Dual monitors (Windows 10)

[statsman]

I've been looking for a somewhat larger monitor than my current 22" model for a Windows 10 PC. Probably 27" or 32". Regardless, I have no interest in having two similar sized monitors side by side for an extended desktop. OTOH, there have been times where I wished for a portrait oriented monitor for document viewing, which I do quite a bit of. The 22" monitor is capable of pivoting 90 degrees.

Is it possible under Windows 10 to have a main monitor in landscape orientation with a second monitor in portrait orientation? Even if the monitors have different resolutions? It would be good to have the option for the taskbar to not extend to the second monitor, but I'm not sure if that is possible.

 

[timo2]

Yes. You can do that, depending upon your video cards here is a photo of how I have mine set up in windows 10

 

[statsman]

The PC came with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB, which is overkill for my needs, but I believe is capable of handling two monitors.

 

[timo2]

The PC came with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB, which is overkill for my needs, but I believe is capable of handling two monitors.

The photo I saw on the internet shows one HDMI and 3 DisplayPorts. So you would have to be sure one of your monitors has a displayport connectivity. You probably can have four monitors on that card.

 

[statsman]

The photo I saw on the internet shows one HDMI and 3 DisplayPorts. So you would have to be sure one of your monitors has a displayport connectivity. You probably can have four monitors on that card.

Funny thing. The backside of the tower shows one HDMI, one DisplayPort, and one DVI in the card's double slot. Less than I would have expected. I'm not sure what Dell did here.

That said, I initially had connected to the fixed DisplayPort near the USB ports, and the monitor actually worked. According to the PC's manual, these are supposed to be covered when a separate video card is installed, but it isn't (neither is the fixed HDMI port near the USB ports).

 

[KenZ71]

Also possible to use adapters fo different plug types.

My work laptop goes to both laptop screen & a 19" monitor using DVI adapter to convert the Display port output to DVI input on the monitor.

Also my personal PC has a display port to HDMI on my 32" TV repurposed as a monitor.

 

[statsman]

Also possible to use adapters fo different plug types.

My work laptop goes to both laptop screen & a 19" monitor using DVI adapter to convert the Display port output to DVI input on the monitor.

Also my personal PC has a display port to HDMI on my 32" TV repurposed as a monitor.

My older Dell monitor has a DisplayPort input, which I am using now (it has no HDMI input). I figure any newer monitor is going to have HDMI and probably DisplayPort, so I would use the HDMI input for the newer monitor.

Seems under Windows 10 I can have a new, larger monitor that I plan to purchase at 2K or 4K (27" or 32"), while the older 22" monitor can be at 1080p and in portrait mode. I believe I have read I can choose to have the taskbar show up in the secondary monitor or not.

 

[timo2]

Funny thing. The backside of the tower shows one HDMI, one DisplayPort, and one DVI in the card's double slot. Less than I would have expected. I'm not sure what Dell did here.

That said, I initially had connected to the fixed DisplayPort near the USB ports, and the monitor actually worked. According to the PC's manual, these are supposed to be covered when a separate video card is installed, but it isn't (neither is the fixed HDMI port near the USB ports).

So it sounds like your tower is like mine: there are video ports on the mother board and then there is the additional video card. So you can use the HDMI on the tower and then the HDMI on the card to power your two monitors. They will have different graphics drivers, but that doesn't seem to matter. I have two monitors on my NVIDIA card and one on the built in tower port. Everything works seamlessly.