I'm looking at setting up a second monitor attached to my laptop that I can use to present maps and images to my players. What I need as much as anything else, however, is software that will allow me to push the image I want the players to see, when I want the players to see it. The second monitor is going to be facing away from me, so I won't be able to see what's on it.

I tried MapTool (with an instance of the software running on the second screen for the players, and one for me on the main laptop monitor), but it doesn't allow me to push images to the player.

Any suggestions?

For just plain images, use whatever picture app/program your computer uses by default, and (I'm assuming you're using extended display and not cloned display, based upon your description of use) drag the window with the pic to the second monitor. It's quick, it's easy, nothing special needed. It's exactly what I do. The default Windows picture viewer opens up new instances of itself if you open each image separately, so you even have the option of having all of the pics open and ready to drag into view for your players before you even start.

Same principle can be applied to maps, assuming you're just wanting to display the map, as if you were handing them a hard copy. Open the map up in the default program for the file type (picture, pdf, etc) and drag that window over to the second monitor. If you want to interact with the map (character tokens, etc), while I haven't had the need to do so in a session yet, on the recommendations of others here in the forums, I've been experimenting a bit with Roll20, which looks like it might just do the trick. Instead of having the players log in to move their tokens, you can log in as a player with rights to move the tokens and move them yourself. The only issue there is that you'll have to turn and look at the second monitor while moving them.

EDIT: Re-reading your post, I'm picturing the monitors being back-to-back. I would suggest placing the second monitor where you can easily see it (even if you have to turn a bit temporarily) along with your group. My "second monitor" is the TV, which is behind me as we play. A quick glance around is all that's needed for me to make sure they're seeing what they need to see. Meanwhile, my "GM only" information is visible on the laptop display for myself only.

I do the same as Nytwyng, but with a projector. It's just another display hooked to my machine, no extra tools necessary. I drag what I want the players to see to the other display.

Now, if you want the players to be able to interact with what's on that screen, well that's another matter.

I've seen GMs lay a TV or monitor flat on the table so that they may see what the players see as well, which makes it possible to place tokens ON the screen and move things around. The truly ambitious have built tables around a TV dedicated to this purpose, then placed a nice protective acrylic over the top as a gaming surface.

Oh...and just because I'm crazy that way, when we're in session, I have a separate desktop theme, with a desktop wallpaper that's a logo for the campaign, so when nothing's being displayed, the logo's there. I considered a rotating wallpaper with the logo, images of our ship and the PC's, but decided the rotation of pics might be too distracting, so I stuck with the one static image.

Yeah... the screens were originally going to be back to back, but it looks like that might not be an option. I'll just have to take up more tablespace than expected. *chuckles*

Thanks for the ideas.

I do the same as Nytwyng, but with a projector. It's just another display hooked to my machine, no extra tools necessary. I drag what I want the players to see to the other display.

Now, if you want the players to be able to interact with what's on that screen, well that's another matter.

I've seen GMs lay a TV or monitor flat on the table so that they may see what the players see as well, which makes it possible to place tokens ON the screen and move things around. The truly ambitious have built tables around a TV dedicated to this purpose, then placed a nice protective acrylic over the top as a gaming surface.

When and if we finally reach the point of being able to have at least a semi-dedicated game room, I'd love to go that custom table route. It would even come in handy for times like last weekend when we played Mega Trivial Pursuit (bring out all our sets, add a D10 to your dice roll to determine which set your question comes from), because it would allow for integrating the DVD-based sets.

But, I hadn't thought of laying a TV/monitor down while still using physical tokens. Hmmmm...best of both worlds there. Allows the players control of their tokens while keeping the maps electronic, thus saving on printing costs, especially for larger scale. Now to convince my wife why I should lay down the money for another (relatively inexpensive) TV or monitor.....

EDIT: Or, I *suppose* I could always pull the TV from the computer room for a few hours at a time.

Yeah... the screens were originally going to be back to back, but it looks like that might not be an option. I'll just have to take up more tablespace than expected. *chuckles*

Thanks for the ideas.

