With multi-display support, a computer system can expand the desktop working space seamlessly over more than one monitor, and display multiple running programs all at the same time!   "Multi-display" is also referred to as "multi-screen", "multi-monitor".   Most people are familiar with computers having one monitor, and one desktop environment to work in.   Multiple display systems haves many advantages, and CGI Computer Wares Has Been Enjoying This Increased productivity Environment Since 1987, When The First Multiple Monitor Supported Computer Hit The Market.   Today, CGI Computer Wares, Supplies Custom System Engineering, Building And Computer Upgrades With Matrox Graphic Subsystems, An Industry Leader In High-End Multi-Display Graphic Systems.   For those interested in setting up a multi-display system, there are many ways to do this.

With a multi-display system, the computer has a sub-graphic computer system which extends the computers' operating system over multiple display monitors.  The Computer's On-Screen Working Space Expands Seamlessly Across All The Monitors Connected To The Multi-Display Sub-System Installed In The Computer Or Workstation.  Information can be moved from one display to another as if all the displays in the system are part of one large display.  In The Example Animation, The Computer Mouse Pointer Is Moved From One Monitor To Another As If To Have Only One Large Display Monitor.  Many Modern Computing Environments Like Microsoft Windows XP, Supports Seamless Multiple Desktops.  Microsoft Windows XP, Comes With The Ability Built-In.  Modern Working Environments Require Many Computer Application To be Opened And Used At The Same Time.  Multi-Display Systems Provides Increased Productivity Naturally, Expanding The Computing Working Environment.

See More, Do More!

People who've never seen or used a multi-display system sometimes ask "Why would someone use more than one monitor at a time?" Quite simply, with multiple displays, you can see more and do more.  With more displays, the working desktop environment is made larger.  A large space to work in yields more productivity in the desktop computing environment with today's successful professionals.   Productivity is improved by reducing the amount of time spent moving opened program windows on the computing desktop environment.   Move FRom One Application To Another, Seamlessly And Quickly.  View Multiple Applications And Data At The Same Time.  Work In Two, Three, Four, And More Separate Applications Simultaneously Dragging And Dropping Information From One To Another, Each Running In It's Own Window!

Extra displays are especially appropriate when large amounts of information need to be viewed and when information is easily divided.  Information can be easily divided when viewing different windows or when using more than one program at a time.  For example, view a browser window in one display and a spreadsheet in another while updating a database in yet another!  The possible ways to use multi-display are virtually endless!   A wide range of professionals in fields such as content-creation, CAD, and GIS can benefit from using multiple displays.  In mission-critical areas such as emergency dispatch, flight dispatch, and industrial process control, multiple monitors are the norm!

Various studies report productivity gains between 20 to 50% from using multiple displays.  The advantages of a multi-display system are best experienced first hand.  Many who use a multi-display system for the first time are reluctant to go back to a single-display system.  "For someone close to the technology the question is: why not more?", says a report by Jon Peddie Research.  "The reasons for and benefits from multiple displays seem so abundant and obvious; it is almost confusing as to why every system in the world doesn't have multiple displays."  We Agree!

Indeed, with declining monitor prices, more space-saving flat-panel monitors, and more powerful computers, multi-display systems have become even more cost-effective and practical.   In addition, Matrox has introduced significant new technology for enabling multi-display.   For example, with the introduction of G400-based graphics hardware, Matrox was the first to make integrated dual-monitor support widely available.   Matrox has also released the Parhelia, MMS, and QID graphics cards, capable of supporting up to 3 or 4 displays at a time.   Matrox refers to its technology for controlling multiple displays with a single graphics chip as DualHead? for 2 displays and TripleHead? for 3 displays.   Today, Matrox continues to innovate with new multi-display products and CGI Computer Wares Distributes And Supports The Technology.

Adding Multiple Displays To A PC or Workstation

To add support for an extra display without adding or replacing a graphics card, the Matrox DualHead2Go, can be used; the world's first multi-display upgrade of its kind!   This easy-to-setup external box connects to the monitor connector of a computer and divides the signal for 2 separate monitors.  This solution uses a system's existing graphics hardware for 2D, 3D, and video acceleration.   DualHead2Go is ideal for adding an extra display to a closed, already validated, mission-critical system or to computers with no available expansion slots.

  The Best Way TO Yield Maximum Performance, Reliability, Functionality And Compatibility,  Is To Simply Have A Matrox Graphic Sub-System Card Installed In A Computer System.  For System's Already Built, Have The Installed Graphics Controller Removed Or Disabled And Add A MAtrox Graphic Sub-System!

Multi-Display Software Support
Modern graphical operating systems already lend themselves well to multi-display systems. With such operating systems, programs are in windows that can be moved from one display to another. Matrox products come with the easy-to-use Matrox PowerDesk software which provides extra multi-display controls. This includes controls over which display dialog boxes and message boxes appear, and how windows are maximized.

From the software point of view, there are 2 types of multi-display support.  First there's "stretched" mode where the operating system recognizes one larger display but the display driver and/or graphics hardware divides this operating system "display" into 2 or more displays.  One of the advantages with this mode is that software doesn't need to be multi-display aware. For example, 2D, 3D, and video acceleration can occur as if multiple displays were 1 (albeit, with a resolution equivalent to that of multiple displays). This is generally the recommended mode for programs requiring advanced graphics acceleration. Depending on the graphics hardware and/or software, "stretched" mode may be the only type of multi-display support available.

The other type of multi-display is "independent" mode. In this mode, the operating system recognizes each display in the system and settings for each display can be set independent of the other displays. Specifically, each display can have its own resolution, color, and position setting. This mode offers more flexibility than "stretched" mode, but some select applications may not work as well in this mode.

With certain products, Matrox PowerDesk software also provides other ways to use multiple displays: