Technical Gurus: How do I set up 2 monitors?

[Alyssa]

I am trying to set up my family room & want to figure out how to do this. I have a Sony VAIO PC with a 17" monitor, and across the room, a 32" flat screen TV. I want my TV to show what is on my computer monitor (I don't need different items on different screens). I'd like to be able to split screen (PIP) TV & computer so I can work & watch on the same screen. My plan is to use a wireless mouse & keyboard so I can use the internet from the couch. I bought a VGA splitter & a 50' VGA cable, and that works, but picture quality stinks (and it ruins my picture quality on my computer monitor too). I also have Comcast Digital Cable using a Motorola box, and that has ethernet, USB, & DVI outputs (plus others). I have to use the DVI output to my TV from the cable box (the TV won't support PIP with VGA & Component Video). I'd like to run TV on my PC as well. What do I need to run TV on my PC and show the PC on my TV? I do have Windows XP Media Center. I'd like to spend less than $100 to do this.

Here are the specs for my two monitors:
TELEVISION:
? HDTV monitor
? 32" flat-panel LCD screen (measured diagonally)
? 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
? 1366 x 768 pixels (all signals displayed at 768p)
? ultra-fast pixel response time (8 milliseconds)
? 1000:1 contrast ratio
? 170?(H) x 170?(V) viewing angle
? standard TV tuner
? 1-tuner Picture-in-Picture (inset)
? 5 A/V inputs, including:
? 2 composite video (1 rear, 1 side)
? 1 S-video
? 2 component video (accepts 1080i/720p/480p/480i signals)
? 1 DVI digital video input with HDCP copy protection
? PC input: analog RGB (D-Sub 15-pin)
? RF input for antenna/cable signals

MONITOR:
Monitor Type Flat-panel LCD
Screen Size 17"
Viewable Screen Size 17"
Maximum Resolution 1280 x 1024
Aspect Ratio 4:3 (standard)
Response Time 8 ms
Brightness 420 cd/m?
Contrast Ratio 600: 1
Dot Pitch 0.264mm
Flat Display Yes
TV Tuner No
Inputs DVI-D digital and HD-15 analog
Vertical Frequency 48-75Hz
Horizontal Frequency 28-80kHz
On-Screen Image Controls Yes


I'm looking forward to your responses!

Alyssa

 

[vray]

If I understand you correctly, the graphics card is the key here. You'll need one that can handle dual monitors, or you'll need two graphic cards, one for each display. The card will need a TV input to render television on the PC. Try this site: http://www.cyberinkdesign.com/dual_monitors.htm as a start. The split screen stuff I am not sure about, but it would be easy enough to watch tv in a window while you use the computer for other things which is the same thing pretty much. Google search for geek sites, you'll find info somewhere on this.

 

[bri]

Look for something with multi-monitor support that allows cloning a single view and spanning your desktop at a minimum. Some graphics cards have a special TV output, not sure on the video format of these though. Likely NTSC.

Most present to 2 year old nvidia cards have dual DVO ports on the card and support spanning, cloning and other video modes with 2 display devices. nVidia calls multi-monitor support nView.

Same goes, I believe for ATI. They advertise stuff like HDTV Encoder, Video Capture, etc. Multi-monitor support for ATI is called TwinView.

I think Matrox also makes a card that is capable of driving more than 2 monitors.

Do a bit of research on the sites.
http://www.ati.com
http://www.nvidia.com
http://www.tomshardware.com

The high end cards (i.e. $500+ range) by both ATI and nVidia will be over kill for you if you do not use it for professional graphics applications and games, so likely just look for the card that supports your desired resolutions, desired bus and power. Some of the high end boards will take two power connectors. Some just one and some of the lower end boards just get power from the slot.

Also there are other variables like the fact that you have 2 different aspect ratios. Maybe not be an issue for spanning destops, but for cloning, I am not sure of all of the various options for cloning. I.e. can you clone one 1280x1024 destop to a 1366x768 desktop. Another thing is the nvidia I am presenty using can do 1360x768... might be ok, you are just going to crop 6 pixels.

Many laptops have enough power to at least runa test. You might wish to find someone with a fairly powerful laptop with an ATI or nVidia chip and give some of it a whirl.

I would send this information to nvidia and ati and see if you get a response or recommendation from them. Not sure how responsive they are though.

With that said, I am sorry that I cannot recommend a specific card, there are just too many variables and I have no idea what your Sony is able to support or exactly what you need from the card.

ASUS has a pretty good reputation of building cards with the nvidia chip. ATI I believe makes their own cards, I would go with that.

