Dual Monitor Situation :(

I have created a dual monitor screen saver but i am finding that i cant set the resolution any higher that 2000 wide. Is there a reason for this?
I would like it to size to 2560x1024 but i am only able to get 1600x600, which kinda looks dos-like on dual 19" LCDs.

I don't think you are the first person to say this...

yeah, i ran into a similar problem with something a while back.. i run two monitors totaling a resolution of 3200x1200.. no go :(

Tracer

I have two monitors, left one at 1024, and right one at 1152.

I noticed today that when using Paint Shop Pro, if I drag the app width to something less than 2000 and close the app, it will restore to that width upon reopening.

However, if I drag the width to something wider than 2000 and close the app, it will reset itself to something like 800 upon reopening.

Icecap,

I think the problem lies with your graphics card drivers - they will be pretty standard drivers, for average PC users. You need to refer to the graphics card manufacturers' website for special drivers.

With the progress of Digital Signage you may strike lucky and find that they have created a driver for a variety of resolutions.

I know ATI were involved with Scala to develop drivers for the newer resolution plasma screens. Essentially these would help users to run there presentations vertically instead of landscape, and at a variety of new, unusual sizes.


Dual monitors - PAH! :) Quad monitors! Yehay!

Other than that, you could purchase the QID from Matrox. This has FOUR - yes I said FOUR - outputs and comes in a couple of flavours, PCI, AGP, memory differences.

http://www.matrox.com/mga/pid/products/qid.cfm

The 1600 x 1200 stated resolution is for each screen attached so you will have 4x1600x1200 max resolution. I do not know if you can mix and match.

The way it works is two outputs on the back, plug into two cables with two more cables hanging off the end, giving you a total of four plugs. These can be DVI or D-SUB. Four convertors come with the card. Thanks Matrox - (although solid cards they are notoriously not very fast compared to ATI or nVidia).

IPete2.

Well i have the latest drivers from nVidia, i also have the latest card - 6800 Ultra 256mb.
So any other suggestions?

I have a geforce FX 5900 with the 61.77 drivers and I have been able to run a b3d exe at 2048*768 without any problem. The same doesn't apply to the radeon 9800 card with which the same exe reports "unable to set graphic mode". The exe is running in full screen, 32 bits.

Icecap,

just a quick thought, try running it as a window not a fullscreen exe.

IPete2.

It *is* possible to do this, but troublesome. You'll have to manually change your display settings to make it work...

- Go to your display properties
- Click on the "Settings" tab
- Click "Advanced"
- Click on the "GeForce" tab
- Click on "NVidia Display Mode"
- Select "Horizontal Span" (Instead of "Dual View", which has most likely been selected)

Now, in your program, you'll need to make the application windowed and scalable...
Graphics3D 1280,512,32,3
...this is one quarter the resolution of your total screen area, because (at least with my 5800FX) a very wide resolution doesn't seem to be possible. This will be the same aspect ratio, so when you maximize the window, it should completely cover both displays. Somewhere in the code archives are userlib commands to let you maximize the window, and even get rid of the title bar.

The only real problem with this approach is that you almost certainly will hate trying to work normally using "Horizontal Span" since all windows maximise across both displays, and popups appear centered on the divide between the monitors. Unless you want to go to all this trouble just before letting your computer sit for twenty minutes, just so the screensaver will cover both monitors, you're probably not going to be crazy about this solution---but it's the only way to get 3D to spread across both monitors. If, on the other hand, you wanted to set up some kind of public display with multiple monitors running a 3D graphics spectacular, then this would work, even with a quad display... but then Matrox may have set things up a little differently from NVidia. ;)

that is not totally true. if you dig in a bit deeper you'll find options to make apps resize to the window they are in, and for popups to show centered, in the middle of the active screen, in the middle of the application screen or something like that. Worked for me, untill one of my monitors died (and I haven't bought a new one yet :/ )

Using "Horizontal Span" makes the two monitors behave as if they're one screen, which is why windows maximise across both and center themselves over the split. But maybe you're talking about some sort of options I've missed? Or maybe we're using different versions of the drivers...?

You're sure you're not thinking of the "Dual View" option? If so, yes it will stop those things from happening, but it'll also stop you from being able to spread a 3D app across both monitors.

I have tried on dualview and horizontal view and the same thing happends. It is weird as i have done it on a Ti4200. But these new fangled 6800ultras act really weirdly.

Its probably the card from reading your posts.

Cheers guys.

ICECAP, if you use two monitors, try UltraMon ( http://www.ultramon.com ), it's the bomb for multi-monitor setups.

Tracer