Configuring Multiple Monitor Layouts
You can display images using a variety of displays and display configurations. This section describes how to setup the most common display arrangements. Please keep in mind that multiple monitor configurations require a large amount of processing power to display images. In the case of medical grade grayscale monitors, this is even higher due to the increased resolution. When setting up these configurations, it is very important to use the appropriate hardware to achieve optimal performance.
The standard display configuration consists of one monitor. The monitor is used for displaying all information and does not require any special configuration. Once the software has been installed it will use the single monitor to display all visual data.
The next possibility is a dual monitor layout. There are two possible configurations when creating a dual monitor/display setup. The first and most common option is to set up two equal size displays side by side and use them like a single monitor. These are usually grayscale diagnostic monitors. The other option is to use two different monitors. One, a diagnostic display, is used for viewing images while a second, a color screen, is used to display the Patient Explorer and the search list. This configuration allows the diagnostic monitor to be used solely for displaying images and allows the user to do other tasks on the color screen while the images remain visible.
A three monitor display is composed of a twin set of diagnostic displays for images, and a third color monitor for displaying the Patient Explorer and study search list. This configuration allows the diagnostic displays to be used solely for viewing images and allows the user to do other tasks on the color screen while the images remain visible.
Some of the other monitor configurations that can be set up include four and five monitor arrangements. A four-monitor configuration must be composed of four identical displays that will all be used for displaying images. This configuration cannot have a special screen just for the Patient Explorer. The setup of this will be the same as for configuring the dual monitor station.
A five-monitor configuration is composed of one color display for the Patient Explorer and Search List, and the other four monitors for viewing images. The setup of this will be the same as for configuring the three monitor station.
Regardless of the number of monitors used, the system saves the location & size of the patient explore and document viewer screens for the user that is logged in. So, if a user logs in to different workstations with similar monitor layout, they are not required to customize those screens again. However, study desktop settings are saved to the workstation.
Instructions on how to configure the different display layouts can be found in the Related Topics section below.