VAIO Z2 + PMD Question: 2 External HDMI Monitors Possible?

Hi Guys,

What I want to do is have 3 screens going in extended mode: 2 External Monitors + the Vaio Z2 laptop monitor itself.

Can the Z2+PMD power 2 external HDMI monitors in extended mode? Does the PMD have 2 HDMI ports? Or does 1 monitor connect to the PMD and the other one connect to the laptop?

 

You can run one HDMI and one VGA monitor off of the PMD simultaneously. It only has one HDMI port.

In addition you can run one or two external monitors off of the laptop itself. i.e. you can run the laptop monitor plus one external VGA or HDMI monitor or one external VGA and one external HDMI monitor.

So, if you want to run two HDMI monitors, one must be connected to the PMD and one to the laptop itself.

 

Thanks rmcx.

Can anyone confirm that running 2 external monitors (1 HDMI off PMD, 1 HDMI off laptop) works flawlessly in extended mode on 1920x1080 resolution for all 3 screens?

 

You can only run one monitor off the laptop, same as the Z1. You must have the PMD to run two or three external monitors.

 

Yup, sorry about that. I was describing the behavior of the X220.

 

Yep, got it.

Can anyone confirm that running 2 external monitors ( 1 HDMI off PMD, 1 HDMI off laptop) works flawlessly in extended mode on 1920x1080 resolution for all 3 screens?

 

I can't confirm that because I'm using the 1600x900 screen. However, I do have two 1920x1200 monitors running off of the two HDMI ports and one 1920x1200 monitor running off of the PMD's VGA port.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "flawlessly".

 

Thanks rmcx.

By "flawlessly" I meant that you're not having any problems (ie: no flickering, artifacts, sluggishness, etc).

 

^ You shouldn't have any of those problems with HDMI
VGA might introduce those sort of problems, but a high grade cable should make it usable. With VGA it is somewhat dependent on the monitor also, some monitors have better A/D converters than others.

HDMI should have no issue with FHD and WUXGA at 60Hz, that is what it was made for.

 

I can confirm this as follows:

I am connecting an HP 2475w monitor via the PMD's VGA connection. I first used an old VGA cable that I had laying around and indeed there was ripple in the image.

I then got an HP-Monster cable "rated at 85HZ" and the rippling went away and for my purposes (programming), there is no lag in the screen.

The only negative so far is that characters are not crisp. They have a shadow around them. I was able to tune it a bit with the little ClearType app, but they're still not as crisp as when the monitor was being driven digitally.

 

Is the following supported:

PMD's VGA and HDMI connection active
Notebook's VGA and HDMI connection active

All four connections active simultaneously for a 4-screen extended desktop?

 

2 HDMI's work just fine. That's how I use mine. And I keep the internal display active as well.

 

Try a VGA to DVI/HDMI converter such as the Aluratek AVH100F. I have used this, it is pretty good. Maybe not quite as sharp as straight DVI or HDMI, but very close.

 

NO. You cannot use the VGA and HDMI port of the laptop simultaneously. You can either use the VGA or the HDMI off the laptop directly - not both at the same time.

The PMD is a different story. You can use both the VGA and HDMI port off the PMD at the same time.

You cannot have more than 3 external monitors. You can view 4 monitors if you count the laptop screen.