Author Topic: Who has a functioning dual-head display configuration?  (Read 6862 times)

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Who has a functioning dual-head display configuration?
« on: December 27, 2017, 05:00:47 pm »
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Everyone!

Given the massive holiday sales deals around here I picked up an 'Open Box' DELL U2415 monitor. This is one of very few modern displays still supporting a native 1920x1200 resolution. Since the current video driver support is, for all intent purposes, non-existent as far as new/recent video hardware is concerned, I was pretty happy to see that this new DELL panel was recognized without any problems by my IBM SNAP driver (did not try with AN SNAP nor Panorama). This has not been the case for my old and reliable Samsung 245T displays, needless to say, I still love 'em.

Of course other OSes support crazy resolutions and display modes, like my kids' Samsung S32D850T panel, which will do WQHD 2560x1440. For us however, AFAIK the max limit given the above described limitations is that 1920x1200, or right around there.

So what I am curious about is who actually has a working dual-head display setup?

When I attempt this setup on my machine, the ATI X850 XT PE card forces one of the displays into using a VGA cable, while the secondary head can do DVI. This is a limitation of the SNAP drivers, is well understood and specifically noted in the docs. Since the new DELL does not have a VGA input port I could not use it since my Samsung 245T panel has a problem with that 1920x1200 resolution in VGA mode (SNAP can not handle the EDID the panel has which has the portrait-landscape flip resolution coded as extended mode, and that causes SNAP to scramble the video signal into a weird 920x resolution).

Soooo.....back to my topic...who has a working dual-head display? What are you using? I see this as the only viable way to expand the physical display on our platform.

Thanks!

ivan

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Re: Who has a functioning dual-head display configuration?
« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2017, 09:15:16 pm »
Hi Dariusz,

I had a dual-head setup working some years ago (two 19" monitors) but since I got my Hanns-G HH281 (28" 1920x1200) I have found there is no more need for dual-head.

The extra 4" over your Dell 24" make a lot of difference.

One thing I can note is that the Panorama driver with ArcaOS doesn't like the HH281 for some reason - I have tried VGA, DVI-D and HDMI yet the old SNAP works.

ak120

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Re: Who has a functioning dual-head display configuration?
« Reply #2 on: December 27, 2017, 10:03:02 pm »
I simply use ATI FireMV 2200 for two displays. It's low profile and PCIe and should also fit to small desktop machines. Supported by SNAP with 2 DVI connections, but I use it with 1 CRT screen 1920x1200 via VGA adapter. But a Samsung 57" flat screen is also heavy weight. NVidia adapters need some tweaking, only useful for servers without 16x PCIe slots.

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Re: Who has a functioning dual-head display configuration?
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2017, 12:36:36 am »
ivan and Andreas,

Thanks you guys!

1920x1200 is a pretty good amount of room, but I have a good sized corner unit desk and well, there is plenty of room to toss another 1920x1200 into that mix...I would absolutely love to have two such screens side-by-side. In just about all the things I do, I find that I am constantly flipping between different virtual desktop screens while trying to look at multiple windows.

Well, given the current SNAP driver requirements and the fact that the Dell U2415 panels works right out of the box using DVI connection, I am thinking of finding the U2412M, which is basically a U2415 but with traditional 'thick' screen edge and all the other missing input connectors, like the VGA which I need to drive one of the panels with.

Oh, regarding the U2415...man, that thing is a beauty, the thin edge is literally less then 1cm, 5mm as best as I can tell, which means that putting them side-by-side would make for an almost seamless dual-head display.

Neil Waldhauer

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Re: Who has a functioning dual-head display configuration?
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2017, 07:30:50 pm »

Well, given the current SNAP driver requirements and the fact that the Dell U2415 panels works right out of the box using DVI connection, I am thinking of finding the U2412M, which is basically a U2415 but with traditional 'thick' screen edge and all the other missing input connectors, like the VGA which I need to drive one of the panels with.


I'm using a U2412M here with 1920 x 1200 over VGA. It's pretty good. I use a KVM and up to four computers with it, so DVI isn't very attractive for my application. The U2415 seems really nice.
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Dariusz Piatkowski

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Re: Who has a functioning dual-head display configuration?
« Reply #5 on: December 29, 2017, 05:40:11 pm »
Neil!!!

I'm using a U2412M here with 1920 x 1200 over VGA. It's pretty good. I use a KVM and up to four computers with it, so DVI isn't very attractive for my application. The U2415 seems really nice.

...my friend, do not take this the wrong way (:o), but I could kiss ya right now!!! LOL  ;D

Thank you!!! This is exactly the sort of information I was looking for. The fact that the U2412M is recognized over VGA will allow me to either pair it up with my current Samsung 245T (which will be hooked-up over DVI) or, should I strike it rich, buy two of the U2412M units for a matching install (there is an significant panel tech difference between the Dell and Samsung displays, so working through things like colour match and angle viewing - almost a necessity in a two panel install - could prove to be problematic.

Anyways...appreciate the info, I will keep my eyes peeled for a deal on the Dell U2412M.