Connecting a second monitor (TV). Switch between monitors in Windows

Modern computer users are accustomed to the versatility of their devices. This characteristic also affected the function of displaying images on the screen. Today, multiple displays can be connected to one computer. In this article we will look at the main ways to connect two screens simultaneously to one device, as well as setting them up on the most popular operating systems.

Before connecting a second screen, make sure that your monitor and video card support multiple connections. One of your monitors and your video card must support at least two interfaces: HDMI, VGA and DVI.

Regardless of what operating system is installed on your computer, the connection will be made through the connectors located on the rear panel of the system unit. Accordingly, it is necessary to know in advance which of the many contacts will help connect the displays.

It is only important to remember that both ports to which the connection will be made must be located on the same video card, and two or more of them can be installed on the computer.

You can purchase a separate video card with several connectors (2, 3, 4 monitor connectors).

Install the drivers for the new video card that should be included. After installation and restarting the computer, right-click on the desktop and select the application of your video card.

Then configure it for 2 to 3 monitors.

Let's move on to the list of possible connectors:

• VGA is the oldest possible port, used back in the era of cathode ray tube monitors, and today it is an antique. New generation video cards are no longer equipped with this connector;
• DVI-I/DVI-D or simply DVI port is the most common way to connect a display, since this standard is not excluded even in the most modern models;
• HDMI is the most practical and efficient port available on all video cards produced today. Through it, a combined transmission of image and sound is carried out;
• Display Port is another one of the new era connectors that is used to connect screens with 4K resolution.

To make the connection easier, it is best to make it when the computer is turned off. Practice shows that it is best to connect the main screen to a more modern port, and the additional one to any other one. After a successful connection, you can start your computer.

Setting up a monitor in Windows OS

When running Windows 7 and later, right-clicking on the desktop will open a context menu in which you should select the “Screen Resolution” section.

In the case of Windows XP, you need to perform the same steps, but select the “Properties” - “Settings” section. In the window that opens, you can choose one of three options for sharing:

• “Stretch the desktop” - increase it to the size of two screens combined together;
• “Display the desktop on one of the monitors” is self-explanatory;
• “Duplicate monitor” - this function helps in holding conferences when it is necessary to convey information to the entire audience at once and one device cannot cope with this.

In versions of Windows 7, 8 and 10, control can be done through the “Projector” menu, called through the “Win” + “P” combination.

Setup on Mac OS

To make adjustments on Apple devices, you need to select the “System Settings” – “Display” section in the system menu and go to the “Location” tab.

According to the standard, the system allows you to first stretch the screen across two monitors, and if you leave a checkmark next to the “Duplicate screen” line, so that the same information is displayed on both screens. The system will also try to automatically determine permissions, but the choice will remain with the user, although the proposed option is the most correct and it is better not to refuse it.

How to connect a second monitor to a laptop

Typically, most laptops have VGA and HDMI inputs installed. If your monitor supports an HDMI connector, then it is better to use it, as the image quality will be better.

When the second display is connected, you just need to press “Win” + P and select the appropriate item.

If the second display does not show quite correctly, then try setting the maximum resolution in the settings.

Thus, connecting two monitors is not a difficult process and only requires the presence of a certain set of connectors on one of the video cards installed in the computer. You will also need to purchase cables for connection. We wish you success!

Hello, dear readers!

The Prussian monarch Frederick II, who considered himself a very erudite man, loved to hold conversations with members of his own Academy of Sciences, sometimes asking completely ridiculous questions. Frederick once asked: “Why do you think a glass filled with Burgundy wine produces a less clear sound than a glass filled with champagne?” After a short silence, Professor Sulzer answered the monarch. “Unfortunately, with the low salary that Your Majesty assigns to his academicians, we are deprived of the opportunity to conduct such experiments”...

So, after connecting the second monitor, you need to configure it. I have Windows 7 OS, so I will show the settings using this operating system as an example.

