Configure Windows Display Settings

Windows can support multiple display outputs, which might include external monitors, connected IFP presentation board or TV, or a built-in laptop screen. Whether you are using a desktop format computer or a Windows laptop (with or without a dock), you can connect one or more display output devices with physical cables, and then tell Windows how you want to arrange them to best represent your physical space.

Your physical setup

Most of the multi-display setups you will find in the District follow one of these physical patterns:

Desktop computer, with two available displays (usually two monitors, or one monitor and one IFP)
Desktop computer, with three available displays (usually two monitors and one IFP)
Laptop computer (no dock), with two available displays (usually the laptop's display plus a monitor or IFP)
Laptop computer with dock, with two available displays (usually the laptop's display plus a monitor or IFP)
Laptop computer with dock, with three or more available displays (usually the laptop's display plus monitor(s) and/or IFP)

For your setup, make note of how these displays relate to one another in your physical space, and consider these questions:

Extend display? Should two or more of your physical displays "go together" or "extend together" to represent a single logical display?
Duplicate display? Should two or more of the displays "duplicate" or "mirror" each other exactly?
Main display? Which one should represent your "home" or "main" display--the one you use to log in to Windows on startup?

People's preferences for display settings vary, and in general Windows can support most arrangements people have requested. When your setup includes an IFP as an available display, we do recommend configuring that display as an "extend" display rather than a "duplicate" display--for two reasons. First, this setup is a little "safer" in terms of not displaying something unintentional to the entire room, and second, it allows both the IFP and your other displays to operate at their native resolution settings, rather than forcing a lowest-common-denominator setting onto both. Certainly you can operate in "duplicate" mode, but be aware of the limitations.

Configuring display settings

Do yourself a favor, and please make sure all your available displays are powered on, before configuring them. Windows does "remember" your settings for each different number of displays it detects (i.e. settings for two displays is separate from settings for three displays).

There is an entry point from Microsoft support on the topic, but customizing your display settings is pretty straightforward. The easiest way to bring up display settings is to right-click on an empty area of the Windows Desktop, and click Display settings.

This brings up the Windows Settings app on the Display page, and lets you implement your responses to the three questions listed above.

First, under the Rearrange your displays section at top, use the Identify button to figure out which detected display goes with which number on the arrangement diagram.
Next, drag the detected displays into the arrangement that best represents your physical space. (Note that you can arrange above and below, as well as left and right.) The resulting arrangement will determine how the mouse pointer will move between displays.
Next, if necessary, select a given display in the arrangement diagram and under the Scale and layout section, alter its scale, resolution, and orientation.
Next, for each display in the arrangement diagram, select the display to highlight it, and then under the Multiple displays section, specify whether you want to extend the Windows desktop to it as an independent display, or to have it duplicate an existing display. Note that the choices here will be different depending on how many displays are currently, actively detected, and what your existing choices are.
Finally, in the arrangement diagram, select the display you wish to be your "main" display and check the Make this my main display checkbox for that display only. (Checking the box for any selected display will "steal" that property from any other display that currently has it.)

As you make major changes, you may be presented with a preview of the changes, which will revert automatically if you do not affirmatively accept them with the offered button. (This feature actually helps a lot if you make a change that really fun-house-mirrors your setup in a way you didn't expect. :-)

Common gotchas

As you get to know this feature, you'll probably find it to be straightforward and reasonably predictable, but there are a few common gotchas to mention.

Arrangement disrupted. The usual "tell" here is that the mouse pointer doesn't fly off the screen as you expect, but it does off the other side. This can happen if your machine gets re-imaged, or if your setup gets re-cabled and you happen to switch the physical orientation of your dual monitors, etc. You should just be able to re-configure the setup as above, and be on your way.

Mismatched settings. Especially if you acquire a new/different monitor, you may find it is set to a different resolution, or may have its scaling setting configured differently. (This is not uncommon when switching from "duplicating" a monitor with an IFP, which can have very different native settings.) This is the case when you want to carefully configure each monitor's scale, resolution, and orientation settings.

Laptop open or laptop closed? People sometimes get caught looking at a weird and unexpected arrangement when connecting the laptop to a different dock (e.g. when presenting in a different classroom) and not realizing that the problem is that the laptop lid is open, where it's usually closed at your "home" workstation. (Or something similar.) Remember that Windows will "remember" a display settings configuration for each different number of displays connected. This is why we recommend configuring both the "laptop open" and "laptop closed" states, whenever you go to change display settings. At any rate, the remedy is to pull up Display settings and make whatever change(s) your immediate workstation may need.

Questions or problems?

If you have further questions or problems, by all means contact the Helpdesk and we'll help get you sorted out.