Matrox G550 and 2 monitors

Rene · Post by **Rene** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 12:58 am

Hey people,

I have to different monitors. Both are 19" but from different manufacturer.
Although both support 1024x768@100Hz I cannot manage to put them both on that resolution at the same time.

Can anyone help me?? Maybe an advice!!

Thanks
René

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 1:15 am

You'll have to check your G550's capabilities. Take my G450's routing as a guide, I think G550 will be about the same.
I run at a refresh rate of 60Hz. 75Hz would be beter for long pc hours. My monitors are on 16bit, 1280*1024.

Right-click monitor,
Properties,
Settings of primary monitor,
Dualhead,
Advanced Settings,
Display capabilities.

In that page, you can play a little w your G550 reso/freq settings. Show highest modes only, and you'll see your card's capabilities.

remixme · Post by **remixme** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 1:41 am

i hae a dual screen radeon ve,
for ages I couldn't get anything but 60hz on the 2nd monitor.
Different drivers sometimes worked but caused other problems.
The solution a program called powerstip.
It will force your monitors to use whatever frequency you want, regardless of windows.
http://www.entechtaiwan.com/ps.htm

Once you have the program, it sits in the task bar,
right click on it select display configuration then custom refresh rate.
It tells you how to do it in the tip of the day that pops up..

also this program also can force opengl to use two monitors, useful for those who do 3d work.

ernest@303.nu · Post by **ernest@303.nu** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 3:07 am

I have the 550 as well....
Why not run 1280x1024 (which I like on my dual 17" setup) or even 1600x1200?
Refreshrate: do you have the latest 550-drivers? What exactly is happening when you set the refresh-rate to 100hz (screen blackout, other screen changes res, etc). Do slightly lower refresh rates (like 90hz) work? Have you tried increasing the refresh rate with 1hz steps, as the later drivers allow? Some screens won't fully reach their max specifications, so start at -let's say- 90hz and keep adding 1hz till the screen goes black... then you'll know the actual max refresh rate

Rene · Post by **Rene** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 12:37 am

hey, thanks for all your answers

@atOmic
Ui...60 Hz is a bit less. I work a lot with the PC (hehe, not only music) and I found out that my eyes feel best with 1024x768@100Hz.

@remixme+ernest
I found out now where the prob was. When I set the second monitor to 100Hz I had an effect on the other one. It seemed as if a grey bar ran from the bottom to the top...hard to describe. But I found out that I put the monitors too close to each other.Now that I have ca. 20 cm in between them both run almost perfectly on 100 Hz.

Hopefully it stays like that

If not I will come back:)

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 1:00 am

-You're right, 100Hz is much better for your eyes

-the grey bar you noticed, is interference between the 2 monitors' frequencies. If you slightly offset both refresh rates, the ghost lines may disappear. Try it

Immanuel · Post by **Immanuel** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 3:44 am

And for another time:
Matrox.com has a VERY good forum. They have people working there. I've had help from them 2 times. The first time by a person with 6000+ replys. The second time, I believe the person had like 22k+ replys.
It is realy top service. They reply very quickly, and they keep in touch with every thread, that is active. It is the best service I have had on any hardware. Not active in the week-ends though, wich frustrated me first time, because I expected a normal users forum

Immanuel

Post by **hubird** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 5:16 am

..... But I found out that I put the monitors too close to each other.Now that I have ca. 20 cm in between them both run almost perfectly on 100 Hz.

I expect my second monitor in a few days, It disappoints me a little that it doesn't work putting them close to each other...
Don't have so mutch place here, and to look at two monitors it's better to have them close to eachother I think.
Well I'm warned now, so thanks

Valium · Post by **Valium** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 5:45 am

Hi all

@hubird, you can put your two monitors right next to eachother, I do, I have G550 an 2 19" monitors standing right next to eachother and everything works fine ... only thing is one is running at 85 HZ and the other is running at 90 HZ so that I don't have any ghostlines no more ...

That's it greetz

marcuspocus · Post by **marcuspocus** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 9:27 am

Same thing here, a G450, 1x19" and 1x17"

Both at 1600x1200, one @ 85hz and other at 75hz, no line or interference, and there their so close, they touch each others.

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 11:26 am

This depends on your monitors: some monitors will show this "ghosting line" when they are placed too close to each other - usually cheaper monitors without good magnetic shielding. You can put something heavy between them or move them further apart... And I agree, I don't like the 1280x1024 resultion very much, since it is a 5:4 ratio and most resolutions are 4:3. I find 4:3 ratio resolutions look better (I use 1600x1200). This is also one of the reasons I don't have an LCD yet, those 1600x1200 LCDs are <i>pricey</i> still...

Post by **hubird** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 4:55 pm

it was not my thread, but thanks to all, I'm glad again...!

Let There Be Music!

Rene · Post by **Rene** » Mon Apr 08, 2002 12:03 pm

Indeed one of my monitors is a bit older and those ghost lines only appear on the older one. But I am going to buy a new one soon.

@Immanuel
http://www.matrox.DE has no forum! Only http://www.matrox.COM. That is why I didn't find it and asked here.

CYA