[IAIN -Y-]

I have a new pic tower and I have just been using my hd tv whilst I was awaiting my new monitor to arrive and now my friend has also given me a monitor. I want to be able to dual screen them but unsure if I can do it.

My tower has a Radeon hd 5450 graphics card with a vga, dvi-I dual link and hdmi ports. My monitors have vga and dvi-d dual link.

Would it be possible to dual screen firstly and if so what leads/adaptors would I need for it to work.

Just for it to be working im currently using a vga cable into the monitor with a vga to dvi-I dual link to the tower but the highest resolution is around 1400 and some programs look blurred.

Any advice would be much app

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Hello IAIN-Y-,


Click here for a link to a similar thread made a while back.

 

Here is one of the more informative quotes from that thread:
 

 

...

 

when running dual screens you can have each monitor display something different, maybe watch a film on one while browsing the web on the other, and as iammykyl has said requires 2 separate video port connections usually.

when you have 2 monitors connected to the same port with a splitter you can only watch a video (or not and browse the web) that will be displayed on both monitors.

 

only with a display port can you daisy chain more than 1 monitor to a single video output port and use each screen individually to display something different.

some links explaining display ports :- 

http://en.wikipedia....iki/DisplayPort

http://www.displaypo...layport-output/

 

 

both dvi and hdmi use digital signals

vga uses an analogue signal.

depending on gpu the dvi port may also output an analogue signal. (dvi is the only connection type that has different signal types and is differentiated by adding -x where x can be a,d or i telling you its signal output type.)

 

so depending on what connection type is on your monitor and what connection type is on your gpu will depend on what type of adapter or cable you will need to connect them both.

 

more info on the different connection types.

hdmi :- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

dvi :- http://en.wikipedia....isual_Interface

vga :- http://en.wikipedia...._Graphics_Array

Let us know if you have any more questions! 

[Fusionbomb]

Hello IAIN-Y-,


Click here for a link to a similar thread made a while back.

 

Here is one of the more informative quotes from that thread:
 

 

...

 

when running dual screens you can have each monitor display something different, maybe watch a film on one while browsing the web on the other, and as iammykyl has said requires 2 separate video port connections usually.

when you have 2 monitors connected to the same port with a splitter you can only watch a video (or not and browse the web) that will be displayed on both monitors.

 

only with a display port can you daisy chain more than 1 monitor to a single video output port and use each screen individually to display something different.

some links explaining display ports :- 

http://en.wikipedia....iki/DisplayPort

http://www.displaypo...layport-output/

 

 

both dvi and hdmi use digital signals

vga uses an analogue signal.

depending on gpu the dvi port may also output an analogue signal. (dvi is the only connection type that has different signal types and is differentiated by adding -x where x can be a,d or i telling you its signal output type.)

 

so depending on what connection type is on your monitor and what connection type is on your gpu will depend on what type of adapter or cable you will need to connect them both.

 

more info on the different connection types.

hdmi :- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

dvi :- http://en.wikipedia....isual_Interface

vga :- http://en.wikipedia...._Graphics_Array

Let us know if you have any more questions! 

[iammykyl]

Gday.

 

what brand/model is your new monitor?

[terry1966]

yes it is possible and seeing how you say both your monitors have both a vga and dvi input connections on them,

 

and this is your card with vga, hdmi and dvi outputs. :- http://www.amd.com/e...ktop/5000/5450#

 

you have a number of connection options available to you.

 

you can either stick to using the dvi connections on the monitors (recommended.) and connect 1 with a straight dvi to dvi lead from your graphics card, and connect the other monitor with an hdmi to dvi lead or hdmi to hdmi lead with a hdmi to dvi adaptor.

 

or connect one by vga to vga and the other to dvi to dvi or vga to vga and hdmi to dvi or etc, etc 

 

then it is just a case of going into the amd catalyst software and setting things up there for dual displays.

 

[IAIN -Y-]

Gday.
 
what brand/model is your new monitor?

They're Lenovo think vision lt1925p

I'm awaiting a hdmi to dp adapter. Then hopefully I can connect 1 to hdmi into the graphics card and use the hdmi dp adapter into monitor 1. Then dvi-d dual link cable into both monitor 2 and tower. Would that work or would I just need to daisy chain monitor 1 and 2 with the dvi-d cable?

Edited by IAIN -Y-, 29 March 2015 - 02:19 PM.

[terry1966]

yes that should work and no you can not daisy chain the dvi-d port on the graphics card to both monitors.

