EuanB

Just a couple of quick questions. I've recently bought a new AGP Geforce6 6600 and it has a number of different ports on the back (DVI, VGA + S-Video).

My 1st question is, can I use both the DVI and VGA at the same time if I had 2 monitors, and have an extended desktop across both monitors?

Originally I thought this wasn't possible but my work machine (Dell) has the new PCI slot, and the graphics card has a DVI -> 2 x VGA splitter which I can plug two monitors off of and run at the same time.

Also what do people normally use the S-Video out for, is this normally integrated with some sort of TV Card to output TV signals. Or for outputting a computer screen display to a TV. If the latter then why would you want to do this?

Sorry for all the questions, but realised that I had this new toy and wasn't sure how to make maximum use out of it.

Thanks in advance!
EuanB

Yeti

Yes you can, in fact I'm running a machine right now like that. You can also buy DVI->VGA converters to run two VGA monitors.
Use the S-video out if you want to use your TV as a monitor, or more likely if you want to watch video from your computer on your TV.

EuanB

Thats cool! So I take it I can choose to output the video from Real (or similar) to a seperate out and then watch it from the TV. Or is this done with the Display Control Panel, and choosing the second monitor option there...

Also if you have the dual display option on, and you start a game, is one of the monitors disabled and the game only displayed on one. Or is played across both, or 1 + 1 (game + desktop).

Thanks again,
EuanB

Yeti

Well, you send monitor signal to the TV, not just a single program/player. You should be able to change the settings in the the display setup, or there are usually hot keys to switch between monitors - I think it was ALT+F4 for mine.
When I did it the game would just come on the main monitor and the other monitor would just keep whatever it already had on it.

EuanB

Sounds good, will tinker with it this weekend and see what happens

Cheers,
EuanB

gamerman4

S-Video can also go the other way, you can plug components to your graphics card. for example: plug a VCR to you S-Video port. Your card might come with a composite video cord that allows you to plug the yellow video plug from the Red/White/Yellow A/V jacks into the composite cord and into your card. Also, mine came with progressive scan A/V jacks too for more recent components. I have plugged my Gamecube to my PC once but the resolution isn't too good.

__________________
Intel Q6600 @ 3.00 Ghz
Xigmatek HDT-S1283
ASUS P5Q SE PLUS
HDDs:1 x 500GB 1x 750GB 1x 1000GB
2 x 2GB OCZ DDR2 1066
ATi Radeon HD 4870 1024MB
PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W
Logitech Z-5500
there shouldn't be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

super_xero

would you be able to plug your ps2 then if you pluged gamecube

gamerman4

As long as it uses the Red/White/Yellow plugs, you can plug anything into it. Also, for sound, you would have to get a Y-Splitter to convert the Red/White RCA cords into headphone inserts and plug it into a cord that has 2 headphone jecks on each end, thn plug that into the line-in on your sound card. To get the video, you have to have the WDM drivers of your video card. For ATi cards, the program for viewing it is called ATi TV, I'm not sure what it is for nVidia but it should have one too. I never actually used the S-Video cable on my old FX5200.

__________________
Intel Q6600 @ 3.00 Ghz
Xigmatek HDT-S1283
ASUS P5Q SE PLUS
HDDs:1 x 500GB 1x 750GB 1x 1000GB
2 x 2GB OCZ DDR2 1066
ATi Radeon HD 4870 1024MB
PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W
Logitech Z-5500
there shouldn't be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?