Tapas Das 2004-07-03 13:18
THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
I am so glad to have found your website. You guys have created the best resource for running multiple monitors. I browsed all the information you have assimilated and this helped me to set up my own multi-monitor system.
www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/gallery_browse.asp?ID=507
I am using a stock Dell Dimension 4600 computer running Windows XP Home. It came with an AGP 128MB Nvidia GeForce FX5200 graphics card. I was able to hook up two Dell 19” LCD monitors to this using the dual DVI and VGA ports on the card.
I browsed through all the entries on your site and decided to give the Chaintech PCI P-FX20 graphics card a try. This is based on the Nvidia GeForce FX5200 chipset.
Everything worked flawlessly. I was able to connect 2 additional Dell 19” LCDs for a 4 monitor array.
All 4 are running at 1280 x 1024, with 32 bits, 60Hz. The two monitors on VGA needed a slight manual adjustment from the front panel for sharpest text. This involves going into the On Screen Display, clicking on Image Settings and then fine tuning these two parameters:
Pixel Clock
Phase
The Auto Adjust did not give the best results. There was a unique combination of this Pixel Clock and Phase values where the text became perfectly razor sharp and uniform across the entire panel.
For the 2 monitors on DVI, this was not an issue. Text was razor sharp from the get go.
I have one question for Christian. Would you by any chance be interested in integrating the True Launch Bar utility with your fantastic program in the future?
www.truelaunchbar.com
The combined functionality of Ultramon and True Launch Bar will be my dream come true!!!
Best regards,
Tapas
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5 Portrait Man 2004-07-03 19:20
Interesting. Very nice setup. I prefer the portrait mode once you get beyond 3 monitors tho....
Question to Christian -- So this could be expanded to 6 monitor config by just adding a third 128MB Nvidia GeForce FX5200 PCI card? (assuming you have the slot available)..
Any problems you would forsee?
5 Portrait Man
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Christian Studer 2004-07-03 23:12
I would expect this to work fine, but haven't used multiple GeForce5 cards myself.
Regarding True Launch Bar: this will be supported in UltraMon 3, you'll be able to add TLB to UltraMon taskbars.
Christian Studer - www.realtimesoft.com
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ECarlson 2004-07-04 04:37
Tapas: Nice setup. I also found this site very useful when I was starting with multi-monitors (and I'm still here).
Too bad you didn't get the dual-DVI card from Dell. The card I got with my Dell at work has 2 seperate cables: one with dual VGA, and one with dual-DVI. Though I got the card with an Optiplex. I don't know if they offer it as a standard option for the Dimension line.
You can also get a PCI card that uses the same cables, so you could have 4 DVI outputs at a reasonable price.
- Eric, www.InvisibleRobot.com
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ECarlson 2004-07-04 04:53
PS:
The PNY nVIDIA Quadro NVS200 and NV280 PCI cards (available at NewEgg) support dual-DVI with the dual-DVI cable I mentioned above, but they appear to only include the dual-VGA cable. I'm not sure where to get the Dual-DVI cable.
- Eric, www.InvisibleRobot.com
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Tapas Das 2004-07-04 11:42
Hi 5 Portrait Man!
Thanks for that excellent tip. I looked at your 5 monitor setup in the Gallery and I could see why having them in portrait mode is not only a space saver but also functionally superior. You get to see the full page while running Word. No more scrolling.
I am now applying the same trick to my setup. Fortunately, the 1901FPs are designed to rotate by 90 degrees and the Nvidia cards support the portrait mode.
Thanks for the prompt response Christian. I will wait for Ultramon version 3.
Eric, I wish I had contacted you before buying this Dell Dimension 4600. I would have definitely purchased the PNY Quadro dual DVI cards. We use the Dell Optiplex GX270 machines at work. It never crossed my mind that I could still purchase them for home use.
Newegg sells the Chaintech P-FX20 card for around $70. Mine was a very cheap solution with the stock Dell machine.
When I look critically at the LCD screens, the colors do not exactly match from one monitor to another. This is evident when you drag a window to span two monitors. The gray title bars have a slightly different hue.
What would be the easiest way to color calibrate these monitors? Are there any tools available?
Regards,
Tapas
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