Every seat gets its own screens.
Give a seat one screen or several, move them between seats while everyone keeps working, and let each seat's screens rest on their own when nobody is there. No restart for any of it.
On this page
Several screens per seat
A seat can have one screen or more. The screens can come from any mix of graphics cards, including a processor's built-in graphics. A seat sees its screens as one extended desktop, the way a PC with several monitors does.
Moving screens live
Give a screen to another seat in the panel and it moves at once. Nobody has to restart the PC. The seat that gets the screen shows it right away, and the seat that gave it up keeps working on the screens it has left.
Not sure which physical screen is which? Press Identify screens in the panel and every screen shows its letter and port at the same time (see the control panel).
Screens off when idle
Each seat's screens rest on their own. After a seat has gone unused for a while, its screens dim. A minute later they go black. Only that seat's own keyboard or mouse wakes them again, and the other seats are not affected.
The default is 5 minutes. Change it with Screens off when idle in Settings: pick a preset, or set your own time. A resting seat is shown in the panel as resting, with a reminder to touch its keyboard or mouse to wake it.
What happens automatically
| What happens | What Hydra does |
|---|---|
| A seat's monitor is not plugged in when the seat should start | The seat shows Waiting for screen in the panel and does not start yet. |
| You plug that monitor in | The seat starts by itself, unless it is set to start by hand. |
| You stop a seat | Its screens join Seat 1 as extra screens, and its keyboards and mice go to the seat you chose. |
| You start that seat again | It gets its screens, keyboards and mice back. |
| A seat goes black | Hydra repairs it. If it cannot, it signs that seat out as a last resort and tells you on the other seats. This is the Repair black seats setting. |
When a seat has no screen
A seat that has no screen connected shows Waiting for screen in the panel until one is plugged in.
The PC is never left with no picture at all. If, after a start or after monitors change, no seat that is on has a connected screen while a monitor is plugged in, Hydra gives a screen to Seat 1 (or to the first seat that is on) and says so in the panel's health list. This needs no setting and cannot be turned off.