Multi Display different resolution question

[chaosss]

Hi guys,

Got a question about running different resolutions to different screens.

Basically I am distributing a media centre PC to 3 TV's. Now 2 of these will be normally HD ready screens running 1366 (or whatever) resolution to give me a 1-1 pixel mapping.

I am about to buy the 3rd screen. I fancy a 1080P set but will I be able to set the resolution from the PC to give different on this screen? I know if I used extended desktop I could but I want all 3 to always show the same (i.e. desktop, media centre etc.).

Or do I need to have all 3 LCD's with the same native resolution to get 1:1 pixel mapping on all of them?

 

[Singh400]

I know you can run computer screens at different resoultion in multi-monitor setups. TBH, I think it should work, theres no reason it shouldn't. Give it.

 

[bardel]

I dont think this is possible but happy to be proven wrong.

You can either set windows to send the same display to multiple monitors at the same res (as you are now), or you can set it to "extend" the desktop.

Extending the desktop gives you the ability to configure each screen independently so you could configure each screen as appropriate. However, when running media centre you can only maximise the application to one of the two desktops. You can move it between but not display them both at the same time...

Have a fiddle though and post back here with your findings. I tried under XP MCE and wasnt successful. I have Vista installed now and haven't revisited tis issue yet.

Cheers

Barry

 

[kaidiez]

or.... u can run in dual. You have mentioned span and clone. I run in a dual setup mon 1 is 1280x1024 second is 1650x1080. But obviously if you are running displays at different resolutions you need a seperate vga or dvi port for each of them, the gfx card will not know where the signal is going.

I do not know how you would show all 3 of the screens the same thing at different resolutions tbh. Unless there is a media player that can clone itself over 2 screens or the gfx card can keep up with 2 shows at once, which might be debatable at 2x720p or 2x1080p but i have no experience on this my comp struggles with 1 1080p film.

It may be possible to run a second gfx card in your comp and run a screen off that (apparently) in a spare pci(-e i am not sure..) slot but i thought this would only work in sli or crossfire so someone with mroe exp should be able to confirm it.

 

[bardel]

Hi Kaidiez,

can you explain how "Dual" differs from "clone" or "span"? Is it effectively "clone" but allows you to use a different resolution? If so, then I would think that could be the answer to our problems.

I think I saw something on another post that indicates that maybe the ATi driver suite has more functionality in this area. I've recently switched from an NVidia 6600GT to Ati 2400XT, so maybe I'll get better functionality from this.

I'll take a look later and let you know how I get on. It would be great if I can get this working as I can then get the mini LCD on the front of my Rotel RSP1098 showing the media centre menu for selecting music tracks rather than firing up the big screen just to select audio.

Barry

 

[chaosss]

dual means having two seperate desktops, i.e. they show different content. It is a way of extending your desktop.

Clone (which is what I want) means having the same on each monitor. After doing more research it doesn't seem possible easily.

My plan is to now run 720p the majority of the time and when I want to run 1080p it will be linked to a hotkey so a quick button press will change the resolution.

 

[bardel]

dual means having two seperate desktops, i.e. they show different content. It is a way of extending your desktop.

Clone (which is what I want) means having the same on each monitor. After doing more research it doesn't seem possible easily.

My plan is to now run 720p the majority of the time and when I want to run 1080p it will be linked to a hotkey so a quick button press will change the resolution.

So it's the same as "span" then (which is extended desktop). Hmmm, oh well, I was thinking hotkey was the way to go to, probably with a button configured to access it on the remote if at all possible.

 

[bardel]

Well, this is what I achieved last night...

I now have my baby lcd on my Rotel amp connected again via Composite cable and it is configured as a TV display by the ATi card.

The ATi is the same as the Nvidia in that if I use the clone mode, then the display scales down to 1024x768 as this is the largest resolution that it can output to a CRT / Composite output. This isn't really desirable as I want to keep the LCD panel at 1360x768.

So I configured two profiles in the Catalyst Control Centre, one for the LCD @ 1360x768 and one for the Amp @ 800x600 and assigned hotkeys to them.

I've then assigned the hotkey key strokes to two buttons on my remote and I can now switch the media PC between them.

I still have a problem though in that when Media Centre is full screen and I switch resolutions, that the display's are just a black screen, the only way to clear this is to force another application to come up which causes the screens to refresh. Not sure how I'm going to get around this, but I can kind of live with it for the minute as my remote has a button for bringing up a task list of running applications which I can then cancel which has the effect of refreshing the screen.

So eventually, when I get round to putting my projector in (which is a different resolution again, I should be able to do the same thing with an extra profile.

 

[chrisbaker42]

It depends what OS you are using because Ultramon has a mirroring function which will do exactly what you want but this function is not available yet for Vista.

 

[bardel]

hmm, I'll have to google Ultramon and see what it does. Unfortunately I am running vista, so it looks like I'll have to wait for an update if its up to the job.

 

[Dunkwho]

I tried doing this with ultramon for my 2 video outputs (TV 1024x576, PJ 1280x720) ... technically it'll do it but it seems to basically copy the video buffer - fine for desktop applications but not fine for video playback, it just can't keep up on the mirrored copy.

I've had to give up now and run extended with a toggle primary function (MCE displays on the primary display less dragged to the secondary).

Duncan.