How to connect two screens to a PC at the same time

The first thing you need to do is make sure your monitors are properly connected. There are screens that use ports HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort and the old VGA. Depending on the launch date of your monitor, you will have more or fewer connectors at your disposal.

You should also check if your computer works with integrated video or with a graphics card. In the first case, motherboards usually have two free ports, usually one HDMI and one VGA. In this case, only one monitor needs to be connected to each input.

If you use a graphics card, especially if it is new, you will not find the typical VGA, because it is considered obsolete. Video cards incorporate HDMI portsDVI and DisplayPort, but of these, the most common is HDMI.

The difficulty is that some cards only have one port of each type available, and the HDMI would be for the main monitor. If you are going to install a second screen, you must necessarily have a DisplayPort or DVI port. In case you only have a single HDMI port, you can also buy a signal multiplier to add multiple screens, as we will see in the following sections.

Be that as it may, once you connect the two screens, Windows will automatically recognize them. By default, the primary monitor is displayed as the primary desktop and the secondary display is displayed as a companion desktop. To access each screen you just have to slide the mouse left or right.

Finally, keep in mind that the Windows operating system respects the resolutions of each monitor. So if the primary panel is a 4K monitor and the secondary is at 1080p, you will have the respective resolution on each screen.

If you want to know more tricks to have more than one screen, be sure to visit our article How to connect the PC to the TV without cables or Connect the phone to any television.

How to connect two monitors to one laptop

Most laptops today have only one HDMI port to have dual monitor. To connect a new screen, you will only have to connect an HDMI cable from the monitor to the laptop.

However, if you want to connect more than one display, you’ll probably need to use an HDMI signal splitter. Here’s how to use an HDMI splitter and how to have more than two displays connected to a single PC or laptop.

As we already mentioned, there are circumstances where graphics cards or motherboards do not have free ports. First of all, the available inputs may not be compatible with your monitor cable. You already know that the DVI and DisplayPort ports they are the least used by conventional users. For this situation, using adapters is a good idea. The most common and practical are the following:

• HDMI/VGA: Recommended if your monitor uses an HDMI cable, but only one VGA port is available. It also works the other way around, in case your screen is VGA, but the PC port is HDMI. However, the image may not be as sharp at resolutions higher than 1080p. Also, the audio is not transmitted.
• VGA/DVI: It is an adapter with excellent compatibility, since both ports are analog. However, this type of connection is not so common.
• VGA/DisplayPort: a converter very similar to the HDMI to VGA one, since it has the same characteristics.
• HDMI/Display Port: Both ports are digital, so they display the image clearly at any resolution, as long as the cable type (1.4, 2.0, 2.1) is compatible. They also transmit sound.

Use an HDMI splitter

Lastly, in case the two screens be HDMI, a splitter is the most recommended option. It is a small device that multiplies the outputs from a single input. The steps to follow to use this equipment are as follows:

1. Connect the splitter to the HDMI port of the computer, you will need an HDMI cable.
2. Plug each monitor into the corresponding outputs on the splitter, each with a different HDMI cable. Total, you will need three HDMI cables.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Once the PC starts, will show a secondary desktop on each screen automatically, as explained recently.

At the time of buy a hdmi splitter, you must be very careful not to buy, instead, a splitter that is not a multiplier. There are some splitters on the market that only serve as a switcher, which means that they only serve to alternate between one signal and the other, but they cannot show both screens at the same time. Therefore, you must make sure that it is a HDMI signal multiplier.

This configuration will also work if you want to capture the signal from a console such as the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation or the Xbox on the computer. In this case, you will need to connect the console’s HDMI cable to a video captureand connect the latter to the HDMI splitter.

After connecting two monitors to the PC, sometimes the automatic configuration made by the system is not enough. Actually, it is preferable to adjust the parameters in a custom way. In this way, you can make the most of each screen.

Once you’re on the Windows desktop and have your displays connected, tap the keyboard command Windows + P. Then the screen mode selector opens in the right column. There you will see four different types of settings:

computer screen only

Disconnect the secondary monitors and you will only see the content on the main screen. Of course, the second screen is connected, so you will have to activate it manually when you want to use it.

Double

All monitors show the same image, as do the things you do. They work as a mirror, although of course, each one with its respective resolution. However, depending on the applications used, some display issues are likely to occur, especially if the resolutions are different.

Enlarge

It is the mode that is activated by default when connect two displays to one pc and it is the ideal to make the most of the space. It is possible to drag windows from one monitor to another, just as if you had a large widescreen monitor.

In addition, you can decide which of the two screens will display the desktop icons. To do so, you just have to select the screen and choose the option Convert to main screen. Likewise, you will be able to alter the order of the screens to choose which one is the left and which one is the right.

only second screen

It is the same as the first option, except that the monitor that is deactivated is the main one. You can reactivate it when you consider it necessary.

To access this display setting, you will need to follow the steps below:

1. Enter the Windows settings and press the System option
2. Click on the Screen section, which appears in the first place
3. Rearrange the screens you have connected according to your preference
4. Choose if you want to duplicate, extend or show one or both screens
5. Click Apply to save the changes

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