Instead of taking up more table space, and depending on the layout and available space in the room you're playing in, do you have (or would you consider buying) a small "TV tray" to put beside you where you and your group can see?

Something like this:

But, I hadn't thought of laying a TV/monitor down while still using physical tokens. Hmmmm...best of both worlds there. Allows the players control of their tokens while keeping the maps electronic, thus saving on printing costs, especially for larger scale. Now to convince my wife why I should lay down the money for another (relatively inexpensive) TV or monitor.....

Ha, you and me both!

There were 2 ways to go about it - custom table, or raising the TV up a bit to keep dice and character sheets and whatnot on the table itself and only use the screen as the play surface. This works really well if the TV is pretty thin, which they are nowadays. There's no way in hell I'm going to have room for another table or modify my existing tables to have an embedded TV, so this is likely the route I'll take.

Not a bad idea. And I have some of those sitting around. Unfortunately we play at a friend's house, so it would be one more thing I'd have to drag with me.

But, I hadn't thought of laying a TV/monitor down while still using physical tokens. Hmmmm...best of both worlds there. Allows the players control of their tokens while keeping the maps electronic, thus saving on printing costs, especially for larger scale. Now to convince my wife why I should lay down the money for another (relatively inexpensive) TV or monitor.....

Ha, you and me both!

There were 2 ways to go about it - custom table, or raising the TV up a bit to keep dice and character sheets and whatnot on the table itself and only use the screen as the play surface. This works really well if the TV is pretty thin, which they are nowadays. There's no way in hell I'm going to have room for another table or modify my existing tables to have an embedded TV, so this is likely the route I'll take.

Oh, definitely. Fortunately, my father-in-law is great with woodworking, so giving him the TV's dimensions and a rough sketch of what I'd want is easy enough. Unfortunately, when a project like that is for family (excluding the grandkids) instead of "real" paying customers, those projects take a while for him to do.

I can picture taking, say, a 27 or 28" tv (not so huge that storage is an issue, not so small that the whole group has to huddle around the table to see), and making a housing that would easily fit on the table, and if it were a dedicated tv/monitor for gaming like that, go ahead and put the acrylic layer over the screen, just to be safe (and allow for dry erase marking, as well). I'd probably still keep the big "main" TV as screen 2 for opening crawl, character/scenery pics, etc. with the tabletop screen perhaps devoted exclusively to maps so players can examine them as closely as they like without invading my GM space.

Now you've given me a new obsession for a gaming tool. Time to start keeping an eye on ads for a super-cheap 27/28" TV....

Not a bad idea. And I have some of those sitting around. Unfortunately we play at a friend's house, so it would be one more thing I'd have to drag with me.

As loathe as I am to recommend them as a store, it looks like you can get a single one at (ugh) Walmart for about 6 bucks. Have everyone in the group chip in a buck or so to get one to keep at the friend's house.

Now that I think about it, if you've got a little advance prep time, and open those pics in multiple instances of the picture viewer, drag them to your second monitor during prep time, then minimize them while prepping, and keeping your laptop powered up when you head to the game, in theory, restoring those pics from the task bar should cause them to restore on the second monitor.

Might be worth experimenting with sometime between sessions.

Now that I think about it, if you've got a little advance prep time, and open those pics in multiple instances of the picture viewer, drag them to your second monitor during prep time, then minimize them while prepping, and keeping your laptop powered up when you head to the game, in theory, restoring those pics from the task bar should cause them to restore on the second monitor.

Might be worth experimenting with sometime between sessions.

Exactly what I ended up doing.

Of course, PowerPoint (and related programs) do two screens all the time.

They are even easy to set up so that you can see your current slide that is being shown (plus your speakers notes) as well as the next slide that has not yet come up.

You just have to decide if you want to inflict “Death by PowerPoint” on your players.

But, I hadn't thought of laying a TV/monitor down while still using physical tokens. Hmmmm...best of both worlds there. Allows the players control of their tokens while keeping the maps electronic, thus saving on printing costs, especially for larger scale. Now to convince my wife why I should lay down the money for another (relatively inexpensive) TV or monitor.....

Ha, you and me both!

