Mr J 2001-06-05 04:26
Hi all, simple question.... is it possible to setup multiple cards so they all display a clone of the same desktop (i.e. not extended).
Is this card specific or a general windows setup option, and IF IT IS possible to setup what are the options and how do you configure your cards?
Thanks in advance - Julian Meadow
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Christian Studer 2001-06-05 10:16
Dualhead cards can usually do this, but this won't scale to more than 1 clone. One solution would be to use a VGA splitter instead of multiple video cards.
I'm also working on a much improved mirroring feature for UltraMon, should be available later this year. In theory it will be possible to clone the primary on every other video card in the system, but I'm only in the planning stage, so can't guarantee that it will actually work as intended.
Christian Studer
www.realtimesoft.com
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Mr J 2001-06-06 00:57
hi Christian and thanks for your speedy reply. I did think about the vga splitter option but there's a little more detail to my particular need I didn't mention... I'd like to select (zoom into) a number of different areas on the cloned desktop and have each going tv-out full screen (i.e break the cloned desktop up into four seperate quadrants, each going out individually to TV).
Unfortunately the vga splitter won't do this, although 4 external scan converters with zoom capabilities would. But that's quite costly, hence exploring the cheaper alternative of multiple PCI cards, each with zoom and tv-out capabilities... however this doesn't appear to be techncial possible - right?
You're much improved mirroring feature for UltraMon sounds promising... what type of system resource do you think it might require? Reason for asking is because I want to be able to run four 320x240 avi's simulataneously on the cloned desktop, each going out to a seperate tv-out port (using 4 PCI cards with TV-out), which will add additional system resource requirements?
Thanks for your advice and feedback - Mr J
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Christian Studer 2001-06-06 10:17
If the videos use overlays, UltraMon won't be able to mirror them. You would have to switch to software mode, but that's a lot slower.
As for performance: it's really too early to tell. I should have some test data in the next 1-2 months.
Christian Studer
www.realtimesoft.com
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Mr J 2001-06-07 00:41
I've wondered exactly what is ment by "video use overlays" for a while now and have never really completely figured it out.
For instance my G400 dual head apparently doesn't support overlays (when I play an avi im Media Player it show on the primary monitor but not the second). But when I play the same avi using a number of different programs (i.e. thumpsplus, vjamm, composite station) they show fine on the secondary display (both in clone and zoom mode).
So I'm confused... how can I check whether my avi videos use overlay?
Rgds, Julian
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Christian Studer 2001-06-07 10:34
Video overlays are a feature of the video card. If both your video player application and video card support it, you'll get excellent scaling and performance, especially when doing fullscreen playback. Fullscreen playback without overlays usually gives bad image quality, and will slow down your system considerably due to heavy use of the processor.
Windows Media Player should automatically fall back to software mode if overlays are not supported, so you should get video on each monitor. Not sure why it doesn't work.
You can use Windows Media Player 6.4 to check for overlay support. Play a video and drag the window to the monitor you want to test, then follow the procedure outlined here to check for overlay support.
Christian Studer
www.realtimesoft.com
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Mr J 2001-06-17 21:14
I checked as advised and no "DDCAPS_OVERLAY" was listed in the Capabilities list, so I guess my video card/avi's don't support overlay - I use a matrox milleniuum G400 with rainbow runner addon for capture.
So I guess it's possible ultramon will be able to mirror the desktops as I originally specified?
Rgds, Julian
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Christian Studer 2001-06-20 11:07
Should be possible, but I don't know yet if I'll be able to mirror parts of a monitor or only the whole monitor.
BTW, the best solution would be to have a fullscreen video player running on each monitor, that way you wouldn't have to do any mirroring, and overlays could be used if available. This is also something that is planned for UltraMon, stay tuned.
Christian Studer
www.realtimesoft.com
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