Setting up 3 - 4 monitors with same screen displayed

[whughesiii]

I have a task of figuring out how to get Windows 7 hooked up with up to 4 monitors, and have each monitor display the same thing. What we are looking to do is have a PC in our many locations that is hooked up to 3 or 4 monitors to display a PPT show of advertisements. I have 3 monitors hooked up currently, one on the onboard video connection and two hooked up with USB graphics adapters. Does anyone have any idea how I may accomplish this?

 

[ChrisHirst]

http://www.lindy.co.uk/4-port-vga-splitter-pro-450mhz/32572.html

Chris.

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[vacunita]

another Graphics Adapter?

One with 4 outputs.

Or a VGa splitter if you have VGa outputs
VGA Splitter


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[eyec]

you might look into

http://www.freescreensharing.com

i have used it and works pretty well for shared screens on differnt customers screens.

 

[NESWalt]

The other question you have to ask is, how far apart are these monitors? You don't want too long of a video cable if you can help it -- I think the longest that I've used was a 25 footer in a factory environment

Walt
IT Consulting for Robert Half

http://roberthalftechnology.com

 

[BadBigBen]

AMD (ATI) has GFX cards that allow up to 6 displays to be used simultaneously, it is called EyeFinity... might want to take a look at that option...

other than that, the suggestions so far have been pretty good, e.g. VGA Splitter, or another GFX card (actually two separate ones)...

Ben
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[cdogg]

One very important point to make here are about the monitors. Do the 4 monitors have identical resolutions? Windows will only output one resolution to be cloned, so if there is a big difference between native resolutions, your presentation may look stretched or out of focus on some.

Let us know more about the distance between the PC and monitors, the types of monitors, and the type of PC.

-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."

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[whughesiii]

Right now I am not sure of the distance from the PC to the monitors. Assuming 25 - 30 feet. The 4 monitors will be identical. I will double check my current test setup and make sure the resolution is the same for all of them. Right now, with the onboard video, and two monitors hooked up with USB graphics adapters, I can only get it to clone the screen on two of them.

 

[cdogg]

I don't have a lot of experience with USB graphics, but if you have a tower PC, I'd recommend installing two dedicated graphics cards instead. Each will be able to support at least two monitors. The key is to make sure the graphics cards are identical or at least of the same type (i.e. both Nvidia or both AMD), though identical is preferred. That way you can use the same software control panel from that manufacturer to clone the primary display to the other displays.

25-30ft VGA and DVI cables will work fine. Good quality VGA cables easily go over 50 feet (even 100) while DVI tends to max out close to 50 feet. Best to test before purchasing multiple quantities. I recommend monoprice.com for decent quality for the price. I have yet to be disappointed by them.


-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."

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[whughesiii]

Thanks for all your help! My little project has taken a new turn. We now wish to use HDMI and split it out. Sheesh the way things change.

 

[xwb]

If it is just video, why not just use a Video extender (eg

http://www.aten-usa.com/products/pr...001&pid=20081211163728001&layerid=subClass6).

These will go up to 500 ft.

If you stick the video into a multiplier (

http://www.pctekonline.com/vispvgamu.html)

then you won't have to splash out too much on video cards.

The basic idea is

                  vga or dvi       cat5               vga or dvi
                   |                |                  |
                   V                V                  V
      [          ]---[extender src]-----[extender dst]--[monitor]
[pc]--[multiplier]---[extender src]-----[extender dst]--[monitor]
      [          ]---[extender src]-----[extender dst]--[monitor]
      [          ]---[extender src]-----[extender dst]--[monitor]

 

[xwb]

Sorry, I just read ChrisHirst's comment - it is a similar idea.

 

[cdogg]

Seeing that the cost for 4-port video splitters are relatively cheap, I agree that's probably your best solution.

-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."

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