 

[jrsimpson]

Alyssa,
Before addressing the video concerns, I have a quick comment regarding wireless input devices, i.e. mouse controllers and keyboards. Do not expect great range from infrared (IR) devices. They generally only work up to around six feet away and require line of sight (no obstructions). Radio frequency (RF) devices work over much longer ranges and do not require line of sight. Bluetooth likely has a reasonable range, but I do not have any direct experience with these devices.

Regarding the video options, let me first understand your requirements. You plan to have both your computer monitor and your flat screen each show simultaneously Digital Cable TV and PC output in a multi-window environment. Is this correct? Vray may have missed your parenthetical statement not requiring two screens showing different video, in which case a multi-output video card is not necessary.

I currently have a similar setup, though without the big screen TV I have an old Hauppage TV tuner card for my PC: http://www.hauppauge.com/, which works amazingly well. The tuner card accepts coaxial cable input and has various composite video and audio outputs. The card came with a remote control and a program for the PC. This setup allows me to run my PC and simultaneously have a small TV window. Or the TV window can be expanded to full screen. Newer tuner cards support digital cable as well. If you do not have any scrambled channels (e.g., HBO) or do not wish to view them on your PC, you might skip the cable box altogether. Additionally, the video card in your PC must support graphics overlay, which most modern ones should satisfy this criteria. Once the tuner card is in place, you must connect an additional output from the PC into the flat screen. If the video card supports it, you might use the DVI output on the card into the TV and the 15-pin video to the computer monitor. If you have questions regarding connection topology, I can attempt to provide some possible wiring scenarios.

Cheers, Jeff

 

[MarkP]

Another source of equipment is Hauppauge They have an excellent product line.

 

[Alyssa]

I'm basically just looking to use internet explorer and microsoft word, nothing heavy duty at all. I bought the computer in October of 2005, so it's pretty new. I don't know what model it is, since I'm at work.

 

[NVRover]

...My plan is to use a wireless mouse & keyboard so I can use the internet from the couch...

Damn, I thought I was lazy! I'm only kidding

 

[Alyssa]

I think Jeff gets it. My keyboard & mouse are Bluetooth, and have a good range, but I'll be close anyway. I have to use the VGA cable from the computer to the TV because I have to use the DVI cable from the cable box to the TV. I do need a cable box because I get premium channels & HDTV.
I don't want to watch different things on the 2 screens... I want them to be able to show exactly the same thing as the other.
When I'm at my computer, I have my back to the TV, and I'm sick of just HEARING TV. I want to be able to SEE it too.

 

[Alyssa]

Damn, I thought I was lazy! I'm only kidding

Believe me, it's much more comfortable to sit in my chair than at my computer... and all of my filing supplies, etc... are right around me. I can pay bills, enter them on the computer, & file them from the same spot.

 

[D Chapman]

Alyssa,
You need the Media Center software with your set-up!

 

[Rocky]

mouse couch potato........

 

[NVRover]

Believe me, it's much more comfortable to sit in my chair than at my computer... and all of my filing supplies, etc... are right around me. I can pay bills, enter them on the computer, & file them from the same spot.

I'm just jealous....there I admitted it!

 

[Alyssa]

Alyssa,
You need the Media Center software with your set-up!

Have it!

 

[Alyssa]

These are the specs on my computer:

Intel Pentium 4 Processor 640 (3.2 GHz) with Hyper-Threading Technology
2MB L2 Cache
FSB - 800MHz
512MB of PC-3200 400MHz DDR SDRAM (upgradeable to 2GB)
250GB 7200RPM Serial ATA? HDD
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 with 128MB of shared Video Memory (memory is taken from the main system's RAM)
Double Layer DVD Writer - (write speeds) up to 4x Double Layer DVD+R, 16x DVD+R, 16x DVD-R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 40x CD-R, & 24x CD-RW
Double Layer DVD Writer - (read speeds) up to 16x DVD-ROM & 40x CD-ROM
56K V.90 Fax Modem
Multimedia Card Reader - supports Memory Stick, Memory Stick? PRO, Memory Stick? Duo, Compact Flash, SmartMedia, Secure Digital (SD), MultiMediaCard, & xD Picture Card
Ports - 10/100 Ethernet, 1 VGA, 2 PS/2, 1 Parallel, 1 Line-In, 6 USB 2.0 (2 front), & 2 FireWire (1 front 4-pin / 1 rear 6-pin)
Slots - 1 x16 PCI Express (available), 1 x1 PCI Express (available), & 2 PCI (1 available)
Bays - Two 5.25" (0 available), One External 3.5" (0 available), & 4 Internal 3.5" (3 available)
Processor | Intel Pentium 4
Optical Disc Drive | DVD+-RW / CDRW Combo with Dual Layer
Hard Drive (GB) | 250
Memory - Processing RAM included | 512MB
Memory - Processing RAM Maximum | 2GB
Memory - Video RAM | 128MB Shared
Connection - USB Front | 2
Connection - USB Rear | 4
Connection - IEEE1394 Firewire Front | 1
Connection - IEEE1394 Firewire Rear | 1
Connection - Parallel | 1
Connection - PS/2 | 2
Connection - VGA DB15 Analog Display | 1
Connection - Media Card Reader | Yes
Connection - Sound | Yes
Expansion - PCI | 1 Available
Connection - RJ11 | Yes
Expansion - PCI Express | 2 Available
Connection - RJ45 | Yes
Connection - Video | Out
Expansion - Drive Bay Internal | 3 Available
Operating System | Microsoft Windows XP Media Center

