Re: How do you access second display adapter without being a desktop extension?

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Looks like you're right and I'm wrong, if the caps viewer is any way
to judge. When I don't extend the desktop to the 2nd monitor on my
dual head card, it only displays 1 adapter.

I wonder what happens when you have two cards in your machine but the
desktop isn't extended to the 2nd card....

ISTR that there were situations where you could create a device in
exclusive mode on a monitor that was not attached to the desktop...

Yes, that's what I thought six motnhs ago too ;). Maybe that was
with an earlier version of Windows though, because with 2K or XP
I've never managed it.

Having two seperate cards in your machine behaves exactly the same
as having a dualhead card - the display must have the desktop
extended onto it to show up in the enum. I've found that the
"clone display" setting does not cause the second adapter to
show up either.

SolidState: Once you have created your two devices (or one device
on one of them) they are independent of each other. BUT, like
any DX app, if the D3D object's window loses focus, their VRAM
data will be invalid, and you will have to restore, even if you
click on a part of the desktop that is on the other display.
As far as I know, there is no way to make one display entirely
independant of the desktop.

I would suggest that, instead of exclusive mode, use normal
and make the window the size of the display - that way losing
focus will not be a problem. Okay, you won't have total
control, but if all you need to do is show bitmaps, it should
be enough. If necessary, you can use the GDI functions to
resize the screen instead of fullscreen DirectX.

I use two screens in arcade cabinets, both exclusive, and it
can get fairly intense - particularly when trying to render
the same scene on both. ;)

Cheers,

- SamB


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