First you need to open the dialog box . This can be done either by right-clicking on Desktop, or by opening Control Panel, in section Design and personalization choose Setting the screen resolution.

This window opens before us .

The connected monitors are shown schematically at the top. Usually the operating system detects them immediately, if this does not happen, click on the button Find.

After pressing the button Define Numbers appear on the screens indicating which monitor is the first and which is the second.

First, Screen– select the monitor to configure.

Second, Permission, it is usually indicated as recommended, it is better not to change.

Third, , it can be made landscape or portrait. This will become clearer after considering additional parameters.

Fourth, the most important thing for us, There are four points here if you select Duplicate these screens, then they will display the same thing, the two mouse pointers will move exactly the same. This option should be chosen if the second monitor is used for demonstration to other people.

For individual work, it is better to choose the second option - Expand these screens. In this case, the screen of the second monitor will become a continuation of the first. There will be one mouse pointer, it can be moved from screen to screen, and you can drag objects, for example, program windows or folders. Look at the screenshot and photo below - part of the window can be on one screen, and the other on the second. This is exactly the mode I use in my work, I’m used to it and am very pleased that there is such an opportunity.

There are two more options - Display desktop on 1 or 2 screens only. There is such an opportunity, but it’s hard to say why to use it, maybe someone will share how to use it.

Even lower, you can determine which monitor will be the main one. The main one is the one on which the button is located Start And Taskbar.

Now let's move on to additional parameters. They are determined by the capabilities of your video card, so the window that opens may vary. Again, I’ll show you with my own example.

There are several tabs here, I'm interested Graphics Control Panel.

Using the settings in this panel, you can rotate the image by 90, 180 or 270 degrees. As an example, I placed the monitor vertically and rotated the image 90 degrees. This option can be used, for example, when processing photographs with portrait orientation.

This is how you can connect and configure a second monitor.

Most often, having bought a computer or laptop, people do not use it to the fullest, irrationally. This is due to the lack of special knowledge. Such gaps can be filled by studying course by Evgeny Popov “Secrets of productive work at the computer.” In this video course, Evgeniy introduces many secrets that make working at the computer more convenient and productive.

Write in the comments which options you use and for what purposes. Recommend this article on social networks and don’t forget subscribe to blog updates to receive announcements of new articles directly to your email.

See you soon.

Catch the cat

A simple logic game. The goal of the game is to surround the cat with dots so that he cannot escape from the field. If you fail, start the game again!

You can assemble a configuration of two or more discrete video cards with at least two of any video outputs and, without combining them in either SLI or Crossfire, connect the required number of monitors at the rate of two monitors per GPU. Those. By assembling a system of three single-chip video cards, you can connect six monitors to it. Such configurations are implemented thanks to the support of video cards for several image output technologies - AMD HydraVision, AMD Eyefinity, NVIDIA nView.

There is an option to use AMD integrated video (starting with HD3000) and a discrete AMD video card at the same time. To do this, in the BIOS menu, the motherboard must implement the ability to leave the video outputs on the board active when installing a discrete video adapter. In this case, using just one discrete video card, you can organize a three or four monitor system, although without the possibility of implementing a video wall, at least until the advent of a new generation of integrated video, which will be integrated into new APUs from AMD.

Pros:

• Monitors with any video outputs (analog or digital) are suitable.

• You need a motherboard with the required number of PCI-Express 16x ports (except for the case of creating a four-monitor configuration using built-in and discrete video), i.e. not every one and probably not the cheapest;
• You need to buy several video cards, which is also quite expensive;
• It is not possible to create a video wall or gaming space.

An example of creating a video wall of three monitors

In order to somehow confirm the words with facts, we conducted a small experiment on creating a video wall (aka a single gaming space or a “giant” desktop) from three. Why did we choose a 3-monitor configuration? Firstly, because this is the least expensive configuration that almost all gamers dream of, and secondly, because this is the maximum number of monitors from which you can create a video wall using NVIDIA video cards.

