Dual Monitor Display problem...

[JonHimself]

Hey, I have a monitor and a television hooked up to my comptuer to allow myself to watch cable and videos on my television and still have my monitor for messenging, web-browsing and other normal computer tasks. The problem I am having with Beyond TV is getting the Full Screen mode to run on my television. It will only run on my monitor. Currently the only way to run Beyond TV on my television is to use the Windowed mode, but with that the text quality and other menus are poor quality (and you can see the window's title bar at the top of the screen. I was wondering if there is anyway to run Full Screen on my television? Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks!

[SprDtyF350]

Pretty sure you need to have the TV setup to be your Primary display. At least that's what I had to do using 2 monitors and wanting any neat stuff to work. Whichever display was the Primary could do full screen video, and the other could not. Was kind of annoying to me since I wanted to put the video on the other display and use my Primary for everything else. Don't know if a TV can be the Primary display though as I have not ever tried it.

Good luck, Randy

[Paulus]

Hi JonHimself.

To get dual monitor AND TV support I use a Matrox Parhelia 128MB graphics card because it uses a 10bit DAC convertor the attatched TV picture is just as good as on a commercial DVD player.
I can also have up to three monitors for 180 degrees Gaming.

The cards been out for some time now so you might be able to get one at a reasonable price.

Paulus

[burzel2]

I have the same issues. One solution is to use software like ATI's Hydravision or UltraMon to switch the maximized screen to the TV. But there's still a problem. TV and video does not work very well on the secondary monitor. When I had Windows2000 it didn't even display the video. With Windows XP it works but has very poor performance. I read here http://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=190377 that DirectX does not support the secondary monitor. TV can be the primary display, but it's really annoying when every window opens on the TV. I'm still looking for a solution. Either a way to have video on the secondary, or have only BTV on the primary and everything else open on the secondary (without buying a new video card).

[Leaf]

I use fx5200 nvid card svid to tv vga to monitor. setup using dual display. It's a bit tricky but you set your tv as primary. Use the nvid software to to send windows to secondary IE system tray. Nvid software also allows you to send anything to whatever monitor you choose.
The Matrox Parhelia is supposed to be the best for quality.

[V_D_O]

Yes, the NView software that comes with the NVIDIA drivers will allow you to automatically start all apps on the secondary monitor and move the taskbar and desktop icons to it if you wish. Or you can make exceptions if necessary. This is what I do, and it's worked fine for ages.

The S-video TV output of my FX5200 is great, in case you're interested - but VGA to TV is even better: I can actually surf the internet on my TV without having to blow up the text until one word fits on the screen at a time!

[Seattlite]

I have the same problem with secondary monitor playing Beyond TV.

My setup:
Windows XP Pro
ATI Radeon 9700TX 128DDR
ATI TV Wonder Pro - PCI tuner card
Dual 18" flatscreen
-Primary Digital connection, landscape mode
-Secondary VGA connection, portrait mode
(Pivot Pro 7.61 by www.portrait.com (http://www.portrait.com))

Whenever i drag the Beyond TV window to the second monitor, the video play is slow and jerky, sound is fine. I've not read much to see if it's an Active X issue, ATI driver issue, XP dual monitor support issue, or even my portrait software issue. I've just kept it on the primary monitor and been happy. But it appears from the previous posts that Beyond TV is happiest playing on the Primary monitor (reguardless if its a TV/monitor or monitor/monitor setup).

[burzel2]

That's a good question. What is the source of the problem? ATI drivers? Anyone with an Nvidia card have the same problem? This a response from a Snapstream tech support:

"I would venture to bet its ATI drivers, but it is possible they changed something in 3.4.3's code base as well. It deals with the 3D acceleration. If you disable it then it should a bit better."

I had no luck trying this. Anyone esle?

