Win2k - Dual monitors - Do you have to run them at the same resolution?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Utter Newbie
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Utter Newbie

I was just wondering if anyone knows if you have to run dual monitors
at the same resolution under Winows 2000? I have a 19" crt running at
1280x1024 and was thinking of getting a 21" crt and running it at
1600x1200 at the same time. I have a radeon 9500pro (hydravision). Is
this possible using the latest catalyst drivers?

I've heard you can under XP but I've tried looking it up for Win2k and
it seems I can't find a clear answer. Thanks for any info.
 
Utter Newbie said:
I was just wondering if anyone knows if you have to run dual monitors
at the same resolution under Winows 2000? I have a 19" crt running at
1280x1024 and was thinking of getting a 21" crt and running it at
1600x1200 at the same time. I have a radeon 9500pro (hydravision). Is
this possible using the latest catalyst drivers?

I've heard you can under XP but I've tried looking it up for Win2k and
it seems I can't find a clear answer. Thanks for any info.
Click to expand...

You've got it right.

Windows 2000 hasn't got fully independent multi-monitor settings.

So all monitors must run at the same resolution, colour depth and refresh
rate.
I looked into this when i used W2K and got a second monitor.

I couldn't get along with W2K any more - the monitors needed individual
settings to be of any use.
So i've been using WinXP since then.

I think that Win98 has truly indendent multi-monitor settings too - but i'm
not 100% sure.

Martin.
 
I was just wondering if anyone knows if you have to run dual monitors
at the same resolution under Winows 2000? I have a 19" crt running at
1280x1024 and was thinking of getting a 21" crt and running it at
1600x1200 at the same time. I have a radeon 9500pro (hydravision). Is
this possible using the latest catalyst drivers?

I've heard you can under XP but I've tried looking it up for Win2k and
it seems I can't find a clear answer. Thanks for any info.
Click to expand...

It depends on the card and driver combination.
I am currently using 2 LCDs at 1024*768 and a 17" CRT at 1280*1024.
Some cards map the desktop across as one monitor, some treat each
as seperate desktop (in a "sort of" way) Look for dual head cards with
dual chips not dual output chip. Current config will allow me to play a full
screen video on any of three desktops and continue to use the other 2
for what I wish.
What chipset does the 9500 use?
I am currently running a nVidea vanta AGP with Appian J2k PCI and
find it better than the combo of (2)Appian Hurricanes or 1Hurricane and
the vanta. But space restraints keep me from using 2 J2K's that worked fine
until I had to put it all in one spot.
 
Utter said:
I was just wondering if anyone knows if you have to run dual monitors
at the same resolution under Winows 2000? I have a 19" crt running at
1280x1024 and was thinking of getting a 21" crt and running it at
1600x1200 at the same time. I have a radeon 9500pro (hydravision). Is
this possible using the latest catalyst drivers?

I've heard you can under XP but I've tried looking it up for Win2k and
it seems I can't find a clear answer. Thanks for any info.
Click to expand...

Should work. I used to have a Radeon 9000 Pro and a pair of 17" CRTs,
and I'm pretty sure I could adjust resolution/colour depth/refresh rate
independently. I now have a Radeon 9700 Pro (which is basically just a
faster 9500 Pro), and the display settings show two monitors (with one
greyed out because I no longer have a second monitor connected). The
second output is currently set to 640x480 in 256 colours, with the
primary at 1024x768, 32-bit.

If your 9500 Pro has the same output connectors as my two cards, you
will need a DVI->VGA adapter to plug the second CRT in.

Ian
 
Martin said:
You've got it right.

Windows 2000 hasn't got fully independent multi-monitor settings.

So all monitors must run at the same resolution, colour depth and refresh
rate.
I looked into this when i used W2K and got a second monitor.

I couldn't get along with W2K any more - the monitors needed individual
settings to be of any use.
So i've been using WinXP since then.

I think that Win98 has truly indendent multi-monitor settings too - but i'm
not 100% sure.

Martin.
Click to expand...

Maybe i should have added that i was referring to a typical dual VGA output
type of setup, and not to the use of two or more graphics cards to create a
multi-monitor system.

Martin.
 
Utter Newbie said:
I was just wondering if anyone knows if you have to run dual monitors
at the same resolution under Winows 2000? I have a 19" crt running at
1280x1024 and was thinking of getting a 21" crt and running it at
1600x1200 at the same time. I have a radeon 9500pro (hydravision). Is
this possible using the latest catalyst drivers?

I've heard you can under XP but I've tried looking it up for Win2k and
it seems I can't find a clear answer. Thanks for any info.
Click to expand...

You can do this with Matrox dual head cards but AFAIK is problematic with
many other cards.

Expensive answer is to update to XP cheap answer is to get a secondhand
Matrox dual head card prefarable of G550 or P series but you do lose any
chance of playing modern games.

A good site for everything multi monitor wise is
http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/

Hope this helps

Andy
 
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