I'm running Windows 10 on a 2012 Mac Mini using Apple Boot Camp. Video is coming from the Mac via Thunderbolt to a 1440p Apple Thunderbolt Display. Audio is coming from the Mac via HDMI to a Yamaha A/V receiver. The problem with this arrangement is that Windows thinks there's a secondary display, when in fact the HDMI is only being used for audio not video. Is there a way to shunt the secondary display in Windows Intel Graphics properties so that HDMI audio gets through but the mouse pointer and windows don't get lost on this phantom display?
Disable Secondary Monitor but keep HDMI audio
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
Joined
·
2,488 Posts
No, not really. Because the audio device (your AVR) is considered a "display" as it has an EDID like any other HDMI device. Despite the fact that no actual display is connected to the AVR, it still must receive video in the TMDS signal (if you were to connect your TV and switch to the receiver's output you'd see the image is indeed there). This is essentially the nature of HDMI--even "audio" devices are still video devices. If you disable it as a "display" it disables it as a device, period.
What you can do is put the secondary monitor in a different position (like on the top or bottom instead of left or right) to minimize the chance of losing the mouse pointer on the "secondary display". You can also do what I do on my HTPC and enable the control key to show a momentary circle around the mouse pointer when you tap it. That way if you don't see the mouse pointer you can tap CTRL and then see where it is on the screen; if it's nowhere you know it's on the secondary and just swipe your mouse in the appropriate direction.
Yes, I know there's video there, albeit unwanted, I just want to eliminate the nuisance of keeping track of where my mouse pointer is and when random windows appear in the wrong display and I have to go onto howtogeek for their "Bring Misplaced Off-Screen Windows Back to Your Desktop (Keyboard Trick)" article for the nth time. I've tried placing the second monitor in the bottom corner in relation to the primary monitor and making 800x600 resolution (which was the smallest I could dial -- why isn't there 1x1?) but I hoped for some way to make that monitor a "no-fly zone" for Windows.
Joined
·
2,488 Posts
LOL 1x1, jokes. Keep in mind that when you select 800x600, your AVR more than likely does no accept such a resolution. What happens is your GPU puts that inside an output resolution (a "wrapper" if you like) of a common consumer-electronics-supported resolution (i.e. 720p or 1080p or 480p).
Note also that if you're using multi-PCM if you give the receiver too low a resolution (for example an SD resolution like 480 which probably is supported by the receiver) then you will end up limiting the audio bandwidth because it's using a lower HDMI clock speed which probably can't support higher bitrate audio--a symptom of this is having only 5.1 audio instead of 7.1 or only stereo instead of multi-PCM available. So even if you could, going to 1x1 would not be a good idea.
Unfortunately you're going to have to live with it. Blame HDMI, I guess. You may try to find a utility or something that makes it so your mouse pointer is confined to a certain desktop/area, but not sure if one exists as I've never looked for such a thing. It's worth a google search though if it annoys you that much.
You could try cloning both displays. I'm not sure if you could force Windows to think your non-existent display has the same resolution as your real display's.
BTW, what resolution does the A/V receiver tell Windows it's running at? Is that configurable? If it's hardwired at 1080p you could dumb down your display to 1080p if the resulting quality is acceptable.
BTW, what resolution does the A/V receiver tell Windows it's running at? Is that configurable? If it's hardwired at 1080p you could dumb down your display to 1080p if the resulting quality is acceptable.
There may exist gadgets that allow you to set a device connected to an HDMI port to any resolution you want.
Or, if you're adventurous enough, you could try setting your non-existing display on your HDMI port to 1440 before cloning: http://tweaks.com/windows/36759/chan...hing-you-want/.
Or, if you're adventurous enough, you could try setting your non-existing display on your HDMI port to 1440 before cloning: http://tweaks.com/windows/36759/chan...hing-you-want/.
Cloning is a good solution. Except my pc display is 1920x1200p. My Pc (amd hd 6750 gpu) will only clone 1920x1080. If using clone, I lose the extra resolution. If both screens were 1080, cloning would work perfect.
Right now I have dvi from video going to my 1920x1200 screen, and the hdmi from video card to a yamaha 6090 reciever, with nothing connnected to the hdmi output on the 6090. I am using the 1920x1200 screen as my main display, and using the yamaha reciever as an extended display. This works with the 1920x1200 display, but the mouse does disappear
I also use a spdif output from the motherboard going to the receiver.
I switch between optical, and hdmi audio by changing the input on the receiver (using the remote), so it works well. When I switch away from the pc hdmi, the extended screen turns off, and the pc switches to the optical cable for audio.
I just dont like the mouse moving over to the dead screen.
I primarily use kodi, so everything works well after playing with the settings.
Right now I have dvi from video going to my 1920x1200 screen, and the hdmi from video card to a yamaha 6090 reciever, with nothing connnected to the hdmi output on the 6090. I am using the 1920x1200 screen as my main display, and using the yamaha reciever as an extended display. This works with the 1920x1200 display, but the mouse does disappear
I also use a spdif output from the motherboard going to the receiver.