For the experiment, we used three of the same manufacturer with very similar characteristics, although NVIDIA insists on using exactly the same monitors, and AMD, in turn, simply recommends using the same monitors specifically for creating video walls. The monitors were equipped with DVI and D-Sub connectors and had a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (FullHD).

Based on NVIDIA GTX 590 graphics card

The first to be tested was the NVIDIA GTX590 video card. We chose it because it is one of two NVIDIA video cards that can single-handedly organize a three-monitor system due to the presence of two GPUs on one circuit board. To create a three-monitor configuration using other video cards based on NVIDIA GTX series chips, you would need at least two video cards combined in SLI and a motherboard with two PCIe 16x and support for that same SLI.

So, we connect three monitors to the video card (you can use any interface that the DVI, D-Sub or HDMI monitor has). Launch the NVIDIA control panel and go to the “Multiprocessor mode settings” tab. As you can see, here you can select not only “Extend displays using Surround”, but also simply “Activate all displays”, i.e. Create a multi-monitor system to get multiple separate desktops. But we are going to create one large desktop, so we select “Extend displays with Surround” and click the “Customize” button. Next, the wizard will help you correctly position the displays and adjust the presence of a frame between the displays. That's all - if all the monitors fit and you have configured everything correctly, then you will have a huge desktop with a total resolution of 5760 x 1080 pixels.

Based on the Sapphire RADEON HD6870 Flex Edition video card

The second video card was the Sapphire RADEON HD6870 Flex Edition. Why did we choose this particular video card? The answer is simple - Sapphire Flex Edition video cards have a built-in active Display port to DVI adapter, so you can easily connect three DVI monitors to one video card. If we took any other video card with Eyefinity support, we would have to use a Display port output as a third monitor or use a separate active adapter.

In the case of any Flex Edition video card, three DVI monitors are connected via two DVI and one HDMI video outputs. A monitor with a DVI input is connected to the HDMI connector using an adapter. If the Sapphire Flex Edition video card, in addition to two DVI and one HDMI ports, also has a Display Port (one or more), then you can connect (one or more) to it, but it must be a Display Port monitor or a DVI monitor connected via an active adapter, but for us in this case it does not matter, because we only have three monitors. So, having connected all three monitors to the corresponding connectors on the video card, you need to turn on the computer and go to the Catalyst Control Center (CCC). In it, select the “Desktop Management” tab and then the “Creating and Arranging Screens” item. The setup is quite simple, so we won’t go into detail about it. As a result, after setting up three monitors, we get a large desktop.

In both cases, after creating a single desktop on three monitors, in order to evaluate the benefits of such a system, we launched the game Dirt 2 and the Heaven Benchmark 2.1 test application. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take screenshots in Dirt 2, but we enjoyed the gameplay with the game's increased viewing angles - we could see opponents trying to overtake the car on the side displays, and we were able to see spectators off the track the whole way. In turn, Unigine Heaven Benchmark 2.1 allowed us to take excellent screenshots that show all the advantages of the game using three combined into one large display with a resolution of 5760 x 1080 pixels.

Today you won’t surprise anyone with a multi-monitor PC configuration. And soon, we can expect that having a single display on a desk will become the exception, not the rule. This is what people say who have had the opportunity to compare the convenience of working at a computer with one and multiple monitors. And the second option, if you believe their words, is much more convenient than the first.

Statisticians share the same opinion. According to their research, if you connect 2 monitors instead of one, the productivity of personnel involved in processing large amounts of information increases by 15-60%. What can we say about gamers, for whom multi-monitor systems are the only opportunity to plunge headlong into the virtual world?

How many monitors can be connected to one computer? Connection conditions

It is unlikely that anyone is able to name the exact number of possible monitor connections to one PC, but 50 or more is definitely possible. It all depends on the budget you are willing to allocate for it. To create video walls from dozens of modules, such as in the photo below, special controllers are used. Their task is not just to display the image on many screens, but also to provide each picture with decent quality.

