Screens Galore

OK, I'll own up to it.....I love screens, the more the better! You remember Hugh Jackman's hacker character in Swordfish, sitting in front of that outlandish rig that he had John Travolta's character put together for him? Something like 7, LCD flatpanels, which was crazy at the time (2001). It'd be even more so, if people know that most of them were the ultra-expensive SGI 1600SW, that sold for $2500 apiece, and that was without the special converter boxes necessary for them to run with normal graphics cards. Otherwise, you'd have to connect them with special graphics cards of which there were only a very few and expensive as well. Other than being a geek/nerd/propellerhead, I noticed them because I happened to have one of these beasties sitting on my desk at home. At that time very few people had LCDs of any kind at home, much less one of these oddities. 

Of course, since that time, LCD monitors have become common and even the use of multiple monitors is not that unusual. However, I'll have to say that I am unusual (a little bit anyway). For me, 1 or even 2 has never been enough. During the time of the SGI, I had that one in the middle and two large 19-20" CRTs on each side. It took three graphics cards to run them, but I did it. A few years back, I had read somewhere that as far back as Windows 98, Microsoft had built in the capability to resolve up to 10 displays! They should have never told me that; I've been on a monitor binge ever since.....especially now that LCDs are the norm and take up way less space.

 

Last year some time, I became aware of the "portable" monitors that were appearing on the market. They began hitting the market in the form of the various 7" Mimo models at first, then Toshiba, along with Lenovo and others. There are more, probably about 5 brands total which are really only coming out of about 2 factories. They are all pretty similar, ranging from 7" to 10", some with touch, some without, but all are USB "bus" powered, taking signal and current from the USB port of the host machine. For obvious reasons, I became enamored of them right away, imagining myself setting up with a laptop and plugging up one of these things along-side like some sort of mini-me version of the big workstation rig at home! 

Then, right around the time that I was busy trying to figure out a way to squeeze the $100-150 out of thin air, lightning struck...or more accurately; Android struck! I started getting the craving for a tablet, and you guys know where that led me. So what? End of the tiny portable monitor dream? Well.....yes, and no. I knew that if I got one of those little monitors, it'd sit in a drawer like one of my many, "love it" toys like the Bluetooth GPS receiver (to name one). The fact is that, it's a "one trick pony", so there are only so many situations in which it can be used. However; a tablet......now that's something that can have a variety of uses. 

Last night, I came up with use number 45 (or whatever it is now)......an extension monitor.....TA DA!!! I've known for some time that you can get apps that allow a tablet to connect to a computer and use it as an external monitor, but last night, I finally did it. I not only did it, but I did it in the most excessive manner possible (for me anyway)! I set it up on my desk next to the keyboard/mouse area. That's the computer that I currently have a 22" (1960 x 1200) screen, a 20" (1600 x 1200) screen, AND 19" (1440 x 900) TV/Monitor on a swivel arm mount for those times when I need a third screen. That one is on a selector box which allows me to switch between the WHS server and the workstation, as well as having the facility to connect to a DVD/VCR or TV. So anyway, I was up late playing around on the internet, when the thought struck me that maybe I should give one of those apps a try. I started out looking at the Redfly Screenslider, but didn't like that you paid the $.99, but then had to pay more to get the rest of the features on the "Pro" version. So I just ponied up the $4.99 for the one that been in this game the longest: iDisplay. After a little bit of fiddling around with the settings, it worked just fine.

So, what does one DO with a small (1260 x 800) 4th monitor? It turns out that I found the perfect use for it. Drag the music player over there and that way, I can manipulate the controls by touch! This leaves the other 3 free for editing picture, placing Adobe palettes, and monitoring file transfers. OK, really, I'll probably use it with my laptop as my extended desktop screen when I'm on the go, but need to get work done. I feel like James Bond and "Q" all rolled in one.