It’s More Than What You See with Dual Monitors
If you haven’t already, you should seriously consider adding a second monitor to your workstation. This is one of those cases where 1+1 = exponential value. Once you have tried it, you won’t willingly go back to a single monitor. It is easy to set up and there are lots of ways it can help.
Simple Setup
The requirements are minimal and configuration is all done through the Display controls in the Windows Control Panel.
- It does require a display controller which is capable of supporting dual monitors. This is built-in on laptops, but it may require a display adapter upgrade on a desktop PC.
- Windows display settings allow you to customize the settings for the appropriate resolution for each display so that the desktop can be spread across the two monitors.
Real Advantages
There are lots of ways that this extra desktop resolution can be helpful. As you get used to having the extra space, no doubt you will find lots of ways to utilize it. Here are some simple examples.
- Multiple Application Windows – Our INTERAC accounting applications allow users to open multiple windows in the software, so they can have more than one application open at a time. This makes it very easy to move between applications or functions without having to open and close screens.
- Going Paperless – With a Document Management System it is much easier to preview a document on one screen while executing the data entry in the accounting application on the other. This eliminates the need to handle all that paper that has traditionally taken up so much space and time. (see the example picture)
- Keeping the Calendar and Email screens readily available – Most workers are tied to their electronic calendars and email systems and the extra monitor makes it easy to keep those screens open and available all the time.
- Presentations – PowerPoint is designed to take advantage of multiple monitors, so one monitor is the presentation display and the other shows the controls and presenter notes.
There are lots of ways to take advantage of a dual monitor configuration. Just give it a try and see for yourself.
