ATI 9800 PRO and Dual Monitors

I am considering purchasing this videocard as I would like to do
gaming as well as more detailed Photoshop work on dual monitors (the
PS on dual). On the ATI website they say that the 9800 supports dual
monitors. On the website portion that discusses Hydravision they have
a link to a list of ATI products that support Hydravision, but the
9800 series is not among them and the manual is not posted on the
website to look this up. I was hoping someone could tell me if this
card supports the Hydravision software. If not, what type of software
does it use to support dual monitors?

I was also considering Matrox for their dual support but gaming seems
abysmal. Is the dual support with this card intuative and easy to use
with a minimu of hassel? I don't want anything fancy, just the
ability to put an image on one screen and Photoshop pallettes on the
other and have the system remember the configuration when I open the
program? Oh, and also can you have different resolutions on both
monitors?

I appreciate any info or clarification you folks can give.

Thanks

Howard

On 10 Oct 2003 07:32:15 -0700, (Howard) wrote:

I am considering purchasing this videocard as I would like to do
gaming as well as more detailed Photoshop work on dual monitors (the
PS on dual)

snip

I can't speak to the very card you mention, but I have had some
experience with ATI dual head cards and Hydravision with Windows 2000.

My experience with them and Hydravision (again, this is under Win2K)
is that I was never satisfied with how Hydravision worked. It never
really did what I wanted from a dual head card without allot of
coaxing, and then not everything. My needs are nearly identical to
yours, PS and the like with an occasional game or two.

I was also considering Matrox for their dual support but gaming seems
abysmal. Is the dual support with this card intuative and easy to use
with a minimu of hassel? I don't want anything fancy, just the
ability to put an image on one screen and Photoshop pallettes on the
other and have the system remember the configuration when I open the
program? Oh, and also can you have different resolutions on both
monitors?

In Windows 2000, you need two video cards to have different
resolutions on each monitor. If I recall correctly, you had to tweak
some settings in Hydravision to get apps to open in the same space.
These are the reasons I went out and bought a cheap PCI card
(Xpert128) to run my second monitor with. This was actually easier to
set up and run than the dual head/Hydravision deal. It doesn't
require any third party software at all, and works exactly like you'd
expect a dual monitor configuration to work.

Now keep in mind I've used this setup for about three years now, and
bought matching Viewsonic 17" monitors at the onset. If I had to do
it all over again, I'd go with one huge monitor. Something 21" or
larger.

Since I use Photoshop and other graphics programs where it is
important to replicate color from the screen to print, I want my
monitors to be identical in that respect. In other words, red looks
exactly the same on monitor 1 as it does on monitor 2. Many would say
they are only concerned with monitor 1 because 2 only holds palettes
and the like. Well, monitor 2 holds my color picker. I also put
images there for reference when working on monitor 1. So read the
next paragraph carefully.

No matter how hard you try, you'll never get both monitors to match.
Even if you buy two of the same kind off the same shelf. You'll spend
hours in Adobe Gamma tweaking it, hours in the card's preferences,
hours adjusting it at the monitor. You'll think you have it right,
then you'll put something on the second monitor and go, man that just
aint right.

I appreciate any info or clarification you folks can give.

No problem. If it was me and I had a grand to pop for a new monitor,
it would be a biggie. Then I'd use these two Viewsonics for Linux box
and a server. If you're going to be buying monitor(s) for this setup,
give that some thought.



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Ratzo...I am totally stymied on this to the point of it becoming ridiculous. I
am not sure that your experience directly applies since there is apparently
well known difficulties with dual monitor card on Win2000 that ATI refused to
correct and other manufacturers did. I use XP so I am not sure the dual
monitor problems would be there.

Nonetheless I want to be, like you, optimized for PS and still be able to play
the occasional game. Sounds like, if only for 2D Parhelia might be the choice.
Though there is so much internet chatter all claiming that any of the big 3
are fine for 2D that it is hard to believe that the 2D differences are anything
but subtle...which leaves me wondering about the ATI 9800 for the same price as
Parhelia which is also perhaps the best gaming card there is...almost like
getting gaming for free. And I know that card works with my mainboard which is
something the tech support at Matrox can't tell me yet. They say they ordered
the board at the end of Sept to test (Gigabyte 8KXP) but have not yet received
it yet. For Gods sake, I ordered one and got it in 72 hours...if you think I
am kidding go look at the tech support forum at Matrox. Also I wonder how long
they are going to be around in terms of long term driver support.

So I am still going around in circles.

With the dual monitor issue, I understand what you are saying about the color
picker, but, frankly, that is one pallette that I do not use all that much.
Also, why dont you just move that one pallette, which is really the only one
that is finely color sensitive to the main monitor in one corner and leave the
other pallettes on the second monitor.

Howard

On 11 Oct 2003 11:36:13 GMT, (HMSDOC) wrote:

Ratzo...I am totally stymied on this to the point of it becoming ridiculous. I
am not sure that your experience directly applies since there is apparently
well known difficulties with dual monitor card on Win2000 that ATI refused to
correct and other manufacturers did. I use XP so I am not sure the dual
monitor problems would be there.

I qualified my experience by pointing out that it was only on W2K. If
you are using XP and the problems I had don't show up there then it's
no big deal.

With the dual monitor issue, I understand what you are saying about the color
picker, but, frankly, that is one pallette that I do not use all that much.
Also, why dont you just move that one pallette, which is really the only one
that is finely color sensitive to the main monitor in one corner and leave the
other pallettes on the second monitor.

As stated earlier, I also use my second monitor to put images on for
comparison and reference. I want that part of the display to match
the other. So simply moving the color palette to the primary don't
cut it.



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