No problem with that.
I even had 1440x900 as second monitor on the left, plus 1920x1200 as main.

Windows is pretty forgiving when it comes to resolutions. If the video card can support the resolutions then Windows has no problem using them and mixing them. I don't know of any dual-head video card that can't mix resolutions.

As far as which one is used for which, i'd use the one with higher vertical resolution for the timeline so you've got more space to work with, and the one that is actually standard HD resolution for monitoring. But that's just me. Try it both ways and see what you like better.

By the way, don't you guys get neck strain by turning left and right all the time looking at two monitors?
That's the reason that I am looking for a single large 27" monitor, instead.

VMP

It seems very natural to me. I also have dual monitors at work and i really like using it as a way to put different kinds of tasks in two different frames. This helps me not only be able to glance at everything i'm doing, but also helps me keep track of different types of things that i'm working on.

At home i've got two 21" monitors and i sit back about 2 feet from them. The pair at work are two 19".

Ok thanks Chienworks.

I just bought a 32" LG TV (1080p) and use it for editing and preview. Plenty of resolution and I can work without my glasses on, sitting arms length from the screen. It was a demo from Best Buy, and really cheap.

By the way, don't you guys get neck strain by turning left and right all the time looking at two monitors?

Not at all. Right now looking at
1 x 27" 1980x1200 with Vegas incl. preview on it
plus, to the right
1 x 24" 1980x1200 with (mostly) Directory Opus showing large thumbnails for my media.

Three here - two seems so restrictive and one is such a pain...
(The TV in the background doesn't count).

By the way, don't you guys get neck strain by turning left and right all the time looking at two monitors?

Yes I do. I started using dual screens almost 20 years ago (time flies!) on 4:3 CRTs. That was very easy but with 16:10 screens I find that most of my screen content is pretty far off to the sides. This would be okay if the most important content were in the middle but with dual screens the screen bezels are always what's directly in front of you.

I've fidgeted with my screen setup quite a bit and the most useful thing has been to just push the screens farther away. That changes the total arc I have to cover and makes a lot of difference.

Rob

Thanks for all the replies, tips and anecdotes. Very helpful,

One more question...

I envisage only using dual screen for Vegas Pro. How easy is it have everything ship-shape for one monitor once I've turned the 24" off? Is it automatic or will I have to play with settings regularly?

Cheers

@ Maverick,

Turning your monitor off won't affect your running software-window or content.
It is an extended desktop space left and right. So turning off one of the monitor just disables your view to that part of the desktop.

The left monitor labeled '1' is the primary monitor. So the right one (secondary monitor) can be switched off and you can work further with the left primary monitor. But if you want to see the content that is on the right secondary monitor, you have to drag the content back to the left primary monitor.

Depending on your video card there is a possibility that your system may detect that your monitor is turned off. But usually as long as the monitor is connected 'jacked in' it detects it. Power turned off or on.

Also you can use your right secondary monitor as a video monitor for Vegas. This can be done using the setting in Vegas preview window.

There are some monitors with very thin bezels. I've seen a few on display with as narrow as about 5mm between the edge of the image and the edge of the case. These aren't substantially more expensive so i don't understand why they're not more common.

I've also seen some with near 0 bezel, the image goes almost all the way to the edge with a border the width of maybe a couple of pixels at most. These tend to be *VERY* pricey.

I remember the first time a cow-orker handed me his new iPad to play with. One of the first things that struck me was the huge, over an inch wide, border around the screen. Seemed like quite a waste to me. The Samsug Galaxy Tab 2 i have now is closer to 1/2" which still seems excessive. My Motorola RAZR-M phone is only about 1/8" bezel on the long sides, and that seems satisfying.

But, about the bezels meeting in the middle of the dual monitor setup, you learn to ignore this pretty quickly. About the only time i notice it is when i'm working on large artwork and have one window stretched out across both monitors. I *expect* that the image is continuous *BEHIND* the bezels, and that there is a 1.5" stripe behind them is hidden from view. It freaks me out a little bit when i scroll the image and discover that as part of it disappears from one monitor it immediately appears on the other, sort of like a cosmic discontinuity.

I use two monitors -- at work (not video editing) and at home (video hobbyist) -- but I always set one directly in front of me as a main screen, and use the second, to my right, as a secondary screen. My main work is in front of me, and the secondary screen usually has MS Outlook open, maybe a file browser window, a second editing window (Notepad++) when I'm comparing or copying code between two projects, etc. I think I would get neck strain if I always had to turn my head to one screen or the other, intead of looking straight ahead most of the time. But, it would be unbearable (especially at work) to go back to a single monitor setup.

My dual monitor system is extended VERTICALLY for a 2040x1920 resolution as opposed to the normal side to side extension. I find that I don't have to move my neck.... just my eyes.

"I just bought a 32" LG TV (1080p) and use it for editing and preview. Plenty of resolution and I can work without my glasses on,"

You have increased the size, not the resolution. The resolution is still 1080x1920 with your 32". For increased resolution you need to use more than one monitor.

Have got both monitors working side-by-side now...

I put the wife's to the left of the original and had to play around with the display settings so that I could drag windows to the left onto the new monitor.

I was expecting the Task Bar to stretch across both but it remains on the original (right-hand-side) monitor. But that is OK. I was also expecting that if I double click a window's Title Bar that it would stretch across both but it just fills one monitor only. Is this how it is supposed to work?

Will take a bit of getting used to and will need to think how best to use them like this.

Again, thanks for all the advice :)

Wondering whether the way it is working for me is down the the different size screens and resolutions?

@ Maverick

That's how it is supposed to be, it has nothing to do with resolution.
- Taskbar is displayed on the primary monitor (left).
- Program-windows will be maximized on the monitor where the windows are present. So if you hit maximize in the right monitor it maximizes the window there. It is like a snap option. That's great actually, imagine manually maximizing every window in each monitor. That wouldn't be quite productive.
- You can however stretch a window to both monitors by dragging the sides without hitting the maximize button.
Also you can place two same images or stretch a large one on both monitors to calibrate your monitors.

Use your primary monitor to calibrate your second monitor. Tweaking the brightness, contrast and the color levels should get them both to look similar.
The is especially important for color correcting your footage, without getting different standards.

Again, thanks. Getting used to the setup now - wonder why I never did this before :)

The new monitor definitely needs adjusting to match the old one which is something I will get onto soon.

Cheers.

Just thought I'd pass on a little program I found for allowing the same photo to stretch across both (or even more) monitors easily.

Multiwall