Who wants another monitor!Raise your hand BTW, if there is an irritating animated GIF that's bothering you simply hit the ESC key. . . . Hit ESC now!(Synopsis: a USB to VGA adapter will let you exceed you monitor limit.)Adding a second monitor can be very simple if it's less than 10 years old. If your old desktop computer has a newer video card you can probably run 2 monitors
even on Windows 98.
I'm not talking about one of the Eyefinity cards now. Most desktop video cards in the last 10 years have 2 or more video connectors on the back. But even if there are 3 connectors on the back, you may be limited to the use of
ANY 2 connectors.
Look on the sides and back of a laptop and you'll probably see another video connector. You should be able to plug another monitor in, and have 2 monitors working, the laptop screen & the other monitor.
The biggest problem may be matching the connectors on your computer/laptop to the spare monitors. You laptop probably has a VGA connector, and the new monitor that you bought may have a different type connector. Now, you’re in trouble.
That is, if you don’t have a cable converter.
Fortunately they are fairly cheap. AntiquesThe problems with the older laptops are 2 fold.
* You're limited to the laptop screen
AND the plug in monitor.
* If you laptop is as old as mine, the resolution may be to low. Connect a large monitor to a low resolution output and the result is pretty ugly.
So if you're using a laptop, check the maximum resolution before buying a new monitor.
This is MUCH less important for desktop computers where you can just buy a new video card that has 3, 6, 12, or more video connectors.
Pop quiz - Can you plug your monitor in here without an adapter?
Another way.Before I go to far, let me say that you need a reasonably good card with 1 gig (or more) of fast memory.
It doesn't have to be the best. My card is the best that will work with MY CPU and motherboard. There are a lot of faster cards out there. But I do ok anyway.
A case in point. The Saitek Pro Flight Instrument Panel is expensive, but nice to have. However you'll read here and there that they'll make your FPS drop.
People forget that time goes by. That "fast" computer that they bought 5 or 6 years ago for big bucks isn't so great anymore.
If the FPS go down when you plug a Flight Instrument Panel in,
then your CPU and GPU stink. No two ways about it. No use arguing.
So, all of your video ports are filled up, are they?By now you know what I have, in the way of monitors, when I fly the FSX airways. If not then lets do a recap -
* Three 22 inch monitors.
(That's a fib. The old one is only 20" or 21".)* Two 9" USB monitors that I'm using as instrument panels.
* One Saitek Pro Flight Instrument Panel
Well....
I have an old 4:3 ViewSonic monitor. I'd like to use it as a large instrument panel.
I
want to use it, but...
But I can't add it to my computer. No monitor connectors free.
THE SOLUTIONThere is indeed a solution - the
USB 3.0 to VGA Adapter for Multiple Monitors up to 1920x1080.
With this, the newest addition to my so-called sim pit, I can now use that old VGA monitor.
The price wasn't so bad, $50. What made me pick it though was that a company called
DisplayLink makes the USB interface and chips. I have a lot of trust in them.
In January of 2012 I bought my 9" USB touch screen monitor. Whenever I put the FSX GPS into the USB monitor it would go blank. In fact
ANY FSX screen that was supposed to be animated/updated would go blank. I e-mailed DisplayLink and in 4 or 5 weeks they put out an update that fixed the problem. Most companies would have said, "That's a minor problem for a very limited number of people. Screw them."
How well does it work? GREAT!I have
all of these running at the same time.
* Three 22 inch monitors with FSX stretched across all of them.
* Two 9" USB monitors running the old instrument panels.
* One Saitek Pro Flight Instrument Panel
* AND I plugged in the old ViewSonic monitor, loaded it up with instruments from G.A. Panel
AND MY FPS STAY THE SAME! What more can you ask for.
All of that on a card that
IS NOT the latest and greatest, and an i5 CPU that isn't overclocked! You do have to spend
some money, BUT you don't have to have the very best to get good results.
Problems/NegativesAfter I ordered it from Amazon, Plugable (the manufacturer) sent me an e-mail directing me to the latest driver updates and urging me to pre-install them so all I would have to do, later, was to plug it in. While installing the drivers I was warned that a certain process had to be shut down. It gave me the name and ID of the process (aka PID) to be closed. I use a free program called
Process Explorer to do that kind of stuff.
After stopping the indicated process everything went well. Most people don't seem to have that kind of problem installing the drivers for this though.
The other problem isn't really a problem. When using the shortcut key strokes to change the Eyefinity monitor arrangement from 2 to 3 main monitors,
while I have the 4th monitor active, There is a 10 to 15 second delay. But this is
ONLY when I switch the Eyefinity arrangement using the shortcuts. No other lags noted.
PS - No USB 3 ports on you computer? Not a problem - it also works with USB 2 (just a little slower).
PS 2 -
DoubleSight from time to time has great deals on standard and USB monitors. I can't recommend Amazon for refurbished/used monitors. Their prices are only $10 to $20 off their regular price. You might as well buy it new.
.
.SNEAK PEEKNext week - the saga of the
NEW (for me, anyway) GPS.