[RobertH]

Its a limitation of directx, beyondtv uses directx to perform the rendering of the interface and the video. Directx will not allow creation of a VMR surface on a non-primary monitor, and in the rare cases that it does the VMR does not get hardware acceleration support and is in effect being rendered in software. As a result when you try to use beyondtv on a secondary monitor you will get any of the following or a combination thereof:
- No video (black screen/see through to the background)
- Laggy / choppy video (no acceleration support)
- Program unresponsiveness
- Possible crashing

The only real way to get output without fooling with crap is to set the tv out as a clone/mirror for the monitor and run beyondtv on both. You can if you are creative use other programs to switch the tv out as primary then switch it back to secondary after starting beyondtv, but this can also lead to reduced performance. The problem is directx and most video cards arent designed to pull full hardware support on both displays at the same time.

and just for fyi the matrox lines of cards arent supported becuase they do not provide full dx9 support for vmr (unless they have changed their drivers recently)

[DWAnderson]

Yes, the NView software that comes with the NVIDIA drivers will allow you to automatically start all apps on the secondary monitor and move the taskbar and desktop icons to it if you wish. Or you can make exceptions if necessary. This is what I do, and it's worked fine for ages.

The S-video TV output of my FX5200 is great, in case you're interested - but VGA to TV is even better: I can actually surf the internet on my TV without having to blow up the text until one word fits on the screen at a time!

I use a Girder script to have nView change to a view scheme that has the TV as the primary monitor before running BTV. After running BTV another script switches the primary monitor back to the PC monitor.

[burzel2]

Thanks for the great info. Is a possible solution to use a second PCI video card with output to the TV?

[Seattlite]

I found a "work around" (unless someone posted this earlier and i missed it)... Use the web-interface in the second monitor, as if you were watching Live TV on a remote computer. Streaming Live TV in this method works just fine for me on my second monitor, of course you are limited to the functions of the web-interface with this method, but if you just want to have video playing, worked fine for me and i just 'Zoom' the image to "Full Screen"

-Seattlite

[rmart]

I discovered another issue here. I had just reformatted PC and had BeyondTV3 and the SnapStream guide working finally after over 6 months of not having it work properly and little help from tech support.

I continued installing my software and what do you know, the video no longer plays on my secondary monitor. Now I knew it did work because I was watching it just an hour earlier. I reverted back to an image I had made a couple hours earlier and confirmed that BeyondTV3 was working properly on the secondary monitor. I then resumed installing my software checking BeyondTV after each install and after each reboot. It worked perfectly until I installed PowerDVD6 Deluxe edition. Then I had audio but no video on the secondary monitor. BTV3 worked fine on the primary display. I tried uninstalling PowerDVD but the problem remained.

I again reverted back to the image and resumed reinstalling but this time I installed PowerDVD5 instead. Everything is working.

So, if you're not getting video on your secondary monitor it MIGHT be a DirectX issue but it could also be a software conflict; in my case PowerDVD6. My suggestion would be to try a complete reformat of your PC and install the latest DirectX and video card drivers. Then before you install any other software install BTV and see if it's working properly. If it is, then it's just a simple matter of figuring out which piece of software causes a problem.

GL

[Chris Peacock]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post to help anyone with the same problem I've had. I've lost hours and hours on this.

I bought a DVD writer, installed the software that it came with and all of a sudden I get video but no sound when playing avi or mpg files. I uninstalled and reinstalled codecs, uninstalled all media software but nothing.

Then I lift up my laptop lid and video is fine on the laptop screen but no video on secondary monitor. After a google search I found this forum and find out that it was installing PowerDVD that's done it. I didn't even want the software I just thought I ought to install it as it came with the DVD writer.

I could merrily poke the eyes out of the PowerDVD makers for this.

Cheers

Chris

I discovered another issue here. I had just reformatted PC and had BeyondTV3 and the SnapStream guide working finally after over 6 months of not having it work properly and little help from tech support.

I continued installing my software and what do you know, the video no longer plays on my secondary monitor. Now I knew it did work because I was watching it just an hour earlier. I reverted back to an image I had made a couple hours earlier and confirmed that BeyondTV3 was working properly on the secondary monitor. I then resumed installing my software checking BeyondTV after each install and after each reboot. It worked perfectly until I installed PowerDVD6 Deluxe edition. Then I had audio but no video on the secondary monitor. BTV3 worked fine on the primary display. I tried uninstalling PowerDVD but the problem remained.

I again reverted back to the image and resumed reinstalling but this time I installed PowerDVD5 instead. Everything is working.

So, if you're not getting video on your secondary monitor it MIGHT be a DirectX issue but it could also be a software conflict; in my case PowerDVD6. My suggestion would be to try a complete reformat of your PC and install the latest DirectX and video card drivers. Then before you install any other software install BTV and see if it's working properly. If it is, then it's just a simple matter of figuring out which piece of software causes a problem.

