Yes, it works very well. I don’t know exactly how to do it, because I have never tried it. But you will hear from somebody here soon. I can get info on how to do it, but it will take me a while to get in touch with a friend who has 2 Macs using a total of 4 monitors. 2 each.
Jane
George,
As Jane said, you can have two monitors hooked up to your system quite easily. You just have to have the ports for it. On my older G4/533 I my CRT monitor is run of the single graphics card installed in the AGP PCI slot. The card has two ports: SVGA and ADC (Apple Display Connector). My CRT is plugged into the SVGA port so I still have the ADC port open and ready for use. Just make sure what kind of ports your graphics card has before you go out and buy the LCD. You can always buy adapters <
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore. woa/70803/wo/WF1Wmw8eUnjE25Xdg341VYOUAXh/2.3.0.5.7.1.0.17.3. 1.1.0?58,13> but it’s nice not to have to worry about them.
As for what size? I use a 17" and there are plenty of folks editing photo’s on iMac 15" screens. It’s a personal preference thing.
Joe
I just got through sending a message to a friend and was telling him my dream of going to two monitors! Get the bugs out, George, and then let me know how it’s going. 🙂
Note that what you can do with two monitors depends on your model, though. Powerbooks and towers support "extended desktop" where you can, say, keep your tool palettes on one monitor and your image on the other, but imacs, emacs, and ibooks only let you "mirror", i.e. show the same thing on both.
Extended desktop is really cool. There is a firmware hack for imacs and emacs, but it voids your warranty and can potentially fry your computer.
Your idea is exactly what my friend (an architect) uses in his studio. It’s an awesome system to work with. He runs the two monitors from a Sony Viao laptop. It was not difficult to hook up.
"George S. Forman" wrote in message
I have a power Mac G4 with a good Samsung SyncMaster monitor. Is it
possiable to hook up a 2nd monitor, an inexpensive LCD, to my system? i would like to have all the tools, pallettes etc. open on the LCD, while i keep just the image i am working on open on the Samsung CRT monitor. what size monitor do most people use for there photo editing?
my wife will not let me have the LCD monitor from her computer and neither will my daughter, looks like i will be visiting best buy tomorrow. i will let you know how this all works out
Hi Barbara, This is really interesting, as I was told that -all- new Macs support the ‘extended desktop’ as well as the ‘mirror’, and it is the extended desktop that we all want.
I would like to find out more about this, but I sure wouldn’t want to fry my new iMac if I get it for Xmas, but I wouldn’t know how to apply the ‘hack’.
My present G4 would work? But with my lovely big monitor, I haven’t thought I needed it. Plenty of room here, and cheap monitors, why not go for it!
Learn something new and exciting here every day!
Jane
Hmm, dunno who told you that, but they told you wrong. Check the tech specs under "displays" for any machine you are interested in. For the imac, for instance, it says right there:
VGA output port for video mirroring on external display or projector
Many people have killed their machines trying to hack their firmware for extended desktop. If you really want it, buy a machine that supports it.
I’ve been using two monitors since about 1995. On Mac. PC didn’t support it till later on, and I do use two monitors on my XP system. People look at it like it is something from outer space. to me there is no other way to work with Photoshop, graphics and the web.
What the setup generally requires is a second video card. That is, if you have an open PCI slot, you can get an inexpensive video card and monitor and snap in the card, plug in the monitor, and away you go. It is just about that simple for mac and XP these days. I have added a second monitor for as little as $150 total new ($60 64MB card, $90 radius 15" monitor), and virtually free from spare parts (pull the card out of an unused machine and borrow the monitor). Dual monitors would optimally be the same (same card, same monitor brand and model), but you can have broad variation. The first time I set up dual monitors was on a mac 6110, and I was running a 21" NEC, then added a no-name 13" that was barely kept from the dumpster. It was enough to get my palettes on, and it certainly helped.
As far as the size of the monitors you use, it depends on how far you sit from them. I can use two 15", high-resolution monitors and feel pretty comfortable (and save a ton). Some people get all wild about a large monitor as the main, but if you have .35 dot pitch moving up to a 21" screen, that really isn’t much better than a sharp 15" at .22. I often find I have to put larger monitors further away, and I bet if i measured the field of view, the display size in the long run would only be marginally different.
I have heard of single cards that support dual output but I have never used one — and actually have never seen one. Usually I believe cards that have more than one port are often a convenience: they can really support ONE monitor, but have more than one type of port. I would check with the manufacturer before plugging any thing in unless you are sure the card is meant to support more than one monitor. If not, you may get mirrored display, or worse, you can fry the card. I’d be careful, but not over-cautious.
In short, I recommend it. But check out the specs first. If you aren’t sure, add a new card instead.
