PDA

View Full Version : I need help with two monitors on my computer.



Steve knight
09-21-2010, 12:42 PM
I have a computer that runs my shopbot and i want to put a monitor on the all so I can see what is going on when I am not right in front of my machine. right now the computer runnign it only has a vga out and it does not have a slot for a video card.
both monitors are different one is 13" I think and the new is 24" I also have my spare computer with normal pci 16 slots.the video card in it has to hdmi outs one normal one the multi prong one. will it power both using windows 7? or do I need two video cards. but monitors are running with low settings so things are nice and big.

Dan Hintz
09-21-2010, 1:04 PM
If your video card supports dual monitor, Win7 supports it natively (same with Vista, and pretty much every dual-monitor card has an XP driver that will allow it).

Bill Huber
09-21-2010, 1:57 PM
What you could do is to remote into the ShopBot PC from your spare PC, it would be just like you are setting in front of the ShopBot PC. That is if both PCs are on a network.

If you wanted to put 2 monitors on the same PC you can get a USB device that will do the job. I have used the Tritton ( TRIUV100) one, it sells for around $70. They work fine but the refresh is a little slower then normal.

Bryan Morgan
09-21-2010, 3:42 PM
I have a computer that runs my shopbot and i want to put a monitor on the all so I can see what is going on when I am not right in front of my machine. right now the computer runnign it only has a vga out and it does not have a slot for a video card.
both monitors are different one is 13" I think and the new is 24" I also have my spare computer with normal pci 16 slots.the video card in it has to hdmi outs one normal one the multi prong one. will it power both using windows 7? or do I need two video cards. but monitors are running with low settings so things are nice and big.


Depends on your video card... some will use the HDMI out and VGA or DVI ports concurrently, although these usually display the same thing on both displays. If you want two independent monitors you need to have a card that does this (99% of cards made within the last few years that have two monitor connectors). Depending on how far away you are the cables have a limit of how long they can be without an amplifier or better yet some kind of media converter. (we use these little boxes that convert USB, PS/2, and VGA to CAT5 and then back again with a matching box on the other side).

The best solution is what Bill mentioned. If you are using Windows just enable RDP (Remote Desktop) or a better solution install a VNC server and use a client. There are a bunch of them out there. I can recommend UltraVNC. I say VNC is a little better because with RDP you can accidentally log out the current session on the remote computer. VNC just shows whatever is on the remote screen by default. You can control the remote computer just like you are sitting in front of it.

Steve knight
09-21-2010, 8:29 PM
I am not after seeing the shopbot on my working pc. Hell they are only 2' apart (G) I want to put a 24" monitor on the wall so I can see the display when I am using a bluetooth keyboard on the other end of the table. the same thing on both monitors is fine but they may need different resolutions. I like the usb method as it would be easy using it with any computer. so I don't have to change computers. here is what my shop looks like the monitor will be on the back wall.
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s266/knighttoolworks/photo-1.jpg

Bill Huber
09-21-2010, 9:06 PM
I am not after seeing the shopbot on my working pc. Hell they are only 2' apart (G) I want to put a 24" monitor on the wall so I can see the display when I am using a bluetooth keyboard on the other end of the table. the same thing on both monitors is fine but they may need different resolutions. I like the usb method as it would be easy using it with any computer. so I don't have to change computers. here is what my shop looks like the monitor will be on the back wall.


Then just go with the USB and it should be fine.