Digital Tigers SideCar MMS Series User's Guide

6- INTRODUCTION The best of both worlds: multi-monitor power, notebook mobility With the SideCar, the power of a multi-monitor workstation can be b

7- INTRODUCTION Mobile multi-monitor workstations For those who need to set up multi-display workstations in several locations, such as video editin

8- INTRODUCTION The Digital Tigers product family The SideCar MMS series is part of the Digital Tigers family of mobile expansion systems for notebo

9– SUPPORTED DISPLAY CONFIGURATIONS Chapter 2 – Supported display configurations SideCar PlusTwo MMS The SideCar PlusTwo MMS enables your notebook

10– SUPPORTED DISPLAY CONFIGURATIONS Three External Displays (Windows XP*) *Most Windows 2000 notebooks cannot address the #2 external monitor as

11– SUPPORTED DISPLAY CONFIGURATIONS Four External Displays (Windows XP, Windows 2000) Five External Displays (Windows XP*)

12– SUPPORTED DISPLAY CONFIGURATIONS Display types and connections It is important to understand some basic differences among display types and conn

13– SUPPORTED DISPLAY CONFIGURATIONS Display Connector Types = compatible with SideCar MMS series = highest-quality connection Analog VGA – a

14– SUPPORTED DISPLAY CONFIGURATIONS (Note: VGA connections can still achieve digital DVI quality when all components in the chain are working optima

15– SUPPORTED DISPLAY CONFIGURATIONS Supported display combinations The SideCar MMS series supports any combination of digital DVI or analog VGA con

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16- HARDWARE SETUP Chapter 3 - Hardware setup 1. Unpack all SideCar components. You should have:  SideCar chassis  Power supply transformer a

17- HARDWARE SETUP 2. Locate and position monitors at the work location. You may use DVI or VGA displays (see previous chapter for further explanati

18- HARDWARE SETUP SideCar PlusFour MMS: Connectors at rear of chassis and on dual-monitor Y-cables 7. After attaching the Y-cable(s) to the Sid

19- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION Chapter 4 - Windows XP/2000 driver installation Overview To enable your SideCar for use with your compute

20- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION Stage 1. Install PCI to PCI bridge During various stages of the installation, Windows will detect one or mor

21- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION Windows 2000 / Stage 1: Install PCI to PCI Bridge

22- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION

23- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION Stage 2. Install SideCar chassis driver (PC Card version only*) 1. After restarting your system (as promp

24- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION

25- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION Restart your computer after Setup completes. (Clicking “Yes” at the closing dialog box will automatical

Digital Tigers SideCar MMS Series  SideCar PlusTwo MMS  SideCar PlusFour MMS Thank you for your purchase of this Digital Tigers SideCar.

26- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION Stages 3 - 4: Install SideCar MMS display controllers and monitors Next, Windows should detect the first Sid

27- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION The wizard will show you a progress screen while it searches for drivers. 3. The dialog box rep

28- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION Wait while the drivers are installed. Your screen may flicker at times during this process. 5.

29- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION Windows 2000 / Stage 3: Install SideCar MMS display drivers 1. Windows 2000 will open these alerts:

30- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION 4. The dialog box reports: Ensure that “CD-ROM drives” is checked, then click “Next”. 5. The in

31- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION On the following screen, choose your preferred language and click “Next.” 7. (All users) The di

32- WINDOWS XP/2000 DRIVER INSTALLATION Windows 2000 / Stage 4: Install monitors You may be prompted to install your monitor(s). If so, follow the d

33- MONITOR ACTIVATION AND CONFIGURATION Chapter 5 - Monitor activation and configuration This chapter guides you through the activation of your Si

34- MONITOR ACTIVATION AND CONFIGURATION You should see an icon-based representation of three or four monitors, each with a number. The “1” monitor

35- MONITOR ACTIVATION AND CONFIGURATION 3. Select the lowest number SideCar monitor (click on the monitor with your mouse). The following is the

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36- MONITOR ACTIVATION AND CONFIGURATION 4. Click the checkbox “Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor.” 5. Determine the ma

37- MONITOR ACTIVATION AND CONFIGURATION 9. (Windows 2000 only) Windows will report: Click “OK” to close the alert. 10. One of your monitors sho

38- MONITOR ACTIVATION AND CONFIGURATION 12. Click “Apply” when done. Display Properties should look similar to this (SideCar PlusFour MMS version):

39- MONITOR ACTIVATION AND CONFIGURATION Using the notebook external monitor port If your notebook has its own external display port available for u

40- PUTTING THE SIDECAR TO WORK: KEY TIPS Chapter 6 - Putting the SideCar to work: key tips Please follow these key tips for successful daily opera

41- PUTTING THE SIDECAR TO WORK: KEY TIPS Use care when attaching the dual-monitor Y-cables Your displays attach to the SideCar via two dual-monito

42- PUTTING THE SIDECAR TO WORK: KEY TIPS Avoid “Suspend” and “Hibernate” methods of shutdown Most notebook computers offer the ability to shut dow

43- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE Chapter 7 - User options for multi-display ease of use ► Designate a new primary monitor ► Move or a

44- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE Secondary monitors do not have these attributes by default. Notably, secondary monitors normally do n

45- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE 2. Click the “Settings” tab. 3. By default, your existing primary monitor is the #1 display, wh

Table of Contents Chapter 1 - Introduction...

46- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE 5. Click the checkbox, “Use this device as the primary monitor”. Clicking the checkbox will cause i

47- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE Move or auto-hide the Windows Taskbar You may want to move the Windows Taskbar to a different monitor

48- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE Auto-hide the Taskbar The Taskbar occupies the bottom area of one display under Windows XP/2000. In a

49- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE Windows XP: auto-hide the Taskbar 1. Right-click on an unused area of the Taskbar, select “Propertie

50- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE QuickDesk / PowerDesk utilities (window / dialog box positioning) The SideCar MMS includes Matrox Qui

51- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE Use CenterPOPUP CenterPOP may be the most important utility. It controls where dialog boxes and messa

52- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE Combining the “Save/Restore” and “Open program windows” options The two preceding options may be comb

53- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE Snap to display… Another helpful option is the ability to “snap” windows to screen edges when their b

54- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE Change language for QuickDesk / PowerDesk menus The SideCar installation offered you a choice of lang

55- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE Extensive help is also available via the QuickDesk menu: 1. Open the QuickDesk menu from the Taskba

2- INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 - Introduction SideCar shown with its notebook interface PC Card*, which is inserted in the notebo

56- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE Support from Matrox If you have further questions about these Matrox utilities, please contact Matrox

57- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE 4. Click the down arrow under “Scheme” to explore alternative mouse pointer options: 5. Choose

58- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE 6. When you have found a pointer scheme you like, click the “Apply” button to activate that

59- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE Windows 2000 “Motion” tab:  Speed – Move this slider to adjust the speed at which the pointer mo

60- USER OPTIONS FOR MULTI-DISPLAY EASE OF USE Windows XP “Pointer Options” tab:  Motion – Move this slider to adjust the speed at which the point

61- DISABLE THE NOTEBOOK DISPLAY Chapter 8 - Disable the notebook display Some users may wish to disable their notebook display when using SideCar

62- DISABLE THE NOTEBOOK DISPLAY 3. Click “Apply” to accept the changes, then “OK” to close the dialog box. 4. Now when you return to Display Pr

63- DISABLE THE NOTEBOOK DISPLAY Reactivate the notebook LCD display 1. Click on the #1 monitor in this dialog box. 2. Click “Extend my Windows

64- ADVANCED OPTIONS Chapter 9 - Advanced options Adjust display color and contrast Advanced users may wish to adjust the default color and contr

65- ADVANCED OPTIONS ICC/ ICM color profiles Matching colors between computer screens and printed output is a considerable challenge, given the radi

3- INTRODUCTION SideCar PlusTwo MMS Standard configuration (add up to two displays; Windows XP / 2000) Extended configuration (add three displ

66- ADVANCED OPTIONS 6. Click “Add” to load the new color profile you will supply.

67- MONITOR OPTIONS Chapter 10 - Monitor options The SideCar MMS series can be used with nearly any analog (SVGA) or digital (DVI) monitor. Digital

68- MONITOR OPTIONS  Bright, high-contrast screen; wide viewing angle o Specifications vary greatly among manufacturers and models  High degr

69- MONITOR OPTIONS Monitor arms and mounting options When monitors are intended for fixed or showcase installation, it can be convenient to employ

70- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS) Chapter 11 - Frequently asked questions (FAQs) Does this product support Macintosh or other Windows versions

71- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS) Why can’t I see motion video in applications and/or media players? Playback of motion video frequently requir

72- UNINSTALLING THE SIDECAR Chapter 12 - Uninstalling the SideCar To uninstall the SideCar: 1. Open the Windows Control Panel: • Windows 2000

73- TROUBLESHOOTING Notebook compatibility Notebook compatibility is usually determined by the notebook’s CardBus controller. Most notebooks use con

74- TROUBLESHOOTING cables. When this Y-cable male LFH connector is attached to the SideCar chassis female LFH connectors, adjacent pins (particularl

75- TROUBLESHOOTING Technical Support You may contact technical support via email at [email protected], or by calling 1-866-PC-VIDEO (866-72

4- INTRODUCTION SideCar PlusFour MMS Standard configuration (add up to four displays; Windows XP / 2000) Extended configuration (add five disp

76- SPECIFICATIONS Chapter 14 - Specifications Operating systems supported: • Microsoft Windows XP • Microsoft Windows 2000 Notebook computers s

77- SPECIFICATIONS Combined Windows desktop resolution: Side-by-side monitors 2 monitors 3 monitors 4 monitors 1024 by 768 resolution standard m

78- INDEX Chapter 15 - Index A anti-virus programs...70 applications choosing preferred displays for applicat

79- INDEX primary monitor...43, See Display Properties: primary monitor recommended LCD monitors...67, 68 refresh rate supported ...

5- INTRODUCTION The power of multi-monitor workstations Multi-monitor workstations enable professionals from video editors to financial traders to