VTBook Evaluation Guide - Village Tronic

VTBook Evaluation Guide 

Version 2.5 ©2006 Village Tronic 

Table of Contents 

WHAT IS VTBOOK 2 

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS 4 

Hardware features 4 

Software features 5 

WHY SHOULD I BUY VTBOOK? 8 

Reasons for using a multidisplay setup 8 

Reasons for using VTBook 10 

The VTBook advantage: The Power of Flexibility 11 

Two displays setup: why VTBook? 11 

Three displays setup: why VTBook? 12 

Even more displays setup: why VTBook? 14 

VT MultiDisplay 15 

VT MultiDisplay features 16 

Who is using VTBook? 18 

REVIEWS ABOUT VTBOOK 19 

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTIONS 23 

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 24

What is VTBook 

In short, VTBook allows to 

TURN A NOTEBOOK INTO A DESKTOP WORKSTATION 

VTBook is a PC-Card graphics card for notebook computers: it connects through a 

CardBus compatible PC-Card slot. 

The goal of Village Tronic while designing VTBook was to create a small, affordable, 

reliable device that would empower notebook users by allowing them to connect big 

digital displays to their computers, as they were desktop systems. 

Modern notebooks feature impressive capabilities in terms of computing power, 

storage space, networking and so on, but they still lack in graphics expandability, 

especially in the number and size of supported displays. 

No notebook can drive more than two displays (including the internal one) and just a 

few have a digital video connector. 

For any notebook with a CardBus connector, VTBook means the ability to add one 

or more displays, even digital, high resolution or wide, expanding the available 

desktop space for the user productivity. 

Adding the VTBook DualDisplay accessory it’s even possible to reach a total of 

three external displays on Windows notebooks! 

Here you can see how three and four display setups are configured in Windows: 

2

Finally, thanks to the bundled utilities, VTBook helps in making the best possible use 

of the available space, going beyond the traditional operating system support for 

multi display configuration. 

3

Feature Highlights 

VTBook features aren’t there just to make a good impression: there are sound 

technical reasons for every choice Village Tronic made. In this section you’ll read 

about the benefits that come from the hardware and software design of VTBook. 

Hardware features 

PC-Card connector: VTBook connects to this widely available slot to extend the 

notebook’s displaying capabilities. CardBus is a special implementation of a 32bit 

PCI bus with an ability to deliver power up to 3.3 Watt. The power constraint 

made the Village Tronic task very challenging: to deliver a full-featured graphics 

card in such a small form factor, consuming only 3.3W and without any active 

heat dissipation. 

The result of Village Tronic’s efforts is a product compatible with any CardBus 

compliant notebook PC and Apple PowerBook. 

Thanks to the embedded voltage sensor, VTBook optimized drivers can also deal 

with PC-Card sockets not fully CardBus compliant and not able to deliver the full 

power. In these low power conditions, VTBook will try to run in lower power 

consumption modes reducing operating clock rate and progressively disabling 

features like 3D or 2D acceleration to meet the power level delivered by the 

computer. 

32MB dedicated video RAM: this means that VTBook can support high resolutions 

and have enough memory space left to provide 2D, 3D and Video acceleration. 

When Village Tronic says high resolutions it means up to 1920x1440 or 

2048x1280 (VGA) and up to 1920x1200 (DVI), or a double 1280x1024 resolution in 

dual display operation! 

DDR RAM technology: DDR technology is a very good way (even if technically 

challenging on such a small card) to massively improve memory bandwidth 

without having a strong impact on power consumption. Given the power 

constraints given by PC-Card, this was the best possible choice for VTBook. 

Low Power Consumption: VTBook can enable all its features like 266Mhz DDR 

clock, 3D and 2D acceleration meeting CardBus 3.3 W power requirements 

constraints and without needing active heat dissipation. The presence of voltage 

and temperature sensors allows the software driver to monitor the working 

condition of the device and take adaptive actions in case it is needed. 

Moreover, any GPU function not immediately needed it is dynamically turned off 

in order to reduce the average power consumption. 

DVI-i connector: DVI-i means both DVI and VGA on a single connector. This 

solution, thanks to the included DVI-to-VGA adapter, makes VTBook immediately 

connectable with the vast majority of existing displays. 

Resolution up to 1600x1200 (4:3 ratio) and 1920x1200 (16:10 ratio) can be 

supported, i.e. the maximum possible on a DVI single link video connection. 

4

DVI compatibility: DVI displays can be connected directly to VTBook. The DVI 

interface means the best possible quality when using digital displays: no noise, no 

echo, perfect color matching, and no artifacts whatsoever. 

VGA compatibility: VGA displays can be connected to VTBook using the included 

DVI-to-VGA adapter. This is a custom-made adapter with extra thick shielding 

and extra thick gold plating for contacts: it can withstand up to 5000 connectdisconnect 

cycles with virtually no effect on the analog signal. 

Resolution up to 1920x1440 (4:3 ratio) and 2048x1280 (16:10 ratio) are supported 

to connect even the largest monitors in the market. 