 

[Leo_Hallak]

Sounds like you need to dump the onboard video and pickup a PCI-E card with dual monitor support. Run the LCD monitor off DVI and run the TV on the RGB connector. Any of the new cards should do dual monitors, on the cheap side a Nvidia 6600 is a decent card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121180 runs about 100.00 dollars.

It may not keep up with 1080i if you want to run it full hi-def as DVI out but it will do everything else

Leo.

 

[Eric N.]

If your going to get a new video card you might want to look at the ATI All-in-Wonder cards. They do both graphics and they have a built in TV tunner as well.. In particular the ATI All-in-Wonder 2006 ed PCI-e but, it's not out yet and when it is (soon) it's going to cost about $150-200 bucks. This way you can hook the card up to your TV and you can also hook up your cable box to your computer and watch TV in it as well.. Cost a little more but, does more..

Although, you will probably have to download some extra drivers off their website durring the install since some of their past cards don't like MCE 2005 although I belive they've fixed that issue already.

 

[bri]

That is what I was thinking too, with a TV tuner added (if you cannot find an nvidia or ati with it), it'd be really nice.

If it were me I'd really find an nvidia or ati board to do the video output and if I needed a tuner I'd get that as well.

The new PCI Express graphics cards are really nice. If you want a nice stable image and the flexibility to do more than merely watch TV on your PC, then nVidia and ATI are the pros hands down. Matrox has some professional level video editing stuff but its specialized and pricey.

Add something like the HDTV tuner and you could have a really slick setup.

Both nvidia and ati offer graphics cards that are very capable and also include tv tuners, although ususally you can get additional capabilities in a separate tuner card.

The link below has the MM products. Tuners and graphics from a single vendor.
http://www.ati.com/products/multimedia.html

Its not the fastest or best graphics, but very capable and looks like it has all you need and more.
ATI All-In-Wonder? 2006 Edition Video Card

If you get a tuner as well you can do PIP, record one channel while watching another, etc. Check out how you can hook the graphics and tuners from ATI together.
http://www2.ati.com/manuals/AW9600Pr.pdf

ATI has really good tech on their website.

http://www.ati.com/products/hdtvadapter/faq.html#1
http://www.ati.com/products/hdtvwonder/
http://www.ati.com/products/catalyst/multimonitor_Guide.pdf
http://www.ati.com/products/catalyst/HDTV_Setup_Guide.pdf
http://www.ati.com/products/catalyst/video_WhitePaper.pdf

 

[D Chapman]

I've got the 256MB DDR ATI Radeon X1300 Pro in mine. That, combined with a Dual NTSC TV Tuner with PVR and FM Tuner and backed with 240 gig's. That holds a lot of porn. Rover porn, sick-o's

On one end, I have a small 15" monitor hidden behind a door in my intertainment center. On the other end, I'm hooked up to a 27" TV, nothing fancey. Works out awesome! But, anymore, I listen to more music than watchin TV. I just use my laptop to surf the net from the couch....

 

[edthediscoman]

I have been searching for a wireless option similar to this too....for running music and whats on the screen to the receiver and then the TV. There is currently not one made that will display Audio and Video directly from the computer (what the computer sees) to the Receiver. Gateway and others made one that does pictures, and music, but not the actual screen image (you can surf your computer for pics and audio from the gateway unit - no longer made)
The wires drop a ton of signal (I have 50ft of wiring from the computer to the receiver currently) and get some EMI or RFI feedback while playing audio - hence the wireless option. This may also help with what you are after.

 

[D Chapman]

Ed,

Like this? http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=318