C[omp]ute

From: andrew cooke <andrew@...>

Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2013 23:06:24 -0400

This may be obvious to everyone else, but it wasn't to me: graphics cards
handle multiple monitors by TIME-SLICING.  So you don't need to worry about
the available resolution being enough to cover the "sum" of all displays.

This is particularly non-obvious with the KDE config tool - at least the
version in an old OpenSuse 12.1 that I was using this evening.  For some
reason, that defaults to configuring both monitors at absolute positions.  YOU
DO NOT WANT ABSOLUTE POSITIONS because that implies constructing a single
display and then "windowing" each monitor onto that.  Instead, configure one
display to be RELATIVE (left or right, probably) to the other.  Then you get
time-slicing.

Another way of saying the same thing: If you are not concerned about frame
rates (ie if you are not playing games) then a graphic card will support as
many monitors as it has outputs, providing no single monitor exceeds the
supported resolution.  Because it generates the display for each monitor in
turn (provided the positions are relative).


Anyway, Paulina now has a very nice pair of HD IPS monitors running off a
pretty ancient Nvidia (static cooled) card....  Yay.

Andrew