I just installed an HP LP2475W monitor for use with my 15" Mac G4 PowerBook laptop computer, and I'm having trouble making it work as expected.
I plugged in the monitor, then connected it to the computer with the supplied DVI cord. Then I rebooted the computer, opened Photoshop CS3 Extended, and turned on the HP monitor power. The HP screen lights up but displays only the Apple dock toolbar. The cursor remains on the laptop screen, where the Photoshop toolbar is displayed. Oddly, the Photoshop workspace panel reverts to its default setting rather than the simpler style I prefer.
I had seen other Mac dual-monitor users move the cursor, and Photoshop images they're working on, from one screen to another, but I was unable to do this. It's obvious that I haven't made the right settings to allow this to happen. A step-by-step explanation would be very helpful, but no manuals that would help me do this setup were included with the monitor or on the supplied CD. I also wanted to know how to calibrate the new monitor for output.
But when I called HP support this morning, I was very surprised to learn that their support structure seems to be aimed only at Windows-based computers. Apparently they do not offer help of the sort I need if a customer's computer is Mac-based. This makes no business sense to me, given how many photographers and graphic designers use Macs, but it's apparently the reality.
So I will turn to the good folks on this forum to ask for help. If any of you is using this or a similar monitor on a Mac, I would certainly appreciate knowing how to set it up so it works as expected. One specific feature that apparently requires HP software is the monitor's ability to rotate 90 degrees to display images in portrait mode. If that software applies only to Windows machines, a Mac user may be out of luck trying to use that feature..
Open System Preferences. Select the Displays preference pane.
From there, you can rearrange the monitors to match their actual arrangement and choose which display should be primary. Once you've rearranged them how you like, the mouse cursor will move between screens at whatever edge/area you've chosen.
You should also be able to rotate the monitor from the Displays prefpane if you want to use it in portrait mode.
Thanks very much! I did the Arrangement step and that did the job. Rotating the vertical file 90 degrees to horizontal, and then physically rotating the screen, allowed me to fill the screen with the image, and it's pretty impressive. My next step will be to make a few small test prints to check the monitor's native calibration.