However, video wall controllers are an extremely expensive solution that not every enterprise can afford. A more affordable option is a video server with several multi-channel video cards. But it can cost the owner several hundred thousand rubles.

The average user, like most of us, does not need such excesses. Home gaming systems usually consist of no more than six monitors, and they can be connected not just to one computer, but to one video card. But in order to achieve the highest possible image quality, it is better to distribute the monitors so that there are no more than two or three per video camera.

Connecting two monitors is supported by almost any modern video card, even one built into the processor (chipset). Three or more - all AMD models, starting with series 5, as well as NVIDIA GTX 600 and newer.

In addition to multi-channel support, the following are important for creating multi-monitor configurations:

• Availability of outputs on video cards that coincide with monitor inputs (the use of adapters is allowed in extreme cases when there is no other way to connect). Moreover, AMD requires a mandatory DisplayPort interface on at least one of the displays (with the exception of certain branded video cards with a built-in DisplayPort-DVI adapter). NVIDIA does not impose such conditions.
• Video driver support for all monitor resolutions.
• Sufficient amount of video memory. 2048 Mb is the minimum for a two- or three-monitor configuration in a non-gaming system. For four or more monitors, especially if you plan to use the computer for games, there should be at least 2 times more memory.
• High data bus bandwidth (from 128 bits) and good memory speed (the more, the better). The narrower the tire, the higher the speed should be.

To connect monitors to different video cards, the latter do not need to be combined into SLI or Crossfire. In some cases, in addition to a discrete card (inserted into the connector), you can use the built-in video if the motherboard BIOS supports it (there is an “Always Enable” option for the built-in video card output). But in such configurations, each pair of displays served by one video chip operates independently of the other. This means that you won't be able to create a common visual space across all screens.

If your computer is equipped with a single video card, you can connect monitors to several of its ports or to one. To connect 2 or more screens to one video card with 1 input, you will need a signal divider - a splitter. For example, as in the photo below. This modification can distribute a signal to 4 monitors, but the picture quality usually decreases (it depends not so much on the splitter as on the video capabilities). If the flow is barely enough for a single screen, dividing it into “rivulets” will reduce the resolution, clarity and scan frequency. And the more connections, the lower the quality.

When you connect a splitter to displays with different resolutions, the picture quality on them will be different: on some it is better, on others it is worse. And you won’t be able to correct it individually, except perhaps through the settings of the monitors themselves.

AMD cards that feature Eyefinity technology (based on the ATI Radeon R800 line of GPUs) allow you to attach up to 6 displays to them and combine them into a single visual space. But here everything is tied to the DisplayPort interface, which, unfortunately, not all devices are equipped with.

The following are acceptable combinations of connection interfaces when building multi-monitor systems using AMD Eyefinity technology:

• To combine 3 monitors into one system, one of them must be connected via DisplayPort or miniDisplayPort (miniDP), the second via DVI, and the third via VGA, HDMI or the same DVI.
• If there are 4 monitors, two devices must be connected to DisplayPort, the third to DVI, and the fourth to VGA or HDMI.
• In a five-monitor system, all 5 or 3 monitors are connected to DisplayPort (miniDisplayPort), one or two to DVI, and one, if any, to HDMI.
• The six-monitor configuration provides a connection via miniDisplayPort only.

NVIDIA Surround/3D Vision multi-monitor support technology allows you to create a shared gaming space from three monitors. However, for this you will need either a dual-processor video card, or combining two or three cards in SLI. You can connect several more displays to the remaining video outputs; they will work independently of the others.

If you do not have the task of building a video wall to display one picture on several screens, it is not necessary to adhere to the rules described above. Monitors can be connected in any configuration through any interfaces, based on 2 devices per 1 video processor. In this case, each of them will display its own desktop, and you can switch between them, drag windows from one desktop to another, etc.