GL

[ClayPigeon]

I have a similar issue, but different….

I also have 2 monitors and an NVIDIA Graphics card. The TV is to watch shows, and the computer monitor is to access other features of Windows. Beyond TV works great by itself. Once I full screen Beyond TV on the TV monitor, it works fine. Even after a reboot, it goes full screen on the TV and not the computer monitor just like it should.

Beyond Media is just the opposite. Not only will Media never go to full screen on the TV, it makes sure that Beyond TV doesn’t either! When I start Media, it always jumps to the Computer screen. When I call Beyond TV from the Media interface, it jumps to the computer screen to.

I’m using the most recent versions of both programs. (TV 4.4) (Media 1.12).

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!

[thedon]

I have the same problem as you guys. The decoders have something to do with it. But it worked on version 3 that I was using before. I upgraded to 4 and now I have the problem.

[yeldarbj]

I have a similar issue, but different….

I also have 2 monitors and an NVIDIA Graphics card. The TV is to watch shows, and the computer monitor is to access other features of Windows. Beyond TV works great by itself. Once I full screen Beyond TV on the TV monitor, it works fine. Even after a reboot, it goes full screen on the TV and not the computer monitor just like it should.

Beyond Media is just the opposite. Not only will Media never go to full screen on the TV, it makes sure that Beyond TV doesn’t either! When I start Media, it always jumps to the Computer screen. When I call Beyond TV from the Media interface, it jumps to the computer screen to.

I’m using the most recent versions of both programs. (TV 4.4) (Media 1.12).

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!


I have this same situation, did you resolve this?

[bluebledthesea]

Problem: Beyond Media won't display fullscreen on the secondary monitor (TV) and snaps back to the primary display. Beyond TV goes fullscreen (like was said through software, not hardware) but there is sluggish response.

Solution: Set the TV as primary and monitor as secondary with extended desktop.

Problem: Programs and taskbar are now on the TV.

Solution: If you have an NVIDIA card you should be able to use nView to move your taskbar and icons to the secondary display (Monitor) and have programs open there as well. Ultramon (http://realtimesoft.com/ultramon/) ($) and this thing (http://www.mediachance.com/free/multimon.htm) should also do the trick.

Question: I have an ATI Radeon x850XT. Will the Omega Drivers add any of this functionality?

[cfaslave]

Problem: Beyond Media won't display fullscreen on the secondary monitor (TV) and snaps back to the primary display. Beyond TV goes fullscreen (like was said through software, not hardware) but there is sluggish response.

Solution: Set the TV as primary and monitor as secondary with extended desktop.

Problem: Programs and taskbar are now on the TV.

Solution: If you have an NVIDIA card you should be able to use nView to move your taskbar and icons to the secondary display (Monitor) and have programs open there as well. Ultramon (http://realtimesoft.com/ultramon/) ($) and this thing (http://www.mediachance.com/free/multimon.htm) should also do the trick.

Question: I have an ATI Radeon x850XT. Will the Omega Drivers add any of this functionality?
With the ATI you can set your display to clone mode and have the exact same picture with all programs, taskbar and video on both the TV and the PC monitor. This is done through the ATI Catalyst program that you should already have.

[bluebledthesea]

Thanks, but thats not what I want to do. I want to run BTV on one monitor and use my PC as usual on the other.

[Revenent]

What happens when you drag the task bar to the other monitor?

Do applications open on the secondary screen?

[bluebledthesea]

What happens when you drag the task bar to the other monitor?

Do applications open on the secondary screen?

Ah! Thank you. I had tried this and it didn't work but you got me to try again. The resolutions of my two displays are different, so when I tried to drag the taskbar horizontally it was like hitting a wall and I couldn't get to the other screen. I realized the displays weren't oriented next to each other at the bottom.

I had been looking through the forums for a solution and it looked like Hydravision couldn't do it, but this along with downloading the latest version solved it. Thanks!

