Dual Monitors in Windows Vista

Question：

Dear everybody,

 How do I use my 42" Wide Screen in the extended mode so that the video is HD wide screen on the 42" and a different image size on the flat panel monitor.
I am using an Diamond ATI Radeon 3650 Graphics, E8400 processor, 8 GB memory, 32bit, 1.62 TB of storage.


Help

Howard

Answer 1：Hello HowardMBrown,

Thank you for posting.  I have some steps below on how to do just what you want.  I will give you the steps to do this in Vista, but it will work better if you use the ATI Catalyst Control Center to control your displays.

Add a second monitor

 

To add a second monitor to your computer, you'll need to make sure that you either have a video card that supports multiple monitors, or that your computer has more than one video card. The easiest way to determine if your video card supports multiple monitors is to look at the back of your computer and see if your card has two video ports for connecting your monitors.

VGA and DVI ports

 

Once you have made sure that your video card can support a second monitor, follow these steps to add the additional monitor:

1. Turn off your computer and monitor.

2. Locate the video ports on your computer. (See illustration.)

3. Connect the second monitor to the unused video port.

4. Plug the second monitor into an electrical power source and turn it on.

5. Turn on your original monitor.

6. Turn on your computer.

   Windows should recognize the monitor once the computer has started. If you are prompted to install driver software, see the instructions that came with the monitor.

Notes

• You can also check your video card manufacturer's website to determine if the card supports multiple monitors. If you don't know the make and model of your video card, see "How do I find out what kind of video card my computer has?" in Video cards: frequently asked questions.

• Some video cards might include a special cable that splits a single connector into two. If your card supports such a splitter, it should have been included with your computer.
  
  

  Windows can automatically detect only one additional display. If you connect two or more monitors, you must manually designate the primary display, arrange your desktop, and apply display settings, such as screen resolution and color depth. Then, the next time that you connect these monitors, Windows automatically identifies the primary display and applies the settings that you previously specified for each additional display.

  To change display settings

  1. Click to open Display Settings.

  2. To designate the primary display, on the Monitor tab, click the icon that corresponds to the monitor that you want to designate as the primary display, and then select the This is my main monitor check box.

  3. Select the screen resolution and color quality for each monitor that you're using.

  
  Below is a link to a guide for the ATI Catalyst Control Center.
  
  http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_6.html
  

---

Zack


Answer 2：Windows knows the monitors are there, through my ATI graphics. What I want is NERO Showtime to have full screen on my wide screen TV and a window on my computer monitor. I want to adjust settings of NERO on my monitor without inferring with the full screen on my TV. It works fine in Windows XP.


Howard M Brown

Answer 3：Hello Howard,

What you want is called Theater mode in ATI Catalyst Driver settings.  The link I gave you earlier had full directions on ATI CAtalyst driver setting.  I will post that link again in case you missed it.
http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_5.html

Please be sure to browse the full contents of the article on ATI Catalyst.

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Zack