Who wants an Extra Monitor or Two?

Zealous computer gamers and people using Day Trading Computers do it, but I had no idea how easy it is to have a multiple monitor computer in my home office. Not untilI bought an upgraded video card for my PC and noted it had output connections for dual monitors. Once I saw that, I could not resist dusting off an old CRT monitor and hooking it up.



Many Windows and Mac computers (and reportedly some Linux systems as well) can operate with Multiple Monitors. With my Windows XP operating system, it only took a few keystrokes and mouse movements to set things up. As soon as I saw how it improved my productivity, I was an instant convert too.

Why would it even suprise me anyway? I mean survey after survey shows that whether you measure your productivity in facts researched, alien spaceships vaporized, or articles written, having Multi-Screen desktop will give your output a considerable boost-20 percent to 30 percent, according to a survey by J.P. Research mentioned in the N.Y. Times.

Now having Triple Monitor Computer, while I am editing this blog on my main screen, the screen on the right displays multi-tab browsing, and the screen to the left displays my spread sheet on popular links! I can refer to either one without the need to close my main focus, and that's great.

If you want to edit photos, a second screen will let you compare the copy you are working on with the original, or show tool palettes and thumbnails of other images, and you can blow up panoramic shots for some extreme close-up viewing. When I am shopping online, my Multi-Monitor Display lets me compare products apples to apples. When I work on tables, and spreadsheets, I can see all the columns at once. When I expect important messages, I keep my e-mail program open on one of the side monitors while I work on something else.

With a single monitor, I could jump between applications with a mouse click or a keyboard command (Alt-Tab, in Windows), but not nearly as fast-and small delays add up when you repeat them dozens or even hundreds of times on a daily basis. With my Multi-Monitor displays, I simply roll my mouse ball from one screen to the other, and that's the life should be.

Speed is probaly one of the biggest reasons computer game players use Multi-Monitor Displays. "If you're trying to take over the world, it's rather helpful," says Bill Blomgren, a computer consultant in Charlotte, N.C.

Video game enthusiasts and Day Traders alike use as many moniotrs as they can afford or fit onto their workspace. "Some of my hard-core gamer buddies rock three, even four, monitors for really immersive 3-D shooters," says a writer and reporter for cable TV station in Los Angles, CA.

Many new games, especially those that offer a choice of camera views (including quake and Doom), are explicity designed for Multi-Screens, but the option seems most popular for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Users of that propgram may typically use a Multi-Monitor Display to include instrument panels, maps, panoramic views ahead, views to the side, and exterior views of their virtual aircraft.