How to connect and configure additional monitors in Windows

Physical connection of devices

The process of physically connecting a second, third, etc. monitor to the video card ports is not difficult. Simply insert the connectors of the connecting cables into the sockets of both devices, remembering to first unplug them from the outlet.

When creating a dual-monitor setup, use the same interfaces whenever possible, for example, DisplayPort only or HDMI only, so that the image quality on the two screens does not differ much. If there are no identical ports on your video card, connect via different ones, for example, DVI and HDMI or HDMI and VGA. It is permissible to use adapters from one interface to another only in extreme cases, since signal conversion is always accompanied by losses, sometimes significant. The same goes for splitters. If you can do without them, try to do without them.

After making the connection, turn on the power to the system unit and monitors. Recognition of the latter, as a rule, occurs automatically. All you have to do is customize them to suit your needs.

Connecting a second monitor to laptops is done in the same way as to desktop PCs. The only difference is that the video card that will serve the additional screen is determined by the system, not the user.

Multi-display adapters

If the picture quality on the main and additional displays varies greatly, and also if you need to connect not one, but 2 additional monitors to your laptop, a specialized device - a multi-display adapter - will help out. This is a small box with a processor inside, reminiscent of a multiport splitter, and several cables included. One cable connects the box to the output of the video card, the rest are connected to the monitor inputs. It receives power from a USB port or an external adapter.

An example of such a device is Matrox DualHead2Go Digital SE.

Setting up additional screens in Windows 10 and 8.1 and 7

After the first turn on, the image on the additional monitor, as a rule, duplicates the main one. Sometimes the desktop stretches across 2 screens at once. To select the desired mode, press the Windows + P (Latin) key combination - this will open the projection panel.

In Windows 10 and 8.1 it looks like this:

In Windows 7 - like this:

The Duplicate option plays the same picture on all displays. “Extend” - makes the second screen a continuation of the first.

If the system was unable to automatically recognize the second display, open “Display Settings” through the desktop context menu.

Click the “Discover” button (In Windows 7, “Find”).

If the device is physically functional and connected correctly, the system will most likely recognize it immediately. If not, open the Multiple Displays list and select "Try anyway to connect..." to a monitor that is not detected.

If this does not help, you should check the contacts and, if possible, connect the device with another known-good cable to another video output or another video card.

The “Define” button in the same section allows you to select which of the two displays will be the main (first) and which will be the additional (second, third, etc.).

To change the settings of one of the displays of a multi-monitor system - the size of the displayed elements, brightness level, orientation, resolution, color rendering, etc., click on the rectangle with its serial number in the gray field under the “Customize your screen” heading.

The changes will take effect after saving. You do not need to restart your computer for this.

Additional multi-display configuration settings are available in the NVIDIA and AMD Catalyst Control Panel menus.

Setting up additional screens in Windows XP

To access display settings in Windows XP, also open the desktop context menu and click “Properties”. Next, go to the “Options” tab.

If the second monitor is correctly recognized, 2 display icons with sequential numbers will appear in the gray field. There is no “Find” option, as in modern versions of Windows.

By default, both screens display the same desktop image. If you want to expand it, click on the second display icon and check the “Extend desktop onto this monitor” checkbox.

Setting up each screen individually is done in the same way as in Windows 10: click on the monitor icon on the gray field and set the desired parameters. The “Screen Resolution” and “Color Quality” options are located here, and the rest - scale, adapter properties, etc., is hidden behind the “Advanced” button.

Most of the settings take effect immediately, but some only after you restart the computer.

If necessary, you can very easily connect two or more displays to one computer. To do this, you need two video outputs on the video card. Most often these are VGA and DVI. You can also often find other interfaces for outputting video data.

Today, more and more equipment is equipped with two overlapping ports for outputting video data. They can be either the same type or different. In the latter case, this was done by the manufacturer to create the ability to connect outdated equipment. Two DVI outputs are included in equipment specifically designed to work with two displays.

