Windows 10: Multi Monitor Setup: gather all windows

Hi, I have severe, really severe problems working with Windows 11.The issue I have is this: My usual setup consists of two monitors, one "Main" monitor the laptop and an another monitor, which is connected to multiple devices.Even though my laptop monitor is my "main" monitor, and even though I unchecked the box that windows should remember their position based on monitor setup, there are still windows and worse, dialog boxes opening on the secondary monitor. This is highly annoying, as that freezes the program, and if I cannot see the second monitor because at that time it is displaying so

:)

 

Blurry text on secondary monitor in multi-resolution, multi-DPI setup


This is probably the most painful issue I have with Windows 10 right now (and likely previous versions as well, but I didn't have a multi-monitor setup back then).

The monitors I have are as follows:

1. 3840x2160 (4K UHD) monitor with preferred DPI: 144 (150%)
2. 1920x1080 (Full HD) monitor with preferred DPI: 96 (100%)

Whenever one of these monitors are set as primary, all desktop applications displayed on the secondary monitor (doesn't matter which) has blurry text. Exceptions are the Windows Store Apps like Windows Store and Microsoft Edge, along with the Taskbar/Start Menu, the Taskbar/Start Menu settings screen, the Taskbar context menu, and the desktop context menu which passes the DPI test with flying colours, with crispy text on both monitors (occasionally a DPI switch bug gets in, but I can mostly ignore that). The problem is, as you can probably guess, is that >99% of the applications I use aren't Windows Store Apps.

Here are some screenshots. The "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties" text is what the text should look like while the Visual Studio 2015 text is an example of the text most desktop apps get. The blurry image is what happens when the UHD monitor is not the primary monitor.
Attachment 48493Attachment 48494
Note: Both of these screenshots came from the 150% DPI monitor so it's best viewed at that (144) DPI level. The 96 DPI monitor is similarly affected.

Things I've already tried:

• Reinstall the graphics driver (this was unhelpfully given by a Microsoft Support Engineer). Did this multiple times in fact for unrelated reasons.
• Reinstall Windows 10 (through Reset This PC recovery option). I did this for also unrelated reasons but it definitely doesn't fix this issue.
• Use the XP Explorer "fix". Merely worsens the problem.
• Adjusting ClearType options. Alleviates the issue a bit but see next point.
• Disabling ClearType on the affected monitor. The text obviously sharpens, but it's painful to read and a close inspection of the text reveals the issue isn't solved at all, only mitigated slightly.
• Replacing the video card. I swapped this in with my older GTX 560 Ti but it's obvious the problem remains. Both it and my current card are NVIDIAs though, so it's vaguely possible the drivers or the cards themselves are the cause. I don't have an ATI/AMD card (that still works, at least) to test the setup and every Intel iGPU I have either has only one monitor output or is incapable of handling UHD resolutions.

Things I won't try:

• Setting both monitors' DPI to 96. Text would become microscopic considering the UHD monitor's actual size.
• Use the text resizing feature instead. I'm going take a wild guess that this is not monitor-specific and would cause everything on the HD monitor to be far too large to the point that I'd rather unplug it.

Does anyone have a multi-resolution, multi-DPI, multi-monitor setup with or without this issue? The text is painful to read on whichever is the secondary monitor right now, and is extremely apparent whenever the background is dark.

 

Double Monitor Setup is not connecting

Hi Yuri,

To setup dual monitors, I suggest you to press Windows + P keys
and select Extend or the required option and check for status. If you are still unable to setup dual monitor, suggest you to update the Display Adapter driver by following the steps provided below and check for status.

• Press Windows key + X and select Device Manager.
• Expand Display Adapters.
• Right click on the driver and select Update Driver Software.
• Follow the on-screen prompts to update the driver.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted on the status for further assistance.

 

Is there a way to have different power settings for multi-monitor setups?

Is there a way to have different power settings for multi-monitor setups? I currently running 2 28-in 4k monitors using dislay ports and a phantom 3rd HDMI monitor for Digital Sound to a Dolby Atmos Sound Bar. I don't want the HDMI stream to turn-off with the other monitors when playing background music. I have been unable to find any method of doing it using online searches. Is there a way to do it or is it the case where a windows power management update is necessary. Switching to between PCM/HDMI seems to be the only option that works but disrupts any background audio streams. Suggestions?