Question about dual monitors
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deadpoetic




Posts: 2686
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri, 6th Jun 2014 16:29    Post subject: Question about dual monitors
I'm getting a new monitor for gaming maybe tonight, but I had a little question before,

I never gamed with a dual monitor setup, so I was wondering, can I play a game fullscreen on my main monitor, and then on the other, have like my emails open, or vlc playing a movie, facebook or stuff like that? Or does it goes black when launching a game in fullscreen?
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keewee23




Posts: 1307

PostPosted: Fri, 6th Jun 2014 16:48    Post subject:
you can.


Why walk, when you can ride.
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StrEagle




Posts: 14059
Location: Balkans
PostPosted: Fri, 6th Jun 2014 16:48    Post subject:
depends on the game, some blank the second screen sometimes, you need to alt+tab several times to show the stuff on the 2-nd, and some have no problem


Lutzifer wrote:
and yes, mine is only average
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MinderMast




Posts: 6172

PostPosted: Fri, 6th Jun 2014 16:55    Post subject:
deadpoetic wrote:
I'm getting a new monitor for gaming maybe tonight, but I had a little question before,

I never gamed with a dual monitor setup, so I was wondering, can I play a game fullscreen on my main monitor, and then on the other, have like my emails open, or vlc playing a movie, facebook or stuff like that? Or does it goes black when launching a game in fullscreen?

Yes you can use it that way. Most people (and by most I mean me!) with more than one screen have something on the other while playing when needed. You will still need to alt tab if you want to interact with any content outside the game.
Borderless window mode is perfect for this, because you don't get the annoying refresh when you alt tab - going from one screen to another is seamless.

With that said, having something running on your other screen can affect performance, depending on what it is. These days, movie playback, for example, is often hardware accelerated, so that could cause issues. You might get stutters or performance degradation.

For the most part, however, it works with no issues.

As StrEagle said, sometimes it won't work from the start. The second screen will either go black or the image won't updated and you might need to Alt-Tab a few times. It's been quite a while since I encountered that issue though. Could be down to OS (switching to W8 ), or driver updates, or game devs finally learning how to make it work properly.
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tw1st




Posts: 6112
Location: New Jersey
PostPosted: Fri, 6th Jun 2014 16:59    Post subject:
Yup!

That's the beauty of having two monitors. I actually have my second monitor as a 32 inch HDTV. It's nice when watching streams on one monitor and being able to browse the web on the 2nd.


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deadpoetic




Posts: 2686
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri, 6th Jun 2014 17:00    Post subject:
Thanks a lot for the answer!

Do you guys uses any special programs to manage the dual screens, or just plug and play and let windows manage it?
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MinderMast




Posts: 6172

PostPosted: Fri, 6th Jun 2014 17:10    Post subject:
Windows one is enough for my needs, especially since W8. You might also get additional options from your GPU vendor.

For simple use, you don't really need anything else.

Pro Tip: use WinKey + Shift + Left or Right to move the active window between screens.

EDIT: Oh and the mode you are looking for is the Extended Desktop. That way you can use the other screen as ... an extension of your desktop Very Happy
Windows can default to Dual/Duplicate Screen/Clone mode, which will display the same image on both of your monitors, when you first start setting it up.
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tw1st




Posts: 6112
Location: New Jersey
PostPosted: Fri, 6th Jun 2014 18:11    Post subject:
MinderMast wrote:

Pro Tip: use WinKey + Shift + Left or Right to move the active window between screens.


I actually did not know about this, that's very useful information for me, I'm always going into the properties screen to change these settings. Thanks.


| BenQ XL2420T 24" 120Hz | Ducky Shine III 9008 White LED - Brown MX | Logitech G9x |
| Corsair Carbide 400R | Asus Sabertooth z77 | i7 3770K @ 4.3Ghz - 1.200v | CM Hyper 212 Evo - Push/Pull |
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MinderMast




Posts: 6172

PostPosted: Fri, 6th Jun 2014 21:20    Post subject:
tw1st wrote:
MinderMast wrote:

Pro Tip: use WinKey + Shift + Left or Right to move the active window between screens.


I actually did not know about this, that's very useful information for me, I'm always going into the properties screen to change these settings. Thanks.


Ah, I think you mean switching primary screens, which is what you do in the properties. I meant moving the windows you have on your desktop - as an alternative to dragging the windows by using a mouse Smile
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tw1st




Posts: 6112
Location: New Jersey
PostPosted: Fri, 6th Jun 2014 21:25    Post subject:
Ah gotcha, still a new and useful command for me. Very Happy


| BenQ XL2420T 24" 120Hz | Ducky Shine III 9008 White LED - Brown MX | Logitech G9x |
| Corsair Carbide 400R | Asus Sabertooth z77 | i7 3770K @ 4.3Ghz - 1.200v | CM Hyper 212 Evo - Push/Pull |
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Newty182




Posts: 10810
Location: UK
PostPosted: Fri, 6th Jun 2014 21:25    Post subject:
I use this to lock my mouse cursor to a screen http://dualmonitortool.sourceforge.net/swapscreen.html

It's needed for some games too.


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Shoshomiga




Posts: 2378
Location: Bulgaria
PostPosted: Fri, 6th Jun 2014 23:03    Post subject: I have left.
I have left.
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Cyb3r




Posts: 615
Location: USA
PostPosted: Sat, 7th Jun 2014 01:20    Post subject:
https://github.com/Codeusa/Borderless-Gaming been using that for ever since the previous tool i used stopped being updated tho there is quitte a few games that support borderless by now ^^


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MinderMast




Posts: 6172

PostPosted: Sat, 7th Jun 2014 08:43    Post subject:
Shoshomiga wrote:
Try out display fusion too, as there is a lot of simple things that windows will not allow you to do like having different wallpapers on the different monitors

W8 has that feature built in.
Monitor layout profiles would be nice though...
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Sin317
Banned



Posts: 24322
Location: Geneva
PostPosted: Sat, 7th Jun 2014 10:11    Post subject:
in w7 it's no problem as well. Easy to set and adjust second monitor and its position. Most games have no problems. Some games require to be played in (borderless) windowed mode (or second screen may be black or some apps stop working, like media players (basically everything that uses a renderer i guess).

Couple months ago i bought my new 27" screen and at first i wanted to give away my old 22" screen. But then i placed it to my right and well ... i fell in love with having a second screen for nonsense haha.
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