Dual Monitors w/ Different Resolutions?

Dave R · 25 Dec 2010, 21:39

I finally got my Wacom Cintiq 21UX the other day. It's very cool but... on my PC, I have a 25" monitor which has a native res of 1900 x something. The Cintiq is 1600x1200. If I set the resolution to match my primary, the image runs off the ends of the Cintiq. If I set it to 1600x1200, everything looks squashed on my primary. I don't really mind the screen running off the ends of the screen on the Cintiq because I can deal with that but I can't calibrate the pen because of the cal marks are off the screen.

So my question is, short of adding a second video card which would require a new mother board too, is there a way to set up two different resolution settings?

HFM · 25 Dec 2010, 23:29

Hey Dave,

There's no real need of a second GPU just because you want two resolutions, Windows XP supports different resolutions. There is a snatch however. Since your resolutions are pretty high you'll need a decent GPU to run both screens. To adjust the resolutions, right click the desktop, select 'properties'; select the 'settings' tab and set the primary [your desktop] and the secondary [you Wacom Cintiq 21UX... *looks kinda sad at his Wacom tablet ] to the preferred screen resolution and voila! http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/hwandprograms/monitors.mspx

PS. If your GPU might have some trouble with the two resolutions at once, you can switch screens on and off with [windows key] + p. This switches between only primary; only secondary; extending between the two desktops; duplicating. The only secondary option could give some better performance options when your GPU is having a hard time

PPS. There is also some handy software if you plan to switch often between a single desktop screen and a combo. Ultramon http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/ can save the settings you make per option, allowing to switch between them with a single keyboard command.

Enjoy your new 'toy'

dsarchs · 26 Dec 2010, 16:36

I'd have to search for the article but I recently read that dual monitors set at different resolutions use considerably more power (like 63 watts and 11 deg. C in the example they used) than 2 with same resolution.

[edit] here's the article (I'm not sure if the result is due to the graphics card or not):
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-570-gf110-performance,2806-2.html

Dave R · 27 Dec 2010, 23:50

Thanks for the suggestions and so on. I ended up using the NIVIDIA DualView mode which works. I don't know what that will do to the power consumption but we'll see.