There were 2 ways to go about it - custom table, or raising the TV up a bit to keep dice and character sheets and whatnot on the table itself and only use the screen as the play surface. This works really well if the TV is pretty thin, which they are nowadays. There's no way in hell I'm going to have room for another table or modify my existing tables to have an embedded TV, so this is likely the route I'll take.

And so...a we were headed to attend and work a sci-fi/comic con this afternoon, I mentioned it, and she didn't object, so i take that as approval.

Yep...I'm keeping an eye on ads...maybe even Craigslist....

And so...a we were headed to attend and work a sci-fi/comic con this afternoon, I mentioned it, and she didn't object, so i take that as approval.

Yep...I'm keeping an eye on ads...maybe even Craigslist....

Not a bad idea! Someone will surely upgrade around the time of a sporting event.

I'm sitting at the table I intend to use for gaming, it's bigger than I thought. Perhaps I should be keeping an eye open as well.

I've been playing this game for a few months using this method. I've gone through a few iterations of it.

1) 21" computer monitor with plexiglass secured with elastic going around it (great for portability) and using my computer

2) 36" TV as computer monitor laid down with plexiglass (more play area)

And coming soon, a 65" TV built into a wooden frame that becomes the table.

I've found success using just a USB thumb drive with images plugged directly into the TV, but lately I want more control ability and audio so I'm going back to the computer.

Also, check out: Virtual Tabletop on Steam. You can download maps, add figures, and everything inside a 3D realm, and do it live.

And, the Force may be with me. The sister of one of my players is selling her 30-something inch tv for $40, because the sound is bad in one of the speakers. For map use, I won't need the sound. Perfect timing. Very glad I happened to mention my plan to my player when I did.

Yep...it's a go.

Sister thinks it's a very cool idea and, if she weren't planning on using the $40 for redecorating supplies, she'd just give me the tv for the cool factor. It's a 39" tv (almost as big as the "main" tv. Sound out in one speaker, and missing remote (because the dog mistook it for a chew toy), neither of which are necessary for my purposes. Once I get it, the next step will be to get with my father-in-law to design a tabletop housing for it.

This has been an awesome few days for my gaming supply setup.

Not sure if this has been linked before:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1471747/build-gaming-table-150

That is awesome.

The Force continues to be with me. We're about to be in need of a new dining room table, and have been getting ready to start looking. Totally unrelated, I sent that link to my wife, just to show her how cool it is. In response, I got the following text:

Looks good, given its design it could be used as our dining table

And now to talk to my carpenter father-in-law, especially since the plans are available.

That is awesome.

The Force continues to be with me. We're about to be in need of a new dining room table, and have been getting ready to start looking. Totally unrelated, I sent that link to my wife, just to show her how cool it is. In response, I got the following text:

Looks good, given its design it could be used as our dining table

And now to talk to my carpenter father-in-law, especially since the plans are available.

Just to whet your appetite:

http://www.6d6studio.com/#!game-tables/c1ger

https://geek-chic-hq.myshopify.com/collections/custom-dining-tables-for-gaming

You've probably already seen those, but just in case.....

That is awesome.

The Force continues to be with me. We're about to be in need of a new dining room table, and have been getting ready to start looking. Totally unrelated, I sent that link to my wife, just to show her how cool it is. In response, I got the following text:

Looks good, given its design it could be used as our dining table

And now to talk to my carpenter father-in-law, especially since the plans are available.

Just to whet your appetite:

http://www.6d6studio.com/#!game-tables/c1ger

https://geek-chic-hq.myshopify.com/collections/custom-dining-tables-for-gaming

You've probably already seen those, but just in case.....

Oh, I drooled all over the Geek Chic site when the owner went on Shark Tank. But, approximately $200 for my FIL to make the other table is much more within our budget than 6D6 or Geek Chic's prices.

Oh, I drooled all over the Geek Chic site when the owner went on Shark Tank. But, approximately $200 for my FIL to make the other table is much more within our budget than 6D6 or Geek Chic's prices.

You and me both! I just posted them for inspiration, I have no doubt you and FIL will be able to make something as cool or even more cool!