1 Computer and 3 Screens

[SPC]

Hi All,

 

I just wondered if anyone else does this and if they do could you please point me in the right direction please?

 

I have three vga display screens and three laptops at present displaying bits and bobs. What I would like to do is combine these into 1 computer and output three different displays. The laptops are old enough to remember how Noah indexed the Animals into the Ark so I really want to ditch them as they are unreliable.

 

I thought about setting up remote sessions to each laptop from a VM on my pc so I had quick access to them when they inevtiably fall over but that doesnt get rid of them.. I think the major hiccup is the screens are VGA connected so I would need three graphics cards and then the need for three seperate terminals....

 

Thanks in advance for any help, advice

[flyinghaggis]

Multi Monitor - Dual Monitor - KVM switch

 

Never tried it myself (kept meaning to but never got round to it) but it's got some good review and looks really cool!

[pscott]

So you want to replace 3 laptops with 1 new computer?

[3s-gtech]

Matrox Triplehead 2 Go or ATi Eyefinity? Then just run it all on one PC. You'll need dongles to adapt them to VGA.

[Ric_]

Attaching the monitors is easy... just use some old PCI graphics cards in an old PC. It then depends on what info you are displaying... web browsers, shells, apps, etc.

[sted]

my standard ati card will do it but outputs are 1 vga 1 hdmi and 1 dvi 2 is wasy dvi to vga adapter 3rd can you get hdmi-vga?

[Guest Guest]

1 PC 3 monitors? Easy, 1 onboard gfx, 1 dual head gfx card. (Assuming your mobo allows this, otherwise 1 dualhead pcie 1 old PCI)

 

3 PCs 3 monitors? Synergy

[dhicks]

What I would like to do is combine these into 1 computer and output three different displays.

 

Do you want the same thing or different things displayed on each screen? If the same, then you need a VGA splitter of some sort. If different, then multiple VGA ports in a computer aren't actually complicated or expensive these days - just get a couple of dual-output graphics cards, around £30 each, and plug them in to a computer. You could look at a multi-seat solution like Windows MultiPoint Server if you want each screen to act more like a separate workstation.

 

--

David Hicks

[alexsanger]

You can't do HDMI to VGA, as HDMI doesn't carry an analogue portion of the signal, unlike DVI. You'd have to get a converter, rather than an adapter. Probably cheaper and easier to go for a second graphics card of some sort, or if you're sure your card supports 3 outputs, get a monitor with DVI - anything better than bargain basement comes with DVI these days - and an HDMI to DVI adapter.

[multipoint]

Hey SPC, are you looking to create 3 independent O/S sessions from 1 PC, or just to have 1 PC with 1 O/S and 3 monitors? The answer to this opens up a world of cool solutions.

[m25man]

Dual heads and Multi Function adapters are certainly the way to go but if you can't or dont want the hassle, I simply use USB to VGA adapters like these Startec to add second & 3rd monitors to those users that need them.

Easily transferred from system to system and not dependent on available Mobo Slots!

[flyinghaggis]

I simply use USB to VGA adapters like these Startec to add second & 3rd monitors to those users that need them.

 

How do they perform if you want to playback quick updading content like animations/videos/movies/etc on the screen connectecd to the adapter? Are there any other 'gotchas' when using USB>VGA adapters like the one above?

 

I've recently just purchased a new video card so I'm hoping, given I have 2 pcie graphics slots on my mobo, I should be able to plug my old one into the secondary slot and run 3 monitors off 2 cards (given they both had dual DVI outputs on them). Will let you know how it goes once I've had a chance to try it!

 

Edit: Just tried it and it's working fine extending the desktop across 3 displays.

Edited May 19, 2010 by flyinghaggis