prob with iTunes and second screen

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Hey, I have my MBP connected to my tv, and when I want to watch movies that are on my HD and work at the same time I simply play them in vlc, drag it to the other screen, and make it full screen. It works like a charm, the video takes up the whole tv but does not interfere with my laptop screen at all. The problem I am having though is with iTunes. When I purchase or rent video content from iTunes I can only play it with iTunes or quicktime, and both of these players seem to be very flawed when it comes to running on a second screen. If I make iTunes full screen on the TV it goes full screen but also completely blacks out my laptop screen. I can't see any reason for this and it makes my life very frustrating. For some reason, quicktime cant play full screen on my TV at all. If I make it fullscreen it will jump back to my laptop screen and make it fullscreen there. Does anybody know of any solutions to my problem?
 
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Quicktime will full screen only in the default screen. Change whih is the default screen to change which is goes to.

As for itrunes and movie rentals this is by design. Instead of full screen try fit to screen or just resize the window to mostly fill the tv.
 
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I use QTAmateur to play movies. Quicktime guts, but full screen goodness. It plays on my external monitor fine, though I think when it's connected it's set as primary display (menu bar is on big screen, Dock is on small screen.) Google it if you want to try it. It's free.
 
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eliehass
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Quicktime will full screen only in the default screen. Change whih is the default screen to change which is goes to.

As for itrunes and movie rentals this is by design. Instead of full screen try fit to screen or just resize the window to mostly fill the tv.

Why is that that way by design though? very frustrating... And if I make the TV the main screen then I wont be able to access any files or programs that I didn't already have open before it started playing...

I use QTAmateur to play movies. Quicktime guts, but full screen goodness. It plays on my external monitor fine, though I think when it's connected it's set as primary display (menu bar is on big screen, Dock is on small screen.) Google it if you want to try it. It's free.

It doesn't seem like QTAmeteur plays protected movies...

Anyway, thanks for the info guys, I guess I'm just without luck in this dept...
 
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eliehass
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does anyone know of a way to watch content purchased from the itunes store on a second screen without taking up the first?
 
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many more with dual display problems

I have the same issue. I just bought some HD movies through iTunes, and I am would like to watch them on my TV (via my mac's HDMI out), while working on my Mac.
Hopefully someone from Apple will show me how to make this software "just work".
 
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I have the same issue. I just bought some HD movies through iTunes, and I am would like to watch them on my TV (via my mac's HDMI out), while working on my Mac.
Hopefully someone from Apple will show me how to make this software "just work".

Its called Apple TV2
 
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chas_m

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On behalf of all movies and the people who worked incredibly hard to make them, can I just say "Make up your f'ing mind! EITHER watch a movie OR work on your Mac -- don't do both, because then you're not really doing very well at either!"

Movies (or at least good ones, and of course this applies to other things as well) require CONCENTRATION to really enjoy. Likewise, doing your best work also requires focus. You know, FOCUS? That thing people keep telling you you need to do more of? :)

Stop multitasking so much. Humans aren't really very good at it:
How (and Why) to Stop Multitasking - Peter Bregman - Harvard Business Review

(plenty more evidence of this where that came from, btw)

Just put down the Mac and enjoy the movie. Or forget the movie and get to work. But pick one at a time, and give it your full attention. That's the key to really enjoying life.
 
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Not just movies

I agree that movies should be enjoyed as an experience. I'm sure that this is the logic behind iTunes decision to blackout the second screen.

However, there are other things we watch that are not movies and may be of an educational nature. Many podcasts and iTunes U require you to have a webpage open, or an IDE running or some other program to use while your learning. Lots of programming courses from MIT or Standford kind of assume that you are following along in your IDE.

This is where Apple fails (has failed since Lion) and needs to fix this now.
 

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