for the Laptop and a Switch so I can use with it too?

Thanks for Sharing Your Experience with 1-Monitor-Tom

[stlewis]

Tom

I recently went dual too. My second one is also a TV for use when I don't need two screens! It is an LG with every kind of input - DVI, analogue, Scart etc

The biggest problem is that if you don't always use it as a second monitor, you need to switch it on to drag back the app you were using there. Or you have to delve into control panel to switch is back to single. I have looked for a gadget to solve this without success.

[amoore]

Also, be aware that many apps aren't dual-monitor aware and that there may be some unexpected kinks in your setup.

For example, I have a Lenovo 19" LCD and a Samsung 25" LCD. Most of the time, I use Xtreme on the 25". The splash screen always appears on the primary (Lenovo), but the workspace remembers where I left it. In most cases, Xtreme remembers where I last opened a gallery such as Layers, but dialogs such as the Color Editor always open on the primary display (the 19"). I can drag them over to the 25" and they will continue to open on the 25" during that session, but next session I have to drag them over to the 25" again.

As for the unexpected kinks, I have to run the Lenovo as the primary and the Samsung as the secondary. Apparently the Samsung doesn't have enough juice to run as the primary in this setup. Figuring that out took three months and three replacement Samsungs. Not only that, because of the way my work area is laid out, the Samsung has to go on the right. Since I use a vertical format for my Windows taskbar (XP), it winds up on the right edge of the Lenovo and therefore visually in the middle between the two displays. It's actually rather convenient, however disorienting to other people.

[Hwy101]

Thanks - I appreciate the Input & Experience Had
(always love to hear from Users!)

Tom

[MarcT]

Hi,

The only solution I found to quickly manage extra monitors is Ultramon

Too bad Xara isn't optimized for dual monitors, I would love to have a "new view" window on the other screen. In Ps Cs3 you can drag out windows out of the main program window, this works great.

Marc

[Hwy101]

Thanks for the Post and the Link Marc - I'll give it a Look-See... Maybe if enough of us 'Doolies' Lobby them... Xara might take advantage of later...

[Brivtech]

I've been using dual monitors for a while, and I don't have problems with Xara Xtreme Pro. I have the main Xara window open in one monitor, with the galleries open on the other to maximise the workspace (along with other program windows that I need open). I can stretch the Xara windows right across both monitors if I want, although if I switch to fullscreen mode, it shrinks to filling one of the monitors only. Because I always work with other applications at the same time, I don't find having Xara on both monitors productive - There's a split in the middle, which would affect productivity anyway.

I've been running a 22" (VGA) widescreen and a 19" (DVI) monitor from an ATI graphics card - One of these that has DVI and VGA, and set it up to extend desktop into the second monitor. Worked fine....

... that was until one of our other older CRT monitors literally blew up, and I had to sacrifice the 19" monitor as a replacement. Taking advantage of this, I thought I'd get a second 22" widescreen monitor, so bought a second VGA monitor, with the idea of using the DVI connection with a DVI-VGA converter plugged into the monitor. It didn't work! Incidently, monitors with just VGA connections are a lot cheaper than those with DVI/VGA and the newer HDMI.

Firstly, the lead I had was DVI-D (Digital only connections in the lead). So, I bought a DVI-I lead (Has DVI-A (analogue) and DVI-D connections present) along with a DVI-VGA adaptor to plug into the monitor. It worked, however, I then had a terrible ghosting problem on the second monitor. So, I swapped monitors, and the problem swapped along with it, it wasn't the monitor at fault.

So, I swapped out the graphics cards, very slight improvement, but still pretty bad. After wasting the better part of a day back and forth to the shops, installing and uninstalling hardware, I identified the problem in the cheap DVI-I lead (it was under a tenner). My goess was that it was an impedance problem with part of the signal getting bounced through the cable.

The solution: I was able to exhchange the adaptor and get one that plugged into the DVI socket on the graphics card, using a lighter VGA cable up to teh monitor. Ensure you buy quality cables, or spend that little more money on a monitor with dual connectors. Beware cheap cables, they won't do you any favours.

[jimhanus]

I tried using 2 monitors, both Viewsonics, one 22" widescreen #VA2226w and one 21" regular pro version #VP2130b. I couldn't get used to the difference in brightness/contrast between the 2 and couldn't make them match no matter what settings I tried. If I could do it again I would love to have 2 monitors, but for me they would have to be identical. Also, I couldn't use digital outputs, only analog on both, and I could see the difference, so went back to one monitor.

[amoore]

I tried using 2 monitors, both Viewsonics, one 22" widescreen #VA2226w and one 21" regular pro version #VP2130b. I couldn't get used to the difference in brightness/contrast between the 2...

My Lenovo is noticeably warmer than my Samsung. Brightness-wise, they're about the same. My former assistant was a perfectionist techie who was bent on calibrating the two monitors to the same appearance. I stopped him (much to his chagrin) because I need to see how images look on different displays. It's a useful option.

If I'm using only one monitor, or dual displays are too similar in appearance, I tend to forget that what I'm designing won't look the way I expect it to on someone else's machine. Case in point: a while back, I created lovely, subtle arrow buttons for use in a multimedia menuing system. Looked wonderful on my system; invisible on nearly every other display in the office.

[steve.ledger]

A very valid point Alison and a logical one too. But it takes a special kind of person to tolerate viewing mismatched monitors in a dual setup.
Of course, we can't be certain if other peoples eyes see things the same way we do either??
Personally, the dual monitor scenario is impossible for me owing to the difficulty of getting them both calibrated to match. I have tried many times, even with two displays of the exact same model and using the same settings on both (CRTs or LCDs). I simply cannot stand looking at one which is, for example, warmer than the other, actually I cannot stand it if one is cooler than the other either