I switch between optical, and hdmi audio by changing the input on the receiver (using the remote), so it works well. When I switch away from the pc hdmi, the extended screen turns off, and the pc switches to the optical cable for audio.
I just dont like the mouse moving over to the dead screen.
I primarily use kodi, so everything works well after playing with the settings.
Joined
·
361 Posts
Why don't you have HDMI -> Receiver -> TV? Does that receiver not support 1920x1200? This is one of the reasons why receivers have the HDMI pass-through.
The only other option I can think of is a stand-alone HDMI splitter, but those likely will require the same resolution on both TV's, and if the Receiver only supports 1080p then you'll likely be limited to 1080p anyway.
As for setting up the extended monitors, my prefered method when using a "hidden" monitor is to place it well off to the bottom-right of the main monitor (so the two monitors only touch on the very corner of the screens; in the attached picture Monitor 2 would be the hidden monitor, while Monitor 1 would be the main display). Drag the mouse all the way to the bottom right and the mouse disappears, drag it to the top left and it comes back to the main monitor.
You can also find a nice little free program called WinSplit Revolution v11.04 which includes a keyboard shortcut to move windows to the right/left monitor. This can help you if a window seems to have jumped to a monitor you can't see, easily allowing you to bring it back to a visible monitor.
Attachments
The hdmi out on my receiver is damaged, so cant use it. I already bought the hdmi connectors from yamaha, but those tiny connections look really hard to solder. The htr6090 only passes 1080p max, no 24p.
The corner idea looks pretty good, not sure if my gpu can do that. I will look into it
I looked into splitters and they seem to be quiestionable with how well they work. Probably pick one up since they are not very expensive
The corner idea looks pretty good, not sure if my gpu can do that. I will look into it
I looked into splitters and they seem to be quiestionable with how well they work. Probably pick one up since they are not very expensive
Are you using winsplit to position the screens?
Edit. I have only been using hdmi audio for the past few days since I upgraded to windows 10. My old os (vista) would not play hdmi audio correctly. So... I have been playing around with sound the entire weekend. Hdmi sound functions correct with windows 10. No troubles.
I have decided to remove the hdmi cable from the receiver and just use optical. I can't notice a difference between mpcm and decoded dd5.1/ dts. Both run at 1530kbs? on kodi, so there really isnt a difference. I am playing blu-ray discs and hd-dvd movies to test. I don't have any true 7.1 media to take advantage of the hdmi. I have a couple demo clips and they sound a tiny bit better with the extra rear speakers, but not worth losing my only hdmi input on the receiver.
I am using polk monitor 40's and 30's in 7.1 , small room with speakers about 5' from my head.
I can now plug the hdmi out of the pc, back into my 52" tv. I will just use the hdmi input on the receiver for my chromecast to listen to audio. I can now use the 52" as extended again for files and logging. 1920x1200 main display, and 1920x1080p hdtv display work very good, just have to play with color settings on the hdtv to sorta match the professional dvi display.
I will try the hdmi 1x2 splitter later to send a signal to both hdtv and receiver. Not sure if this will work, but worth it to try
I really need to upgrade to the newer truehd dtshd 7.1 receivers =)
Edit. I have only been using hdmi audio for the past few days since I upgraded to windows 10. My old os (vista) would not play hdmi audio correctly. So... I have been playing around with sound the entire weekend. Hdmi sound functions correct with windows 10. No troubles.
I have decided to remove the hdmi cable from the receiver and just use optical. I can't notice a difference between mpcm and decoded dd5.1/ dts. Both run at 1530kbs? on kodi, so there really isnt a difference. I am playing blu-ray discs and hd-dvd movies to test. I don't have any true 7.1 media to take advantage of the hdmi. I have a couple demo clips and they sound a tiny bit better with the extra rear speakers, but not worth losing my only hdmi input on the receiver.
I am using polk monitor 40's and 30's in 7.1 , small room with speakers about 5' from my head.
I can now plug the hdmi out of the pc, back into my 52" tv. I will just use the hdmi input on the receiver for my chromecast to listen to audio. I can now use the 52" as extended again for files and logging. 1920x1200 main display, and 1920x1080p hdtv display work very good, just have to play with color settings on the hdtv to sorta match the professional dvi display.
I will try the hdmi 1x2 splitter later to send a signal to both hdtv and receiver. Not sure if this will work, but worth it to try
I really need to upgrade to the newer truehd dtshd 7.1 receivers =)
Joined
·
361 Posts
No, I use another program for monitor positions (because I have 4 monitors, one of which I rotate from landscape to portrait mode, another I sometimes connect to another computer, so disable it sometimes). However, you should be able to positions the monitors as I suggested using just the Windows built in monitor configuration (I haven't used Win10 specifically for this, but the "Screen Resolution" window hasn't changed since Vista).
I use WinSplit Revolution, specifically, for window placement and movement between monitors. WinSplit allows you to, using just a keyboard shortcut, move windows to another monitor or to position windows variously on your monitor(s). The main reason why I suggested it to you is that if you are going to have a monitor which is active but "hidden" / not in use it is possible to "lose" a window onto that desktop space and not be able to easily move it back; WinSplit allows you to hit keyboard shortcut while the window is active and snap it back onto your active monitor/TV.
