Graphics Card on Multiple Monitors

[janice]

Hi all -

I don't understand this fully and I am hoping someone will help me with it.

I have a Nvidia GTX960M on a laptop and a second monitor plugged in with a HDMI connection at both ends (although I could use a display port). The second monitor screen is twice the size of the laptop. The numbers on the cockpit instruments are much more clear on the laptop screen. Is this just a function of the size of the monitors? Or is my second monitor not using the NVidia graphics card? My understanding is that, although it isn't obvious in settings because although outside FSX it looks like the second monitor is using the basic card, within FSX the information is actually being fed through the NVidia graphics card.

Is that correct?

Thank you.
Janice

[Oracle427]

What size is the monitor and what resolution have you set for it? It is important to configure it for its native resolution for best results.

[janice]

It's a Dell 24" 1920 x 1080 at 60 Hz. Both laptop monitor and Dell are set 1920 x 1080 at 60 Hz with the same setting in FSX-SE.

[Oracle427]

It could be that the monitor is larger than the laptop screen and running at the same resolution. In this case, the pixels of the monitor are effectively larger than the laptop's pixels.

That does sound like an appropriate native resolution for that size monitor.

There are tweak guides that specify settings for NVidia Inspectir that make a massive difference in the appearance of the sim. It might not fix the difference between your two screens, but it can eliminate shimmering, anti aliasing and make the small print on the gauges much easier to read at normal zoom levels.

I'm not home right now, but I'll try and locate that link to a guide when I get a chance... Unless someone else can jump in first.

[janice]

Hi Oracle -

I've tried all kinds of tweaks this weekend. Spent hours on it. I've learned certain settings like HighMemFix and Jobspooler are not longer needed with Steam (which I'm using) in the .cfg. I've tried lots of different stuff in NVidia settings. Oddly, I'm presently having the best experience using my NVidia graphic card's fairly simplistic settings for FSX. I'm not using Direct X, and I've got everything cranked up high in programme settings. I get a very nice presentation on my monitor using windowed mode. However, going to full screen blacks out the second monitor.

I think it might be that the pixels are spread out, as you say. But, if there is something I can do to get a better pic on the monitor, I'd love to use it. Maybe the question I should ask is whether someone has a nice clear pic (e.g., numbering clear on instruments) and sharp colours using a larger monitor (such as 24") with a card like a NVidia 980M. If so, how did you get it?

Janice

[Oracle427]

Janice,

HighMem and Jobspooler are performance tweaks and not going to impact your visuals. They'll help with frame rates on FSX and I have no idea if they are necessary in FSX SE.

FSX SE still benefits from these graphics tweaks. The difference for me was night and day.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... GcdCASzbJg

Note that it is NOT possible to improve the graphics beyond a certain point with the default NVidia control panel. You must use NVidia inspector to get the best visuals from the sim. I am certain of that because my gauges are unreadable in my sim unless I follow this tweak guide. I have an NVidia GTX 960 so I am 100% sure that you will benefit.

[janice]

Thank you Oracle. I haven't seen this guide. I have to do something else for a while now, but will certainly try this out - to the letter - and let you know what I think. Looking forward to it, and appreciate your comments very much.

Janice

[janice]

Wow! Beautiful! The dials are very clear sitting back in the pilot's seat on my big monitor - And truly gorgeous on the laptop!

I had a bit of a glitch at first with the menu bar turning into a bunch of dashes and had to go back to doing steps two or three at a time. Eventually, I got it sorted out. Will post a couple of before and after pics if anyone wants to see the difference (and tells me how to get pics into the message - I couldn't get one to insert between these commands: ).

Thank you so much for the tip. I'm really pleased.

Janice

[Oracle427]

Very glad to hear that this helped. It transforms the sim!

You can't use the forum to host the pics for you as there is no space allocated for that purpose. You will need to upload the pics to a service like Dropbox and then share the URL.

NickM has a guide here: http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtop ... 23&t=50279