ADC compatibility: ADC displays can be connected to VTBook using a DVI-to-ADC 

adapter (not included). VTBook supports all the beautiful Apple displays in millions 

of colors, including the 23” Apple Cinema HD Display. Moreover, on Mac OS, 

VTBook is capable of displaying non-native resolutions thanks to its hardware 

scaler. 

Dual Display support: VTBook DualDisplay connects VTBook directly to one VGA 

and one DVI display bringing to three (if the notebook has an external video 

output) the total number of external displays connected to the notebook, for a 

total of four displays including the notebook's internal LCD. Special drivers take 

care of properly managing the two displays and the user can choose to see both 

displays tied together in one big display (Virtual DualDisplay) or use them to 

separately extend the desktop. 

Beautiful hardware design: VTBook is small, not significantly bigger than a 

wireless LAN PC-Card card. And is light: just 68grams. 

VTBook is self-contained: no cables, no connectors apart from the video 

connector. Everything is packed inside its tiny package: graphics processor, 

dedicated memory, DVI encoder, power logic, and custom video logic. 

VTBook is designed to draw the least power as possible from notebook and not 

only to save batteries: we have measured up to 65 degrees Celsius inside a 

notebook. There is no need to make it hotter. 

Village Tronic engineered a custom housing that does not rely on glue as most 

PC-Card housings do, so we can guarantee to withstand 80 degrees Celsius for 

the lifetime of VTBook. The included voltage and temperature sensors allow real 

time monitoring and adaptation of the working condition of the device. 

Software features 

Broad resolution compatibility: Village Tronic spent a big effort in trying to support 

every display a VTBook customer may want to connect. Even niche displays, like 

the Wacom’s Cintiq tablet-displays, are supported and there are more than 100 

predefined resolutions, ranging from 512x384 to 2048x1280 pixels wide. 

Among the supported resolutions you can find many widescreen resolutions used 

for the most beautiful digital displays from Apple, Sony and other vendors. On 

Windows it is even possible to use pivotable displays, almost doubling the 

number of available resolutions. 

You can find a complete list of supported resolutions in the technical 

specifications section, but VTBook on Mac OS can go further: it is capable to 

5

dynamically recognize supported resolutions from any display that implements 

the DDC2b standard. That means any modern display. 

VT MultiDisplay: innovative Windows software bundled by Village Tronic with every 

VTBook DualDisplay. It enables the user to better manage multi display 

configurations with many applications. 

VT MultiDisplay features like smart taskbar, desktop wallpaper and multi display 

buttons make the multi display experience faster and way easier. 

A deeper description of the VT MultiDisplay features is available in the VT 

MultiDisplay chapter. 

VT Voilà: innovative Mac OS X software, bundled with VTBook, that greatly speeds 

up user interaction with multi display setups. VT Voilà gets rid of the annoying 

mouse travel time and makes very easy to keep an overview on the complete 

desktop surface. 

Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X drivers: every PowerBook with a CardBus compatible 

PC-Card slot has been tested and can be used with VTBook. VTBook leverages 

the best technical aspects of the venerable Mac OS 9 and of the advanced Mac 

OS X operating systems to provide best possible performance and user 

experience. Mac OS 9 supports full hot plug and hot unplug of VTBook. Village 

Tronic is working actively with Apple to reintroduce hot plug and unplug support 

in Mac OS X: Panther (Mac OS 10.3.0) provides a better OS support to PC-Card 

graphics cards compared to previous Mac OS X versions. 

Windows XP and Windows 2000 drivers: these two versions of Windows are the 

first to provide a good support to multi display setups on notebooks and a good 

support to PC-Card graphics cards. For these reasons Village Tronic chose to 

start the driver development without looking for compatibility with older Windows 

versions. 

VTBook on Windows XP and 2000 supports hot plug but not unplug: Village 

Tronic is actively working to improve the drivers. 

Hot Plug and Unplug: on supported operating systems it is possible to insert 

and/or remove VTBook in your notebook without shutting down and restarting the 

operating system. In this way, at every moment, the external displays can be 

connected and disconnected restoring the latest configuration. 

Feature available for Windows XP and Mac OS 9. 

2D acceleration: This is a feature particularly important on a CardBus video card: 

good 2D acceleration guarantees the most efficient usage of the available 

bandwidth. Thanks to 2D acceleration, available on both Mac OS and Windows 

platforms, VTBook can display a snappy user interface even using high 

resolutions. 

3D Acceleration: VTBook offers true OpenGL acceleration on both Mac OS X and 

Windows and, obviously only on Windows, DirectX 8.1 acceleration. VTBook’s 3D 

acceleration can’t be as fast as modern video cards because of the PC-Card 

slot’s power constraints. But, while VTBook is not a card for gaming, its 3D 

acceleration capabilities become more useful as more and more applications (and 

operating systems) use 3D for their user interface and to produce their visual 

outputs. 

6

Video acceleration: On Windows platforms, VTBook provides hardware video 

acceleration. Video acceleration makes the best possible use of CardBus 

bandwidth to provide the smoothest video playback. 

