dual monitor question

  • Thread starter Thread starter adsci
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A

adsci

hi!


ive got a dual monitor setup and one problem with that:
when i use my computer for gaming some games seem to never heard of a
second monitor.

and example is silent hunter III! in game the mousecursor can leave the
game-screen and enter the second monitor. when u do a click there u're
back to desktop.
the problem is that the game features a buttonbar on the border of the
screen and its very difficult to hit the screenborder without leaving
the monitor and go desktop.

does anyone know a software which

a) can limit a mouse movement on desktop to a specified rectangle of
pixels (i.e. 1280x1024)

OR

b) can at least disable the second monitor at hotkey.


thanks for your help!

regards,

marcel
 
yeah I realize, I have to do it on almost every game I play. That and
little or no joystick support any longer.
I was thinking long the same lines as you...wish there was a way to hotkey
the action, unfortunately most games disable the windows key and most all
other programed keys.
 
adsci said:
ive got a dual monitor setup and one problem with that:
when i use my computer for gaming some games seem to never heard
of a second monitor.
and example is silent hunter III! in game the mousecursor can
leave the game-screen and enter the second monitor. when u do a
click there u're back to desktop.
the problem is that the game features a buttonbar on the border of
the screen and its very difficult to hit the screenborder without
leaving the monitor and go desktop.
Click to expand...

Tribes 2 is like that, but as I recall there is a mouse setting in
the game that prevents it, something like "direct mouse" or
whatever.

You might try asking in a Silent Hunter group if there is one, or
ask in the naval gaming group. Or ask in some big gaming groups.
There are some really huge gaming groups which include technically
inclined users.

If you can tolerate it, you can reposition your monitor in display
properties. So the cursor won't go off the screen in that
direction. Every once in awhile, you probably will get kicked back
to the desktop. I suppose putting the secondary monitor on top, or
maybe on bottom, would be best for gaming.

A meager additional workaround might be to make your secondary
monitor resolution slightly less and center that screen on whichever
side. At least that way when your mouse is gripping the edge of the
main monitor screen it will stopp at the edge.

Are you using NVIDIA? Maybe their desktop configuration software can
help.

Good luck.
 
JAD said:
I was thinking long the same lines as you...wish there was a way
to hotkey the action,
Click to expand...

I would say "play Silent Hunter" and a voice activated script would
turn off the secondary monitor and start the game. But leaving the
secondary monitor on while gaming is one of the reasons I have two
monitors in the first place, so I can watch instant messaging, keep
notes on the screen, or whatever.
unfortunately most games disable the windows key and most all
other programed keys.
Click to expand...

I think it depends on the macroer/scripting program you are
using. I've always used the keypad for my own scripting program with
no problem. Logitech's mouse/joystick/gamepad programming has no
trouble either.
 
John said:
If you can tolerate it, you can reposition your monitor in display
properties. So the cursor won't go off the screen in that
direction. Every once in awhile, you probably will get kicked back
to the desktop. I suppose putting the secondary monitor on top, or
maybe on bottom, would be best for gaming.

A meager additional workaround might be to make your secondary
monitor resolution slightly less and center that screen on whichever
side. At least that way when your mouse is gripping the edge of the
main monitor screen it will stopp at the edge.
Click to expand...

thanks! your suggestions gave me new ideas :-)
i positioned the second display in the upper left corner with only say
200 pixels on the top which lead to the second monitor. its pretty easy
to get used to and i wont ever have problems in games again :D

thank you!
 
adsci said:
thanks! your suggestions gave me new ideas :-)
i positioned the second display in the upper left corner with
only say 200 pixels on the top which lead to the second monitor.
its pretty easy to get used to and i wont ever have problems in
games again :D
Click to expand...

For the amount of money your going to spend why not just buy a LCD
TV? You can't display 2 items on the duals, say a PDF manual and a
game. All it is is a continuation of your present monitor. Been
there, and done it. Dual monitors suck.

My guess is you got a second monitor for free and think dual
monitors is a great idea. Personally, It isn't worth the time in
setting them up. Also, most games will not run on 2 monitors, only
1.
 
Bob said:
For the amount of money your going to spend why not just buy a LCD
TV? You can't display 2 items on the duals, say a PDF manual and a
game.
Click to expand...

But in fact you can even have two maximized windows/programs, one on
each monitor. You can also have your taskbar and a communications
program like instant messaging displayed on the secondary monitor
and see messages from other people while playing a full-screen game.
It works fine for me, at least with Age of Empires, Tribes 2,
WarCraft, and a few others.

And I'm pretty sure that two 17 inch monitors cost much less than an
equivalent single monitor.
All it is is a continuation of your present monitor.
Click to expand...
My guess is you got a second monitor for free and think dual
monitors is a great idea.
Click to expand...

It's a huge amount of screen space. The extra screen space can be a
waste unless you really need to get things done.
Personally, It isn't worth the time in setting them up.
Click to expand...

There isn't much to it nowadays. Especially now that many monitors
are coming with a dual monitor capability built in. Used to be only
some Matrox cards I think. I guess you could say it's twice the work
of setting up a single monitor, but all Windows' settings except
resolution, color depth, and refresh rate apply to both monitors.
most games will not run on 2 monitors, only 1.
Click to expand...

The only game I know of that can use both monitors for itself is
Flight Simulator 2004. I am looking forward to being able
to run the secondary monitor at over 25 frames per second, maybe
with my next upgrade.






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Click to expand...
 
