Question for the A/V geeks
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If I use a DVI Splitter, will the displays be cloned or will the Graphics card detect that two separate monitors are connected and drive independent displays? I have 3 monitors to connect and 1 DVI, 1 VGA and 1 HDMI port in the docking station. I could also buy an HDMI to DVI/VGA to drive the third monitor. Any suggestions/gotchas? And thanks to John for letting us know about monoprice.com. Thanks.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
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If I use a DVI Splitter, will the displays be cloned or will the Graphics card detect that two separate monitors are connected and drive independent displays? I have 3 monitors to connect and 1 DVI, 1 VGA and 1 HDMI port in the docking station. I could also buy an HDMI to DVI/VGA to drive the third monitor. Any suggestions/gotchas? And thanks to John for letting us know about monoprice.com. Thanks.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
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If I use a DVI Splitter, will the displays be cloned or will the Graphics card detect that two separate monitors are connected and drive independent displays? I have 3 monitors to connect and 1 DVI, 1 VGA and 1 HDMI port in the docking station. I could also buy an HDMI to DVI/VGA to drive the third monitor. Any suggestions/gotchas? And thanks to John for letting us know about monoprice.com. Thanks.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
Looking at your splitter (and the price), I'd bet something precious that it's a clone job. Re your second question, are all three outputs in the docking station independent or are two clones? or all three? Given it's a docking station, what relationship do any/all of them have with the lappie primary display? RTFM time? ;P
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994.
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If I use a DVI Splitter, will the displays be cloned or will the Graphics card detect that two separate monitors are connected and drive independent displays? I have 3 monitors to connect and 1 DVI, 1 VGA and 1 HDMI port in the docking station. I could also buy an HDMI to DVI/VGA to drive the third monitor. Any suggestions/gotchas? And thanks to John for letting us know about monoprice.com. Thanks.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
using a splitter will only split the signal, the graphics card cannot send two images down the same DVI typically you can connect one monitor to the dvi and one to the vga and that'll be supported (widely supported by graphics cards and OS) but the HDMI may be a different story (whether you can use that simultaneously as the other two), its really up to the individual graphics card and the drivers for it
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You'll need to make sure you can really drive all three at once. My Thinkpad will do only 2 of the three available (I think the HDMI and DVI are the same output with a different plug)
___________________________________________ .\\axxx (That's an 'M')
_Maxxx_ wrote:
My Thinkpad will do only 2 of the three available (I think the HDMI and DVI are the same output with a different plug)
Didn't know that. Thanks.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
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You'll need to make sure you can really drive all three at once. My Thinkpad will do only 2 of the three available (I think the HDMI and DVI are the same output with a different plug)
___________________________________________ .\\axxx (That's an 'M')
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Looking at your splitter (and the price), I'd bet something precious that it's a clone job. Re your second question, are all three outputs in the docking station independent or are two clones? or all three? Given it's a docking station, what relationship do any/all of them have with the lappie primary display? RTFM time? ;P
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994.
Well, I finally found the manual buried deep within the dell website and found out that the dock only supports two displays at a time. :( Thanks.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
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using a splitter will only split the signal, the graphics card cannot send two images down the same DVI typically you can connect one monitor to the dvi and one to the vga and that'll be supported (widely supported by graphics cards and OS) but the HDMI may be a different story (whether you can use that simultaneously as the other two), its really up to the individual graphics card and the drivers for it
Thanks. I'll need to do some more experimenting once I get the required cables.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
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_Maxxx_ wrote:
My Thinkpad will do only 2 of the three available (I think the HDMI and DVI are the same output with a different plug)
Didn't know that. Thanks.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
np There are usb video cards which should allow you a third display if you want to try it - also there was the Matrox DualHead2Go which made the output really big to the external monitor, then split it across two monitors. Not sure if that is still available though
___________________________________________ .\\axxx (That's an 'M')
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np There are usb video cards which should allow you a third display if you want to try it - also there was the Matrox DualHead2Go which made the output really big to the external monitor, then split it across two monitors. Not sure if that is still available though
___________________________________________ .\\axxx (That's an 'M')
_Maxxx_ wrote:
There are usb video cards which should allow you a third display if you want to try it - also there was the Matrox DualHead2Go
There you go. I knew I was overlooking something and couldn't get over the brain freeze. I've more to consider now. Danke.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
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If I use a DVI Splitter, will the displays be cloned or will the Graphics card detect that two separate monitors are connected and drive independent displays? I have 3 monitors to connect and 1 DVI, 1 VGA and 1 HDMI port in the docking station. I could also buy an HDMI to DVI/VGA to drive the third monitor. Any suggestions/gotchas? And thanks to John for letting us know about monoprice.com. Thanks.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
It will definatly just clone, doesn't matter if its dvi or hdmi or anything else. On nVidia cards and early ATI ones, DVI=HDMI internally, so you only have 2 outputs. As you've got a docking station you can't change to one of the later ATI cards, your only option is a usb graphics card. These are quite cheap £40 for a basic vga one, Matrox do some more advanced ones, but you should be able to add as many as you have usb ports.