[thedon]

Snapstream should fix this. Its a pain. Especially for people with dual monitors and DVI output. Because naturally buying a DVI to HDMI for a nice tv image works fine. I had BTV3 and never had a problem moving BTV from one screen to another. Now having to set one as a primary opens up the problem of all icons going to the tv, and also loosing the icon positions later. Its just a pain that for whatever reason didnt exist before. Software is supposed to get better not worse.

[chinna_n]

It has been a problem for me too. Mine is MSI K8NGM2-FID board (nVidia 6150), I use dualview mode.

On 4.5 one work around I found was use Snapstream basic decoder. If use basic decoder then I see the video on 32" LCD TV fine( connect as 2nd monitor with VGA, 19" DVI LCD as Primary.

I just upgreaded to 4.6 because I bought WinTV-PVR1600, but 4.6 messed up lot of things sofar. Including WDM TV capture card. Anyway I will list woes in a separate thread.

[chinna_n]

Finally I found the answer to this on FAQs, I think we should make this sticky because I have seen so many posting about this problem. It works excellents with my setup, and also I did not see any negative issue like stuttering or high cpu usage as warnings mentioned, even while playing live HD or recorded HD or even recording HD while playing HD clips.

http://snapstream.helpserve.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=1436

1. Shut down Beyond TV / Link on the computer exhibiting the problem.
2. Open the Registry Editor (START BUTTON --> RUN --> REGEDIT) on the computer exhibiting the problem.
3. Navigate to the following "folder" in the left pane:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\CyberLink\Common\CLVSD \BTVD3DShell\
4. Left-click on the "BTVD3DShell" entry in the left pane to highlight it.
5. Turn your attention to the right pane, right-click on the text "TwinViewDXVA," and select "Modify."
6. Change this value from 1 to 0 and hit the OK button.
7. Exit the Registry Editor and restart Beyond TV.

[shane]

Finally I found the answer to this on FAQs, I think we should make this sticky because I have seen so many posting about this problem. It works excellents with my setup, and also I did not see any negative issue like stuttering or high cpu usage as warnings mentioned, even while playing live HD or recorded HD or even recording HD while playing HD clips.

http://snapstream.helpserve.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=1436

1. Shut down Beyond TV / Link on the computer exhibiting the problem.
2. Open the Registry Editor (START BUTTON --> RUN --> REGEDIT) on the computer exhibiting the problem.
3. Navigate to the following "folder" in the left pane:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\CyberLink\Common\CLVSD \BTVD3DShell\
4. Left-click on the "BTVD3DShell" entry in the left pane to highlight it.
5. Turn your attention to the right pane, right-click on the text "TwinViewDXVA," and select "Modify."
6. Change this value from 1 to 0 and hit the OK button.
7. Exit the Registry Editor and restart Beyond TV.

This, along with running in cloned mode allowed me to run tv on two plasmas at once, FYI.

[geohec]

Thanks Shane for the help. I recently upgraded to 4.6.1 and I had one of the same problems described in this thread (i.e. blank screen on second monitor). Your solution fixed the problem. I remember I had this issue around a year ago last time I upgraded and I used the solution to solve the problem. So this time I copied the solution to a word document on my computer so I don't have to search through the long threads to find the solution next time I upgrade. Thanks again for the help.

:clapping:

[sivart321]

Thanks Shane for the help. I recently upgraded to 4.6.1 and I had one of the same problems described in this thread (i.e. blank screen on second monitor). Your solution fixed the problem. I remember I had this issue around a year ago last time I upgraded and I used the solution to solve the problem. So this time I copied the solution to a word document on my computer so I don't have to search through the long threads to find the solution next time I upgrade. Thanks again for the help.

:clapping:

I have had this working in the past as well. For some reason now, after making the reg change, it still doesnt work. Of course, it works ok in 3d accelerated mode, but not in overlay. 3d accelerated gives me the stutters and crap which no one likes.. as it does with our without the secondary monitor.

Any ideas?

[Khris]

Snapstream should fix this. Its a pain.

Keep in mind that BTV/BM are intended to be run from a dedicated machine. The "problem" you're referring to is user created.

[beerbotboffin]

I have a FusionHDTV Lite and ASUS EAH3450 with dual monitor setup.

I too had issues with sound, but no picture when displayed on the second monitor.

The solution was to go to the Catalyst Control Centre and disable Catalyst A.I. on that monitor. Works again! No reboot required.

Hope this helps someone.