MadDog's Day Trading and Investing InfoHouse - Multiple Displays: Multiport Cards

Multiple Displays: Overview

Windows 98

Windows 2000

Windows ME

Windows XP

Multiport Cards

Myths & Realities

When Microsoft introduced Windows 98, it was the first time that PC users had the opportunity to employ relatively inexpensive single-port AGP and PCI graphics adapters in combinations to enable multidisplay systems consisting of up to nine screens. However, for various reasons, whether for compability, stability, or featuresets, users still considered more expensive yet high-quality multiport cards from manufacturers like Appian or Colorgraphic Communications. Some of the manufacturers are listed by Microsoft in the following support document:

Third-Party Solutions to Multiple Monitor Support for Windows

(STB and its purchasing parent 3DFX are no longer in business. Intergraph apparently doesn't make adapters anymore. And who the heck is ALTEX?!)

In the last couple of years, other manufacturers like ATI Technologies and Matrox have introduced lower-priced dual-port cards to compete with the older multiport manufacturers. However, even though these newer dual-port offerings have advantages of their own, certain of the Appian, Colorgraphic Communications and Matrox offerings have advantages that enable them to still stand above the crowd for setting up multidisplay trading systems.

Note: If you plan to employ more than 4 displays in a single system, consider products from Appian, Colorgraphic Communications and Matrox that can combine for 8, 16, or 32 screens.

The major manufacturers are:

ATI Radeon VE

This is one of the most promising 2-port AGP adapters out there right now. It has an attractive street price ($99, less $20 rebate through the end of 2001), supports 2 displays (one of which can contain either an analog or DVI connector), and works with additional displays beyond the two it can specifically connect to, as long as the PCI cards support multiple display capability. However, even though ATI makes a big racket on their web site about having XP drivers, the Radeon VE still doesn't have XP drivers for its Hydravision software, Tuner/Capture software, or DVD Player. (These drivers are under development. In the meantime, basic multiple display operation works fine.) Once these issues are resolved, this should be a great foundation AGP card for a multiple display Windows XP system.

Note: Download the most current Radeon VE driver for Windows XP from the ATI web site. The RADEON VE driver included with Windows XP does NOT support OpenGL. (Last tested online driver version 6.13.3276 was dated 10/15/01.)

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