using dual monitors

polarissucks

i have a 24" iMac its big enough but later on i want a bigger screen. i am gonna buy that dell 27". if i use it in monitor extender mode. like making my monitor between the two 51" will there be boxes at the corners sense my other monitor is bigger? how is using dual monitors on apples? is it similar to windows?



thanks

bacillus

Not sure about what you are asking with the first part. As to the second, its just about the same as working with Windows. There are three differences that come to mind though. First, instead of designating monitors as primary and secondary, you just move the top bar to the screen you want to be the primary monitor. Second, with Windows, you can orientate two (or more) monitors 2D (up/down and left/right), with Apple, you can only move it 1D (up/down). Bascially, you cannot add 'dead space' between the two screens. Third, you can calibrate each monitor separately from one another. Not sure if Windows can do this - at least on my previous dual set up it could not, but then again I was using an Intel GPU with VGA.

splinemodel

Running dual monitors on the mac is a vastly better experience than it is in Win XP. I'm not sure about Vista, but in Win XP running dual monitors is a bit of a kludge. On the mac, it's easy to specify independent desktop background graphics, and, more importantly, independent color calibration profiles. This second feature is huge, since you can craft two different displays to look the same. Window's lack of per-display color calibration is one of the reasons why I find it inadequate for graphics-related work.



As for the technicalities, you can arrange the positions of the displays in the Monitors controls panel, as well as the menu bar, dock, etc. This is a very old mac feature (circa 1991) that was borrowed by Windows.

polarissucks

ok, i just want to know though like how bad will i notice the bigger 27". will it have like bars since my 24" will be smaller or will the new background on the other montor. i think you said something of different background on each monitor whcih would be great. but what i am concerned about is like how much difference there will be when i look at the bigger screen.

polarissucks

can someone post a picture if they have two different sized screens. can someone also post a pic if they dont.

polarissucks

can i have the dock spread across the two screens ??

splinemodel

These concerns of yours are Windows concerns. The mac is more intelligent. I'll explain the process.



You have two monitors. You open up the "Displays" CP and it in-turn opens up one instance on each display. So you can set the background, dock position, etc, independently on each display. There are no "bars." You don't have to make a crack-baby dual background image the way you do in windows. Even better, when you take a screenshot, Mac OS X makes you two images.



Once you get two monitors and hook them up, it's very self-explanatory. the bottom line is that if you're happy with the way it works in Windows, you'll certain be happy with the way it works on the mac. It's like being happy with hamburger but getting New York strip steak.



I'm not sure how the dock works. I haven't used a dual monitor setup for two years or so, and I don't ever remember needing that much dock.

polarissucks

oh good. i guess i can just use two same size screens though. that would most likely work better. but i want to use the desktop extender mode making my screen cover the two. not doing two separate things in two.

bacillus

No, there will not be bars – since your iMac can output to the native resolution of the 1920 X 1200 Dell display. The monitors have a different dot pitch, so the images on the Dell will look slightly bigger then the one on the iMac. When 10.5 comes out, it will have resolution independence, and this difference will go away (at least that is my understanding). The images on the Dell will not be as 'crisp' w/ 10.5 when viewed at the same distace as the 24 inch iMac, but they should be of the same size. You cannot have the dock across both monitors w/o some hack that I’m not currently aware of.



Here is an image of mine – the screens are of different sizes, but they share the same dot pitch, which is nice. This is at my school office, hence the tacky 1960's desk.

polarissucks

hey thanks so much for the picture. is your destop in extender mode like making it a 54 inch screen (30 + 24)? or separtate screen. i aint worried much about the like one that has different things on each screen i am worred about extender

polarissucks

wait... how did you hook up that 30 incher to the iMac. i thought that required dual support for graphics card???

gwoodpecker

Sorry, but this is for sure NOT a 30" screen! It's a 23" (compare the size of the keyboard to the width of the display...).



Btw, to answer your question(s): When connecting another display to your 24" iMac, everything that is already on the iMac display will stay there (unless you start playing with the display arrangement settings).



The second display, however, will just be a blank open space with nothing on it but the desktop image of your choice. No Dock there, no top menu bar, nothing, except that you can move any windows to the left (or right) of your iMac's screen.



One big difference to the Windows side exists, though: in Windows, every window of an application comes with its own set of menu bar, whereas on the Mac, the menu bar will stay where it is - in the top of the main screen. That COULD be annoying when you want to do something that requires going up to the menu bar, because you have to go to the other screen with the mouse pointer. But a lot of people use the second display for iTunes, Mail and/or Safari, which all don't require using the menu bar that much.



Btw, if I remember things correctly, in Windows, the taskbar will not extend itself to the second display either.