On Mac OS video acceleration is not available, but still video performance is 

adequate for medium-sized video windows. Village Tronic is working with Apple 

to study possible video acceleration implementations. 

DVD playback: On Windows platforms, VTBook provides DVD video acceleration, 

optimizing the CardBus bus usage by decompressing the raw MPEG2 stream 

directly in video memory. 

DualDisplay and Virtual DualDisplay resolutions: depending on his working 

habits, the user can choose different DualDisplay resolutions. 

Using the standard VTBook driver, the two external monitors (one DVI and one 

VGA) are tied together to form a unique screen, besides the notebook’s one. 

Using the DualDisplay driver, the user is able to use the DVI and the VGA 

monitors independently, reaching a total of four displays in a single desktop. 

DualDisplay Resolutions 

This solution is possible by using the VTBook DualDisplay with DualDisplay 

driver. 

Each display connected to VTBook is 

represented in Windows by a different, 

independent screen. Displays can be arranged 

in any position. 

This arrangement best suits applications that 

need multiple separate screens to work 

properly, as for example financial ones, and is 

usually more intuitive. 

Virtual DualDisplay Resolutions 

This solution is possible by using VTBook DualDisplay with the standard driver. 

The two displays connected to VTBook are tied 

together to form a single, wider screen. The 

physical position of these displays should 

reflect their relative logical positions.! 

This arrangement suits best applications that 

are not designed to work with multiple displays 

and place all windows in one big enclosing 

window. A Virtual DualDisplay resolution can 

trick these applications to use more than one 

display without knowing. 

Available Virtual DualDisplay resolutions: 

Overall resolution Display resolution Max color depth 

2048x768@60-85Hz 1024x768@60-85Hz 32bpp 

2560x1024@60-85Hz 1280x1024@60-85Hz 16bpp 

7

Why should I buy VTBook? 

“Why should I buy your product?” This is the most frequently asked question that 

every innovator has to answer. 

Luckily, a true innovator has a strong motivation that lies under his most innovative 

products. When everybody tells you that what you’re going to do is impossible you 

MUST have strong motivations to go on. And beyond. 

Village Tronic thinks that the future of personal computing relies in notebooks. Easy 

to say today, not so obvious in 2001 when the VTBook project started. 

But Village Tronic’s view does not stop here: this particular innovator thinks that 

multi display setups will become more and more common as time goes by. 

VTBook is an add-on for notebooks that allows them to connect one more display. 

Even a high-resolution digital display. 

For this reason the “Why should I buy a VTBook?” question should be split in two: 

“Why should I use more than one display?” and “OK, I’m convinced: I should, but 

why should I choose a VTBook to do it?” 

Reasons for using a multidisplay setup 

In a way, multi display is a new concept even for most desktop computer users: 

using a multi display setup was not only uncommon but even impossible for all 

Windows users not so many years ago. 

Even today, it is common thought that a multi display setup is required only for 

some high-end graphics and CAD applications. Not so true. 

Being able to use multiple displays means more productivity, less errors, more 

creativity. And, most importantly, more comfort: why should computing be difficult 

and complex? 

Why should any computer user always wonder where he put a window or what the 

name of that window was when he can just move his eyes and look immediately at 

that window? 

Why, every time he is looking for a file, does he have to hide everything to finally 

arrive to the desktop when he can just have a whole screen for file browsing and 

open as many browsing windows as he wants, while still being able to see the 

desktop? 

Why should a user work in a tiny window to make space for all palettes and menus 

drawn by the application and the OS when he can have a whole big screen just for 

the document he is working on? Maybe in multiple windows or in multiple page 

layouts? 

Many, many examples like these could be found. It has been demonstrated by NEC 

and Mitsubishi 1 that with a multi display setup, raw productivity raises by more than 

10%, and that this productivity increase incredibly results in 24% less stress! 

Microsoft 2 estimated that multi displays solutions improve productivity by 20-50%, 

while University of Utah study shows that errorless production increases by 18%. 

These results were not found studying high-end graphics applications usage, but 

during absolutely standard office work. No wonder that every computer user is 

becoming more and more aware that display quality is essential to the computing 

experience! 

8

Display quality is not just a matter of color fidelity or digital quality: it’s also a matter 

of available screen space. 

Today’s interfaces become more and more complex, occupying more and more 

space. Applications, as well, become more complex with wide menus and palettes. 

Not to mention that more and more aspects of our lives are becoming digital and 

every digital activity requires its application and consequently another open window, 

or even more. 

Rarely today does any computer user do just one thing at a time. Multitasking is 

common in modern operating systems but how can a computer user multitask his 

activities if he’s not even able to look at two application’s windows at the same 

time? 

Not to mention the use of many “modern” technologies- for example, interapplication 

drag&drop is awkward when not impossible on a notebook’s display. 

A typical notebook display goes from 786Kpixel to 1.92Mpixel, with the higher 

resolutions presenting particularly high dpi ratings: a 1600x1200 15” display can 

exceed 133dpi. With today’s interfaces, high dpi ratios mean a very uncomfortable 

computing experience since text is almost impossible to read. 

