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Until Windows Vista, ATI and nVidia supported a feature called horizontal span, which combined two monitors into a single larger screen.

This feature allows the taskbar to span across both monitors, allows games to be played in fullscreen across both monitors, and allow Remote Desktop Connection to span both monitors without the /span feature (I have four monitors, so my total screen width is more than RDP's limit of 4096 pixels, making /span very annoying. Also, the ActiveX control doesn't support it)

The Vista drivers from these companies do not support this feature, and it appears that they never will.

What changes were introduced by the WDDM that made this feature impossible?

SLaks
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  • I don't think this belongs on ServerFault. I'm not asking for solutions; I'm asking about the WDDM, which is programming related. – SLaks Jul 13 '09 at 16:38

1 Answers1

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Horizontal span can be implemented in Vista.

But not with the nVidia cards for now.

Microsoft has changed the WDDM architecture in Vista and nVidia (and other companies) should change their previous drivers to met its requirements to provide the horizontal span.

But unfortunately nVidia haven't done.

I am using Matrox Graphics cards and I have the horizontal span and other features in Vista, enjoying WoW in Vista.

You and other nVidia users should ask nVidia to stop being lazy and start upgrading their drivers!

Isaac
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    +1 for mentioning that it could be implemented and providing the Matrox example. Utilities like UltraMon could be used to overcome the limitation on drivers that don't have the feature. – Filip Navara Aug 29 '09 at 21:07
  • @Filip Navara: UltraMon won't do what I'm looking for (gaming and RDP) – SLaks Aug 30 '09 at 01:26
  • @SLaks - I play WoW with my Matrox. complete list of supported games is here: matrox.com/graphics/surroundgaming/ (just select the first letter of the game from the right side) – Isaac Aug 30 '09 at 12:31
  • Then why does nVidia say (in the release notes): Due to architectural changes in the new Windows Vista Window Display Driver Model (WDDM), span mode **cannot be supported** in NVIDIA graphics drivers. NVIDIA recommends using the built‐in Windows Vista multi‐display modes – SLaks Sep 08 '09 at 01:41
  • @SLaks - As i said, span mode CAN be implemented. NVIDIA have to change their drivers but they still don't. You could ask them why, because other companies products supports span mode in Vista – Isaac Sep 08 '09 at 10:38
  • What about ATI? Is spanning available for ATI cards? – Myrddin Emrys May 10 '10 at 10:04