Hope that helps.
Richard
I have heard of single cards that support dual output but I have never used one — >and actually have never seen one. Usually I believe cards that have more than one >port are often a convenience: they can really support ONE monitor, but have more >than one type of port.
Hi Richard,
You’re thinking too PC 🙂 . I’ve set up more than a few dual monitor set-ups for clients (and friends), using the single graphic’s card that comes stock in G4 towers. You plug em in and "they just work". I actually had my current G4 tower set-up with an LCD and and a CRT not too long ago when I was fixing the LCD for a client. It worked just fine along side the CRT in the same graphics card (after I fixed a damaged connector 😉 ).
George,
I don’t know what model G4 (I am assuming it’s a tower, though because you didn’t say iMac anywhere did you?) you have, maybe you could post that. If we knew the model I could tell you the card you have installed. That’d help a lot. My G4 was purchased back in May of 2001 and came with the Nvidia Geforce MX <
http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce2mx.html>. That card can easily handle two monitors.
Joe
Hi Barb,
You ever figure out that calibration problem?
Joe
No. I’m looking at zeroing out and starting over from scratch. 8^(
For anyone who’s getting a new Mac or PC, consider a notebook or desktop with a widescreen monitor instead of getting two monitors. Notebooks such as the PowerBook series have 15" and 17" widescreen versions, and iMacs and some Sonys have widescreen monitors built in.
It seems like all applications for all walks of life have a million palettes now. From Photoshop Elements to Illustrator to Final Cut Pro & DVD Studio Pro to developers’ tools such as Eclipse and NetBeans–they all have palettes on the left, palettes on the right, dockable palettes, resizable palettes, expandable palettes. Hmmm. Does Adobe have stock in NEC or Sony? 😉
Oh, and it’s a great way to watch wide-screen DVDs, too. Betcha that’s disorienting on two monitors. 🙂 (Just finished "As Good As It Gets"–great movie)
On Sat, 1 Nov 2003 18:19:30 -0800, wrote:
What the setup generally requires is a second video card. That is, if you have an open PCI slot, you can get an inexpensive video card and monitor and snap in the card, plug in the monitor, and away you go.
Do you mean no software is required?
How do I tell my computer on which screen to put the palettes for instance?
You advise to check with the manufacturer of the card first, but what do I look for? I am on a pc with a Nvidia Ge Forced4 MX 420 and tried to look up the specs on Nvidia’s site, but the details there are far too technical for me to understand.
Thanks for your help.
—
Groet, Adriana.
[Gravity is a myth. The Earth sucks.]
JOE HENRY……..i have a DP 867 G4 tower (mirrored drive doors) with 1.5GB of ram and running OS X 10.2.6, i am unsure of the graphic card, will this system support dual monitors? i don’t want to "mirror" my monitor, but want to keep all my tools, pallettes etc. on one monitor and the image i am working on, on another monitor. how does the computer know which monitor to put the tools etc. on?
while my wife was sleeping i took the IBM LCD from her computer and tried to hook it up to my power mac. the plug from her monitor, along with the LCD monitor from my daughters computer are differant then what is on my mac. i have a Samsung monitor hooked up to my G4 right now and next to where i have this hooked up is another plug but neither LCD monitor i have has the right kind of plug for it.any ideas what i can do. i also opened up in system preferances, display, and it has a button for detect display but does not have anything for the arrangement of the monitors like it said in the link Barbara posted. does this mean on my mirrored drive door G4 i will not be able to put the pallettes, tools etc. on one display while i keep the image on the other display? that is providing i can find a monitor with the proper plug configuration.
George, I haven’t poked around on my desktop computer yet this morning (it runs both OS 9 and 10.2.8), but I was looking at the settings on this PowerBook, which still runs only OS 9. It says in the Help files that I won’t be able to see the options for Mirror Desktop or Extended Desktop unless I actually have a second monitor hooked up to the computer – which I don’t. That could be why you’re not finding the options that were referred to in the link Barbara gave.
I’m going off to snoop through my junk, because somewhere I’ve got some information about monitor adapters. You should be able to hook up any LCD to your MDD, but with an adapter.
Edit: I forgot to answer one of your questions – when in extended desktop mode, you just have a wider expanse within which you can move things around. You control where your toolbars or pallets are placed by dragging them with your mouse, just like you do now, except you can literally drag them off of one monitor and onto the second. I did this quite a while ago, using a small TV in extended mode with my PowerBook. It was a little freaky, because I’d been after the "mirror" mode, and I thought I’d broken something. After my heart started beating again, it was really fun.
after searching the Apple site your right, i will need an adapter and then i should be able to hook up a second monitor. i’ll let you know how i make out.
