Connecting a TV Monitor

You can use Virtual DJ Studio with a second monitor. This is especially useful with Karaoke, since you can have the song lyrics on one screen, while you continue to have VDJ and your normal software showing on your primary screen or laptop's built-in display.

How to do this will vary greatly on your specific computer setup, what kind of video device your system has, and what version of Windows you are using. This tutorial should help you get started, as long as your computer does in fact support multiple monitors.

Note: To get the most out of VDJ, be sure to read through our Karaoke Tutorial as well.

Video

There is a video available on HowCast.com with detailed instructions for connecting a laptop to a television available at this link.

Television

The most common method is to connect any ordinary Television to a Laptop or Notebook computer, for your patrons to view the song lyrics. For this, you will need an S-Video connection on your laptop, which should look something like this (click the image for a full-size view):

Most modern laptops will at least have the S-Video jack. If you do not see a jack like the above, look for a yellow RCA-type jack; some computers have an older-style composite video jack instead.

Tip: DO NOT confuse an external keyboard or mouse port with the S-Video jack. A PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard jack looks similar, but is usually green or purple. An S-Video port is almost always black.

Once you hook up the Television, boot up your computer. Some laptops require that it be hooked up to a working TV before you boot up, otherwise it may not enable the jack at all until the next reboot.

New Update:
Many newer laptops do NOT include an S-Video jack, so you may need to purchase a VGA to S-Video Adapter in order to connect your laptop to an ordinary television.

Windows

The next step is to work with Windows to get the second monitor (television) configured properly. On many machines, you will already see a clone of your main screen on the TV. This is good - it means the connection is working - but now we need to tell Windows to treat it as a separate display.

Go into the Display Properties. In Windows XP, right-click on the Desktop area, and select Properties. In Vista, right-click on the Desktop area and select Personalize, then click Display Settings toward the bottom. You should see a dialog similar to the image on the right.

Once you are there, you should see an image of two computer screens, possibly with one greyed out. Usually the #2 display is grey.

Click on that grey display once to hilight it, then check the box that says Extend the desktop onto this monitor and click Apply.

Tip: When using a Television, reduce the Resolution setting of the second display to 800 by 600 for better performance

Now, you should be able to drag a window to the far right of your screen, and have it appear on the Television.

Within Virtual DJ Studio, simply enable Karaoke with the Karaoke button, and drag the CDG window (the window showing the lyrics) to the right. Once there, double-click on that window to make it full-screen.

Tip: Print this page for reference; this way you won't forget a step when you are setting up at a gig

Note that you can use any monitor you can connect to your Laptop or PC. It does not have to be a Television - an old computer monitor, or a nice small flat-screen connected as a VGA monitor, DVI, or HDMI will also work in almost the same way as above. Simply follow the same directions to enable it within Windows as above and you're all set.