 

all you need really is to connect a single output type from your graphics card to a single monitor, so you have 3 output types and could in theory connect 3 monitors. 1 using dvi, 1 using vga and 1 using hdmi.

 

so as you've planned for 1st monitor will use the dvi port from the graphics card and it's dvi input connection, and 2nd monitor will use the hdmi port on the graphics card and use it's dp connection via the hdmi to dp adaptor.

 

monitors :- http://shop.lenovo.c...E9867#techspecs

 

[IAIN -Y-]

ive been trying to get it to work all day but nothing. I can't seem to get the hdmi to dp working. I've tried a passive adapter and a hdmi to dp cable but it's not recognising it. I'm sure the hdmi port works as I used my TV as a monitor a little while ago but that was hdmi cable. I don't know where to go with it now. I tried just using the hdmi to dp just as 1 screen but nothing if I restart and use the dvi it works fine. Unfortunately I'm unable to update anything as I've just moved and no Internet yet.

Any ideas or tips? I was thinking an active hdmi to dp may work but I'm sure a hdmi to dp cable would be active too.

[terry1966]

don't have and never used any dp devices myself but i believe a passive cable only works from dp to hdmi and not the other way around like your trying to do.

from my understanding you need a converter to change the signal when going from hdmi to dp.

personally i'd go with a hdmi to dvi cable, a lot cheaper than a hdmi to dp converter.

 

converter £66:- http://www.misco.co....erter-1920x1200

 

hdmi to dvi cable £2.50:- http://www.amazon.co...k/dp/B000GDI6FC

 

i know which i'd use.

 

Edited by terry1966, 04 April 2015 - 03:17 PM.

[IAIN -Y-]

I've got and been unsuccessful with a hdmi to dp cable. This is what I dont understand. I know the hdmi port in the graphics card works as I used my TVs by hdmi cable before. I'm unsure how to test if the dp port on the monitor is working though

[terry1966]

think your confusing what i said.

 

hdmi to dvi cable (will work.) not  hdmi to dp cable.( won't work.)

 

[IAIN -Y-]

Yes it will work but I have the dvi port already taken by one monitor. 1 monitor will be dvi and the other will be hdmi of some sort as that's the port on the graphics card. So it will be hdmi to either dp or vga somehow.

[terry1966]

think your confusing things again or more than likely i haven't explained them clear enough, so i'll try again.

 

you have 2 identical monitors, each with a choice of 3 inputs you can use, vga, dvi or dp.

you have a graphics card with 3 outputs vga, dvi and hdmi.

 

now think of vga, dvi, hdmi and dp as different languages.

 

vga can only talk vga,

so your graphics card can talk to the monitor using it's vga connection only if connected to the monitors vga port.

 

dvi, can talk dvi and hdmi and vga (vga depends on dvi type but lets assume it's dvi-i on your graphics card)

so your graphics card can talk using it's dvi connection to the monitor only if connected to the monitors dvi or vga connections.

 

hdmi can talk dvi and hdmi

so your graphics using it's hdmi connection can talk to the monitor only if connected to the monitors dvi connection.

 

notice none of those connections on your graphics card can talk to the monitors using their dp connection.

 

so for your dual screen setup you are going to use the dvi output from the graphics card to the dvi connection on your 1st monitor,

for the 2nd screen you are going to use the hdmi output from the graphics card to the dvi connection on your 2nd monitor.

 

this will get you what you desire, and just in case your worried because both monitors are using their dvi connections then don't be because it makes no difference what connection types are used on the monitors just as long as the graphics card can talk to them through it.

 

those are with passive connections, which is a simple wire to wire cable connection that have the correct plugs (or adaptors) on each end to fit each connection type being used on each device.

 

 

 

 

now there is a way you can get the ports to talk to other ports that it can't normally do and this is when a decoder (think of it like a translator) or active connection type is used, but these only work 1 way usually.

so for a graphics hdmi connection to a monitor dp connection the adaptor needs to convert the hdmi signal into a dp signal, one that converts a dp signal into a hdmi signal will not work in your case, and because of the cost of such devices it really would be better to go for another connection choice or even buy a new graphics card with a dp port if your set on using the dp connections on your monitors.

 

i hope that explains things better so you understand what you can and can not use to get your dual screen setup working.

 

 

also it doesn't matter which monitor is connected to which graphics output because you can make either monitor the default one later in windows using amd's catalyst software.

Edited by terry1966, 05 April 2015 - 01:42 PM.

[IAIN -Y-]

I finally got it working now with a dvi-d to hdmi cable and it works perfectly

[terry1966]

 

[iammykyl]

Good work,