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Forums -> Multiple monitors -> Next Floor....2/3 Monitors & Touchscreen Features
Josh   2007-03-19 05:44
OK – here’s a fun one for you all…

The Plan:
Take my current desktop setup hooked to a single monitor and to my TV and add a third monitor. I only run either the monitor or the TV at any given time, but they are both hooked up to my main PCI-E video card. I want to add a second PCI-E video card to run my third monitor.

The Details:
My primary video card is an Nvidia 8800 GTS. For my second video card, all I need is a cheap 2D/3D card because it will only be displaying the desktop, screensaver, pics, 2D programs, and maybe some video.

Now, here is where it gets tricky. The third monitor will be (or something similar to) a Lilliput 7” LCD Touchscreen monitor. To familiarize you with this monitor, it is VGA compatible with resolution up to 1024x768, and includes it’s own touchscreen software which interfaces thru the USB port. The reason I am adding this monitor is to *hopefully* be able to display system information, i.e. temps, mem/cpu usage, and some graphics. So with this type of setup I will need independent desktops, which can run and display their own programs simultaneously.

My Concerns:
First off, I have only ever read the description for UltraMon, and have not actually tried it out yet. So, I do not have experience with the program, but it seems it will be able to run the independent desktops just fine. Other than that I am not too sure of the functionality of the program. So, any info on UltraMon would be great.
Secondly, the possible issues with the touchscreen feature. I would like to be able to leave all mouse and keyboard controls active on the primary monitor while using the touchscreen feature on the smaller “monitoring” monitor, but I am foreseeing some issues with that.

Conclusion:
All I’m really looking for is some feedback about my plan. I would really like to know if this is at all a possibility. I am obviously still in the planning phase so any help, comments, discussion, suggestions, or technical expertise would be great. One thing I would specifically like suggestions on is the second video card.

Thanks very much to all that reply!! - Josh


My Current Setup:
AMD Athlon FX-62
Asus Crosshair Mobo w/ 590 SLI chipset
EVGA Nvidia 8800 GTS (not sure of the driver and forceware version – it is the one that came with the card)
Zalman 600 watt Power Supply
Windows XP Pro w/ SP2
bumr055   2007-03-27 21:14
I'm thinking your probably going to have some issues with the touch screen.... especially if you have it set to "span"...

you wont be able to use the mouse and the touchscreen at the same time, because touching the screen(on all the touch screens I've seen) movies the mouse under your finger and tapping the screen to click.

the other issue (horizontal span) *might* effect the touchscreen in the following way...

if you were to touch the screen on the left it might move the mouse on the left of the first screen and somewhere on the right, it might be offset to the left a bit....

its possible that the software might support multiple screens with horizontal span but, i wouldn't think so(just a guess)
bumr055   2007-03-27 21:18
also about the keyboard...

if you were typing in a text field and were to say click on an icon with the touch screen you would automatically be taken away from the text field and would have to manually click back with the mouse.
Josh   2007-03-28 07:23
Thanks for some feedback!

I have come across some software since posting my original message that might be of some use for the issue of multiple input devices. Microsoft has just released MultiPoint - it a a program that will not only allow multiple mice but will have a cursor for each one, allowing them to function independently. Looks like the first and only software of its kind so far.

If the drivers for the touchscreen feature are essentially a mouse emulator, then this program might solve the dual input device problem.

I'm looking forward to trying it out!
ecarlson   2007-04-01 04:52
I think I remember another multi-mouse driver being mentioned in this forum in the past, so you might want to search the forum for that too.

- Eric, www.InvisibleRobot.com
ecarlson   2007-04-01 04:58
CPNMouse enables multiple pointing devices. Do a forum search here for CPN to find some earlier conversations, and additional information.

- Eric, www.InvisibleRobot.com
Forums -> Multiple monitors -> Next Floor....2/3 Monitors & Touchscreen Features

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