Benefits of multiple displays?

[Theblackoutow]

What would someone who plays games, and does a lot of internet browsing have to benefit from this? Is it worth it running two 26" monitors?
I ask because I see a few people in the community have it, one that recently interested me was Joh06937 who posted this picture
http://www.computerforum.com/attach...t-pic-your-pc-here-img00232-20100214-0035.jpg

 

[tremmor]

I have two samsung sycmaster 24". besides monitoring two sites i use it to edit pictures. Original on one screen and edit on the other. thats basically what i use it for. on the other hand i find it useful to do something and read a doc file on one screen and perform on the other screen. example would be maybe how to set up junk controls on thunderbird and perform it on the other screen. at least i dont have to print it or be bothered with minimizing between both programs. do like it though.

 

[joh06937]

glad you liked my pic . i always have a lot of apps open like vuze, zune, and google chrome, or some combination of windows that tends to get a little crowded. the dual monitors (and soon triple) really open things up and makes everything seem a lot less cluttered. i would recommend getting dual or triple (or more) monitors but that really comes down to personal preference, budget, etc.

 

[sniperchang]

I have four monitors, and I would get more if I coud get my hands on more LCDs. They're not that benefitial for gamming unless you have a card that can drive three monitors by itself (Like some of the new ATI 5000 series). The reason for this is that you cannot span a game accross different GPUs. But you can span gamings accross screens that are on the same GPU. Since most GPUs only support two monitors, spanning games accross two monitors sucks, because you get s split in the middle.

However, when it comes to everything else, especially internet browsing,or any other work or non-full screen program you can think of, multiple monitors has an imense benefit. Your productivity increases exponantially with the number of monitors you have.

When I do programming, I can have my IDE software in one montitor, have refrences on the internet on two other monitors, have a folder open quick browsing on the fourth monitor. You'd be amazed how much time you save from having to close and open your windows continously.

 

[Theblackoutow]

Well, you still get that split in the middle with four monitors lol...

 

[Jamin43]

I've got 2 and would run more if I could get em for free. My second PC is usually a media monitor
- it'll have my Media player
- or TV Tuner displayed on it when I'm using them -
I can watch a youtube video on one screen and surf on another.
- I can have MS Word document open - and do a surf on the next screen for the document I have. Would a window tab be workable - yep - but 2nd screen is easier to use - and more productive IMHO b/c of it.
- I have my Sticky yellow Note pad on my 2nd monitor at all times - with notes that are quasi-permanent - while the main screen has my desktop on it.
- I can have open Core Temp in 2nd monitor - to monitor temp / usage of PC on various applications - while I do things like Video editing - gaming - etc - to get a visual display of how my PC is working through various applications.

 

[lubo4444]

In my opinion i dont really like running two monitors or more. Just get a bigger screen and connect your pc to it. I dont like how it looks. But that's me.

 

[sniperchang]

Here's what my setup looks like

Pardon the shitty camera

 

[Theblackoutow]

I like what you did with that top display up their, but damn that CRT's colors are horrible. Or is it the angle? I know a lot of people like CRT's but I've never been fond of them.

 

[tremmor]

they are lcd's. its the wallpaper from microsoft. i do not know anybody even using a crt anymore.

 

[viper110110]

I think it would only be really cool if they were the same monitor, assuming I'm putting the money into it. For free I'll take whatever, of course

 

[Theblackoutow]

they are lcd's. its the wallpaper from microsoft. i do not know anybody even using a crt anymore.

Lol, Tremor, look at his signature.
Monitor(s): 2x 22"wide Samsung 226BW, 17" philips crt, 17" samsung LCD (Quad Display)
So it's either the Philips or the Samsung, and I know it's not the Samsung they have great monitors.

 

[Feuerfrei.x]

they are lcd's. its the wallpaper from microsoft. i do not know anybody even using a crt anymore.

me lol

 

[lubo4444]

On my old PC i use crt monitor too lol. Actually it is a really good monitor.

 

[Shane]

On my old PC i use crt monitor too lol. Actually it is a really good monitor.

Same here...i have a 17" HP CRT monitor in the attic collecting dust,ive not used it in years but kept it just incase.

At the moment i have a 22" Widescreen LCD monitor,I also have a 19" Widescreen LCD aswell collecting dust that id like to put to use,the only problem is that if i enable dual displays....when im playing games (especialy FPSs) the aiming is all messed up because it sort of stretches to the other monitor,even though i dont have the game running on both...just the 22",not been able to figure out why yet.

 

[joh06937]

as mentioned the fps games suck with dual monitors. the only game that i have come across that shift the center over to one monitor and has the other as if in eyefinity is paradise city. i wish more would do that. i wonder why they don't...

 

[sniperchang]

Lol, Tremor, look at his signature.
Monitor(s): 2x 22"wide Samsung 226BW, 17" philips crt, 17" samsung LCD (Quad Display)
So it's either the Philips or the Samsung, and I know it's not the Samsung they have great monitors.

The crt is the bottom right. The top is an old Samsung LCD, although it's the viewing angle that kills the image.

I'm thinking of replacing that crt with another 22". Sweet.

[...] i do not know anybody even using a crt anymore.

You do now! But hopefully not for long.

as mentioned the fps games suck with dual monitors.

Ya, when gaming I use the center monitor, and turn off the rest.

the only game that i have come across that shift the center over to one monitor and has the other as if in eyefinity is paradise city. i wish more would do that. i wonder why they don't...

Actually, Startrek Armada II was one of the very few games that support dual-head. It used one monitor for normal gaming, while the other was doing animation (flying camera of selected units or just random flying camera where the action was).

Same here...i have a 17" HP CRT monitor in the attic collecting dust,ive not used it in years but kept it just incase.

At the moment i have a 22" Widescreen LCD monitor,I also have a 19" Widescreen LCD aswell collecting dust that id like to put to use,the only problem is that if i enable dual displays....when im playing games (especialy FPSs) the aiming is all messed up because it sort of stretches to the other monitor,even though i dont have the game running on both...just the 22",not been able to figure out why yet.

That's weird. Never had a problem like that. Could it be an ATI thing? Maybe you can find a setting with ATI drivers. For nvidia, there's two modes you can set, extended desktop(normal multi-desktop space mode) or span mode (which is a virtual large monitor of the monitors on the same GPU use to span full screen programs).

 

[87dtna]

I have a Dell m991 19'' CRT that does 1600x1200 resolution, great gaming monitor I only upgraded to a 1080 21.5'' LCD about 6 months ago cuz I wanted widescreen which helps with gaming.

But as far as having 2 displays, I've been thinking about it to be able to be playing a game and still have another screen up to instant message or even burn a dvd/cd or something while gaming. I could see it being useful.