john_markanich Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 <p>What kind of connection would a laptop need to feed a larger external monitor? Specifically, not just as a duplicate display but as larger screen space of the same display. I do a lot of PhotoShop work and would like a dual monitor setup where my tools are on the small laptop display and the image on the larger external display.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsimmons Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 <p>Depends on the laptop connection and the type of monitor. It's either a DVI or a VGA. You might have to buy an adaptor to get them to fit together if one is different from the other. Also, check the stats on the laptop to see the size of the monitor it will support.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDMvW Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 <p>Some older laptop Macs used to support two monitors at the same time-with a different part of the desktop on each monitor. My more recent laptop Macs will only "echo" to the external monitor, but not support an extended desktop. It depends on whether there is a separate video component in the computer for one or two monitors.</p> <p>So the answer to your your question as to what kind of connection you need is "yes". ;) </p> <p>If you have support built into the laptop for two monitors, all you need is a video cable of the appropriate kind. Otherwise, you are into the territory of putting another video component into the laptop and that is possible or not depending on the machine you have.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g dan mitchell Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 <p>Mac or PC? If a Mac, you just plug the external monitor into the laptop's monitor port (you may or may not need an adapter, since one usually comes with the computer) and use the monitor control panel to tell the computer to not mirror the display on the two screens.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howard_m Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 <p>I think PC's also 'figure out' that there is a 2nd display attached and you open up the display control panel to configure it.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_markanich Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 <p>First, let me thank all of you for your quick responses. To clarify further, I don't have the laptop yet but it will be a PC and, most importantly, when using PhotoShop I want to put my tools on the small laptop display and the image on the larger external display.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevor_martin Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 <p>That's exactly what I do with my laptop. All you need is a VGA or Dvi port to plug in the monitor and a graphics card that can run both. I would imagine that most modern graphics cards can do it these days. I've often heard that a dvi port is preferable to VGA, mine has only VGA and it works fine, but dvi and hdma are probably going to be the standard from now on.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffOwen Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 <p>One thing I noted on my laptop when using an external monitor was that it only works if I plug it in BEFORE turning the laptop on.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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