Rotating monitors?

Question

Rotating monitors?

Hi

I have a 30" Cinema Display which I run from a 17" Powerbook. Works well for me, and I use the 17" screen for widgets, iCal, extra palettes etc. I'm going to upgrade to a MacPro and I want to get an extra monitor to run alongside the 30-inch. As I don't have space or budget for another 30-inch, I'm interested to know what experience people here have with rotating monitors? 1,600 pixel wide display, rotated through 90 degrees, would seem to be a good solution in theory, giving me a full-height extension of about 1,000 pixels width, but would it work in practice and if so, what models to go for (in the absence of a rotating 20" model from Apple)?

Powerbook G4 17" 1.67, 1.5Gb Ram, Mac OS X (10.4.8), ACD 30"

Posted on Nov 8, 2006 4:32 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 10, 2006 3:18 AM in response to David DeCristoforo

David - are you saying that if I get a 20-inch ACD, mount it on a VESA arm, swivel it through 90 degrees to portrait, the picture will automatically re-orientate itself to the new vertical? If that's what you mean, you're right, problem solved! Or maybe I've just misunderstood you, in which case, please enlighten me...

By the way, to clarify, I don't have the option to rotate my existing monitor. I have the 30-inch ACD in landscape mode, which is how it's going to stay, and the PB sits beside it on the desk. I'm looking for a screen that will replace the PB when I get a desktop machine for day to day work, and I want something that will give me a bit more space than the PB's 17-inch, preferably a full-height extension to the right of the 30-inch.

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Answer 2

Nov 10, 2006 11:30 AM in response to Steven Carter

You cannot rotate the display on the laptop but you can rotate the external. You should see the option in display prefs when you connect the external display. It will not happen "automatically" when you rotate the actual screen.

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Answer 3

ian251

Level 1

8 points

Jan 14, 2007 8:01 AM in response to David DeCristoforo

Do I take it from your post, that even if in 'system preferences' there is no facility to rotate the native screen, this facility will appear if an external display is attached?

Powerbook G4 17" Mac OS X (10.4.8)

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Answer 4

Jan 15, 2007 11:36 AM in response to ian251

Yes. Here's a picture of the two windows that come up on my machine. My laptop's native screen is on the left, the external Cinema HD display is on the right. You can see the "Rotate:" drop-down list on the external display, but not the native laptop screen.

http://www.ifm-services.com/tmp/two-display-windows.tiff

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Answer 5

Network 23

Level 6

12,351 points

Jan 16, 2007 7:45 AM in response to ian251

That "Rotate" preference showed up when I plugged an old CRT into my PowerBook. I imagine it's got to work with most if not all recent LCDs.

Some Macs may not be able to do it because it is apparently a function of the video card you have installed. But the video in the PowerBooks seem to do it just fine.

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Answer 6

Jan 16, 2007 5:47 PM in response to Network 23

It's completely dependent on the video card. If your card supports rotation, you will see the option in display prefs. The exception is laptop screens which cannot be rotated. But if you connect an external display and your laptop has a card that supports rotation, the option will become available for the external display. Most newer Macs support screen rotation "by default" as does 10.4...no additional drivers are needed. As to the screen itself, it's more a question of if the stand will allow the screen to physically rotate. If not, you have to mount the display on a rotatable VESA arm.

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Answer 7

Nov 9, 2006 7:42 PM in response to Steven Carter

You rotate your Apple display if you mount it on a VESA arm (with the VESA adaptor) which would probably be less expensive than buying another display.

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