Setting up Multiple Monitors
I have a 50″ television that I use for my primary monitor. As you would imagine, It’s sufficient screen space for many things. But I kept finding that, as I developed code, I was still have to switch back and forth between windows a lot.
It was starting to get old, so I finally began to look into adding a second monitor to my setup. It took a bit of research and I thought I’d share it here for anyone else to profit by it.
Problem 1: Second HDMI connection
My Windows laptop is provided by my client, so I don’t really have any control over that. It has a single HDMI hookup, so problem 1 was to add a second HDMI connection to it without disturbing the internals of the system, which I shouldn’t be mucking with since it’s not mine. I decided I wanted a whole adapter and not just a cable converter, so I don’t add any lag to my system. Here’s what I ended up using.
So now that I knew this was possible, next step is the monitor.
Selecting a Monitor
The next step was to actually pick a monitor. I think TVs are more versatile and, to fit on my desk, I decided on a 32″. The price on this was unbeatable, so I caved and bought something else that watches my life while I watch it.
This has worked without issue, but it’s not the perfect solution for me. Starting up the monitor takes me to the home screen where I have to select my input every time instead of just using the last input. This annoys me a little. I do like the fact that I can switch and watch movies on my favorite services without having to muck with very much. Still, less than perfect solution. Now to mount it.
Mounting
This ended up being the most complicated piece of the setup. I wanted something that would sit on my desk as opposed to being stuck on the wall. On the second try, I found this, which I liked a lot.
Now, my choices begin to plague me. It turns out that TVs are a bit thicker than monitors and that the screws that held the screen were a bit too short to fit around my monitor. I contacted Amazon and discussed this issue with them and they ended up giving me these longer screws.
Amazon tech support was very helpful with this, BTW. At any rate, this enabled my mount to hold my monitor.
Setting up Multiple Monitors
So, after all of that, I was able to simply plug everything in and it simply worked when I booted Windows. I was able to configure my display setup and have been happily using these ever since. My Ubuntu Linux workstation had HDMI, DVI, and Display Port adapters on the video card. I was able to get a DVI/HDMI adapter, and that was done as well.
A couple of bumps, but this process went very well overall. Good luck and happy coding!