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[deepsky4565]

Please forgive me if I haven't searched correctly, but this is what I want to do. I'd like to see the playing now with gforce on my main display, and my lcd panel on my htpc case to show the current track info and cover art. I can't figure it out, and haven't seen anything like this in my searches. Thanks!!!

[zxsix]

Play a song.
Press ctrl-6.
That'll give you the playing now visualization in a separate window that can be sized as you wish.
You can still manage the library or view the playing now queue in the other window.
Not to mention multiple panes or tabs in that section letting you do more things at once.

[deepsky4565]

Thanks for the help, but I'm still not able to have 2 "displays" so I can have Gforce on my main monitor, and track info on the other small monitor on the PC case. Is this possible?

[JimH]

Does Windows recognize the second monitor?

[deepsky4565]

Does Windows recognize the second monitor?

Yes, no problem there. The issue seems that MC won't support 2 displays the way I would like.

[JimH]

MC does support two displays.  The issue may be that your system doesn't like to display G-force on the second monitor.  Maybe the video card won't support it?

[deepsky4565]

Could you point me to some info on how to do what I want? I want G Force on my main display and track info and cover art on my secondary display simultaneously. Thanks! An added point is that when I detach the display to view it on the secondary monitor, there isn't another "display" left on the primary to view. I can still see playing now. How do I get two "displays" simultaneously?

[glynor]

Could you describe in more detail exactly what you are looking for?

It seems you can detach the display.  This is the way you would move the G-Force display over to the secondary monitor (just drag it over there and then double click it to make it go fullscreen).  Then the main MC UI will be "left" on your primary monitor and will continue to operate normally.  If when you drag the detached display over to the secondary monitor, G-Force goes "blank" then you're dealing with a video card driver issue or a video card that can't handle 3D acceleration on the secondary display (many older laptops have this issue).  Try updating your drivers, or switch the secondary display to be the primary monitor in the Displays control panel.

However, the Playing Now window on the main MC UI will now simply read "Display is detached" and there isn't a simple way to get it to show a separate "visualizer" (or Track Info plugin), if that's what you are looking for.  You could make two separate zones and then synchronize them, but that might be tough to pull off properly (I've never tried so I don't know the full implications).  MC WILL work on the primary monitor in Theater View mode, though, so you could use the new-and-improved Theater View playing now for your Track Info display, if you wanted.

Once you detach the display, and put it somewhere, MC will remember where it was for next time.  So, if you set it up this way and leave it like that, next time you detach the display it will automatically go over to the second monitor and go fullscreen.

[deepsky4565]

Could you describe in more detail exactly what you are looking for?

However, the Playing Now window on the main MC UI will now simply read "Display is detached" and there isn't a simple way to get it to show a separate "visualizer" (or Track Info plugin), if that's what you are looking for.  

This seems to be the limitation I'm up against. I would like to have the playing now window operate normally on my primary monitor, with Gforce and the list of tracks, and then another display with the track info, time elapsed, etc. and cover art on the secondary monitor. Is this a fundamental limitation of the program, or is it something that could be added as a feature? Thanks.

[glynor]

That explains it.  This is one UI limitation of the existing system.  In your case, the best bet would be to create a separate zones and sync them.  Create a secondary "dummy" zone, and then use that one in addition to the primary zone.  This lets you have as many different detached displays as you want.  G-Force would need to be in the "primary" (attached to the active audio output) zone, but the track info plugin could run in a detached display as part of the the secondary synced dummy zone.

[Bibo]

...If when you drag the detached display over to the secondary monitor, G-Force goes "blank" then you're dealing with a video card driver issue or a video card that can't handle 3D acceleration on the secondary display (many older laptops have this issue).  Try updating your drivers, or switch the secondary display to be the primary monitor in the Displays control panel.
...

I have a similar problem but I would like to play video in the secondary monitor.
I have an ATI 3300 onboard video chipset and my secondary monitor is a screen projector.
For DVD playback, if I employ PDVD8, I can place the program on the secondary monitor and view a movie there no problem.
If I do the same with MC, the DVD playback is always blank with or without detached display. The image comes back on  as soon as I move it back to primary monitor.
My screen projector can only be my secondary display for obvious reasons and drivers are up-to-date.
Is there something I need to activate with my video drivers or in MC? Afterall, PDVD8 does work.
Any suggestions?
Have you seen this issue before?
Thanks for your help.

[zxsix]

If I do the same with MC, the DVD playback is always blank with or without detached display. The image comes back on  as soon as I move it back to primary monitor.

I used ATI stuff long ago.  There was some setting in the ATI Catalyst Control Center that said something about the word OVERLAY.  That setting is the one that allowed it to work properly on secondary and tertiary screens.
No longer using catalyst so can't walk you step by step, sorry.

[Bibo]

I used ATI stuff long ago.  There was some setting in the ATI Catalyst Control Center that said something about the word OVERLAY.  That setting is the one that allowed it to work properly on secondary and tertiary screens.
No longer using catalyst so can't walk you step by step, sorry.

Using ATI Catalyst Control Center in Theatre Mode did the trick. Thanks.
Unfortunately, in order to use ATI Catalyst Control Center I had to load Microsoft NET Framework as well and in my extremely streamlined PC it was a bit of a bother because I have one more service on.

[deepsky4565]

Okay, I can't seem to make the second zone sync without giving me an echo on the sound output. I can't seem to trick the second zone into being silent. Any ideas?

[JimH]

Mute one?