I'm sure 95 % of you are running your system with one monitor. Primarily because that is the default for any computer. What if i told you that running your system with dual monitors or even triple monitors will increase your user performance extensively?

Ways it helps:
- can play some games while instant messaging, writing emails, watching movie on other screen, looking up something online, etc...
- Helps with working on websites or other programming, because code can be on one side, while the preview image is on the other monitor.
- Spreads the space out so you have more table top room, which allows you to use it more efficiently.
- Working on essays: you can have your word processor on one side and your source on the other monitor.

their are an exponensial amount of pro's to having dual/trip monitors.

this is how to get it working:

in order for all of this to work, you obviously need another monitor or a tv next to your computer.

Step 1:
- check your computer hardware guide to see what kind of graphic card your computer supports (AGP, or PCI).
- after checking which kind of port your computer offers buy a video card, a good place to do research for one is http://tomshardware.com and an excelent place to buy is http://newegg.com
- Nvidia is better w/ dual monitors than Radeon are more effective w/ games.

Step 2:
- now that you have your video card, it's time to install it.
- Make sure your computer is turned off for this next step.
- take the case off of your computer and your motherboard manual should show you where the video card port is.
- it should click right in.
- after the hardware is installed into your computer, you now must instal the software required to run it.

Step 3: FOR A MONITOR
- plug the primary monitor into the video card monitor port, and plug the secondary monitor into the default computer monitor port.

Step 3:FOR A TV WITH SVIDEO
- if you don't have an svideo chord that can reach from your tv to your computer then buy one or move your tv closer.
- plug the chord into the svideo input in the video card, then plug the other end into the tv svideo input.

Step 3: FOR A TV W/OUT SVIDEO OPTION
- buy an Svideo --> RCA male/IN adapter, at radioshack and best buy they are about 20 dollars, but i bought one on ebay fro 99 cents w/out shipping.
- then plug the svideo chord to the svideo option in the video card panel, then plug the other end to the adapter, then the adapter to one of your rca inputs.

Step 4:
- turn on your computer, a prompt should come up saying your computer has revieled new hardware. put in the software installation cd, which should be included, if not go to the website of your video card manufacturer and download the driver for the specified video card.
- after the driver/software is installed install any extra required programs, i.e. upgraded directX version... restart your computer.

Step 5:
- both monitors should be working when the computer is rebooted. If not then right click on the desktop--> properties --> settings --> click on the video card monitor should be a little box w/ monitors, activate the check box that say "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor." if already activated, go to the other monitor.
- if there is only one monitor click "advanced" --> click the tab of the video card --> dual displays or display settings.

any questions just pm me or email me

thanks,
matt

This looks more easy than it realy is. Dual Monitor shouldn't pose any problems, but when you start connecting a TV it gets harder.
There are a lot of problems you can get, like totaly nothing, or only grayscale, scattered view, ...
Google should normaly give a solution for the problem.

Another nice thing about todays technology is MORE, what about ... 4 monitors . You only need SLI setup that isn't configed as a SLI setup (tough I thing nV has already changed that, so you can have 4 monitors in SLI).

There also on thing I doubt about, is it realy possible to have 2 monitors and a TV connected to your graka at the same time ???

YES, it is possible to have 2 monitors and your tv set up at the same time, however, it is not possible, i believe, to have all 3 monitors as different desktop space...

the 2 monitors are expanded desktops, where the tv is a "clone" to the primary monitor. I mean, why would you want a seperate desktop on the tv anyways unless you have the best video card/tv setup, the quality on the tv won't be up to par to be able to do much with the desktop and everyday needs.

then that brings you to the question "why would you want the tv plugged in if you're saying the quality isn't good?"

i'm not saying the quality isn't good... all the time. The best part of having your tv as a 3rd monitor is mainly when you're watching a movie, or working on video editing/graphic design, it is possible to have the display autospanned to the tv in full screen so you get the full effect, and the full screen span is at top quality. it works great.

also helps while working in power points, you can work on the power point on your primary monitor, while the final view of the slide is displayed on your tv. MARVELS!!

thanks,
matt

apparently the only restriction on the amount seperate desktop monitors is have many graphics cards and what drivers you have. i myself have seen three screen audio editing computers.

you are right, i was relating to the tutorial which involves just one video card, my bad, good catch.

triple monitors will slow down your computer. usually if you can afford a bigger monitor you can afford a better computer so what can fit on your monitor is what the computer can handle. thats how i look at it anyways i have 3 monitors but it got confusing because sometimes i did'nt have all 3 on and a window would jump to another one. mind you on my mac i used an extension cord to use our tv as a paralell monitor so i can show people slide shows etc off the tv etc. the two monitors are mirrored and not seperate.

I remember seeing it somewhere that Windows 98 can connect a maximum of 7 monitors if you have the hardware capability, capacity or even money

I don't think it will maximize productivity by much. A Dell infomercial said that widescreen monitors can improve productivity by up to 37%, because you can tile windows vertically but that should be sufficient. Also, with blazing fast Alt+Tab switching key combinations, you'll soon notice that there is not much difference.

Although the entire process is easy, I don't think it will be necessary for gamers, home users or anyone else, unless you need hardcore 12 windows visible at once.

I don't think the amount of monitors should slow down your computer. I have worked with with computer with as much as 4 monitors connected to one workstation (one video card). I disconnect and reconnect a bunch of these and then test them out. I didn't notice any lag or slowdown at all. On top of that, these are not exactly top notch computers.

The main thing you need to do (configuring-wise), is to enable those monitors so they can be extended. Then putting them in a order that's fit for you....left to right, or whatever position your monitors are in.

Having multiple monitors is more than just having more space. It can be a huge time saver for some people...say those on a trading floor. They have mulitple programs opened and each program have it's own monitor. Try doing that on a single monitor at full size for each program...not quite possible if you ask me

ok, well i tried connecting my TV to my computer via the svideo port on my video card and I ran into trouble.

For one, it doesn't appear as though my computer is recognizing that the TV is there....it simply doesn't seem to have any options for it....

It lists my card has Nvidia Gforce 2 MX 400 w/ TV Out

so I am not sure what I am doing wrong here....

Can anybody lead me on the right path?

If you are having trouble setting up with 2 graphics cards, you can look into buying display cards that support multiple monitors. They are much easier setting up and running. For example Matrox has graphic cards that can connect 2 displays and their drivers make the installation fairly easy. I am sure there are other manufactors too.

One thing I can tell you, once you have a computer with 2 displays and get used to working with them you will never go back to a single display computer.