JR said:
problem... when I got to the video settings, there is only 1 video
board, so I assume I have to do something to make windows "split" the
board into the 2 connectors. Can you point me to that please?
If you had mentioned the video card make and model, I could have
crafted an answer a bit more specific to you.
Here are pictures of video cards, with dual head connectors showing.
The second one has a VGA and a DVI connector on it.
http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-130-035-08.jpg
http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-141-034-07.jpg
Now, if we look at this one, this one is more of a problem. It has
a VGA connector (and that small round black DIN connector). The VGA can
be used with an LCD monitor or a CRT, as long as the LCD has a VGA
on it. There are some cheap LCD monitors now, that only have DVI
on the interface. Be careful what you buy. So if your card is this old,
there would be some limits.
http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-141-052-07.jpg
On that last card, you could connect a TV set to the DIN connector,
via composite or S-video. And a monitor would go to the VGA. Still
a total of two display devices, but a TV isn't very good for text.
The control panel for the video card, will show options for more
than one display device. In the picture here, you can see
various two monitor display options.
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/8/0,1425,sz=1&i=81841,00.jpg
As long as the video card has two connectors suitable for monitors,
then you can use two monitors powered by one video card.
The DVI connector on the video card, is full of surprises. On a midrange
priced card, the DVI connector will be a DVI-I. What that means, is
the connector carries both digital signals and analog ones. By
means of a DVI to VGA dongle, you can convert the connector type to
the more familiar VGA 15 pin, and the analog signals will be routed to
the VGA pins.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvi
A DVI-I, carries signals for DVI-D (the digital part that a DVI
monitor would use), but also has signals for use with VGA. To get the
VGA, you use the dongle to convert the connector format. There
is no active component inside the dongle - all it does is route
available signals, to a new connector format. If the analog signals
are missing in the video card design, the dongle won't fix that.
On the very cheapest video cards, the DVI connector is actually a
DVI-D and only carries digital signals. Usually, there is nothing
in the advertising, to warn of this. There are a few cards that
do it, but they're pretty cheap ones (sub $50 range). Otherwise,
many other card, even come with the necessary dongle adapter included.
This card comes with two DVI to VGA dongle adapters in the box.
So you could use two DVI monitors, a DVI and a VGA, or two VGA
equipped monitors, as well as connect a TV.
http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-130-035-06.jpg
The video card has two display channels inside. The faceplate of
the video card, may have a total of three connectors (two DVI and
the DIN for the TV set). That is a total of three displays. You
can have at most, two of the three display outputs operational. If
you use the TV set one, then you can only use one of the remaining
DVI connectors. So only 2 of 3 work at any one time.
HTH,
Paul
