PCI Video card for 3rd Monitor? at DVinfo.net

John McGinley · June 2nd, 2005, 11:15 AM

Has anyone tried using a PCI video card to add a 3rd Monitor strictly for the direct x video overlay? And thus allowing you to scrub HDV projects in full resolution in Premiere Pro? I was considering trying this route, but I'd rather not spend the money if it won't work very well. My other concerns were whether I should use the same brand of video card or can I mix brands without any trouble and would a PCI card be fast enough to display that resoultion. I know that if I upgraded to PCIe it wouldn't be a problem, but that's a lot more money to accomplish that upgrade.

Rob Lohman · June 3rd, 2005, 03:14 AM

A good PCI card will be no problem in terms of resolution etc. However, I'm
not 100% sure if a secondary (or third etc.) monitor works with OVERLAY
support. I think that might depend on the card in question.

A good computer shop should be able to answer that last question for you.
The resolution and a third (or fourth) monitor is no problem at all!

John McGinley · June 6th, 2005, 10:59 AM

Well, I added a Nvidia PCI card and a 3rd Monitor and was able to monitor HDV out of Vegas 6. Vegas allows you to define a secondary monitor as your previewing Monitor. Initially I used a Geforce 2 MX400 and got good enough results that I went out and bought a GeForce FX 5500 PCI card and get good speed. I added a Westinghouse 17" Widescreen and I'm in business. I wasn't able to get Premiere Pro to send the overlay to 3rd Monitor, I'm wondering if I replace my AGP card which is an ATI Radeon 9800 with another NVidia based card if the overlay support would extend to the 3rd Monitor. Regardless I'll be doing most of my HDV editing in Vegas anyway, so I'm happy with the result. Adobe would be smart to put that same level of preview control that vegas has in Premiere Pro.

June 2nd, 2005, 11:15 AM	#1
John McGinley Regular Crew Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 142	PCI Video card for 3rd Monitor? Has anyone tried using a PCI video card to add a 3rd Monitor strictly for the direct x video overlay? And thus allowing you to scrub HDV projects in full resolution in Premiere Pro? I was considering trying this route, but I'd rather not spend the money if it won't work very well. My other concerns were whether I should use the same brand of video card or can I mix brands without any trouble and would a PCI card be fast enough to display that resoultion. I know that if I upgraded to PCIe it wouldn't be a problem, but that's a lot more money to accomplish that upgrade. Last edited by John McGinley; June 2nd, 2005 at 11:52 AM.

June 3rd, 2005, 03:14 AM	#2
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	A good PCI card will be no problem in terms of resolution etc. However, I'm not 100% sure if a secondary (or third etc.) monitor works with OVERLAY support. I think that might depend on the card in question. A good computer shop should be able to answer that last question for you. The resolution and a third (or fourth) monitor is no problem at all! __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

June 6th, 2005, 10:59 AM	#3
John McGinley Regular Crew Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 142	Well, I added a Nvidia PCI card and a 3rd Monitor and was able to monitor HDV out of Vegas 6. Vegas allows you to define a secondary monitor as your previewing Monitor. Initially I used a Geforce 2 MX400 and got good enough results that I went out and bought a GeForce FX 5500 PCI card and get good speed. I added a Westinghouse 17" Widescreen and I'm in business. I wasn't able to get Premiere Pro to send the overlay to 3rd Monitor, I'm wondering if I replace my AGP card which is an ATI Radeon 9800 with another NVidia based card if the overlay support would extend to the 3rd Monitor. Regardless I'll be doing most of my HDV editing in Vegas anyway, so I'm happy with the result. Adobe would be smart to put that same level of preview control that vegas has in Premiere Pro.