Question about duel monitors

[Adam1984]

If I want a second monitor to stand vertically for browsing, is it possible to game on one and browse on the other? or at least have both monitors using seperate full screen apps at once? 

 

I like the idea of gaming whilst using a game guide at the same time on a second monitor

[GuiltySpark_]

Sure, but you can't obviously focus on both at the same time. Alt-tabbing out of the game will be required. (what you're asking is pretty basic computing these days, multimontor stuff is nothing new) Depending on the type of game you might be able to get away with running in borderless fullscreeen with no mouse bounds (some games support this). 

[Adam1984]

Just now, GuiltySpark_ said:

Sure, but you can't obviously focus on both at the same time. Alt-tabbing out of the game will be required. (what you're asking is pretty basic computing these days, multimontor stuff is nothing new)

I know lol but it is new to me, thanks though I dont mind doing that

[adm0n]

You can do that as long as you are running your games in borderless fullscreen mode.

You will still need to tab out of your game, because they usually capture your mouse. Buy the game would still be visible while browsing. Depending on how you set it up, you might even be able to control it still.

 

If you run a game in actual fullscreen mode, your second screen will still display things, but you won't be able to interact with them unless you actually tab out of the game, and interacting with your game in any way will bring it back into focus. In certain games doing this too many times might crash the game.

 

A big problem with this setup is running a game at a non native resolution. In borderless fulscreen mode, it will not take up your whole screen anymore, but tabbing out in fulscreen mode is a pain.

[Adam1984]

2 minutes ago, adm0n said:

You can do that as long as you are running your games in borderless fullscreen mode.

You will still need to tab out of your game, because they usually capture your mouse. Buy the game would still be visible while browsing. Depending on how you set it up, you might even be able to control it still.

 

If you run a game in actual fullscreen mode, your second screen will still display things, but you won't be able to interact with them unless you actually tab out of the game, and interacting with your game in any way will bring it back into focus. In certain games doing this too many times might crash the game.

 

A big problem with this setup is running a game at a non native resolution. In borderless fulscreen mode, it will not take up your whole screen anymore, but tabbing out in fulscreen mode is a pain.

Ok thanks, so if I have a main monitor in 1440p I can run a game in borderless full screen, pause the game, tab out of it and move over to the other monitor which would be 1080×1920 (effectively) and scroll an internet page? 

 

I see people on youtube with these kind of setups, it sounds like it might not be worth the hassle maybe? 

[GuiltySpark_]

Just now, Adam1984 said:

Ok thanks, so if I have a main monitor in 1440p I can run a game in borderless full screen, pause the game, tab out of it and move over to the other monitor which would be 1080×1920 (effectively) and scroll an internet page? 

 

I see people on youtube with these kind of setups, it sounds like it might not be worth the hassle maybe? 

Absolutely, that's a pretty normal occurrence when playing any game. To access the rest of the system again you need to shift focus which can be done a number of ways, alt-tab being one of them. 

[adm0n]

1 minute ago, Adam1984 said:

Ok thanks, so if I have a main monitor in 1440p I can run a game in borderless full screen, pause the game, tab out of it and move over to the other monitor which would be 1080×1920 (effectively) and scroll an internet page? 

Yes, tabbing out would also just mean pressing alt tab, without actually switching the application. Consider it a shortcut to free your mouse from the game.

Alternatively you can press the windows key if the game or your keyboard doesn't block that.

 

It's absolutely no hassle at all and will become muscle memory very quickly so don't worry about that. If you do any kind of productive work on  your PC the extra screen space will do wonders for you too!

[Adam1984]

4 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

Absolutely, that's a pretty normal occurrence when playing any game. To access the rest of the system again you need to shift focus which can be done a number of ways, alt-tab being one of them. 

 

Just now, adm0n said:

Yes, tabbing out would also just mean pressing alt tab, without actually switching the application. Consider it a shortcut to free your mouse from the game.

Alternatively you can press the windows key if the game or your keyboard doesn't block that.

 

It's absolutely no hassle at all and will become muscle memory very quickly so don't worry about that. If you do any kind of productive work on  your PC the extra screen space will do wonders for you too!

Awesome, thanks for both of your help