Dual monitor question (widescreen with normal)

[Bobberrific]

Hey guys,

I've had great success with tech type support on this website, cudos on all the contributors.

Anyways, I was considering running a dual monitor setup to help out with lab reports and general computing for my aerospace classes. Will a widescreen monitor and a normal ratio'd monitor work in a dual monitor setup? I see some widescreens that are cheaper than the normal ratio ones for whatever reason and wouldn't mind saving a few bucks and gaining more screen area.

Thanks for any and all help,
Bob

 

[Peter]

Well yes, as long as your graphics card can run the individual monitors, it'll be OK. You are not alone - I have a wide 20" and a regular 17" side by side at work, and some of my co-workers have similar mixed setups.

To avoid noticeably different font sizes as well as dead areas, you should match pixel sizes as closely as you can, and a similar vertical resolution would be a good idea too. For example, a 20" wide and 17" 5:4 have almost the same pixel size, and vertical resolution is 1050 and 1024. With a 22" wide and a regular 19", you're again close.

 

[lurk3r]

Works fine either way, as long as your video card supports it. I've run 20" widescreen, 19" regular on x800xl, 7900gt, x1900xtx, and 8800GT, oh and my dell lappy with the 15" integrated WS, and a 19" addon, nvidia quattro.

Applications like excel are not happy switching, and will default to the primary display's format

 

[Bobberrific]

Thanks for the prompt and great feedback.

Ideally I'd like the same size monitor height wise. My roommate has problems with wasted space using a dual monitor setup with his laptop, 19 inch regular with his laptop which is smaller, not sure by how much. So I will be looking into 22" sizes. And I will probably use the wide screen as my main monitor since this Hanns-G is starting to get finicky with it's power cable.

1280 x 1024 on my hanns 19" regular with 1680 x 1050 on a chimei 22" widescreen. Sounds like a good match with a half decent price tag.

Now to wait for newegg's under 72 hour shipping time. =)

Thanks again guys