Can Steam’s Big Picture Mode and the game be displayed on another screen without changing the primary screen?

[Giresharu]

My setup is such that I have a computer in the bedroom, with a USB cable and an HDMI cable extending to the living room connected to the TV. The TV is the third screen (I have two screens in the bedroom, numbered as the first and second screens).

In the living room, I don’t have a suitable position or posture to use a mouse and keyboard, so I need to use the Big Picture Mode with a gamepad. However, there is an issue with the Big Picture Mode: it changes my primary screen to the TV, which is the third screen, causing my taskbar and all the icons on my desktop to move to the third screen.

When I finish gaming and am ready to return to the bedroom to work, I close Steam. At this point, the primary screen does not switch back to the first screen in the bedroom. Since the TV is in standby mode, there is no real way to turn it off other than unplugging it, and for Windows, it still considers the TV to be on, so it won’t switch back to the original primary screen just because the TV is turned off.

Therefore, I have to take the mouse to the living room and change the primary screen on the TV (because any newly opened settings windows will display on the TV, which I can’t see at all in the bedroom). This is very troublesome for me.

Additionally, I can only use the screen extension mode and do not want to use the screen duplication mode. Since I have two screens in the bedroom, I usually work in extended mode. Therefore, I don’t want to have to specifically go and set the screen projection mode every time I play a game.

(P.S.: Moreover, the Win+P shortcut for switching screen modes only displays the prompt UI on the primary screen, so I can’t predict in the bedroom which mode will be selected after I press it.)

[Giresharu]

Oh, and I’d like to ask another related question while I’m at it: I use headphones connected to the sound card in the bedroom, and when I turn on the TV, these headphones are still connected.
Every time, I have to use the mouse to change the audio hardware in the bottom right corner of Windows. I know that many programs actually allow you to set the output device individually, and some games have this feature as well. But for many games, this option is not available. Is there a way to automatically switch the system audio hardware when using Steam’s Big Picture Mode?

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[RPG Gamer Man]

Originally posted by Giresharu:

Oh, and I’d like to ask another related question while I’m at it: I use headphones connected to the sound card in the bedroom, and when I turn on the TV, these headphones are still connected.
Every time, I have to use the mouse to change the audio hardware in the bottom right corner of Windows. I know that many programs actually allow you to set the output device individually, and some games have this feature as well. But for many games, this option is not available. Is there a way to automatically switch the system audio hardware when using Steam’s Big Picture Mode?

This is probably a windows setting. I am not sure, you could ask the manufacturer of the headphones for support, or ask on the windows forum. They might know better about how to fix this issue.

[RPG Gamer Man]

Originally posted by Giresharu:

My setup is such that I have a computer in the bedroom, with a USB cable and an HDMI cable extending to the living room connected to the TV. The TV is the third screen (I have two screens in the bedroom, numbered as the first and second screens).

In the living room, I don’t have a suitable position or posture to use a mouse and keyboard, so I need to use the Big Picture Mode with a gamepad. However, there is an issue with the Big Picture Mode: it changes my primary screen to the TV, which is the third screen, causing my taskbar and all the icons on my desktop to move to the third screen.

When I finish gaming and am ready to return to the bedroom to work, I close Steam. At this point, the primary screen does not switch back to the first screen in the bedroom. Since the TV is in standby mode, there is no real way to turn it off other than unplugging it, and for Windows, it still considers the TV to be on, so it won’t switch back to the original primary screen just because the TV is turned off.

Therefore, I have to take the mouse to the living room and change the primary screen on the TV (because any newly opened settings windows will display on the TV, which I can’t see at all in the bedroom). This is very troublesome for me.

Additionally, I can only use the screen extension mode and do not want to use the screen duplication mode. Since I have two screens in the bedroom, I usually work in extended mode. Therefore, I don’t want to have to specifically go and set the screen projection mode every time I play a game.

(P.S.: Moreover, the Win+P shortcut for switching screen modes only displays the prompt UI on the primary screen, so I can’t predict in the bedroom which mode will be selected after I press it.)

I can see how this is annoying, but it might just be manual and have to do this everytime, like when i used to have to switch systems on one tv when i play on consoles. It is annoying to go behind the tv and do it manually. That is why i got a switcher box to remedy that. I do not think you can automate it. You can make a suggestion to Steam though in their suggestion forum.

Here is a link to the suggestion forum:

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/

[Giresharu]

Originally posted by RPG Gamer Man:

Originally posted by Giresharu:

My setup is such that I have a computer in the bedroom, with a USB cable and an HDMI cable extending to the living room connected to the TV. The TV is the third screen (I have two screens in the bedroom, numbered as the first and second screens).

In the living room, I don’t have a suitable position or posture to use a mouse and keyboard, so I need to use the Big Picture Mode with a gamepad. However, there is an issue with the Big Picture Mode: it changes my primary screen to the TV, which is the third screen, causing my taskbar and all the icons on my desktop to move to the third screen.

When I finish gaming and am ready to return to the bedroom to work, I close Steam. At this point, the primary screen does not switch back to the first screen in the bedroom. Since the TV is in standby mode, there is no real way to turn it off other than unplugging it, and for Windows, it still considers the TV to be on, so it won’t switch back to the original primary screen just because the TV is turned off.

Therefore, I have to take the mouse to the living room and change the primary screen on the TV (because any newly opened settings windows will display on the TV, which I can’t see at all in the bedroom). This is very troublesome for me.

Additionally, I can only use the screen extension mode and do not want to use the screen duplication mode. Since I have two screens in the bedroom, I usually work in extended mode. Therefore, I don’t want to have to specifically go and set the screen projection mode every time I play a game.

(P.S.: Moreover, the Win+P shortcut for switching screen modes only displays the prompt UI on the primary screen, so I can’t predict in the bedroom which mode will be selected after I press it.)

I can see how this is annoying, but it might just be manual and have to do this everytime, like when i used to have to switch systems on one tv when i play on consoles. It is annoying to go behind the tv and do it manually. That is why i got a switcher box to remedy that. I do not think you can automate it. You can make a suggestion to Steam though in their suggestion forum.

Here is a link to the suggestion forum:

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/

Thank you! I’ve also thought about using a switcher, which would be the last resort.

But just now, I suddenly thought of a method: maybe I could write an AHK script to recognize the Steam Big Picture mode window (I’m praying that the Big Picture mode window has a different title from the normal mode so that I can recognize it), and then automatically switch the audio device, the primary screen, or the screen expansion mode, etc.

I’m going to delve into this for a while. If I successfully figure it out, I’ll share it here.

[RPG Gamer Man]

Well if not, use a switcher box. I use it to change multiple consoles on one tv. I know you said it as last resort, but it might be the only solution to your issue. Good luck anyways!