Microsoft Office Reference Guide

What got me started on this week's update was a blog item I wrote a few weeks ago about a product that really intrigued me. Tritton's USB to VGA adapter lets you add dual monitor capability to a computer without opening the case and putting in another graphics card – which makes it ideal for laptops.

If you've never used a second monitor, the main purpose is to extend your desktop. Graphics pros use them a lot, to keep a Photoshop palette on one display and the composition at full screen on another. Video editors do the same thing with their preview screens and timelines.

The reason I got excited, however, is that since PowerPoint 2002 there has been a so-called Presenter's View which enables you to display your presentation on one monitor (or projector) while your other screen has a control panel.

On the control panel you can blank the screen (which is no big deal), and use some other keyboard shortcuts. But what is really cool is that it also lets you see your Notes view as well as the slide preview thumbnails of your entire presentation.

When set up properly, here's what Presenter View looks like:

Figure 357

What you see here is still an extended desktop. But PowerPoint makes the extension the presentation, and the basic desktop the control panel or console.

You set this up in PowerPoint using Slide Show > Set Up Show, enabling Presenter's view, and determining where the presentation will be displayed. (Here, it's the second monitor or projector.)

Figure 358

Now when you begin the slide show (with F5 or Slide Show > New Show), the local monitor assumes the control panel view, while the presentation is projected on the extended desktop – or second monitor or projector.

The tricky part is not setting it up in PowerPoint. The difficult part is getting the proper hardware and setting it up in Windows Display Properties screen.

Now, there are dual monitor setups and there are dual monitor setups. For instance, on my main desktop I have a single ATI graphics card that has two outputs: one for VGA and one for DVI (flat panel display).

With an adapter I can make them both VGA. In any case, I can easily configure this for an extended desktop. But, Presenter View in PowerPoint still does not work.

To make it work I could add a second graphics adapter into the desktop computer (a PCI card to complement the main AGP adapter), but that is a costly and cumbersome solution.

On my Sony Vaio laptop I have a high end ATI card, which I specifically bought to run OfficeFX, a 3D add in for PowerPoint which I covered in a previous update.

This laptop is unusual. Besides having an external VGA connector (which any good laptop should have to connect to a second monitor or projector), the external connector actually enables the extended desktop and Presenter View in PowerPoint.

Here's how it works.

If you right-click on the desktop and enter the Settings tab of Display Properties, the ATI card lets you see a second monitor that is properly connected. Here I've made it an SVGA monitor at 800x600, which would be a typical setting for an older projector. I've also set its refresh rate to 60Hz to make it work properly.

And I've also enabled the setting to Extend my Windows desktop to this monitor.

Figure 359

Now I can use Presenter view in PowerPoint as it was intended – to display the presentation on screen and use my local machine as a control panel.

Unfortunately most laptop graphics display don't allow this functionality – they are designed only to clone or duplicate the main display to the second monitor or projector.

That's why I fell in love with the Tritton USB to VGA utility. Besides enabling the extended desktop on a laptop or desktop, it also supports PowerPoint Presenter view. It's a simple device to install, with a driver disc utility. One end plugs into your USB port, and the other has a conventional VGA connector.

Figure 360

With this unit installed on my laptop computer, I can really show off. First of all, in my Display Properties panel I can enable three monitors. Oooh, cooool...

Figure 361

Then, in PowerPoint's Presenter View, I can use an extended desktop and a slide show view over all three displays!

Figure 362

I have been working with the ATI desktop display utility; if you use another graphics card you need to go through the settings to see how to best control them. Occasionally, you will find that the primary monitor and secondary (extended desktop) is reversed.

With the ATI card, you can go into the Advanced Settings and in the Display Tab select which display (laptop or external) should be No. 1, and then the other becomes No. 2.

Figure 363

I encourage you to see if your laptop external VGA supports extended desktop and PowerPoint Presenter View. If it doesn't and you like it, try the Tritton product – it lists for under $100.

If you don't have dual monitor support on your desktop, the device is still very cool because you can add this feature without opening the case and installing a second graphics card.

In either case, you will like the cool factor of moving your stuff over two monitors, and when you enable the Presenter View in PowerPoint, you will love the ability to consult your Notes and slide thumbnails as you move through the presentation on larger display.