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If I use a DVI Splitter, will the displays be cloned or will the Graphics card detect that two separate monitors are connected and drive independent displays? I have 3 monitors to connect and 1 DVI, 1 VGA and 1 HDMI port in the docking station. I could also buy an HDMI to DVI/VGA to drive the third monitor. Any suggestions/gotchas? And thanks to John for letting us know about monoprice.com. Thanks.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
The DVI splitter err.... splits the same signal to two displays. The HDMI output can drvie a separate DVI display.
Join the cool kids - Come fold with us[^]
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The DVI splitter err.... splits the same signal to two displays. The HDMI output can drvie a separate DVI display.
Join the cool kids - Come fold with us[^]
We use DVI and DisplayPort at work (HP computers) for dual-monitor setups. I'm not impressed with HDMI hookups on monitors. It doesn't seem to be able to correctly negotiate the monitor's resolution (and II have two examples of this problem at my house). I supposed it's the price I have to pay for the convenience of transporting both audio and video over a single cable...
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997 -
_Maxxx_ wrote:
There are usb video cards which should allow you a third display if you want to try it - also there was the Matrox DualHead2Go
There you go. I knew I was overlooking something and couldn't get over the brain freeze. I've more to consider now. Danke.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
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Well, I finally found the manual buried deep within the dell website and found out that the dock only supports two displays at a time. :( Thanks.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
Except for recent (5/6xxx) ATI chips there aren't any mass market GPUs that can drive more than 2 displays at a time; I'm not sure if the mobile ones can do this or if it's only a desktop feature. The rest of us will have to wait for USB3 GPUs to show up (USB2 is too slow for anything other than a spreadsheet).
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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We use DVI and DisplayPort at work (HP computers) for dual-monitor setups. I'm not impressed with HDMI hookups on monitors. It doesn't seem to be able to correctly negotiate the monitor's resolution (and II have two examples of this problem at my house). I supposed it's the price I have to pay for the convenience of transporting both audio and video over a single cable...
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-----
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997No, it's just crap HDMI of some sort. DVI can carry the same audio as HDMI... The most common failure is because by default TV's drop the outer 20/30 pixels of input and scale the rest up. The original reason for this was to hide analog broadcast timing issues of some sort. It's still done with digital TV because in the store Joe Moron will think the TV with the up sampled image looks better because the stuff he can see is bigger. X| X| X| X| The make HDMI work like a computer display option tends to be buried under 30 menus and cryptically named. :doh:
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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We use DVI and DisplayPort at work (HP computers) for dual-monitor setups. I'm not impressed with HDMI hookups on monitors. It doesn't seem to be able to correctly negotiate the monitor's resolution (and II have two examples of this problem at my house). I supposed it's the price I have to pay for the convenience of transporting both audio and video over a single cable...
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-----
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997Unfortunately the I2C bus used for EDID/DDI isn't implemented correctly then if you get a cable where they didn't think about the construction of those wires... Basically, they use standard I/O cells instead of decent current controlled cells so they can't cope with the load presented by poor cables. Then each blames the other. I am picky about decent (not silly) cable construction.
Join the cool kids - Come fold with us[^]
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It will definatly just clone, doesn't matter if its dvi or hdmi or anything else. On nVidia cards and early ATI ones, DVI=HDMI internally, so you only have 2 outputs. As you've got a docking station you can't change to one of the later ATI cards, your only option is a usb graphics card. These are quite cheap £40 for a basic vga one, Matrox do some more advanced ones, but you should be able to add as many as you have usb ports.
Thanks. i ordered one of these.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
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The DVI splitter err.... splits the same signal to two displays. The HDMI output can drvie a separate DVI display.
Join the cool kids - Come fold with us[^]
I expected too much and hoped that DVI would be similar to USB in chaining devices. The problem is the dock can only drive two independent displays, so I had to purchase a USB graphics adapter. Thanks.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
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Except for recent (5/6xxx) ATI chips there aren't any mass market GPUs that can drive more than 2 displays at a time; I'm not sure if the mobile ones can do this or if it's only a desktop feature. The rest of us will have to wait for USB3 GPUs to show up (USB2 is too slow for anything other than a spreadsheet).
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
Dan Neely wrote:
USB2 is too slow for anything other than a spreadsheet
Right about that. But for my workplace, that would be sufficient. I can always use the primary display to render graphics intensive stuff. BTW, I bought one of these. I'll probably be receiving it in a couple of days.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
