Looking to get a mini pc to run my TV that I use for in person gaming

First, let me say, I'm not that technically minded. I know the basics, but please respond to my topic with the idea that I have no idea what I'm talking about... ;-) My desktop is great for online gaming on Roll20, but I just bought a gaming table and I put a 50" TV in it so that I can use it to display maps. Thinking I would use my desktop as the DM computer, I thought I'd get a mini pc to attach to the bottom of my table for the player character computer. I bought a mini pc on the cheap and when I connected it, it was not able to run Roll20 very well on the TV (through HDMI). Since I have my table, I was wanting to use animated maps and SFX and sound, and and and. What settings would you recommend I get for the mini pc? Or should I not get a mini pc. If I use my desktop computer for everything, would it be able to handle that (I have an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics card... and my processor is an Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700KF CPU @ 3.80GHz) If I go with my desktop controlling everything, would I have to use a different web browser and Roll20 account so that I can be logged on as both a DM and a Player at the same time? I know I could use a program like ArkenForge, but I have spent a lot of money on Roll20, so was wanting to have access to all of that. Besides, if I don't have to buy more 3rd Party stuff, I don't want to.

Hi Troy,  Yes you can run multiple instances of Roll20 on a single computer and send each instance to a separate monitor (or TV). Just make sure you aren't using the same browser for both instances, or if you are, make sure that you use Incognito (Chrome) or Private (Firefox) browser tabs.  Create a second (free) account, run the second account on the second browser (or Incognito/Private tab).  As for the mini-PC, even tablets can run Roll20 but less powerful machines could have issues with Dynamic Lighting, especially Explorer Mode. I would try the desktop two-account two-browser method first. 

Gauss said: Hi Troy,  Yes you can run multiple instances of Roll20 on a single computer and send each instance to a separate monitor (or TV). Just make sure you aren't using the same browser for both instances, or if you are, make sure that you use Incognito (Chrome) or Private (Firefox) browser tabs.  Create a second (free) account, run the second account on the second browser (or Incognito/Private tab).  As for the mini-PC, even tablets can run Roll20 but less powerful machines could have issues with Dynamic Lighting, especially Explorer Mode. I would try the desktop two-account two-browser method first.  Excellent! I have a decent desktop graphics card and processor. Now all I need to do is figure out what you mean by "Incognito" lol. If I can get this to work, you just saved me a few hundred bucks! (sorry, no tip for you... lol) EDIT: Just figured out "Incognito" ctr-shift-n for Chrome. I love it! I have to go now, but I'm going to be testing it pretty heavy on Monday to see how it looks on the TV.

Hi Troy! If you are interested, there are also ways to hide all of the interface elements on the TV display : Toolbar, macro bar, player area, etc. You would need a different solution from a private browsing window for the second instance, but you can handle that in Chrome by running a window in a second profile or by whitelisting Stylus. Ask me for more info if you are interested.

keithcurtis said: Hi Troy! If you are interested, there are also ways to hide all of the interface elements on the TV display : Toolbar, macro bar, player area, etc. You would need a different solution from a private browsing window for the second instance, but you can handle that in Chrome by running a window in a second profile or by whitelisting Stylus. Ask me for more info if you are interested. Cool!!! I’m not at my home right now, but can’t wait to try this out. So, I just need to click the “install” link next to the “Hide Roll20 Interface”?

Almost. You do need to install the Stylus extension ( Chrome ,  Firefox ) , first.

keithcurtis said: Almost. You do need to install the Stylus extension ( Chrome ,  Firefox ) , first. Ok, done. Now I'm going to mess around with your "Hide Roll20 Interface." Thank you so much for figuring this all out!