Who uses /wants dual monitors?

[tron3]

What size(s) are your dual monitor? Are they PC, DVI, or HDMI connector?

My main PC monitor is actually a 19" Sharp LCD TV. My main TV and 2nd monitor to the left is a Vizio 26". Both have pc inputs and not the preferred DVI, but the picture is awesome.

My desire for dual monitors actually dates back to 1998 when I found out that Windows 98 supported dual montors. One weekend while at the Air National Guard I was tasked to install a second video card in a pc and setup someone with two monitors. Let me tell you, that is no easy tast until I guessed what to do. Yes, I guessed and was lucky to get it working. Not like today where the cards come with two ports.

In 2004 I spent about $550 on a kick butt video card with dual DVI outputs, two adaptors, and even s-video for my new computer. Even years before that my old PC supported one pc output and s-video, but my old tv only supported coaxil. To get a PC picture on the screen I had to run the s-video to the VCR (With a composite adaptor!), turn it on & turn the TV to channel 3! Needless to say, even when I lowered the output resolution to 640 x 480 it looked like utter crap! Therefore, it was never used for a practical purpose, but was a novelty to show my nephew.

Well in October 2007 my brother gifted me with this 26" LCD Vizio. Located a cable for it the same weekend and now had a great LCD monitor and a piece of crap monitor in comparison. Now I realized I needed a new primary monitor. The Vizio is simply too big to fit in the hutch of my computer desk. Never really used it because the contrast of the two monitors was just bleck!

Last week I bought the Sharp 19" LCD TV because it fit and I could use the internal speakers, thus eliminating the external ones. No monitor I found could do both. If they did, they were too high to fit my 15" limit. Grrrr. But then I had to grab the cable off the Vizio to use my Sharp as the primary monitor.

So, I bought a great monitor cable off ebay for $5.49 shipped! Came today, and now I am writing this thread on my second monitor at 1360 x 768. My first official use of it. Both are 16:9 and have a nice blu-ray wallpaper.

Primary: 19" Sharp LCD HDTV / PC monitor - 1280 x 720 (Mostly used as a monitor.)
Secondary: 26" Vizio LCD HDTV / PC monitor -1360 x 768 (Mostly used as an HDTV.)

A simple 5-900 MHz splitter lets both receive terrestrial HDTV channels. I paid my life dues to have this, don't envy me. It didn't just come.

[CAB]

I use 2, 30" panels. It takes two cards to drive them. I haven't found a single card that manages 2x 2560x1600 x 24bit color.

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by CAB

I use 2, 30" panels. It takes two cards to drive them. I haven't found a single card that manages 2x 2560x1600 x 24bit color.

You have the ultimate setup. I plan on going with a 30 inch screen as soon as a HDCP model comes out.

[JasonR]

I have dual 17" Dell DVI monitors at work. I am in the IT field and it makes it so much easier to multitask.

[owa]

One 24" Dell LCD (1920x1200) and one 19" Viewsonic LCD (1280x1024). They're both connected to 2 computers. Using DVI on my main system and analog on my 2nd computer.

[CptGreedle]

I use 2 at work. I used to use 3 at home but since I moved into a new house I have never bothered to hook it back up that way. I am reorganizing things and about to buy a new computer so I will figure out dual monitor at home later.
But at work it is great! I use it all the time. It spoils me so.

[richteer]

I used to have a pair of 21" CRTs at home, each at 1600 x 1280, but I changed them for a single 24" widescreen LCD at 1920 x 1200. My desk isn't big enough for two 24" widescreen monitors!

Here at work I'm relatively slumming it with a 22" LCD at 1680 x 1050.

[miokti]

I have two 24" wide monitors at work... wouldn't mind having them at home. Didn't Sony initially promised that PS3 can drive two HDMI outs to two separate TVs for dual screen gaming? I was really bummed that it didn't work out that way.

[Don Blish]

I have two Gateway 21" panels on my desktop attached to a Matrox Parhelia APVe card. One is connected DVI and is a 1050x1680 desktop. The other is connected as component HD and so is acting as an HDTV for monitoring destkop editing only. I do keep the brightness up a bit on the monitor panel to mimic how most people run their HDTVs: too bright for best detail. This way I can check how the density and color corrected images look on a PC (desktop screen) and on HDTV. It is a huge convenience to be able to view and entire project with 5.1 sound with another person and not have to go thru the multi hour burn process. I use Premiere Pro 2.0 with Cineform Access HD and I burn to BluRay with Roxio DVDit Pro HD.

[Bizdady]

Running two 19" inch monitors at work sucks when i go home to one 17" monitor lol I keep dragging stuff to a non existent 2nd monitor lol.

[mastertang]

I once saw a Mac Pro at the Apple store driving two 30 inch displays. That's 2560-by-1600 pixels each. I just spent 5 minutes opening programs and moving them between the screens. It was beautiful.

[Riverside666]

Just one 30 inch Dell LCD, more then enough for me and for my uses/needs. I have no real idea what you people are doin, lol, with you dual 30 inch LCD's.

[Apollo 18]

I've got two 19" monitors at work. After discovering how great it is, i need to upgrade my home setup - but they kept having BOGO's so i spent my money on blu ray's instead.

[tron3]

Originally Posted by Bizdady

Running two 19" inch monitors at work sucks when i go home to one 17" monitor lol I keep dragging stuff to a non existent 2nd monitor lol.

Well, I only use a 19" tube monitor at work. For the stuff I do, a single large monitor is all I would need for now.

Who said 3 monitors? How do you install 3 monitors and why?

[hazydave]

I have dual monitors on my main PC, both Westinghouse 24" 1920x1200 LCD panels, hooked up via HDMI. I chose the Westinghouse monitors because they're video friendly, with YPrPb, C-Y, and CVBS inputs as well as the HDMIs... each hookup to camcorders, etc. I usually have my notebook computer set up next to these, for a third screen... but that's only 1680x1050... but it can drive an HDMI monitor, too.

[arush5268d]

At work I have 9 screen setup...
-my 17" widescreen laptop and 8 19" Sony LCDS. 4 of them are on one system, and the other 4 are driven by 3 different computers.

At home though...I only have 2. a 22" widescreen LCD, and a CRT 17." I need to get rid of the ol' CRT

[Flea77]

In front of me are two 20.1" 1600x1200 professional series LCDs driven by one machine and a 22" widescreen driven by a second PC using Synergy so I use one mouse and keyboard to rule them all as one big monitor. Behind me is one machine with two 17" LCDs. Down stairs is my wife's PC with two 19" LCDs. Yes, I am a big fan of multiple monitors and have been running that way since the days of OS/2

Allan

[Jim L]

At my work I use 2 Dell 17" (4:3 aspect) flatscreen monitors. For this setup we purchased a special graphics card with 2 DVI outputs.

I am a developer and this helps tremendously. One screen is dedicated to my coding/design view while the other is for database/browser/testing.

[jsteinhauer]

Had dual monitors for two years and never used the second one. Back to one.

[fattyslimslim]

Originally Posted by mastertang

I once saw a Mac Pro at the Apple store driving two 30 inch displays. That's 2560-by-1600 pixels each. I just spent 5 minutes opening programs and moving them between the screens. It was beautiful.

You can order the Mac Pro now at apple.com with 4 video cards. Enough to run 8 (eight!) 30" displays!!!!

I personally use my 24" LCD on my G5 tower and sony desktop (Mac-DVI, Sony-VGA). I would love to have more than one, but don't have the room on my desk.