Desktops: two displays independent of each other?

by tubaloth - 10/17/06 7:36 AM

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two displays independent of each other?

by tubaloth - 10/17/06 7:36 AM

I am thinking of building a computer sometime the first of next year. I would like it to be pretty much everything I want in a PC. Gaming, Media Center (record TV) and some video Editing. I probably would hook it up to some HDTV with Monitor support. I have two questions.

1. what do you recommend I use for this type of system (parts)?

2. I think there well be times I would want to use the computer just as a normal computer. (not on the big TV screen). Is there a way to hook up another monitor that would allow me to use the computer just as a normal desktop system? I guess what I am thinking is having one cable connect to the HDTV monitor, and one just a normal 20" monitor. (I'm not sure if the cables would be long enough). Then be able to use the Normal Desktop monitor as a normal pc, start menu and surf the web play games. And be able to do the same things on the other TV/Monitor? (The Wireless Mouse and Keyboard would be able to be used on both screens)

I know in a dual Monitor set up everything is really one big screen. What I want is two separate screens able to run two different programs from the same PC? Am I just dreaming, or a head of the times?

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re:

by blakejohann - 10/17/06 7:58 AM In reply to: two displays independent of each other? by tubaloth

This is very possible. I recommend using an nvidia graphics card with nview support. You can then setup using dualview with you monitor hooked up with dvi and your hdtv with dvi or component (all the adaptors should come with the card. You can get dvi and component cables up to 100 feet in length, so that shouldnt be an issue. You can even set it to auto fullscreen any movie you're watching to the hdtv, allowing you to do stuff on your computer while watching the movie. The nvidia graphics cards also have scaling technology that up the resolution of any video you're watching to HD. Fun times we live in indeed!
Just make sure you get a graphics card with at least 256 megs of ram, as HD rendoring can be quite taxing.

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Wow

by tubaloth - 10/17/06 8:22 AM In reply to: re: by blakejohann

I hadn't heard of that before. Do you know if ATI has anything like that. (I'm a little more familiar with there products).

Do all the newer nvidia cards come with nview?

Thanks

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multiplexing

by cwm226 - 10/17/06 10:16 AM In reply to: two displays independent of each other? by tubaloth

I've built a computer like that only without the hdtv monitor support. Mine has 2 vga ports and I can assign mice to either one virtual machine or another. It's one computer, with vga ports availability for 2x2 PS2 ports. You can also assign mice and keyboards to either user. Here is a link to anandtech that reviews it. You might be able to swap in your own video card with hdtv support because it does have an agp slot. There could be newer mondels with better specs by now, this is just the one I used.

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