Why connect

For ordinary users, connecting two devices simultaneously to display an image is not required.

The presence of two or more screens is necessary:

• while working in any professional environment - Photoshop, 3D Max;
• those engineers who develop complex software (for debugging);
• when carrying out any work with a virtual machine - when the software being developed is multi-platform.

Also, many users use such a function as a desktop extension. It allows you to play various types of simulators more comfortably.

Connection methods

There are many ways to implement such an idea as connecting two monitors to one computer.

The two simplest:

• connect each device to a separate port (most video cards are equipped with two copies of them);
• use a special splitter (if you need to use a large number of screens or if the video adapter is equipped with only one port).

You should also know that the connection can be made using various interfaces.

Most often today you can find three types of ports:

• HDMI.

VGA is quite rare; most manufacturers have not equipped their products with such interfaces for a long time. DVI is quite common; at the moment it is one of the most common ports for transmitting multimedia. HDMI began to appear on various types of devices relatively recently. But it is the fastest and most advanced interface. It transmits very high definition images.

Connect via DVI

Connecting two devices via DVI is quite simple. This is especially easy if the PC video card has two ports of this type. This allows you to connect two displays without any difficulty. Simply connect the male-female connectors.

If the connector of the type in question is available in only one copy, it is necessary to use a special splitter. It can be a regular splitter: two ports and one plug. There are also other versions of such devices - they are made in the form of plastic cases with a large number of outputs.

The connection itself is quite simple - you just need to connect the male-female connector in the correct position. This ends the physical connection between the display and PC.

Connecting the wires

Connecting the wires through which video data is transmitted is not difficult. It is just important not to confuse the top of the male connector and its bottom. Since if you try to insert it at random, you can damage the contacts protruding from the connector. Which will lead to the connector not working.

Some difficulties sometimes arise when connecting two monitors via VGA and DVI. Since, when connecting ports of this type, it is necessary to tighten special bolts. They are necessary in order to secure the plug as securely as possible, since under the weight of the wire it can simply fall out. To tighten it, you must use a thin slotted screwdriver.

Also, some plugs are equipped with wings, the surface of which has many ribs. This allows you to secure the plug into the port without using hand tools, using your fingers.

Video: connecting a second monitor

Screen settings

Setting up two screens in modern operating systems (for example, Windows 7) is usually done with little or no human intervention.

Having detected two displays, the OS offers the user three actions to choose from:

• expansion of screens (one desktop will be placed on two displays);
• duplication (the desktop will be displayed on both devices);
• displaying an image on only one display (most often used on laptops).

To start setting up dual screens in Windows 7, press Win+P. A window will open in which you can simply select the desired operating mode. This method is only suitable if the equipment is automatically detected and installed.

The second method is somewhat more complicated.

You need to do the following:

After completing the setup, it is advisable to restart your computer.

How to connect two monitors to one computer via VGA

To connect two displays via VGA, you need to purchase a special splitter (splitter), if the card does not have a duplicate port.

Connection is complicated when the interfaces of the monitor and video card do not match. In such a situation, special adapters are necessary. They are devices the size of a matchbox. There is DVI on one side, VGA on the other. In this way, you can connect equipment with different types of connectors.

The connection operation itself is not complicated. You just need to do everything as carefully as possible and take your time. Damage to the contacts will result in inoperability.

Setting up two displays connected via VGA is no different from setting up monitors through a different interface. It is carried out in a similar way.

Two or more screens or desktops are usually required by specialists involved in software development. But also quite often, many users use the function of expanding the desktop onto two screens for a more effective immersion in the process of video games. Therefore, the use of the ability to connect devices of this type is implemented quite often.

The connection and setup process itself is not at all complicated. Therefore, even a person who does not have much experience using a computer can easily cope with it. You just need to carefully read the instructions for your specific operating system.