OK, which Mac should Santa(husband)bring? Last time, 2 years ago, got the G4, but the G5 would be overkill for me, but all the things that it would do better than the iMac??????? Or would it? The 2 monitors would be nice,,,,,
What I really would like to know is how QUIET the new Macs are, but that is another topic. Jane
Jane,
The G5 that I saw (and played with) was actually more quiet than my G4/533 tower despite the fact that it has 8 fans. They don’t all run at once and are very quiet to begin with. So I don’t think noise would be an issue.
My philosophy on computers is when you buy, buy as much processor as you can afford. All that does is extend the life span of your computer. If Santa can afford it, ask for a G5. Sure it might be overkill now, but three years from now when you’re happily chugging along with PSE 8 😉 it’ll be worth it.
Beyond the processor, though, there are a bunch of other considerations. For me, the tower design works the best. I like the expandability (additional hard drives, optical drives, graphic cards, etc.) that a tower offers. I’ve given a couple years more life to this clunky old G4 of mine by adding two additional hard drives as well as a new DVD burner.
If you already have a nice monitor, a tower might be a better option as well (G4 or G5). You can still use the monitor with an iMac but with those nice LCD, well it’s not as necessary. You’d have the second monitor for your dual monitor set-up but as Barb said only mirroring.
When you buy an iMac you’re pretty much stuck with what it comes with. You can’t upgrade the graphics card (at least not easily) or hard drive. You also can’t add any PCI cards. You might not think you need one now but who knows what really cool gadget will come out on a PCI card in a year or two? You can do much of this externally with Firewire drives and other devices. The problem is that generally speaking, external devices are more expensive.
You might be thinking I don’t like the iMacs. In fact, I love them. If I didn’t need/want the ability to easily add hard drives and such, I’d be all over one. For me, the better option is a tower.
If Santa were bringing me a new Mac this year, and he could afford it, I’d be getting the 1.8 ghz G5. Do I need that speed now? No, not really, but I might 2 or 3 years from now. Getting back to my first point and this is what I tell my clients (that doesn’t necessarily make it right, though): buy as much processor as you can afford. That in my mind is the most important. You’re not necessarily buying for today but for down the road.
Joe
Hi Joe, Thank you for the great advice! I will have ‘Santa’ read it. I don’t have a flat panel monitor, just my wonderful old View Sonic 17 inch one. Looking at those new Apple monitors makes me want one, and the 17" one comes included with the iMac. But the G5, you have to buy it seperatly.
What I should do, is keep going to my little local Mac store and keep playing with all of them.
I am pleased to hear that the fan noise is much better, as we live in a really quiet area, and I prefer to listen to the birds at the bird feeder rather than the fans. Actually my G4 isn’t too noisy.
Thanks again, Jane
Jane, while maybe not as quiet as the G5, you will find any new mac (except perhaps the emac) much quieter than what you’ve got. I would also keep the software bundles in mind when making your choice, also.
Hi Barbara, Last time I was at my local Mac store, he showed me the software bundle that’s included with the iMac. It was better than all the others. I didn’t ask him about the memory upgrade that is included with all Macs at MacConnection(where I got this one, my powerbook and my brother’s iMac), as I thought that I would go over there tomorrow and ‘play’ some more.
It is so hard to make up my mind, I don’t need the G5, but the extras that Joe told us about, would be nice in the long run. But how long do I want to keep a computer? This G4 will be 4 years old the 14 th of December, and the 6205 that I had before, was 4 when I got this one.
I don’t make too many CDs, but I use my firewire external 60g HD all the time. I assume that would work fine with any new computer.
It is a hard choice, and it is fun shopping for this, so playing with them at the store is going to help me.
I hate food and clothing shopping, but computer shopping is a whole different story!
Jane
Hi Richard, You’re thinking too PC.
That would be funny, cause I use Mac at home (and PC at work)…but I consider Mac by choice. I believe my standard card in the G4 would be 64MB, and would think that taxing it with a second monitor would hamper the performance. I don’t think it would be a good idea to plug the second monitor in there even if I could…never looked into doing it. I happened to have a second monitor on the machine that was going out of service so use that 64MB card…now each monitor has its own 64MB card — While I have not researched, this is probably the way it should be, regardless of what works. I mean, I used to run Photoshop 2.5 on a Mac Classic with 2MB of RAM…I could still do that, um, but don’t think it would be optimizing my system. If you are installing a second monitor to increase performance, it doesn’t seem the best move to skimp on a card.
Richard
Hi Richard,
but I consider Mac by choice.