One big digital display can offer 2.3Mpixel with a much more reasonable dpi ratio. 

With a good notebook’s display and two digital displays, it’s easy to exceed 

5Mpixels of very good or excellent quality. 

The following graphic tries to give an idea of the different kind and number of 

possibilities available with more and more available pixels. Application windows can 

be extended and, if the dpi ratio is too high, zoomed while maintaining a big portion 

of the document visible. 

More applications can be visible at the same time and each application can have 

more than one visible window. Palettes and status viewers are simultaneously 

visible, as are needed file browsers and the various needed utilities. 

More information is simultaneously visible and more resources accessible. 

Drag&drop is finally a real possibility. Fast. Easy. Fun. 

9

Notebook users need multi display also for some specific applications like 

presentations. Notebooks are used mainly because portable computing means 

flexibility: data and applications present on the notebook can be used in a variety of 

environments. What if at least some of these environments could benefit from a 

multi display setup? 

For all these reasons Village Tronic thinks that multi display is a “good thing”. But, 

today, multi display is also a “possible thing”: display prices are falling and will fall 

even more thanks to the new display technologies. And the latest displays offer 

impressive resolutions with a surprisingly small footprint: anyone will be able to have 

one or more external displays in addition to his notebook. Everywhere: not only at 

the office but also at home. 

Reasons for using VTBook 

At this point, there is a notebook user wanting to use a multi display setup. What 

options does he have? 

10

First of all, he needs to decide how many external displays he wants to connect and 

what type of displays. 

Of course, for almost any application, the most displays he’ll be able to connect and 

the highest resolution they are, the better. But, as it happens, resources are not 

infinite, so there is quite a range of different possibilities. 

And mobility must be kept in mind: there is an even broader range of possible 

configurations where the notebook will be used when different places. VTBook can 

help the notebook in keeping its full power and flexibility wherever it’s used! 

The VTBook advantage: The Power of Flexibility 

VTBook has been designed to empower the notebook user and give to him the 

freedom to use the widest possible range of technologies and equipment. All with a 

small and portable device. This is why VTBook is the most flexible add on graphics 

card for notebooks. 

Connect 2 or 3 

displays to one 

notebook 

Mix different 

resolutions 

Great bundled 

software 

Connect digital 

displays 

Connect HDTV 

Mix different 

refresh rates 

Two displays setup: why VTBook? 

11 

True multi 

display support 

Use very large 

resolutions 

Small and light 

No external 

power supply or 

adapters 

needed 

You choose 

which OS to use 

Use peculiar 

resolutions 

VTBook can even be a better choice than the notebook’s built-in video output to 

drive the first external display. 

The built-in video output capabilities of a notebook vary widely depending on the 

model: 

- Only analog or both analog and digital may be supported 

- The graphics card may have dedicated video RAM or “steal” memory from the 

system 

- The built in drivers may support only the most standard resolutions or recognize 

the display’s characteristics.

- There are even older notebooks that can support an external display only in 

mirroring, without desktop extension. 

Wanting to connect just one external display to the notebook, VTBook can be the 

right choice, versus the notebook’s internal graphics card, if the external display can 

be better supported in two main areas: compatibility and performance. 

VTBook compatibility can be superior to a built-in graphics cards regarding many 

different display types: 

Digital displays: for any digital display VTBook is the best choice if the notebook 

lacks a DVI connector or if the internal video card is not able to drive high 

resolutions in digital. 

Even if the digital display has a VGA input, the quality experienced using a 

completely digital path for video data is incommensurably superior. 

Widescreen displays: VTBook supports a broad range of widescreen resolutions, 

up to a whopping 2048x1280 VGA and 1920x1200 DVI. This feature is not 

common among even the most recent notebook graphics card and Village Tronic 

is continuously improving VTBook’s software by adding new resolutions. 

Pivotable displays: every resolution from 1024x768 and up can be pivoted in 

Windows, making possible to use pivotable displays in both positions. Again, this 

feature is not available for all notebooks’ internal graphics cards. 

High-resolution displays: if the notebook is not very recent, its internal graphics 

card could not support high-resolution displays. VTBook can drive displays up to 

1920x1440 or 2048x1280 (VGA) and up to 1920x1200 (DVI). 

External not mirrored display: if the notebook’s built-in video output only allows 

screen mirroring, VTBook is the best solution to effectively extend the notebook’s 

desktop. 

VTBook’s performance can’t compete with the best built-in graphics cards, because 

of the PC-Card architecture limitations, but thanks to its hardware acceleration it 

can nevertheless offer a good performance and even beat many not-so-recent or 

low-cost notebook’s built-in graphics cards. 

Remember that VTBook is not a gaming graphics card: its aim is to add more 

screen real estate to a notebook’s computing environment. And it is very good at 

that! 

VTBook is also the best choice for adding a secondary display to a Wyse thin client, 

whether it is Linux or Windows bases. The little and affordable Wyse clients have a 

CardBus slot where VTBook fits nicely. 