Bob said:
For the amount of money your going to spend why not just buy a LCD
TV? You can't display 2 items on the duals, say a PDF manual and a
game. All it is is a continuation of your present monitor. Been
there, and done it. Dual monitors suck.
Click to expand...

except when using your rig for production...video flash etc...nothing
like having that extra screen for palettes abd time lines.
 
Bob said:
For the amount of money your going to spend why not just buy a LCD TV?
You can't display 2 items on the duals, say a PDF manual and a game. All
it is is a continuation of your present monitor. Been there, and done
it. Dual monitors suck.

My guess is you got a second monitor for free and think dual monitors is
a great idea. Personally, It isn't worth the time in setting them up.
Also, most games will not run on 2 monitors, only 1.
Click to expand...

i already got the second monitor (1 TFT and one CRT) and i need it since
i use the system for my work as a software developer. and nothing goes
over having the documentation on the second and program on the first
monitor. the same goes with photoshop and other situations.

my problem is, when i try to play on the system i would need to disable
the second monitor to prevent problems.

the solution mentioned above doesnt work at all actually. i though it
do, but it doesnt. as long as a game switches resolution the monitor
alignment is reset :(

i think there is no perfect solution for that.

dual monitor is for work and single monitor for gaming. period.
 
In my above reply, I am assuming two video cards running two
monitors. Taking a look at the video card group, there is a post
stating that a single NVIDIA monitor with dual output cannot run a
full-screen game on the primary with a Windows desktop showing on
the secondary at the same time.

That's too bad if true.
 
adsci said:
i already got the second monitor (1 TFT and one CRT) and i need
it since i use the system for my work as a software developer.
and nothing goes over having the documentation on the second and
program on the first monitor. the same goes with photoshop and
other situations.
Click to expand...

I tried exactally that. It does not work. Think of that 2nd monitor
as just a bigger 1st monitor. I program at a time.
my problem is, when i try to play on the system i would need to
disable the second monitor to prevent problems.
Click to expand...

Reconfigure your software display for each application. A real PITA
and that's the reason I stopped doing it for mine. It would be nice
if you had a second computer/monitor. Then you could do it.
 
Bob said:
I tried exactally that. It does not work. Think of that 2nd
monitor as just a bigger 1st monitor. I program at a time.
Click to expand...

You have a bad case of "my experience goes for everybody".

Obviously there's something wrong with either your hardware or your
configuration. Dual monitors is made for a greater number of
applications/windows on screen at the same time. And as adsci says, a
programmer is a good example of someone who can benefit by using
dual monitors.

It just depends on the game I guess.
Reconfigure your software display for each application. A real
PITA and that's the reason I stopped doing it for mine.
Click to expand...

I can configure Windows with my hands tied behind my back but I have
no idea what Bob is talking about there.
It would be nice if you had a second computer/monitor. Then you could do
it.
Click to expand...

Dual monitors (using two video cards connected to two monitors)
works fine for me, at least with Age of Empires, Tribes 2, WarCraft,
and a few others. I have a full screen game running on the primary
monitor and the Windows desktop including the taskbar running on the
secondary monitor.

I don't know about the new dual output NVIDIA cards. Seems that they
don't work properly with dual monitors in full-screen games. I'm
asking about that in the video card groups.

But dual monitors work just fine using two video cards in my
experience.

Good luck.

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Click to expand...
 
I have been running dual monitors at work for 7-8 years, and about 6 months
ago, broke down and set it up at home with a 19" Dell 1905 in portrait mode
for surfing, word docs, etc., and a Trinitron 19" CRT for photo editing.
Works great and I've never had any problem with set up or running different
apps on each. Productivity gains at work easily justify the expemse.

mb


John Doe said:
Bob said:
I tried exactally that. It does not work. Think of that 2nd
monitor as just a bigger 1st monitor. I program at a time.
Click to expand...

You have a bad case of "my experience goes for everybody".

Obviously there's something wrong with either your hardware or your
configuration. Dual monitors is made for a greater number of
applications/windows on screen at the same time. And as adsci says, a
programmer is a good example of someone who can benefit by using
dual monitors.

It just depends on the game I guess.
Reconfigure your software display for each application. A real
PITA and that's the reason I stopped doing it for mine.
Click to expand...

I can configure Windows with my hands tied behind my back but I have
no idea what Bob is talking about there.
It would be nice if you had a second computer/monitor. Then you could do
it.
Click to expand...

Dual monitors (using two video cards connected to two monitors)
works fine for me, at least with Age of Empires, Tribes 2, WarCraft,
and a few others. I have a full screen game running on the primary
monitor and the Windows desktop including the taskbar running on the
secondary monitor.

I don't know about the new dual output NVIDIA cards. Seems that they
don't work properly with dual monitors in full-screen games. I'm
asking about that in the video card groups.

But dual monitors work just fine using two video cards in my
experience.

Good luck.

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Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
My current config at home is an ATI All-in-Wonder 8500DV and an ATI Radeon
7500 (the LCD is on this one), at work it is an ATI Radeon X300 dual head
card that was ordered with my Dell...the one before that was a dual head
nVidia....the one one before that was a Radeo VE dual head. There have been
lots of configs...I believe my very first was two S3 Virge cards. All have
worked without a hitch.

mb
 
John said:
Thanks. I've always done okay using a combination of AGP and PCI.
Click to expand...

How could a malicious troll like you ever be sociable. On
Comp.Speech.Users you spew venom and are constantly castigated.

Anyone who feels this way should write John Dope at Lshaping atsign
hotmail.com to let him know he should get back on his meds.

Sincerely,
Markoe
 
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