BleepingComputer.com: Two Screens

I want to have my TV and my monitor connected to my computer, what is the best way to do this? I have herd that by useing a VGA spliter can cut down on brightness. Is that right? The biggest thing for now is just geting both to work.

Do you want the same thing on each screen? That's all you can have using a VGA splitter, and if you use a simple one-to-two splitter cable, the image will dim because the one output is driving two screens hence the output signal level will drop. If you get a powered splitter box, which buffers the signal, the brightness and contrast of the image will be preserved.

More likely you would like to display different applications on the two screens. If the computer has a second video connection such as DVI, HDMI or S-Video, you can use it to drive the second screen. If there is only a single output, commonly VGA, then you'd need either to fit a secondary video card, or replace the existing video (whether it's onboard or a video card) with a video card that does have more than one output. Most do these days.

All I want on this computer is for the same thing on both screens. How much lower will the brightness be? My TV is LED and is very bright to start. The monitor is more just to use if I don't wnat the big TV on or for haveing it for a picture in picture so to speak.

The difference in brightness might not be a big problem for you. I've used a simple VGA Y-lead for years as a basic test jig when doing monitor repairs. When you connect the second monitor you can see the first one dim a bit. Another thing I've had happen, but rarely, is for the lower signal to make a monitor lose the signal completely, because it doesn't sense the lower input level as a valid signal.

Remember that both screens will be displaying an image of the same resolution, so the image on the TV will probably not look right, unless the monitor has the same aspect ratio. Also depending on their respective native resolutions and how the TV scaler circuit handles inputs, you might have to use a resolution the TV wants, and put up with how that looks on your monitor.

If you use a Y-lead, don't leave a lead on the second arm that's not connected to anything - it won't do any harm but the image will go blurry. If you don't realise what's happening, you can think your original monitor or video card has gone faulty.

This post has been edited by Platypus: 14 July 2010 - 10:13 PM

Thanks for your help, I will get a Y lead this weekend and give it a try!