What’s a dual monitor card?

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A dual monitor video card is a graphics input device that allows you to connect more than one monitor to a single computer. It is typically a specialized form of video card, or graphics card, installed inside the computer tower on the motherboard. A dual-monitor video card typically works with a computer’s operating system (OS) and other programs to enable enhanced functionality and usability across multiple monitors. This often includes an extended desktop between the monitors, different windows and functionality between the two monitors, and interactivity between the monitors.

The basic setup of a dual monitor video card system usually involves a single computer, with a graphics card and two or more monitors connected to that machine. While the name tends to mean a video card that can allow for two monitors, there are also devices that can allow for six or more monitors. In the past, this type of setup was often used to create a system where multiple screens displayed the same image, creating ‘clones’ of each other and often used for presentations and viewing across multiple monitors. It is now possible to use a dual monitor video card to create different images on each screen, to enable unique features and options for users.

There are several types of applications that can benefit from a dual monitor video card, including basic operating system operations and specialized software such as financial programs and programming software. When used with a computer’s operating system, the video card can allow basic desktop expansion across two monitors. This means that when you move a mouse to one side of one monitor, it will disappear and appear to the side of the other monitor, as if it were a single screen with no separation. A user can then work on two monitors simultaneously, allowing two “full screen” applications to run on each monitor.

Applications usually don’t run in true full screen with a dual monitor video card setup, because the system recognizes both monitors as one display. The window or program would then span between both monitors. Instead of true full screen, the system runs with every application windowed but displayed to essentially fill the screen.

This use of a dual monitor video card can allow someone to run an application on one screen while monitoring financial information on the other. A user can also write programming code on one screen, while running debugging routines on the other. Some computer games may even allow a player to use two screens, displaying the playing field on one screen and other pertinent information such as maps, players or virtual inventory on the other.

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