GSoC : Multiscreen management

[todd rme]

On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 10:35 AM, Detlev Casanova
<detlev.casanova at gmail.com> wrote:
> So, my point is : there are problems.
> So far, what's the link with plasma you might ask. Well, I'd like the device
> notifier to react when a monitor is plugged in, showing the screen. 2 actions
> should be possible : Auto configure and manual configuration.
>  -> Auto configure would try to find the best configuration depending on the
> screen capabilities (read resolutions).
>  -> Manual configuration would open KRandr.

I might also suggest a quick-config system that allows you to select
common configurations (display 1 only, display 2 only, clone displays,
side-by-side).  This could also be triggered with the laptop's "change
screen configuration" keyboard combo (often Fn+F#, where F# is an
F1-F12 key that depends on the laptop).

> In KRandr, there should be a possibility to keep configurations depending on
> the plugged device :
>        I'd like the university projector to be on the right of my laptop screen.
>        I'd like my 26" screen to be a clone of my laptop screen.

This would be extremely useful.

> I know though that there are problems with xrandr and some drivers, like the
> NVidia driver. I'm not sure how big are the problems but interfacing with the
> NVidia tools is maybe possible.

The size of the problem is basically "NVidia does not support randr at
all and may never support it."  They have been promising for years
that it is a has-priority task and that it is coming very soon, but
late last year they admitted that it wasn't actually ever a priority
and there are no real firm plans to implement it ever and there never
were.  So if you want support for nvidia cards you will need to
integrate with NVidia's own tools.  There is a third-party
command-line tool called disper that is supposed to replicate some of
the features that randr has: http://willem.engen.nl/projects/disper/

-Todd