[Drumbum667]

I was wondering about dual monitoring is that if I open a game or something will it maximize on screen or will it go across both of them. Because I know that the start bar only appears on one of the screens and when I was at this guys house when he opened something it opened to the screen with the start bar and then he could drag it to the other game so I was wondering if it was the same with gaming.

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Games that support dual monitors(of which not all that many do so normally) they can either use the second monitor for something different like RTSs were traditionally the only games that made good use of them for example im playing supreme commander at the moment and the second monitor is used for another screen(what would be the minimap) and it zooms in and has most of the functionality of the main screen but having two maps in that games is a massive advantage(amazingly huge maps and armies, such an amazing RTS best ive ever played). Some games will let you spread the whole screen across two monitors giving a larger area of view but most dont do that but games with super wide modes can do it with an adapter so it appears in the game as a super wide monitor.

Ive had dual monitors since christmas and i have to say ive really enjoyed having them its much better than one monitor for gaming, working and general use as i like to for example watch a film while im browsing the net so its much easier with two monitors.

[warriorscot]

Games that support dual monitors(of which not all that many do so normally) they can either use the second monitor for something different like RTSs were traditionally the only games that made good use of them for example im playing supreme commander at the moment and the second monitor is used for another screen(what would be the minimap) and it zooms in and has most of the functionality of the main screen but having two maps in that games is a massive advantage(amazingly huge maps and armies, such an amazing RTS best ive ever played). Some games will let you spread the whole screen across two monitors giving a larger area of view but most dont do that but games with super wide modes can do it with an adapter so it appears in the game as a super wide monitor.

Ive had dual monitors since christmas and i have to say ive really enjoyed having them its much better than one monitor for gaming, working and general use as i like to for example watch a film while im browsing the net so its much easier with two monitors.

[Drumbum667]

So in most games it would just maximize it to the first monitor correct, because that's what I wanted. I think it would be a little odd playing an FPS on both screens with that little gap where the monitor's stop. So let's say I were to play Battlefield 2, FEAR, Quake 4, or Halo. It would just maximize it to the screen where the taskbar is in and then the other screen would be empty. But let's say I'm playing Warcraft 3, or some RTS and they have like a minimap could I make that minimap appear on the other screen really big which would be a huge advantage. And the monitors I plan on using will be two 19 inch widescreen monitors and I just have to plug them both in to the video card, no plug connecting the two monitors right. Supreme Commander isn't out yet in the U.S. It looks pretty good.

Edited by Drumbum667, 17 February 2007 - 12:24 PM.

[colossuss]

Having the task bar on one or both of the monitors is an option.
If you have a Nvidia graphics card you can use the Nvidia control panel to adjust the settings of your dual monitors.
Using Nvidia control panel you can have the taskbar on both monitors, but they will look exactly the same and have all windows on both. Or you can buy UltraMon which has a feature called "SmartTaskbar" that allows you to have a taskbar on your second monitor that shows only the windows open in that monitor and then has the normal taskbar on your primary monitor.

Also, widescreen monitors or dual monitors in gaming doesnt give you an advantage. You dont have a wider view. You see the same as you would with a single monitor.

[Drumbum667]

I know but as warriorscot said in his post that in Supreme Commander the mini map is on the second screen as a bigger version which gives you an advantage. I was just wondering mainly if I wanted to play an FPS will it just maximize to the primary monitor. That 's what I want to happen. And I want the start bar on the primary monitor not both.

[colossuss]

You mentioned battlefield also, if you find a forum devoted to the game with modders on there they might be able to create a mod to do the same thing as you said in Supreme Commander.

[Drumbum667]

I don't really care about that. It would be nice but its just an addition that i wouldn't need, and i could look at the screen and in a split second i would be dead because i looked at the map at the wrong time.