![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re-Monitored
Mar. 18th, 2023 10:29 pmA while back, I mentioned that one of my computer monitors died and we bought a new, larger one. Recently, we decided to get a second one of the same model, if it was available. For a wonder, even though three whole months had passed (which appears to be an eternity in the computer and monitor market), when we went to Best Buy, we found that we could at least order another one. Transportation disruption during the heavy winter storms delayed the delivery to the store, but that was not a big deal. Yesterday, we took advantage of having to take apart the computer desk for the new wiring to also put in the new monitor.
( Old and New Setups )
The ViewFinity monitors now installed have two input ports each: one HDMI and one DisplayPort. It is possible to share them between two computers without using a switch box if you plug one into the HDMI and the other into the DisplayPort. Switching inputs requires using the control switch under the center front of the monitor. It took a while to find how to switch it, but it's only three steps (left arrow, move between inputs, enter to elect) and not especially annoying. However, while I have a mountain of VGA cables, a smaller pile of HDMI cables, and a bunch of different connectors, I only had one DP cable, and I needed it to connect the monitor of my personal laptop, while I ran an HDMI cable from the personal machine to the middle monitor. We tried several cable configurations and adapters, but it appeared that we needed another DisplayPort cable.
This afternoon, after an SFSFC board of directors meeting, Lisa and I went to Reno and bought another DP cable. We also took care of grocery shopping at WinCo Foods and Raley's. After we got home and unloaded groceries, Lisa made dinner while I once again fiddled with cables, this time running the DP cable from the Day Jobbe laptop output to the DP port on the ViewFinity monitor. Success at last! We now have all three monitors, with the middle monitor shared without having to swap cables.
It certainly gets annoying when you have a box of what seems like every cable and adapter known to humanity, only to discover that the one part you need is the one you don't have in that box. But we got it running in the end.
( Old and New Setups )
The ViewFinity monitors now installed have two input ports each: one HDMI and one DisplayPort. It is possible to share them between two computers without using a switch box if you plug one into the HDMI and the other into the DisplayPort. Switching inputs requires using the control switch under the center front of the monitor. It took a while to find how to switch it, but it's only three steps (left arrow, move between inputs, enter to elect) and not especially annoying. However, while I have a mountain of VGA cables, a smaller pile of HDMI cables, and a bunch of different connectors, I only had one DP cable, and I needed it to connect the monitor of my personal laptop, while I ran an HDMI cable from the personal machine to the middle monitor. We tried several cable configurations and adapters, but it appeared that we needed another DisplayPort cable.
This afternoon, after an SFSFC board of directors meeting, Lisa and I went to Reno and bought another DP cable. We also took care of grocery shopping at WinCo Foods and Raley's. After we got home and unloaded groceries, Lisa made dinner while I once again fiddled with cables, this time running the DP cable from the Day Jobbe laptop output to the DP port on the ViewFinity monitor. Success at last! We now have all three monitors, with the middle monitor shared without having to swap cables.
It certainly gets annoying when you have a box of what seems like every cable and adapter known to humanity, only to discover that the one part you need is the one you don't have in that box. But we got it running in the end.