Three displays setup: why VTBook? 

Village Tronic caused the demise of two old competitors, Margi and Appian: their 

PC-Card features are decidedly exceeded by VTBook. At the moment, VTBook is 

the only self-powered notebook PC-Card graphics card present in this market. 

Wanting to connect more displays to a notebook, there are presently only two 

VTBook competitors: the SideCar series by Digital Tigers and DualHead2Go by 

Matrox. 

These products are based on the same multi display idea, but the idea is 

implemented in very different ways. 

12

SideCar is not a portable graphics card: it is an external PCI expansion box attached 

to the notebook via a PC Card (PCMCIA) interface. Then a standard graphics card is 

inserted in this expansion box. 

This means that its portability is in a different class than VTBook: it is much bigger 

and bulkier and requires a fixed power line connection. 

The second big difference is the price: even taking into account that SideCar 

includes a good graphics card like the NVidia Quadro NVS, the 1,299 USD price is 

indeed steep. And if you need DVI, you have to spend 300$ more. 

Village Tronic designed VTBook to be the best possible portable graphics card and 

designed it to be affordable as well: its advertised price is just 249 USD. 

DualHead2Go is much more portable than SideCar but still needs an external power 

supply. It’s a cunning product because it’s not a real graphics card: it splits the 

signal coming from the built in VGA connector into two signals. The notebook will 

see just one very wide display and the user will see it split on the two external 

screens. 

This approach allows for a relatively cheap product that is adequate for different 

situations and guarantees the same performance as the internal graphics card. 

However, there are some drawbacks: 

• All displays must have the same resolution and refresh rate. This means that 

the use cannot mix different displays or LCD and CRTs. 

• Not all notebooks can be used, since the internal graphics card must support 

the very wide resolutions needed. 

• For the same reason, the maximum resolution on each display is a mere 

1280x1024 

• Both displays must be VGA: no DVI or HDMI connections are possible 

• The internal graphics output is no longer available when using DualHead2Go 

• Some software, mainly games, DVD players and financial applications, can 

work as expected only using a “real” multi display setup where the screens 

are not only physically but also logically separated 

Both Digital Tigers and Matrox decided to support only Windows notebooks. Village 

Tronic instead thinks that hardware is only part of the story and the customer must 

be able to choose the software he likes the most. 

And to further help him in taking out the maximum from his multi display setup, 

extremely useful multi display utilities are bundled with VTBook. 

The following table shows a comparison between the three solutions: 

Manufacturer Village Tronic Digital Tigers Matrox 

Product VTBook SideCar Express DualHead2Go 

Advertised Price 249$ 1299$ 159$ 

Physical Specs 

Dimensions 

5.4cm/2.12"(W) 

1.5cm/0.59"(H) 

12.6cm/4.90"(D) 

13 

13.8cm/5.45"(W) 

4.3cm/1.7"(H) 

20.4cm/8.02"(D) 

9.2cm/3.62"(W) 

2.5cm/0.95"(H) 

9.5cm/3.74"(D) 

Weight 68gr./2.4oz. 1.13Kg/2.5lbs 134gr./4.7oz. 

Power Supply 

Hardware 

Internal, 3W peak 

2W average 

45W external AC 

adapter 

12.5W external 

AC adapter

Dedicated memory 32 MB 64 MB (3) 

DDR technology Yes Yes (3) 

Max res. 4:3 1920x1440 2048x1536 1280x1024(x2) 

Max res. Wide 2048x1280 1920x1200 Not supported 

Max res. at 32bpp 1920x1200 2048x1536 1280x1024(x2) 

Max refresh rate 160Hz 160Hz 85Hz 

HDTV resolutions Yes No No 

DualDisplay support Yes(1) Yes Yes(4) 

DVI output Yes No No 

VGA output Yes Yes Yes 

Predefined resolutions 130+ Standard 4 

Software 

Win XP drivers Yes Yes Yes 

Win 2000 drivers Yes Yes Yes 

Mac OS 9 drivers Yes No No 

Mac OS X drivers Yes No No 

Linux drivers Yes No No 

2D acceleration Yes Yes (3) 

Hot Plug and Unplug Yes(2) No Yes 

3D acceleration Yes Yes (3) 

(1) With VTBook DualDisplay accessory, Windows only 

(2) Only Windows XP and Mac OS 9 

(3) Depends on notebook's built-in graphics card 

(4) The built in external video connector is no longer available 

We think that for a three displays setup the choice is clear: the notebook’s internal 

display and two external displays connected respectively to the notebook’s external 

video port and to VTBook. 

There is also the possibility, and some VTBook users do it, to close the notebook 

and use only the external displays with an external keyboard and mouse. 

This setup results in lower total display count: in this case, it would be a good idea 

to use two high-resolution displays to compensate for the missing notebook’s 

internal display. 

Even more displays setup: why VTBook? 

For specific applications, most notably in the financial market, we have seen a 

specific need for really huge multi display setups. 

In those applications the most important features requested to a graphics setup are 

desktop space and reliability. 

