How to controll (and emulate) monitor/projector on Linux?

Question

I would like to write some C/C++ program to take controll over monitor/projector attached to my computer. What I want is to generate arbitrary output on it and I want that only my application can draw on that screen. I've googled around, but I couldn't find almost anything that would lead me in some direction.

Do you know where I can learn about it?

What I would like to do is to write "Hello world" on an external monitor. It would be also nice to have some "monitor emulator" that will act as physicaly attached monitor (or to write program to emulate it). I'm not sure if it is possible. I couldn't find anything like this.

I'm working on Ubuntu 9.10 with Gnome.

Answer 1

Your requirements are pretty vague, so I'll explain how I interpreted it.

By "control monitor/projector" you don't mean things like: turning it off/on, switching the resolution or depth. (If you want those things, you should look at xrandr.) What you want: generate arbitrary output in fullscreen.

The simplest way to achieve that is by using OpenGL/GLUT/GLEW. There are plenty of resources available and I'm sure you'll find what you are looking for on your own.

I'm completely unsure what you expect to be different on a external monitor or even a projector. The way external monitors are handled depends on the WM, Xorg...