HDMI offers two major advantages over SPDIF Optical. First is that HDMI can bitstream 7.1 Compressed audio - DTS-HD or Dolby TrueHD. This mostly benefits Blu-Ray playback, as it allows you to use the better sound quality of the HD audio and to get true 7.1 channel audio.
Second is that HDMI supports 7.1 LPCM audio - that is 7.1 uncompressed audio channels. This allows you to set up 7.1 speakers in Windows and have all 8 speakers be used in any applications; it primarily benefits games, which can use 5.1 or 7.1 audio and correctly send it to the speakers for surround sound. It also allows you to decode 7.1 audio on the computer and send the LPCM 7.1 signal to the receiver; this is useful if your receiver doesn't support HD audio formats (some older ones support LPCM but not HD audio).
With SPDIF you are limited to 2.0 PCM - that is stereo - within Windows, or bitstreaming 5.1 DD/DTS audio (which sounds quite good, but is a lossy audio format, as opposed to the lossless HD audio formats; in actual use I would bet that most people would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two). With SPDIF games will be limited to stereo output unless you get a slightly more expensive sound card that supports Dolby Digital Live and/or DTS Connect - these allow you to compress 5.1 audio on the fly, so games can output 5.1 audio and the soundcard can create a DD/DTS signal to bitstream to the receiver. However, if being stuck with stereo in games is not an issue for you then I wouldn't worry about that.
I had the same problem, and came to this forum looking for an answer. I found one, albeit in a different way. I also know this answer comes late, but it might help others. I don't think this should make a difference, but just in case, I'm using DVI to HDMI from my PC to my Yamaha receiver. This is the one I wanted to disable the display on, but keep the sound. I use an HDMI cable from my computer to my 4k monitor (different resolution than OP, but still same problem). I'm also using windows 10.
Go into Nvidia Control Panel and duplicate the displays. This will inherently force your 4k into a 1080p/i resolution, and grey out all other resolution options. Close Nvidia. Right click on desktop, go to Display Settings. It'll show the cloned displays. Here, you can change the resolution to 4k, and it'll force the Yamaha (or whatever sound device hopefully) to match the primary monitors resolution.
Using this method, you can keep your high resolution display cloned with a lower resolution display (which is primary for audio), without having to worry about a mini extended display. Of course this only works when you have one monitor or multiple monitors used as clone, although it might still work even if you have one extended and one cloned, I don't see why it wouldn't. Hope this helps some people.
Go into Nvidia Control Panel and duplicate the displays. This will inherently force your 4k into a 1080p/i resolution, and grey out all other resolution options. Close Nvidia. Right click on desktop, go to Display Settings. It'll show the cloned displays. Here, you can change the resolution to 4k, and it'll force the Yamaha (or whatever sound device hopefully) to match the primary monitors resolution.
Using this method, you can keep your high resolution display cloned with a lower resolution display (which is primary for audio), without having to worry about a mini extended display. Of course this only works when you have one monitor or multiple monitors used as clone, although it might still work even if you have one extended and one cloned, I don't see why it wouldn't. Hope this helps some people.
In Windows, right click on the speaker/volume icon in the systray.
Select "Playback Devices"
Disable all the devices you do NOT want any sound on, only leaving the receiver. Just right click the item you want to disable, and select "Disable".
You could try only setting the receiver to the default device, but I've found that Windows will still get confused on what is the default device, so it is really better to disable the ones you don't want.
This will not disable the video, it only disables the audio.
Select "Playback Devices"
Disable all the devices you do NOT want any sound on, only leaving the receiver. Just right click the item you want to disable, and select "Disable".
You could try only setting the receiver to the default device, but I've found that Windows will still get confused on what is the default device, so it is really better to disable the ones you don't want.
This will not disable the video, it only disables the audio.
I got a new pc finally 6700k/32gbddr4/gtx1070. Same yamaha htr6090 and screens though. Not using the hdtv on new pc, but have had it hooked up and working.
I have the hdmi out from the gpu going to the yamaha6090 for sound, and the dvi out from gpu going to the pc screen. I use extended screen for the audio receiver, and set that to the lowest resolution.
This works very well for me while gaming.
I think cloning monitor will default the gpu to run at max speeds always. I could be wrong though, might want to check that if you are cloning screens.
When not gaming, I just switch the amp to spdif from pc, and windows automatically switches. Extended monitor disappears. Works great since I don't need hdmi, or extended screen for google chrome or only music.
I have the hdmi out from the gpu going to the yamaha6090 for sound, and the dvi out from gpu going to the pc screen. I use extended screen for the audio receiver, and set that to the lowest resolution.
This works very well for me while gaming.
I think cloning monitor will default the gpu to run at max speeds always. I could be wrong though, might want to check that if you are cloning screens.
When not gaming, I just switch the amp to spdif from pc, and windows automatically switches. Extended monitor disappears. Works great since I don't need hdmi, or extended screen for google chrome or only music.
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
Join the discussion
Join now to ask and comment!