Reliability has always been a strong commitment for Village Tronic since everyone 

benefits from it: end users, dealers, distributors and of course Village Tronic itself 

thanks to reduced customer support costs... 

So, reliability is not in discussion here. But how to expand even further the available 

desktop space while retaining the best features and characteristics of VTBook? 

Village Tronic answered to this challenge with VTBook DualDisplay and one more 

answer comes thanks to Village Tonic’s partner, HP. 

VTBook DualDisplay is a VTBook accessory that enables the user to connect two 

displays to one VTBook. Two versions of the accessory are available: the Mobile 

14

and the Stationary. 

The Mobile version comes with a short and easy to carry cable that can be 

connected to the cables coming from the two displays. 

The Stationary version comes with a longer cable (about 2 meters long) that must 

be connected directly to the displays. 

Both versions come with a special VTBook driver that enables the dual display 

operation and offer one VGA and one DVI connection. 

HP mobile multi display solution is a new solution jointly developed by Village 

Tronic and HP. With a quick setup, an HP docking solution expands the 

capabilities of an HP notebook with desktop peripherals such as a full-size 

keyboard, optical mouse and up to two external VGA or DVI displays. Thanks to 

VTBook DualDisplay, the number of external displays can reach a total of four, 

adding one VGA and one DVI display. 

Using VTBook DualDisplay, VTBook Overdrive or the HP solution a user can add 2, 

3 or even four displays to its notebook’s basic capabilities, up to a total of six 

available displays. 

VT MultiDisplay 

VT MultiDisplay is an innovative software that enhances Windows 

for a better, faster and more relaxing multi display experience. 

VT MultiDisplay is a new utility that enables users to quickly and 

effectively manage multiple screen configurations: it integrates 

perfectly with Windows and it is highly customizable for any need. 

VT MultiDisplay is real handy in the kind of configurations allowed 

by VTBook and VTBook DualDisplay, this is why Village is bundling it with VTBook 

and VTBook DualDisplay. 

15

• Window Management 

VT MultiDisplay features 

Moving windows is a common task on multi-monitor systems, and VT MultiDisplay 

makes it easier and more efficient. 

• Smart Taskbar 

With custom window buttons, you can move a 

window to a different monitor with the click of a 

button. 

You can also easily maximize a window to the 

desktop (stretch it across all monitors). This is 

especially useful for applications with many 

windows, such as Adobe Photoshop or 

Premiere, or large spreadsheets. 

If you often have multiple applications open at the same time, the Smart Taskbar will 

help you manage them efficiently, by adding additional taskbars for each secondary 

monitor. 

You can choose between two modes. With the Standard one, each taskbar only 

shows applications from the monitor it is on, so you won't have to search for an 

application after activating it. If you move an application to a different monitor, its 

taskbar button will be moved to the corresponding taskbar. With the Mirror one, 

each taskbar shows all tasks, allowing you to quickly switch tasks on any monitor 

VT MultiDisplay does not replace the Windows taskbar, it simply adds one or more 

additional taskbars. For example, you can use the Windows taskbar on the primary 

monitor, and VT MultiDisplay taskbars on your secondary monitors. 

• Shortcuts 

With VT MultiDisplay, you can create shortcuts that open programs on a specific 

monitor or at a specific position, and optionally change display settings before 

launching the application and restoring them when you close the application. 

You can access shortcuts directly from the VT MultiDisplay menu, or save them as 

standard Windows shortcuts and access them from the desktop, Quick Launch or 

Start menu. 

16

• Display profiles 

Display profiles make it easy to switch between different desktop configurations. A 

profile stores the display mode, position and state (enabled/disabled) of each 

monitor, as well as which monitor is primary (changing the primary is only supported 

on Windows 2000/XP and later). 

• Desktop Wallpaper and Screensaver 

By default, you are limited to using the same background image on each monitor. 

With VT MultiDisplay, you can use a single image for the whole desktop, or different 

images for each monitor. 

Most screen savers don't work with multiple monitors: they only run on the 

primary monitor, leaving the other monitors unprotected. 

VT MultiDisplay solves this problem by blanking all secondary monitors while 

the screen saver runs on the primary monitor. The screen saver once again 

does its job, and your data is protected while you are away from your desk. 

But VT MultiDisplay can do even more: you can have a different screen 

saver on each monitor! 

• Mirroring 

Mirroring, also called cloning, means showing the same thing on 2 or more 

monitors. 

Some applications for mirroring: 

1. Presentations, with the same presentation being shown on both a 

monitor for the presenter and a projector for the audience 

2. Showing documents on a second monitor to a client who is sitting opposite 

of you 

17

• Other Features 

-Preserve position of desktop icons -Custom Display Property applet 

-Disable or enable secondary monitors -Change the primary monitor 

-Scripting 

Who is using VTBook? 

There is not a unique market for VTBook: its sales are spread in many different 

directions. And we are seeing that what we expected to be “niche” markets are 

losing an “h”, becoming bigger and bigger as notebooks replace desktops in so 

many different areas. 

