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December 30th, 2017 05:00
Multiple Displays - will this work?
I’m not sure if this is the correct forum for this issue, but I’ll give it a shot. If someone knows of a better forum, please let me know. I’m trying to figure out if my current PC can handle the following requirements – and if not, what should I be looking for in terms of a new PC (laptop):
I need to be able to show the same photos (or videos) on 3 displays simultaneously:
- Display on my laptop
- Projector with HDMI connection (EPSON Powerlite Cinema 2045, “Full HD, 1080p”)
- External monitor, HDMI or VGA connection, full HD, 1920x1080
My current PC is a Dell Inspiron N5110 with an i5 processor. It’s about 6 years old. It has the following ports:
3 USB, 1 HDMI, 1 VGA, 1 eSATA
System info is:
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Processor: Intel Core i5-2410 cpu@2.3 GHz (4 CPUs) ~2.3 GHz
Memory: 6144MB RAM
Page File: 2056MB used, 10044MB available
Direct X Version: DirectX 11
Display
Device
Name: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies
Chip Type: Intel HD Graphics Family
DAC Type: Internal
Approx Total Memory: 3329
Current Display Mode: 1366x768 (32 bit)(60Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Direct X Features
Direct Draw Acceleration: Enabled
Direct 3D Acceleration: Enabled
AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled
Drivers
Main Driver: igdumd64.dll,igd10umd64.dll, igd10um
Version: 8.840.7.3000
Date: 4/10/2011 2:51:02 PM
WHQL Logo’d: Yes
DDI Version: 11
Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
So can the current display capabilities handle my requirement, or do I need to buy a new PC (and what should I be looking for if that is the only option)?
Thanks
jphughan
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14K Posts
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December 30th, 2017 17:00
You should probably just try it out to see what happens. I think it will, but I'm not certain. The first reason is that I've never actually tried to mirror the same content across 3 displays rather than just 2. The second is that the Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU in that system doesn't support 3 independent displays, but in your case they wouldn't actually be independent since you'd be using mirror mode rather than extend, which is why I think this may actually work.
If it doesn't work, to be on the safe side, look for a system that comes with an Intel GPU that supports 3 displays (Intel's documentation will help you here), and if you can find a laptop with either DisplayPort or USB-C/Thunderbolt output, that would be a nice-to-have as well since those ports can drive multiple independent displays out of a single built-in connector, whereas VGA and HDMI only allow a single display to be attached to each port.
billmuggster
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December 31st, 2017 08:00
Thanks, that's very helpful