Hi all,
What is the difference between fullscreen mode and borderless window mode? Both of them look like standard fullscreen mode. What is the point? Do games run better on borderless window mode? Why does this option exist at all in games?
Thanks,
hazazs
There are three display modes:
1. Fullscreen - Disables rendering of the desktop on the display; full control of the display is handed over to Direct3D/OpenGL.
2. Windowed - Desktop still rendered, a normal window is displayed, and the Direct3D/OpenGL are ordered to render in the windowed space.
3. Borderless Window - Same as #2 but the normal window (icon, title, minimize, maximize, close, resize handles, move) is excluded. This is an advantage when running at the same resolution as the desktop but a disadvantage when not because you can't move the window around the desktop.
The important distinction between #1 and #2/#3 is that a lot of games out there don't fully support gaining and losing focus (e.g. alt+tab or shift+enter). They get stuck/lost/corrupted transitioning states causing the game to lock up. In Windows XP and older, this created a notorious problem in #1 (fullscreen) because there was no way for Windows to seize back control of the Direct3D/OpenGL device without restarting the computer. They fixed this in Windows Vista and newer by making ctrl+alt+del display as a fullscreen application seizing the Direct3D/OpenGL device from the application that isn't cooperating. From there, you can open the task manager which re-renders the desktop disabling fullscreen mode and showing the Task Manager on the desktop so you can terminate it. Using #2/#3, you circumvent these problems entirely because the application never takes control over a display.
Which you should use entirely depends on you. If you're a chronic alt+tabber like me, you should probably use #2 or #3 in games you alt+tab frequently. If you never alt+tab out of a game then #1 (fullscreen) is best. When benchmarking, you should always use fullscreen because your mileage will vary using #2/#3 but it will always be worse than #1.
With fullscreen, most of the time you have to wait 3-10 seconds before you back to desktop and about the same time to go back to the game. With borderless, it probably takes less than a second each.
Switching between fullscreen and not requires reinitializing the render which is why it takes longer (some games more than others). When windowed (#2/#3), its instantaneous--no different than switching between an Outlook window and a browser window because the renderer doesn't start/stop.
The bulk of games out there don't have a problem with focus transitions. I'm playing Mass Effect now and it couldn't care less if it is minimized or not. On the other hand, Viscera Cleanup Detail has issues. It's still Early Access so they may or may not have got it fixed but, it is what it is. I play Mass Effect fullscreen; I play Viscera Cleanup Detail windowed.
