MultipleMonitors
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Microsoft reveals more multi-monitor improvements in Windows 8 Release Preview (video)
If you're a multitasking extraordinaire who depends on Windows as your primary computing platform of choice, there's a good chance you utilize more than one monitor to get your work done -- unfortunately, the seventh iteration of Microsoft's OS didn't offer as much support in this arena as most display warriors would prefer. The Consumer Preview of Windows 8 offered a few functionality improvements, and with its upcoming Release Preview, Microsoft is focusing on further enhancing the experience. Mark Yalovsky, a lead program manager on the User Experience team, put together a lengthy piece on what kind of goodies we can expect. Among the highlighted changes is the ability to access the Start, app switching and charms menus from the corners on any monitor, rather than just having these options locked to only the primary display. The Release Preview also improves shared edges and corners so that the flow of cross-display navigation won't get interrupted by obnoxious corners popping up when you don't intend them to. Finally, the option of dragging and dropping Metro-style apps (as well as snapped apps) between monitors has also been included in the new build. These enhancements may seem small, but will go a long way toward appeasing those of us who can't live without more than one screen. For the full listing of feature changes, view Microsoft's video below and check out Mark's post at the source.
Runco's WindowWall gives you the $100,000 view you always wanted (eyes-on)
You see them, as soon as you set eyes on the gigantic, nine-panel screen. Those black lines are plainly visible. But the 46-inch Samsung panels in Runco's WindowWall have 7.33mm bezels that almost disappear from ten feet away, and when we first walked in, we actually thought they were part of the image. In a nutshell, WindowWall is a modular display system that turns entire walls into displays capable of rendering giant images across many screens, or display different media -- say, Doctor Who, LOST, FlashForward, V, Castle, 24, a couple computer screens and an episode of Firefly for good measure -- on each individual one. Making the system work in sync requires quite a bit of hardware, including a power supply unit and display controller unit for every four 1366 x 768 panels used, not to mention an upscaling box and a seriously sturdy stand (sorry, Humanscale) to hold up all that glass. The company boasts the whole system is scalable, meaning you can make it work with as few as four or as many as twenty panels and still run the entire system as a single screen at its full, gigantic native resolution. We weren't able to see these nine pumping pixels at 4098 x 2304, unfortunately, as the only content on hand was 1080p, but the footage did seem to be well synced across all nine screens. Of course, with a system like this the catch is cost -- for the nine panels, frame, reels of CAT cable and veritable server rack required to run this particular WindowWall, Runco said we should expect to pay a heartstopping $100,000. Droolworthy, to be sure, but too rich for our blood. Perhaps if the whole neighborhood chipped in, right before Super Bowl? %Gallery-89982%
Splash that iTunes visualizer across multiple monitors
iPodHacks has a very easy way to display your iTunes visualizer across multiple monitors using Mac OS X's built-in accessibility zoom feature. The instructions show you how to enable Zoom in the Universal Access system preference pane. When the visualizer is playing, you can zoom in on the iTunes window, and the image of the window is spread across all your screens. The quality of the zoom, of course, is a bicubic interpolation of the screen image, so it's not as crisp as it could be. Also, the fluidity of the display depends greatly on how powerful your video card is, and how it's connected to your computer. Multiple video cards also don't necessarily help, unlike with the original Magnetosphere visualizer. For a party, though, it's a neat trick. If you have other ways to make this happen, feel free to leave a comment!
HIPerSpace monitor wall makes a great Grand Theft Auto IV canvas
Rolling around jacking up innocents and tossing Molotov cocktails is pretty enthralling on your vanilla 46-inch HDTV, but can you even imagine the rush of swiping a hot dog, burning out in someone else's whip and then snagging a new pair of kicks on this? Researchers (and gamers, obviously) down at UC San Diego have re-engineered their middleware to enable such masterpieces as this to be played on the big monolithic HIPerSpace screen, and needless to say, we can't imagine much real work getting done with this new functionality coming to light. Head on down to the gallery to see what you're missing -- science, research and 4.0 GPAs are such beautiful things. %Gallery-22388%
9X Media shoots for multi-monitor crown with 30 LCD monster
While we wouldn't be surprised if there's at least a few makeshift multi-monitor setups out there to challenge it, as far as ready-made solutions go, it's pretty tough to beat this massive rig from 9X Media, which packs a room-busting 30 screens. What's more, you can apparently get it configured with your choice of 19- to 32-inch displays, which can be arranged in any number of different configurations (complete with multi-screen servers). Of course, if that's a bit too excessive for you, 9X Media will also gladly sell you any number of smaller configurations, although you'll have to chat them up for a quote if you move beyond the nine to twelve screen range.[Via Crave]
Matrox finally adds Mac compatibility to DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go
Although a few determined Mac users got the Matrox DualHead2Go functioning with their Mac mini already, despite the lack of official support from the manufacturer, it's nice to finally see some real Mac-love from Matrox.The Matrox DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go allow you to connect two or three VGA monitors to select Mac desktops and portables. That's screen real estate nirvana for some of us and it's about freakin' time. Sure, DVI would be better, but I'll take what I can get at this point.Mac OS X v10.4.x is needed and support is limited to a specific list of Mac models. Supported systems include:MacBook (DualHead)MacBook Pro (Dual and Triple)Mac Pro (Dual and Triple)Mac mini (DualHead)iMac 17-inch (DualHead)iMac 20-inch (Dual and Triple)iMac 24-inch (Dual and Triple)Be sure to check the compatibility table for a list of supported resolutions on each system. The DualHead will set you back about $169 and the TripleHead is just under $300, so start saving your pennies now or ask Santa nicely to hook you up this year![via krunker.com]
Kensington laptop dock first to feature startup's multiple-monitors-over-USB tech
Although we're pretty sure that many of you wouldn't agree with Newnham Research CEO Michael Ledzion's assertion that "connecting a graphics card to a PC is hard, and expensive," you might still be interested in his company's technology for connecting multiple displays to a PC through a standard USB connection, which will debut in a Kensington laptop dock in June. The Cambridge, England-based startup is able to achieve this rather amazing feat through a hardware rendering engine call NIVO, which can either be built directly into a monitor or incorporated into other peripherals, and which uses proprietary compression algorithms to deliver video up to 1280 x 1024 at 75Hz. As you could probably guess, this technology isn't designed for gaming -- the company suggests using it to display "largely static images" -- although it's supposedly capable of HD playback, which is something we'd definitely like to see firsthand.[Via Extreme Tech]
