Easiest way to record a dual-screen monitor

With advancements in technology, computers with dual or even triple screen monitors are becoming a common sight in many workplaces. It’s quite evident that a dual monitor screen gives us more freedom and power when it comes to getting things done quickly and efficiently.

Benefits of having a dual monitor display:

  • Increased productivity.
  • Ability to multitask.
  • Better live-streaming.
  • Quick image and video rendering and many more.

With numerous benefits of having a dual monitor screen, many users wish to record their screen and share it with others. While there are many screen recorders available in the market, when our hunt narrows down to a screen recorder that can record on a dual monitor screen, a dual-screen recorder, we aren’t left with many options.

In this article, we will look at one such dual-screen recorder that can record the screen easily on a dual or even more than two monitor screen. The cherry on the cake? It’s totally free. So let’s get started without further ado.

Recording using OBS:

About: OBS stands for Open Broadcaster Software and is a free and open-source software for video recording and live streaming. Its features also allow its use as a dual-screen recorder. It is available for download on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

OBS comes packed with many powerful tools and features and is a go-to recorder for many professionals too. The only downside of this recorder is that its UI can be a bit complicated and overwhelming to some beginners. But don’t worry, we will try our best to get you through this.

How to:

  • Click on the following link https://obsproject.com/download and download the OBS dual-screen recorder for your operating system.
  • If you wish to read the Quickstart guide while OBS is downloading on your system, head on to Wiki.
  • Once the OBS is downloaded, install it and OBS will adjust itself according to your system specs, click on Next to continue.
  • If it asks you to connect to a streaming service such as Twitch or YouTube, you can either connect your account if you have one or simply click on Cancel.

  • Once you are done with installation and configuration, you should be greeted with a screen that looks something like this:

    OBS interface when it opens

  • On this OBS window, you can see a box called Sources on the bottom of your screen that says: “You don’t have any sources. Click the + button below or right-click here to add one.”
  • As said, click on the + button to add a new source. Source, as the name suggests is the place from where the screen or video is captured. Since we want to record the screen from a second monitor(dual monitor display) too, we add a new source.
  • After clicking on the + button, select Display Capture from the drop-down menu.
  • We are first gonna add our primary screen or monitor to OBS Studio.

  • On the window that opens, rename “Display Capture” to “Primary Screen” and click on OK.

    Adding a new display

  • You should now be greeted with a screen that looks like this:

    A new display is added successfully

    It shows you the current screen you are working on.

    Note: In case you see a black screen, then you need to add OBS path location to your Graphics Card’s Settings. The steps for which are given at the end of this article.

  • Click on OK if you see your screen instead of a black screen.
  • You have now successfully added your primary screen to OBS. To add the screen of your second monitor, click on the + button under the Sources box again.
  • Select Display Capture from the drop-down menu and on the new window that pops, rename “Display Capture” to “Secondary Screen”. Click on OK.

  • Now, unlike the last time, select the second display by clicking on the drop-down menu titled Display. After you are done selecting your second display, click on OK.

    Select second display from drop-down menu

    Picture Credits: AddictiveTips

  • If you have more than two displays, you can add them in the same way as we did now by selecting a different display each time from the drop-down menu.
  • Now here comes the tricky part. We need to adjust our recording area according to our display dimensions.
  • Since in the above example, both of our displays are of dimensions 1920x1080. So adding both the displays gives us a single display of 3840x1080.

  • When you are done with the calculation of your required recording area, click on Settings near the bottom-right corner and select the Video panel from the list on the left.

    Click on Settings

  • Click on the Base (Canvas) resolution dropdown and change it so that it is set to the total width of both your monitors and the height of the tallest monitor that you have.

  • In our case, we will be changing to 3840x1080 since 1920+1920=3840.

    Change the Base (Canvas) resolution

  • After you have made the change, click on Apply and hit OK.
  • Lastly, you need to align your screens.

  • After changing the resolution, there must be an empty area either to the left or to the right which looks something like this:

    Resultant screen after changing the resolution

    Picture Credits: AddictiveTips

  • Here, the empty black area is on the right. Yours can be on the left and it’s totally okay if it is so.

  • To align your screens, simply click on the screen which is not empty and drag and drop it in the black area.

    Clicking and dragging the second display to the right

    Picture Credits: AddictiveTips

  • Adjust it properly by dragging it to the right place until it completely covers the black area. The end result should look something like this:

    Fitting the second display properly by dragging

    Picture Credits: AddictiveTips

  • Now you are all set to record your dual monitor display. Click on Start Recording present on the right side of OBS studio to start recording your dual screen.
  • You can now minimize OBS studio and use your PC as you would. To stop the dual-screen recording, open OBS studio again and hit Stop Recording.
  • You can find your complete dual-screen recordings under the Videos directory of your File Explorer.

Solution for “Black Screen” Display Capture

  • Open Settings on your Windows.
  • Head on to System>Display.

  • At the end of Display settings, you will see Graphics settings.

    Display Settings on Windows

  • Click on Graphics settings and then click on the Browse button.
  • Select the OBS executable file (Default location: C:\Program Files\obs-studio\bin\64bit\obs64.exe).
  • After adding it, click on it and then click on Options.
  • Select Power Saving from the menu and hit Save.
  • Restart OBS studio and you should not see the black screen anymore.

In conclusion, the OBS studio is the ultimate power tool when it comes to recording or streaming videos be it for a dual monitor display or more than two monitors too. Its top-notch professional features make it one of the best dual screen recorders available in the market. Hope you give it a try.