A typical trading room using VTBook... 

VTBook is used by engineers, teachers, graphics professionals, web editors, 

traders, journalists, programmers (we admit: we love that), sysadmins and every 

possible kind of technology enthusiasts and notebook lovers. 

Moreover, some big companies had a problem involving a large number of 

notebooks to use with 2, 3 or 4 digital displays and VTBook proved to be the best 

solution for this problem. 

Among those companies that we can cite are Cisco, Epson, Shell Trading and Sony. 

All of these companies have been partner’s more than just customers: Village Tronic 

has been able to adapt VTBook to be the best for a particular task. 

But anyone’s need can become a design goal for Village Tronic: we are continuously 

asked for new features and the latest improvements to VTBook come largely from 

user’s requests. 

Let us be proud of that. 

18

Reviews about VTBook 

We can’t say we are disappointed about our press reviews: an average of 90% 

rating for this kind of product is indeed a success... 

Here is a selection of the latest VTBook reviews. Check for the latest ones on 

www.villagetronic.com/e_pr_vtbook_review.html. 

Harry Newton’s www.insearchoftheperfectinvestment.com 

July 25, 2005 

My laptop drives its internal screen and one external screen. My Village Tronic 

VTBook PC card and its DualDisplay cable powers the other two screens. I drag 

windows from one screen to the other. I have Outlook email on one screen, a 

browser on another, streaming quotes on another, Macromedia on a fourth. I can 

also have a gigantic Excel spreadsheet spread across three monitors. The VTBook 

PC Card and cable cost under $300. If you use a laptop as your primary PC, it's the 

best computer investment you can ever make. Honestly 

July 26, 2004 

My favorite gadget is the Village Tronic PC display card which you can see sticking 

out the left side of the center laptop. This wonderful gadget lets me run a third 

screen from my laptop -- the laptop's internal screen and two external 19" LCD. 

One screen for emails, one for this column, one for exploring the Internet, one for 

stock prices... you get the idea. The Village Tronic is the absolute best video gadget 

for a laptop because it lets you drive screens of multiple shapes and multiple sizes 

[...] 

Tradersworld 

Issue 37 

By Larry Jacobs 

Trade Better with VTBook. Something a lot of traders have been looking for a long 

time. It's multiple monitor trading notebooks.[…] By using the notebook accessory 

VTBook PCMCIA card the user can also extend the desktop to even another high 

resolution monitor. The VTBook monitor is not suitable (at moment, r.n.) for gaming 

but does work for financial page viewing. 

Display Monitor 

Volume 11 No 21 

May 24 th 2004 

By Bob Raikes 

Being able to keep an email client and a web browser open on the notebook screen 

while working in a spreadsheet on the big screen is really great. 

19

C’t 

#9 magazine 2004 

By Jorg Wirtgen 

Fazit: 

Das VTBook erweitert Notebooks um 

einen zusätzlichen Grafikchip mit DVI- 

Ausgang und vielseitigen Auflösungen 

auch im 16:10-Format. [...] !Damit eignet 

sich VTBook vor allem für Anwender, die 

auf ihren Desktop-PC verzichten und an 

ihr Notebook einen hochwertigen 

Monitor mit DVIEingang anschließen 

oder in den Genuss von mehr als einem 

externen Bildschirm kommen möchten. 

ilMac 

11th April 2004 

Antonio Capaldo 

Una curiosità: nella mia recente visita al 

CeBIT nello stand Sony c'era un portatile 

a comandare uno schermo esterno e 

quale scheda comandava quel monitor? 

Indovinato: proprio una VTBook [...], 

come dire che Village Tronic si è 

guadagnata la fiducia anche di 

un'azienda leader come Sony. 

Hardware Upgrade 

7th April 2004 

Andrea Bai 

VTBook: allarga gli orizzonti 

Una configurazione con più display 

permette a tutti di lavorare in modo più 

confortevole [...] VTBook offre tutto 

questo ad un prezzo estremamente 

concorrenziale, 249$ 

Macity 

24th March 2004 

Settimio Perlini 

Si tratta quindi di un'ottima scelta per chi 

desidera allargare i propri orizzonti con 

schermi aggiuntivi di qualsiasi tipo e per 

chi vuole costruire una postazione 

multimonitor anche partendo da 

PowerBook ben dotati. 

20 

Summary: 

VTBook expands Notebooks with an 

extra graphics chip with DVI output. It 

comes with many versatile resolutions 

even in widescreen 16:10. [...]!VTBook is 

especially useful for users who wish to 

replace their Desktop-PC and want to 

connect high quality Displays through 

DVI or who want to connect more than 

one external Display to their Notebook. 

Final score: 98/100 

One curiosity: in my recent visit to 

CeBIT, in the Sony booth I found a 

notebook using an external display and 

guess which card was driving it? Right: a 

VTBook [...], a demonstration that Village 

Tronic has even been able to earn the 

credit of a leader company like Sony. 

VTBook: broadens your view 

A multi display configuration allows 

everyone to work with more comfort [...] 

