External Screens

Just wondering how external screens work with notebooks. If a 15.4 1280x800 notebook screen plugs into a 21inch external screen, even if the 21 has a higher native resolution, with I only get 1280x800 on the 21?? How do external screens connect to a notebook, DVI?? VGA???

How can I connect a larger screen with better resolution than the screen on my notebook??

Or am I stuck with the resolution my notebook has regardless off the specs on the external?

 

Depending on your notebook model, you can either connect to an external LCD via VGA or DVI. And it can output at a higher resolution. Most all modern notebooks can output at 1920×1200. To change the resolution on the external monitor after things are connected. Right click on your desktop screen > Properties > Settings > check extend my desktop > then you should be able to adjust what resolution you want to output at.

 

Your GPU will determine what the max resolution can be on your external monitor.

I believe there are some restrictions though--like if you're using two monitors at the same time, the external can't be a higher resolution than your laptop LCD.

 

There are a couple of different modes you can set the external screen to, usually.

Clone mode does exactly that, clones what you see on your notebook monitor and displays it on the external, same resolution and everything.

Extended Desktop sort of creates a second desktop space for you, you can drag over windows from one screen to the other. I use this mode as I can set my X1400 to power my 19" widescreen at 1440x900. Very useful for when I load up a Stargate DVD playing on the external and then fire up BFME2 on the notebook screen.

As an aside, I've found the ATi X1000 series to be amazing multimedia GPUs. Picture quality is awesome.

 

Just moving this thread over to a more appropriate Forum.

 

Would I be able to power a high res external screen with the gma 950??

 

if you look at the specs for your particular notebook model on the company's website, it will tell you the max external res

 

...speaking of external screens, any recommendations? I'm looking in to getting on for my laptop. It seems that Dell is affordable and they have done well in Consumer Reports tests

 

I'm also interested in using an external screen.

Chrisyano earlier stated that the resolution can't be higher than in your laptop. Is this correct? I have 19" widescreen and it would be important to get that to co-operate with my laptop. Are there any certain chips that allow you to use different resolutions?

By the way, if you have surplus cash you can plug your external screen in with a device that provides a DVI-output from PCMCIA. The device also allows to use different resolutions and other cool stuff.

 

I said that you are limited to the native resolution of your laptop when using both screens. If you are only using your external screen, that shouldn't be a problem.

To be sure, check the specific limitations of your system/GPU as mentioned above by drumfu.