What happens if you use an external screen with a higher resolution

than your notebook's native resolution?

Does it resize the desktop for each, depending on which display is active? Is this automatic? Does it vary by laptop model?

I ask because I'm having difficulty finding a new <17in WUXGA notebook, and have decided to just pick up a nice high res LCD screen and get a new OC with a lower res screen.

(Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, I wasn't sure where to ask)

 

You can run either screen at any resolution.. but not if the displays are showing the same thing.. i.e cloned.. In all other cases, they are independent..

 

They dont have to be the same. Just run both at the same time using dual view extended screen.

 

As long as your notebook can power the display, you should be able to run both displays at their proper resolutions. I am currently running 1440x900(Laptop Display)+1280x1024(External Display).
What is the resolution of the new display, keep in mind, you can't run anything higher than 1920x1200 unless you have a dual-link DVI port.

 

How it works is generally driven by your software. Under XP and Vista, you can set them up to be clones, or you can set them up so that your desktop is extended onto your second screen from the first.

"difficulty finiding a new 17in WUXGA notebook"?? Are you even trying to find one? Seriously, things just seem to work better if the screens are matched. I used to have a 1680x1050 screen attached to my WUXGA notebook, and it was, in a ways, inconvenient.

No point in buying a notebook that you don't want. If you want WUXGA, go for it. Ideally get something with DisplayPort or dual-link DVI, so you can support the latest in displays.

 

The resolution limitations depend on your video card as well, but if you have a modern card it should be a non-issue.

 

I think netbooks are about the only modern...hardware that will struggle with two screens.

 

There are 3 modes you can operate an external monitor with a notebook

1. External only. You can operate at the maximum resolution supported by the external monitor. All modern graphics cards can drive monitors of up to at least 1920x1200: this will cover monitors of up to 28” and all HD TVs. If you are planing on buying a 30" monitor or a super high resolution large screen monitor then you might want to double check the graphic card's capabilities, but for anything smaller even an integrated Intel GMA card is sufficient.
2. Clone the desktop on both internal and external monitors (will have to use the same resolution on both = lower resolution of the two)
3. Extended mode. One monitor will be primary and the other will extend the desktop, you can have two different resolutions (preferably native resolution) on each monitor.

Buying a small notebook with a large external monitor will give you the best of both worlds. I currently use a DELL XPS M1330 (13.3” notebook with a 26” external running at 1920x1200. Look for a notebook with a DVI or HDMI output, because VGA output is not very sharp on large screens.

 

I ran VGA 1920x1200 out of my laptop onto a Dell 2408WFP. Recently switched to DVI (through a docking station, PR01X). There isn't really any difference. A little bit of jitter is eliminated, that's all.

Digital outputs are nice, and should be a part of any new laptop purchased, (especially to run higher resolution screens, such as the 30" models) but quite frankly, I think people exxagerate the benefits when it comes to WUXGA on LCDs. Especially since signals going out to LCDs over VGA are only clocked at 60Hz anyways, which isn't too onerous. The issues would show up moreso on the older CRTs that had much faster scan rates due to a lack of digital persistence.

 

Maybe it was due to the crappy bundled cables, but I’ve seen a noticeable difference between VGA and digital on 3 different LCDs that I’ve used quite extensively, ranging from 19” , 22" to 26”. In some more than the others. With the 19”, gamma and contrast settings were way off (almost to the point of being unusable), no amount of monitor adjustments could correct the image. I had to change some color and gamma settings from nVidia control panel to finally make it look decent; on the other hand DVI output was perfect with the same monitor (Mitsubishi Diamond 19" Wide) and graphics card (7950 GTX). I never thought it was a VGA / DVI problem, because I have never come across this type gamma and contrast issues with VGA before. That was the worst VGA / DVI difference I’ve experienced so far. That graphics card had dual DVI type outputs (one DVI-I and other DVI-D), therefore a DVI-I to VGA adapter was used before the VGA cable, maybe it was the adapter, maybe it was the cable but at the end, analog output was almost unusable.

However, other two monitors were not that bad (with my notebook), but still the difference was noticeable when inspected closely. Therefore you cant say that VGA is almost like DVI in ALL the cases (most of the cases they are close, I agree), but like in the above example there was a night and day difference. Digital is always a safer bet.