VTBook offers all these features at an 

extremely competitive price, 249$. 

This is an excellent choice for anyone 

looking for new ways to use his 

PowerBook by adding displays of any 

type or wanting to build a multi display 

setup around a PowerBook, even a very 

recent one.

MacUser UK 

20th February 2004 

Keith Martin 

If you have PowerBook with a PC Card slot and you would like fast flexible support 

for external displays of virtually any size, this is the best solution we have seen. 

MacWorld Sweden 

January 2003 issue 

Thomas Ytterberg 

VTBook är ensam om att fylla en funktion 

för den som lever med Powerbooken 

som huvuddator och behöver två stora 

skärmar på skrivbordet. Räknar man 

med Powerookens inbyggda skärm är 

det möjligt att ha tre skärmar samtidigt 

på sin bärbara. 

MacWorld France 


Nicolas Klingsor 

Un bijou de carte graphique! 

Présentée dans un petit écrin blanc et 

noir, digne d'un bijoux de luxe ou du 

parfum d'un grand couturier... 

Cette carte de Village Tronic est une 

petite merveille de carte vidéo, unique en 

son genre. 

Applicando 


Ricardo Contreras 

Soluzione geniale 

Grazie ai suoi 32MB di RAM DDR 

supporta anche le risoluzioni più alte in 

milioni di colori, con velocità di refresh 

elevate in modo da garantire il massimo 

comfort visivo [...] è un valido prodotto 

che potrebbe anche allungare la vita di 

un portatile. 

MacWorld Italia 


Enzo Borri 

21 

VTBook alone can perform this function 

for those who live with a PowerBook as 

their main computer and need two large 

monitors on their desk. If you include in 

the count the Powerbook's built in 

display support, it is possible to have 3 

(three) monitors at the same time on 

your portable computer. 

A jewel of a graphic card! 

Presented in a small white and black 

screen, worthy of a luxury jewel or 

perfume of a great dressmaker... 

This card from Village Tronic is a wonder 

of video card, single in its category. 

Genial solution 

Thanks to its 32MB of DDR RAM it 

supports even the highest resolutions in 

millions of colors with high refresh rates 

that guarantee the maximum visual 

comfort [...] it is a valid product that 

could prolong the life of your notebook.

La scheda funziona su Mac OS 9, Mac 

OS X e Windows. Con 32MB di Video- 

RAM [...] è decisamente una scheda 

versatile. 

RealTimeSoft 

22 

The card works on Mac OS 9, Mac OS X 

and Windows. With 32MB of Video-RAM 

[...] is definitely a versatile card. 

15th December 2003 

Christian Studer 

This is clearly the best PCMCIA video card currently available, and a good 

replacement for the older cards from Appian and Margi. 

MacUp magazin 

December 2003 issue 

Egal ob Cinema Display, anlaloger 24- 

Zoll Röhrenmonitor in 16:9 oder 

disgitales LCD Display in 1600 mal 1200 

Punkten, die VTBook steuert alle 

Monitore prompt und mit sehr guter 

Bildqualität an 

O'Grady's PowerPage 

"Regardless if Cinema display, a 24" 

Tube in 16:9 or a digital LCD display with 

1600x1200, VTBook controls all of them 

instantly and with a very good picture 

quality." 

19th November 2003 

Jason D. O'Grady 

If you are looking to boost the graphics performance of a PowerBook G3 (Wallstreet, 

Pismo or Lombard) or just want to connect your TiBook to an Apple LCD monitor 

with a DVI connector then you need to check out the US$245 VTBook 32MB PC 

card from VillageTronic. 

MyMac.com 

24th October 2003 

Score: 5 out of 5 

Jeffrey McPheeters 

Designed right, packed tight, and full of graphics might! You won't be disappointed. 

And at less than $250, you need this if for no other reason than to justify to your 

spouse the maxed credit card when you order your 2nd Cinema!

Development Directions 

VTBook’s software still has room to improve. Village Tronic has not yet used 

completely all the power of VTBook’s hardware and is working with three dedicated 

teams developing drivers for Windows, Mac OS and Linux. 

More work will be done in expanding the already impressive range of supported 

displays and resolutions. 

Village Tronic will push even further the integration with all supported operating 

systems and will work to extend some features available only on a certain operating 

system to all the supported OSes. Examples are hot plug and unplug, fast 3D 

acceleration implementation, support for pivotable displays, ADC display scaling. 

And, of course, Village Tronic will improve the VTBook documentation and VTBook 

online resources. 

Feedback from VTBook customers couldn’t have been better: Village Tronic is proud 

of its little jewel and will continue to invest resources in improving it. The vision 

continues. 

23

Technical Specifications 

1 

Anderson, Colvin, Tobler, “Productivity and Multi-Screen Displays”, University of Utah, 

October 2003 

http://www.necus.com/media/press_releases/template.cfm?DID=1947 

2 

Bill Gates, David Williams at WinHeck 2002: 

http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/speeches/2002/04-18winhec.asp 

24

VTBook Evaluation Guide - Village Tronic

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