Increased MS multi monitor support for 2004? My eye !

[Guest lbb]

Well, I believe the improvement is that you can now drag outside views to a second monitor. But I think the term improved support is a misnomer, since the drawback of this new feature is that a feature that I and indeed so many others cherished is gone. I feel misled by MSFS on this issue.Leo Bakker

[JSACKS 0]

Leo:So much for an "upgrade" of the sim! Misled is the correct word, I think. Incidentally, I am curious, since sombody asked me, how do most of you find the quality of the picture in Windowed mode compared with full screen mode? On my set-up, which is a fairly hi-end P4 with good monitors, I find the windows mode to be of grade B to B+ quality at best, with various jaggies, depending on the angle of viewing, while in full screen mode, the image quality is immeasurably superior and very close to FSAA quality.Just wondering....JS

[Guest wathomas777]

>Since MS hardly ever listens to customer complaints I doubt very much they're going to do something about it. It will probably be one of the selling features of FS2006 to get something back that we had all along before FS2004.I have to totally disagree with that statement. I am not running multi-monitor so I don't know how different it is with FS2004 and FS2002, but to say that MS hardly listens is just plain wrong.What were the BIGGEST complaints of FS2002?ATCWeatherAutogen.What three biggest things have been upgraded in FS2004.ATCWeatherAutogen.Quite frankly I think MS has listened quite well. And while I do not know if they will fix it for THIS version, they will undoubtedly hear the complaints from this and probably fix it for next version.

[Guest LarryJ_KMSO]

Scott,Just to make sure you are in the same angry boat with the rest of us:After you have undocked in "Window" mode and moved your gauges to the second monitor and then after you have Alt+Enter 'd into Full Screen mode, your gauges stay put on the second monitor, correct?But what happens when you Alt+Enter to re-enter "Window" mode. If you are like the other unhappy people here, your gauges all come flying back to your FS monitor. This never happened in the old unimproved multi-monitor FS2002 version! FYI, even the highly acclaimed ATI Radeon has this problem. It's not specific to my GF ti4600 128mb. Very disappointing. Hope there is a fix. Larry JonesFlorence, MT

[Guest frankcubillos]

I think the one that needs to be yelled at is NOT MS but Nvidia. I firmly believe its an Nvidia driver issue and not an MS "bug".But I could be totally wrong ;-)http://fsgateway.com/frank/fs9paibeta.jpg

[clayton4115 56]

you are totally wrong Frank, and the person just above your post just explained it happend to the ATI card as well.:-jumpy

[Guest lbb]

Well, I found out that with the add-on I bought FS2004 for, (no, no mistake in word order) PMDG737NG, the framerate in non-windowed mode is completely unacceptable on take-off, like 3 to 4fps, but it will go up to around 10fps in windowed mode. Again, it's one of those completely frustrating mysteries about FS why this would be so. But any way, it has prevented me from comparing the two images as for quality, sorry!Leo Bakker

[Guest baron58tc]

Yes,I agree that M$ has thrown us multiple monitor people a curve.In 2002, I ran three monitors, in window mode. Why window mode? Because if you threw the primary monitor into full-screen, the mouse pointer would not travel to the other monitors, making them useless for IP, radio, etc.--But it window mode it worked well and FR's were great.(Locked at 34--and usually there.) I have never seen any difference in video quality between Window or full screen in 2002--nor in 2004.From their 2004 pre-release stuff, M$ claimed "3D acceleration" for multiple monitors. It seems they meant that if you move windows (panels)to other monitors, they will appear, and work as if in 2002 full screen. A feature not possible in 2002. OK, it appears they have done that, but with several benefits and some big problems:1. The secondary monitors do go "full screen", without borders, black background.2. The mouse pointer will travel to the other monitors, and "clicking" works, but the scroll wheel will not work.3. The FR hit is terrific if you open all windows (panels) in full screen on the secondary monitors. In my case--about 50%--from 24 (locked), to 12 or 13. 4. The flight will not save in the the mult. mon. scenario.5. In full window mode, as I ran 2002, the 2004 frame rates are great with all panels open--locked and steady at 24. BUT, I get giant "stutters". I MEAN 1-2 sec. stutters every 4-6 sec. Totally un-flyable.6. If you go to cockpit view in full screen, (full screen outside view), with your IP on a secondary monitor, a black rectangle, the size of the original IP, appears on the primary monitor and blocks 1/2 of the outside view, and the outside view is compressed into the upper 1/2 of the screen. Totally defeats the purpose of moving your IP to another monitor to achieve a more realistic outside view.Yellowjack has a work-around for getting panels on to your secondary monitors, and making them stick. I have tried it and it works. I thank him here for the tip, and the work it took to find out it worked. As he says--"I didn't say it was going to be easy".You can actually move panels (windows) while in full screen mode. It probably isn't worth posting because they won't "stick" when the flight is saved, and the procedure is almost as complex as Yellowjacks--but here goes:1. In full screen open a panel (Shift+2-say for radio stack)2. Drag the panel toward your next monitor until less that 1/2 is visible on your primary monitor.3. Hit Shift+2 again to hide it.4. Hit Shift+2 again to activate it--your next monitor should go black and the top 1/2 of the panel will appear on the next monitor.5. Drag the panel to wherever you want it on the monitor.6. Repeat for all other panels (windows).(sometimes I have dragged a panel toward the next monitor and it automatically went to full screen (black), and the panel "jumped" to the monitor.-But not always.)I like fs9 for the ATC and other enhancements, and for the moment am still flying it. I really wish I could fly in windows -as in 2002, without the stutters.I have resigned myself to flying in VC cockpit, and shutting down all other windows (IP, Radio stack, GPS, Etc.) when I need frame rate. Kind of a pain. Means I am looking at 2 out of 3 monitors "black" most of the time. Getting used to it-but not liking it. Wish M$ would tell what the h-- they did to the code, and give us a head start on the workarounds. Thanks to all the people on this forum, and others. I have benefitted greatly. After a month, the thing is almost flyable!Athalon2000+1 MB MemNVIDIA GE Force4-Ti4600-128MBNVIDIA GE Force2 MX 100/200-32MBNVIDIA TNT2 Model 64-32MB

[Guest lbb]

What I mean is that I don't have the feeling of there being any real interaction between MS and its users. Yes, we may complain, and maybe they will do something about it in FS2006. But with most add-ons I buy if there is something wrong at least you can speak (in the sense of communicate in their forums) to the developers directly, get a reply and you even have a chance of getting a patch.Take a look at the known issues thread about the things MS says they are aware of. Where is the faulty multi monitor support mentioned?I am convinced they are NOT going to patch this issue even though it is a clear step back for those of us with multi monitors. Imagine having spent the extra money on an extra monitor and an extra video card and being severely handicapped in their use for 2 years simply because MSFS ruins something that worked perfectly in FS2002, I think you'd be just as frustrated as I am.Leo Bakker

[Guest jason2112]

Wow, this tip did it for me! Moving a window more than 50% outside the first monitor, then closing and opening it again indeed put my second monitor into fullscreen as well (actually a good thing) and displayed the window. Cool! I had to change the resolution for the second display in the setup menu, then everything worked fine. I just did a flight in the Dreamfleet Archer with RealityXP's FL530 GPS on the second monitor and could not see any FPS problems - but I was flying over Alaska, so this might be different in crowded areas.Thank you!VOlker :]

[Guest wkzzo]

Great tip Baron will try this when I get home.