Dual monitor support?

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • Hello Jens!

    Since I'm currently running a Radeon gfx card in my Mediator and with current P96/Elbox driver my Amiga is already able to display the same screen on 2 monitors together (one through DVI and the other through VGA), I was wondering: would it be possible to implement some kind of real dual monitor support in P96, with different screens depending on the gfx card output, or would it be too tricky?


    Thank you!

  • P96 itself can't extend the screen to different GFX cards, but I'd imagine that a single gfx card with dual monitor outputs that support the exact same resolution could be programmed to act as one big workbench on two monitors.


    We'd need two key things: A gfx card that has the required property and the funds to do such development. While a large part of the Amiga community uses P96, there's not a high moral in paying for it, so I personally would not front any money for such a development.

  • Thanks for your reply, Jens!

    Trying to proactively get this thing started or at least see if there was a real demand for such an implementation, do you have an idea on how much money would it be needed?

    Knowing that then some crowdfunding attempt through a platform like gofundme.com could possibly be made.

  • Is it possible to use RGB and P96 screen simultaneously? Right now RGB out will go black when I switch to the P96 WB Screen. Or is this feature being implemented for the next update?

  • No, dual monitors is not the "big feature" that's in the works. I am pretty sure that dual monitors is "next to impossible", as both different sizes and different colour depth would make a unified buffer a complicated thing to implement, essentially requiring an ongoing colour depth reduction and copying into chip ram. Your CPU would be busy 100% of the time - hardly the thing you'd look for :-)

  • well, it is possible on CybergraphX since 25 years. Both PAL and Graphicscard output are separately and P96 would have to manage only the graphics card and just keep the Amiga RGB active and usable.


    Back in the day I have been watching a VCD on my 1084S monitor, while surfing the web on my Workbench (BVision output).

  • btw, i am not talking about a Dual Monitor concept as in todays systems, where the second monitor is an extension of the Desktop.

    I just want to be able to open up a separate screen on my PAL/RGB output. Right now, when I do this (f.e run PPaint or MooVID video player) the PAL screen will go black (but the program still runs), when I switch back to Workbench (Amiga+m). Workbench screen however will stay visible when I'm on PPaint.

  • btw, i am not talking about a Dual Monitor concept as in todays systems, where the second monitor is an extension of the Desktop.

    ..but that's the only concept that would make sense - at least to me.


    As far as I understood (I'm not a programmer), keeping Amiga GFX alive would be a major re-write, as many of the WB patches become a lot easier because the chipset is (almost completely) switched off. The approach is substantially different from CyberGFX.

  • it is partly working already, but as said just the other way round. While working on a PAL screen, P96 screen is still visible and refreshing. Maybe you can check it out by trying out a CGX setup. The option there is called "KeepAmigaVideo"

  • The last reply was more than 365 days ago, this thread is most likely obsolete. It is recommended to create a new thread instead.