Dual Monitors

Working on two monitors

Working on dual monitors allows the user to be able to have and view multiple documents open at the same time. Gamers use this setup to have more information available to them while playing. It’s beneficial for designers to have two monitors set up because they can switch and drag and drop files between different programs with ease. The user has the choice of how the desktop background and documents fit on both monitors. A dual monitor background is really one large image, rather than two separate backgrounds. It is very easy to set up a system with more than one monitor, and once the user has become used to the setup, it is hard to go back to one monitor.

Dual Monitor Setup

In order to use two monitors on your computer system, a couple of items are necessary. First, obviously, you will need two different monitors. Secondly, you will need to have a dual monitor video card. These video cards have two VGA or DMI outputs and are available on the higher-end graphic cards from companies such Nvidia or ATI technologies. These graphics cards will come with dual monitor software or the software can be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website. Once the card is installed and the monitors are connected, the user then chooses the dual monitor option from the display properties manager dialog box.

Options for a dual monitor card can numerous. When setting up the options, the user will be prompted to choose the primary monitor. This is the monitor the user will work from most of the time. Next the user will decide which side the secondary monitor will be on; dragging the option on the screen will orient the mouse cursor properly so it will go from one monitor to the other seamlessly. Monitors can be stacked one on top of each other or placed side by side. The user has a couple of options for working with two monitors. Either the monitors can be worked upon separately where documents and programs can be in separate windows, or they can be used as one large monitor. Either way, having a dual monitor work station can be beneficial to the user.