Dual Screen with Fullscreen video on one monitor and multitasking on the ot

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Dual Screen with Fullscreen video on one monitor and multitasking on the ot

I have a dual screen setup right now on 10.6.2. I usually watch videos on the internet through Youtube or Hulu or watch videos on VLC player and iTunes. Videos are usually on my secondary monitor and I work with the internet browser and Office on my main monitor.

Here's what I found: you can't have fullscreen videos through Youtube, Hulu, VLC, etc and also be able to work on the other monitor. The only fix atleast with VLC is to stretch the video to fir the screen. But on youtube or Hulu, you can't stretch the video (well unless you select a pop-out browser).

Is there someway you can have fullscreen videos on Monitor 1 and be able to click around on Monitor 2?

MacBook Pro 13.3 late 2009 Base, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Mar 18, 2010 12:29 PM

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Answer 1

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R C-R

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Mar 18, 2010 8:21 PM in response to gshocker

I see what you mean now. This seems to be a limitation of how full screen mode is implemented for browsers, as the same thing happens with Safari as with Firefox -- as soon as I click anywhere on screen 1, the display on screen 2 reverts to view-in-window mode.

I have no workaround for YouTube but for Hulu, you might want to try Hulu Desktop, a stand-alone application that in some ways is much better than viewing Hulu content in a browser. Just make sure your Mac meets its system requirements before you try it to avoid problems.

It is my preferred way to view Hulu stuff. It works perfectly in full screen mode on a second monitor -- as I type this on screen 1, I'm watching an old Avengers episode fullscreen on screen 2 -- although you may get a notice the first time you drag its application window into screen 2 that a resolution change has occurred & you should quit & restart it. Do that if needed & then just tap command + F for fullscreen mode. When you click back on screen 1, it will not drop out of full screen mode.

In fact, if you are running 10.6.2 & have an Apple Remote, you can use it to control Hulu Desktop without having to make the app frontmost to use the keyboard or mouse to control it. How cool is that? 🙂

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Answer 2

R C-R

Level 6

17,794 points

Mar 18, 2010 6:46 PM in response to gshocker

I have no problems using two displays as you describe. You don't say what is happening to prevent your doing the same, so I can only guess at the cause.

General: Is the "Mirror Displays" box checked in the displays system preference? If so, uncheck it. Also make sure the application window with video is completely within the secondary monitor before you invoke full screen viewing by whatever method that app uses.

VLC only: in preferences > Video, make sure the "Black screens in Fullscreen mode" box is not checked. You can also set the "Fullscreen Video Device" to Screen 2 in that preference and/or enable the "Fullscreen" checkbox to always start the video in full screen mode. (If you make any changes, remember to click the "Save" button.)

If none of the above help, please explain exactly what happens when you go into full screen mode & what application you are using to view the video.

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Answer 3

gshocker Author

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Mar 18, 2010 7:30 PM in response to R C-R

Hey thanks for the tips on the VLC player. Not I can watch fullscreen videos on one monitor and still able to work on other applications on the other monitor.

I have no problems with my dual monitor set up. I can have different applications on each monitor and play videos fine on both. It's just that I can't watch fullscreen videos on sites like youtube and hulu.

For example, say I am writing a paper on Word on Monitor #1 and I want to go on Youtube.com on Firefox and watch a video, but in fullscreen (not just drag the Firefix window to Monitor #2 and watch a small video) That i have no problem with. But when I click "fullscreen" on youtube or Hulu, the Dock disappears on Monitor #1 but I can watch a full screen video on Monitor #2. Problem is I can't do anything else on Monitor #1 (I can still see everything on Monitor #1) when Monitor #2 is in fullscreen mode and the video is in fullscreen mode. As soon as I click on something on Monitor #1, Fullscreen videos that was playing on Monitor #2 goes back to the original size. But the dick reappears and I can click on stuff again.

My guess is that since it's a flash video, there is probably not an option like the one in VLC to allow fullscreen support on one monitor and be able to work on another monitor.

Thanks.

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Answer 4

gshocker Author

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Mar 18, 2010 9:45 PM in response to R C-R

Thank you so much for your help.

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