And a good choice it is! 😉
Certainly there are instances where a graphic’s card could be taxed and affect performance. Most people, however, won’t get to that point. I’ve never ran into performance problems on my 32mb card when I had it set up for dual CRT’s (and I had my monitors set to a pretty high rez and millions of colors). The only time I ever noticed anything was playing graphic intensive games. In this situation the card just blanked the second monitor because most games don’t support dual monitor configurations. I also suspect that 3D rendering and CAD situations might tax a graphic card as well, although it wasn’t too long ago that I helped a local architect set up his dual monitor system (2 really nice 20" Apple Cinema displays driven off a 1 year old G4) and he has been very happy so far using his drafting and CAD programs.
IMO, the average home user, even one using a program like PSE, isn’t going to tax a graphics card like George has by plugging in two monitors.
I’m not disagreeing with you on the benefit of driving monitors off separate cards Richard. I’m just saying that with the cards that have been coming in G4 towers the last couple of years (even my clunky three-year old G4/533 with it’s 32mb card) it’s not necessary. If George finds he’s taxing his single card with two monitors then by all means he should get that second card. 🙂
Joe
I’ve got another question – somewhat related. My system profiler shows PCI slots labeled J9, J10, and J12. Does this mean I have another one available? I realize I could find that answer for myself by opening up the case, but that’s a whole lot of trouble. 🙂 The way they’re numbered makes me think there’s a J11 lurking in there someplace. Might that be true? If so – TA DA! – I could probably put another video card in, couldn’t I? Heh, heh. I bet the cards for these old guys are really cheap nowadays. What do ya think?
Hi Beth,
According to the Apple Spec Database, your B&W has 4 PCI slots with one dedicated to video (3 slots in addition to your graphics card slot).
In Panther my PCI slots are all numbered 3, except for the graphics card slot which is 1. Weird.
Yep, you better load that sucker up with PCI cards. You can never have too many can you? 😉
Joe
I’ve got the PCI IDE Controller, the SCSI card, and the video card in it now. So that second video card would suck up the last space, but there’s no point in wasting it, is there? 🙂 Now to find a cheap card.
Hey, if you’ve got the room (an open slot, and space on your desk), dual monitor set-ups are the cat’s meow. My wife put the kybosh on my dual set-up a couple of years ago because my Mac and all the rest of the junk that comes with it (scanner, monitor(s) printer(s), camera’s, external drives, cable modem, etc.) was taking over the living room. I had to give something up so one of the monitors had to go. 🙁
Oh well, once we’re done with our remodel I think I can get it back. 🙂
Joe
Hi Joe, I’ve got the same problem, too many externals, too many wires, turn off the lights after dark, and it looks like a Christmas tree with all the blinking lights in here. Turn on the lights and all you see is a huge mess of wires, like a pot of spahgetti. No wonder I can’t let the cat ever come into my computer room.
My husband got me a huge long door, sanded it, polyeurathaned it, set it up on two desks on each end, and that helped a lot.
Yes, I do have room for another computer and another monitor. I think,,,,,,,,,,maybe,,,,,,, yeah I can squeeze more stuff in here! I will add to this mess. I wonder how many amps this room uses. Jane
New toys! Aren’t they wonderful! I very nearly just bought Airport, but chickened out at the last minute – it was going to be expensive and I think I’ll save the money I was going to spend and buy 10.3 (when the bugs settle down a bit.) and a firewire drive …and about thirty metres of ethernet cable…….my husband’s desk and mine are 25metres apart on diametrically opposite sides of the house! (Broadband coming in the next week or so I hope – we’re not cabled here, and although the exchange is enabled for DSL we’re quite a long way from the exchange. I’ve been spending the last few days finding out everything I didn’t want to know about home networking. I hope I’ve got it sorted now!) .
Susan S.
Hi Susan, My husband’s computer is on the opposite side of our house too, so all you need is a long Ethernet cable hooked to your router. It is so easy, don’t bother with all the wireless and Airport stuff, unless you want to wander about the property with your computers. The Ethernet is cheaper, easier, and much better signal.
Jane
I think my husband had in mind sitting under the grape vine outside and sipping chardonnay while he worked on his power book…. Now he’ll have to drag a cable with him if he wants to try it! I’m actually getting the cable putthrough the house up into the roofspace by the people who are going to come and rationalise our phone plugs (I don’t do ladders if i can help it!) so it won’t be too intrusive.
Susan S.
Wireless ROCKS!!! (to borrow a phrase from Jodi!)
Played with a G5 today, the extended monitor thing is awesome! Its speed is so fantasic,,,it is really nice
Then played with the iMac G4, what a nice machine,,,,,,
How do I make up my mind, I dont need a G5, I dont need a new G4 iMac either, but we DO need new toys.
I do believe that the new fans are a lot more quiet, and that is important. I think that the Apple company is going to do very well this holiday season. Jane
<wispering in Jane’s ear> G5…G5…G5…
😉
