Hi everyone,

I have had this 17" Samsung lcd tv/monitor kicking around for a while and thought i'd try connecting it to my laptop,

So far i've installed the driver and mangaged to get the screen to show whats being showed on my laptop screen. This worked automatically after restarting my laptop. What i'm trying to do is dual it so i can drag across from one screen to another and show different things on different screens. When i go to display properties/settings, ive only got 1 screen icon showing up. I know most computers ive been on show 2 icons with one greyed out in the background.

Thanks

Hi and welcome to D-A-L

has the laptop got the ability for dual screens?

I'm not sure, this is the model make and number

fujitsu siemens amilo A7640

I thought that most laptops even basic ones would be able to do this, thanks

I thought that most laptops even basic ones would be able to do this, thanks

Nope, not with laptops. Virtually all laptops have the ability to display the laptop's output video on the laptop's screen, on an exterior monitor, or both. But the key here is it's the same output to both monitors. Remember, laptops are designed for road warriors, not desktop junkies. That means the video on laptops is set up so the user can view the laptop's display, while the briefing attendees can view the same images on the projector's screen. It's like putting a Y-adapter on the signal cable an running it to two monitors.

What you are asking for is for the computer/graphics hardware/software to control two distinct signals (video data streams) to two different monitors. That requires two graphics cards, or a graphics card (and drivers) capable of "dual monitor" support. It also requires a lot of video RAM to keep track of all those pixels - something laptops are inherently short of to begin with.