Art tablet suddenly considered a 2nd monitor and duplicate displays won’t fix it.

Understanding and Resolving Art Tablet Display Issues on Windows Systems

If you’ve recently encountered an unexpected change in how your graphics tablet is recognized on your Windows computer—specifically, that it is now being identified as a second monitor rather than a duplicated display—you’re not alone. Many users face similar challenges after driver updates or hardware connections, especially when using devices like drawing tablets alongside gaming or graphics cards from NVIDIA.

In this article, we will explore common causes for such display recognition issues and provide a step-by-step guide to troubleshoot and resolve them.

Background

Artists and digital creators often connect drawing tablets, such as the Gaomon PD1560, to their computers via USB. Typically, these devices are recognized as input peripherals and do not appear as separate displays. However, updates to graphics drivers or changes in hardware configuration can sometimes cause the operating system to misidentify these tablets as secondary monitors, leading to display duplication issues or limited functionality.

Common Symptoms

• The tablet appears as a second monitor in display settings.
• The display is set to “duplicate” but only functions properly temporarily.
• Attempting to switch to extended display mode is ineffective.
• The tablet is registered under NVIDIA display management, sometimes causing further confusion.
• Repeated restarts do not resolve the issue.

Potential Causes

1. Driver Updates: Recent updates to NVIDIA graphics drivers could alter how hardware devices are recognized.
2. Display Settings Configuration: A misconfiguration where Windows interprets the tablet as an external display.
3. Graphics Card Recognition: NVIDIA’s control panel may incorrectly identify the tablet’s display settings.
4. Hardware Communication Issues: Faulty cables or ports can sometimes cause misclassification.

Troubleshooting Steps

1. Check Device Recognition

2. Open ‘Device Manager’ (Press Win + X and select Device Manager).

3. Locate your tablet under ‘Monitors’ or ‘Universal Serial Bus controllers’.

4. Ensure drivers are up-to-date. Right-click and choose ‘Update driver’ if necessary.

5. Adjust Display Settings

6. Right-click on the desktop and select ‘Display settings’.

7. Verify how the tablet is listed. If it’s recognized as a separate display, attempt to set it to ‘Duplicate these displays’ or ‘Extend these displays’ accordingly.

8. Note any discrepancies between Windows display recognition and NVIDIA display management.

9. Check NVIDIA Control Panel

10. Open the NVIDIA Control Panel.

11. Navigate to ‘