Trouble in Paradise (Dual Monitor Problem)

[michs09]

Hello,

Alright guys - so I recently purchased a couple HDTV Monitors that I'm using with my home PC (Saumsung T24B350)

The plan is to be able to use them as dual monitors - I have a VGA cord coming from each monitor connected to a DVI splitter which allows me to plug the monitors into my graphics directly

What's happening is I'm getting a dual projection but my PC isn't able to recognize a second monitor which means I can't extend but rather only duplicate an image

If you could let me know some solutions that would be really appreciated

 

[bignastyid]

What video card are you using? Splitters only clone the output they are attached to, they do not support extended desktop.

 

[ebola28]

you need two separate cables from two different outputs to extend. the splitter actually only splits the same identical output which is why you can only get duplicate images.

 

[photonboy]

I agree.
Also, do NOT use VGA if you can avoid it.

If your graphics card has two DVI outputs, use one for each monitor. If you have a DVI and HDMI do the same thing, however you'll want an HDMI->DVI cable. (monoprice or similarly inexpensive store).

Once you're physically hooked up you'll need to sort things out in your graphics cards control panel.

*If you don't game, you can get an inexpensive graphics card like the HD6450 1GB which should work fine if it has an HDMI and DVI output.

WARNING:
HDMI inputs on monitors are generally meant for BluRay and other HDTV media devices. They will work, but the setup is different (HDTV section, i.e. 1080pNTSC60). Avoid the HDMI input and use the DVI input on the monitor.

The HDMI output on a graphics card supports BOTH the monitor and HDTV standards. By using the HDMI->DVI cable you pass along only the video portion. Audio output on desktop PC's is a big problem anyway as graphics cards usually are not connected to the onboard audio or sound card. They use an audio decoder on the graphics card to decode movie sounds.

*Make sure your video drivers are up to date. The CONTROL PANEL (NVidia, AMD, or Intel) should be accessible from the System Tray in the lower-right of your desktop.

SUMMARY:
- DVI cable for each monitor if possible
- alternative: DVI->DVI for Monitor1, and HDMI->DVI for monitor2
- setup on CONTROL PANEL for video card
- if needed, consider an HD6450 if current graphics card can't output properly to both monitors