Can Windows recognize if monitors are turned on?

smoth · Mar 13, 2015

I am running 3 montiors, but often only need to turn 1 or 2 on for the task I am doing. However, since Windows does not seem to notice that some are not on, it still tries to open screens on them which is a little annoying. Is there anyway for the system to recognize which monitors are active and restrict the screen space to those displays? The monitors are connected over DVI and I am running Win 8.1.

On my other system, which has 1 monitor connected through VGA and the other via HDMI, the computer recognizes when the HDMI monitor is not present, even with the signal being passed through the receiver. Perhaps this only works with HDMI?

bchur83 · Mar 13, 2015

In the past I have setup a Hotkey toggle to disable to unused monitors. You can usually do this from the AMD/Nvidia control panel. Just toggle them to disabled when you turn off the screens, and back on after.

c627627 · Mar 13, 2015

The only way I found to deal with this problem is to move the open program's window from the monitor I am not using to my main monitor with a keyboard shortcut and the only way to do that was to install a (paid) program called DisplayFusion Pro.

Simply moving an opened program window between monitors should have been a native feature of Windows 8 or 10.

Please post if any other programs can do it or if there are other ways to address this problem.

EDIT: moving an open program window from monitor to monitor

Dlaw · Mar 13, 2015

I have my TV hooked up as a secondary screen via HDMI, and if it's not on the video input for my computer, it's automatically disabled in Windows. Therefor, I assume that over HDMI, the computer can tell whether or not a monitor connected is turned on or off. I think that it works over DisplayPort as well, since when my monitor goes to sleep, and then is woke up, all of my open windows are crunched into the top left of the screen (leading me to believe that while the monitor is sleeping, video reverts to 1080p).

Automata · Mar 13, 2015

DP does it for sure and this feature is incredibly annoying. HDMI does not get auto detected on my system and DVI/VGA does not have the pins to transmit if it is connected (VGA sorta can).

Dlaw · Mar 13, 2015

thideras said:
DP does it for sure and this feature is incredibly annoying. HDMI does not get auto detected on my system and DVI/VGA does not have the pins to transmit if it is connected (VGA sorta can).

I completely agree. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't mess with the display settings when a monitor goes to sleep (at least, the settings that you don't want messed with). I set a screen saver for the first time in years because I got sick of the screen turning off when I get up to do something for like 5 minutes, and coming back and having to arrange all of my open windows again.

Automata · Mar 13, 2015

Dlaw said:
I completely agree. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't mess with the display settings when a monitor goes to sleep (at least, the settings that you don't want messed with). I set a screen saver for the first time in years because I got sick of the screen turning off when I get up to do something for like 5 minutes, and coming back and having to arrange all of my open windows again.

If I just had to move windows around, I wouldn't care so much. The monitor with DP going to sleep tends to crash the nvidia driver, which crashes running programs or causes rendering errors. I've even had it crash loop and completely hard lock the system. Its a neat feature when you frequently connect/disconnect monitors (laptops), but not being able to disable it is super annoying.

c627627 · Mar 13, 2015

I have always had my plasma TV connected alongside my main computer monitor and I was forced to abandon nVidia over the issue of weak multi-monitor support.
I found out the hard way that it is a lot easier to handle multiple monitors on ATi.

Automata · Mar 13, 2015

c627627 said:
I have always had my plasma TV connected alongside my main computer monitor and I was forced to abandon nVidia over the issue of weak multi-monitor support.
I found out the hard way that it is a lot easier to handle multiple monitors on ATi.

If you mean the auto connect/disconnect thing, that is actually a Windows "feature".

c627627 · Mar 13, 2015

I mean the ease with which multiple monitors are enabled/disabled, the ease with which their separate settings are controlled.
I admit that it has been a couple of years since I abandoned nVidia but I remember noticing that.

You are correct that the topic discussed is a Windows issue. I have a Logitech webcam which absolutely insists on opening itself on my Plasma TV, every time, no matter what.

The *only* way to control it, other than physically moving it to the monitor I want it to be on is to use DisplayFusion software.
I was wondering if any other software exists since Windows does not have any other options, other than physically moving the window to the correct screen.

Dlaw · Mar 14, 2015

Thinderas, I found a fix for my issue this morning, it may make a difference for you too.

What I did was this:
I went to Control Panel-> Power Options-> Change Plan Settings for current plan-> Change advanced power settings and in the Power Options window, expand the USB settings menu and disable USB selective suspend.

From what I can tell, it took care of my "everything getting crammed into the top left corner" problem, and all of my open windows stay at the size I set them (though I still think it's reverting to a slightly smaller resolution).

Automata · Mar 14, 2015

USB suspend should have nothing to do with the monitors unless you have a USB monitor.

Dlaw · Mar 14, 2015

I agree, but it worked for me.

smoth · Mar 16, 2015

I've always just used Windows+Shift+ arrows to move my active window between displays. While a little annoying, the main problem is sometimes error screens pop up on screens which are off and I dont see them so the process stalls until I finally find it. Guess there is no easy solution without migrating to all HDMI or displayport connections.

Can Windows recognize if monitors are turned on?

smoth

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c627627

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Automata

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c627627

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