Most of the touchscreens that we offer now support multiple monitor configurations in Windows (not supported in Mac OSX at this time). The touchscreen software driver will typically determine if a touchscreen can work in a multiple monitor system, as well as how many monitors are supported.
Which Touchscreen Types Support Multiple Monitor Configurations?
The following table shows the multiple monitor capabilities for each of the touchscreen types that we offer. As it is dependant on the software driver, capabilities vary depending on the operating system that you are using. The number of supported monitors shown here includes both touchscreen and non-touchscreen monitors, which can be mixed freely:
| TouchType \ OS: | Windows Vista | Windows XP | Windows 2000 | Windows 98 | Windows 95 |
| Elo Resistive or SAW | Up to 4 Monitors
USB or Serial | Up to 4 Monitors
USB or Serial | Up to 4 Monitors
USB or Serial | Up to 4 Monitors
Serial Only | Up to 4 Monitors
Serial Only
| 3M/Microtouch Capacitive | Up to 12 Monitors
USB or Serial | Up to 12 Monitors
USB or Serial | Up to 12 Monitors
USB or Serial | 2 or 4 Monitors
USB or Serial | 2 or 4 Monitors
USB or Serial
| MagicTouch Add-on | 2 Monitors
USB Only | 2 Monitors
USB Only | 2 Monitors
USB Only | n/a | n/a
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PLEASE NOTE: All of the configurations shown require the multiple monitor features in Windows, and will NOT work with a video splitter. You can use a video splitter if you only want to have a single touchscreen monitor and additional non-touchscreen monitors showing the same image. Click HERE for more information.
Splitting the Desktop Across Multiple Monitors
In a typical multiple monitor configuration, the Windows desktop is split up and spread
across your multiple monitors. The Windows Display Control Panel will allow you to specify the position of the monitors, ie. whether they are lined up horizontally, vertically, two by two, etc.
With the desktop split across the monitors, if you have all the monitors lined up, you can drag your
mouse cursor across the desktop and watch it move from one monitor to the next. What
you can then do is run a program on one part of the desktop, and another program on
another part of the desktop. And since the desktop is spread across different video screens, if the programs are sized and positioned properly,
each program will appear on a different video screen.
This is useful if you want to be able to have something different showing on each screen or if you want to have users accessing more than 1 screen at the same time. For example, you could have several monitors at your desk, each showing a different program. Or you could have several monitors that each show your retail application, and more than one employee could be accessing the system at a time.
If you want to have the same program or
application running on each video screen, for example if you want the same database application running
on each screen, then you need to make sure that you can run more than one copy of your program
at a time and have them both on the desktop at once. Some programs will only let you run 1
copy at a time, so they wouldn't work in a multiple monitor environment.
Supported Video Hardware
A multiple monitor setup can be accomplished by using multiple single-port video cards, or by using multi-port video cards. However, all of the multiple monitor configurations listed above require that each monitor is reported to Windows as an individual display. This means that if you have 2 monitors, they need to show up in Windows Display Control Panel as two separate displays, as shown in the image on the right. Basically, the number of monitors that appear in the Windows Display Control Panel needs to match your number of physical monitors. Some multi-port video cards will show both monitors as one large desktop, instead of two individual monitors, and multiple touchscreens will NOT work with that type of configuration.
Connecting Multiple Touchscreens to Your PC
You will also need to connect the touchscreens to your PC. You will need 1 open Serial port or 1 USB port for each touch monitor. The USB interface is the easiest to work with. Most PCs have 1 or 2 USB ports, and a USB Hub can be used to add more USB ports. Most older PCs have 1 or 2 Serial ports, and expansion cards can be used to add additional Serial ports to the system. Here are a few Serial port expansions cards that should work:
- Addonics FlexPort (4 plus 2) ISA interface
- Digi Board Classic ISA interface (not for Windows 98)
- Digi Accelport Models 2E and 4E ISA interface (not for Windows 98)
- SIIG I/O Expander 25 model 101812 ISA interface
- Comtrol RocketPort 4-port PCI interface
- Equinox Super Serial PCI interface
There are also USB to Serial adapters that are now available. They allow you to add a Serial port to your PC by plugging an adpater into your USB port. Keyspan (http://www.keyspan.com) and Belkin are two manufacturers.
Extending the Touch Monitors Away From Your PC
The touch monitors can be placed away from the PC using Extension Cables. We offer video extension cables up to 50-feet in length, serial cables up to 50-feet in length, and USB extension cables that are 16-feet in length. The USB extension cables can be linked together for longer distances (up to 80-feet).
Known Issues with Multiple Monitor Configurations
In some multiple monitor situations, dialog boxes will appear on
the edge of monitors and across several monitors. This is unavoidable
in many cases.
What About Using a Video Splitter?
Unfortunately all of the multiple monitor configurations described above require the multiple monitor capabilities of Windows and will not work with a video splitter. However, a video splitter can still be used if you want to have a single touchscreen monitor, and you want to also show the same video image on one or more non-touchscreen monitors.
Basically you setup your single touchscreen monitor on your computer just like it was going to be the only monitor. Then you can attach your video splitter and split the video signal off to as many non-touchscreen monitors as you would like. We do offer an inexpensive VGA-Y video splitter cable. It allows you to easily connect two monitors to one VGA port.
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