How to show a PC display on to a laptop ??

[john1]

Hi,

Is there an easy way to show the display from a desktop PC
on to a laptop ?

Most people know that a monitor can be plugged into the back
of a laptop and will then show the display from the laptop.

Can i show the output from a PC on to my laptop ?

Regards, John

 

[panic mode]

everything is possible but it might not be as simple or easy as
one would expect. laptops have quite different display interface so
forget it - if you need additional lcd screen on your desk, just use dual head graphic card and standard stand-alone lcd display.
you can however use laptop (not just laptop's display) to show what's on your pc screen using software like PCAnywhere, Netmeeting etc. (dependant on operating systems of the two machines).

 

[john1]

Hi panic mode,

Thank you for your reply.
I dunno if what i had in mind would be easy or difficult, i realise
that the driver requirements to operate an LCD display are necessarily
very different from the needs of a desktop monitor.

What i have in mind is to check out a PC when there is no monitor
available for it.

I wondered if a laptop could be made to do this somehow.
Even if the laptop had to run a program itself in order to display
something in a smaller window.

Regards, John

And happy new year !

 

[john1]

Hi,

I'm still trying to find some way to do this ...
I'm sort of wondering about the RGB output from a PC,
maybe theres a way for a laptop to run that in a small window
so that i can see what the PC is doing ...

Not getting very far yet, John

 

[evandude]

network them together and use VNC. That will only work when the computer successfully boots into its operating system, but a lot of the time that will be okay

 

[Oznog]

People ask about hooking up a laptop LCD as a desktop monitor or a TV set all the time. Lots of obsolete laptops with good LCDs out there.

I had that same idea and tried to research it.

Sadly, the answer is basically no. The format used by the LCD is nowhere close to what comes across the VGA cable. The controller is integrated into the laptop and has to be driven on a data bus. The LCD interfaces are also not interchangeable with a standard format or connector, making an off-the-shelf hardware converter unlikely.

You can start with a standalone LCD monitor with a standard interface (I think it was XGA?) and get a converter for $50 or so to make it display a TV signal.

 

[evandude]

if you could find a converter to convert the VGA to a TV signal (S-video, composite, whatever) you could plug a USB TV tuner into the laptop...

you could use the computers own TV-out if the video card has it, but that's not going to be as foolproof as converting the VGA since computers seem to like to only output on the TV-out when they feel like it...

 

[john1]

Hi,

I am going to have to do some research on this.
But it wont include running programs into a desktop PC
without a monitor attached.

Just out of interest, i wondered just how well i could control
a computer without a monitor attached, and i decided that if i
could get it to shut down properly, that would be as much of an
achievement as i would care to lay claim to.

Further to this, i tried out a few things.
Getting it to start properly is not really a problem, assuming
all is well it should start properly without any fuss.

Getting it to shut down properly is another thing entirely.
This is what i came up with, if others have a easier way
please post it.

1. Control+Esc will bring up the start menu.
(no matter what else is on the screen)

2. Pressing the 'u' on the keyboard will bring up the Shut down box.

3. Then pressing the 's' on the keyboard will select 'Shut down'
(one would not know which choice was made previously)

4. Then pressing the ENTER key will shut down the PC properly.

Anything more complicated than that would in my opinion be too
unreasonable to attempt. Installing VNC, or plug and play cards for
possible TV use would be out of the question.

I am sort of wondering if a floppy could be made which could be
inserted at startup, with a program on it to direct the video out
to a port, then to allow startup in dos.
Maybe the laptop could run a dos window just to display content from
the chosen port, enabling the user to check basic things in dos.

The object being to make some sort of checks on the PC using the
laptop, because the PC has no monitor.

Dunno, i will have to do some sort of research, dunno where
to start really ...

Any ideas ?
John

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Any ideas ?
John

If that's all you want it for, just buy a cheap monitor, they are very low prices these days - even a mono monitor would do.

 

[john1]

Hi Nigel,

just buy a cheap monitor ...

Well,
i am tempted to agree,
but i dont mean to carry an old 14 inch CRT around on my back.
However,
if i can get a small LCD or even an old LED small display that
is comparable in size to a little laptop, then that would do OK.

As you say, it could be mono-colour thats ok.

So i will be looking around for something like that,
just to check out a PC where no monitor is available.

In the meantime, if some program should happen to surface which
would enable some sort of display from a PC onto a laptop,
then i would be very interested.

Cheers, John