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Right now I'm in a bit of a dilemma as I need to project some of my works to a big screen (a wireless 70" monitor sitting in the conference room in this case) to show the work progress to my colleagues in real-time (which involves some Python scripting and test running with real-time inputs and results). Naturally, I only want to project the specific applications to the big screen (the PyCharm IDE, the python terminal running the tests, etc.) while keeping other works and private IM chats to myself.
Of the four modes Windows 10 natively supports when projecting screens, "PC screen only" and "Second screen only" are obviously not applicable here, "Duplicate" is also a no-no since it will project everything to the big screen. "Extend" mode is somehow workable, as I can drag those specific applications to the big screen. However, it's a pain to work with those applications now since I have to turn my head to look at the big screen to modify the scripts and run the tests, it's very uncomfortable when the screen is not directly facing you that after some time it feels my neck is going to break working like this.
So I wonder if there are certain ways to only duplicate specific contents to the big screen, so everyone can see those specific contents on the 70" monitor while I can still work just looking at my own notebook screen.
Since now Windows 10 supports virtual desktops with the Task View feature, ideally it'd be great if I can somehow only duplicate the screen content of a certain virtual desktop to the big screen. That way I can just put PyCharm and some terminal windows etc. to a new virtual desktop and duplicate it on the big screen while all my other applications stay in the main virtual desktop. I can then switch between the virtual desktops to work with.
Of course if there's some way to only duplicate the contents of specific applications windows, that will also work for my current problem.
I have done some research and it seems there are no OS native features that support this kind of requirements yet, not Windows, nor Mac OS, nor any Linux distro (albeit I have not tried all the plethora of different Linux window managers)
So anyone knows if there are any third party software solutions (free or paid) that can accomplish this, or if there are some OS tweaks or some window managers out there that can do this sort of things?
hellopeach
Posted 2019-04-03T09:34:11.253
Reputation: 113
1Put them on a virtual desktop so you got a clean screen and use duplication. Wouldn't that be an option? – Seth – 2019-04-03T09:42:38.907
@Seth, The problem is that if I switch back to the original desktop, the display on the big screen will also switch back to the original desktop. That means everyone will be looking at the original desktop if I switch back to handle some private IM chat... – hellopeach – 2019-04-03T09:48:20.247
Do you have any reason to switch to a private IM chat while giving a presentation or lecture? Set yourself to DND during that time. The other option would be to get a second device, prepare a video, have an editor which has some sort of presentation mode, check whenever the wireless display is capable of freezing what it's showing, place yourself in a way that you don't need to look back but rather to the side. Maybe some more. – Seth – 2019-04-03T10:04:12.093
@Seth, it's not about a presentation or lecture, it's full time working, right now I basically need to share the work progress on this particular work all the time (and yes that means this particular team is now working together in the conference room the whole day), right now I'm using the "extend" mode but after about half a dozen hours of working it feels like my neck is about to break... – hellopeach – 2019-04-03T10:58:00.873
Have OBS capture just your editing window and put OBS on the second screen. Lots of funky workaround but it sounds like it's an organizational problem. If you're feeling uncomfortable working like tell people that you do. If it's just about tracking work that can be done in other ways like having a git or similar. If it's wireless display just take a spot opposite of the screen so you can look straight at it. – Seth – 2019-04-03T12:03:13.303
1@Seth, well the opposite of the big screen is the far end of the long table where it'd be quite hard to look at the code while editing the scripts. And I guess we can try use some screen sharing software to share only the specific application windows, but both the boss and the client prefer the big screen method since they think it's more efficient and productive (and they are actually right in this case), while I'm looking for some software tools to aid my work so I can work more comfortably in this situation. – hellopeach – 2019-04-03T12:41:09.967
@Seth, I think OBS is a good solution for my current situation for now, so could you post an answer so that I can accept it as the solution? – hellopeach – 2019-04-08T02:12:42.107