Can I output full-screen only to my TV? + other newbie Qs

[earthling0001]

Hi, new here, looks like fun! A few Qs:

1) Is there any known fix to the XMLTV error where nothing appears in the Program Guide despite successful download and apparent import of data?

2) Can someone PM me the password for the DB please.

3) Is there any 'Wishlists' feature where I can enter programmes I want it to record when they appear in future in the guide but that aren't currently listed, such as the feature on my (maybe soon to be ex-)TiVo?

4) Why do I only get 3-4 days of listings downloaded from Ananova? TiVo gives me 21 days avg. This is a major downside of PVS. Any other listings sources I can try with XMLTV?

5) Is there a way, using a dual-head video card, to use the computer to generate output to 2 screens, screen 1 showing the computer's Windows desktop so user 1 can use that, whilst screen 2 shows the PVS output so user 2 can watch TV, all from one PC simultaneously? Otherwise it makes sense to keep my TiVo if I have to get off the computer when someone wants to watch TV, even though we have 2 screens for that purpose.

I have a Sony Vaio RZ322 desktop with nVidia GeForce FX5600 graphics card - can output to my TV and does a great job of playing full-screen DVDs on my TV whilst someone else plays on the computer without watching the DVD. It automatically detects a video signal and if one is sent from a program, it flicks display output 2 (TV) to full-screen using 'Video Overlay' mode.

However with my trial version of PVS this doesn't happen All that is needed is for PVS to give the card whatever same signal programmes like Windows Media and PowerDVD are doing, then it'll open up a whole new world of prospective customers.

Thanks in advance for any help with the above.

[RobertH]

1) Dunno havent used it try checking the xmltv thread

3) nope

4) dunno see #1

5) no snapstream uses directx and DXVideo Acceleration and as a requirement of this it must run on the primary display device on the primary display surface, you can try and change the tv out to be the primary output device but that would prevent access to your startmenu and regular desktop, this is also why the video overlay mirror doesnt force the video out to the tv out.

[archie]

i'm afraid i have to disagree with RobertH who is always right on these boards.

i have my primary display as the tv, which is connected to a modulator to broadcast the output to channel 77 throughout the house via avcast (www.crossbarmedia.com , or via ebay, search for avcast). and it works beautifully.

i dragged the start menu/toolbar to the secondary monitor, with all the desktop icons, and use the secondary monitor for computer needs while the wife watches ss in the living room (required for waf). the only problem arises when a program launches a new window on the primary monitor. but i quickly drag it back to the secondary monitor, and the wife can rewind if she needs to. it works beautifully this way, and i believe a few others are doing similar things. i can also turn off the tv, set a monitor as the primary display, and use the other monitor for computer uses (which parallels your two monitor scenario - i have the tv and two monitors on the ss machine).

of course, if ss supported hardware decoding via xcard or pvr 350, i wouldn't have to worry about spiking the cpu and upsetting the picture my wife is watching (bad for waf). but i'm told that hardware decoding is not in the sights of the ss development team, even though their main competitor is near to releasing just this.

RobertH is of course right that directX and dxvideo require ss to be the primary monitor, but it hasn't affected my use of the computer at the same time.

imho, archie

[earthling0001]

Thanks Archie. Out of interest what happens when you maximise a window? Does it maximise to the TV/primary as well. Also are you using PVS in full-screen mode? If so I assume it just defaults to full-screen for the primary display only. And finally, how can you drag the Start Menu to just one-half of the 'desktop workspace'?

[RobertH]

dragging the start menu only works on some desktops, i use nvidia cards and they dont allow me to drag the start menu it will either stretch the task area of the start menu across or it will not be on the other desktop at all. im not sure if it is a windows thing or if it is driver dependant. but on most multi head machines ive worked with (all of them being nvidia) this is what I have seen

[archie]

like i said, i have ati. the task bar is only on the secondary monitor. ati only has the task bar on one monitor. i believe with nvidia, there is an option down at the bottom of the settings page of display properties, where you click "extend the windows desktop to this monitor" that asks if you want the task bar to extend to all the monitors or just remain on one. but i may be remembering this wrong. it's been awhile since i've used an nvidia. if it were to stretch over to the primary, you could autohide it and it would only show up when you needed it to. that's not the perfect solution, but one that works - particularly if you have the startmenu bar black.

when i maximize, it only does it on the monitor the window is already in. i know that with some of the video card drivers, you can set it to maximize to both or all windows, but that is only if the screen size is the same on the monitors. and you can turn that feature off so it only maximizes to one monitor.

yes, i use the full screen mode, and yes it goes to the tv in full screen.

[V_D_O]

With NVIDIA cards, NView will let you move startbars, icons and programs onto the secondary monitor, which allows me to continue using the computer as normal while watching TV in the FSUI.

[Brett]

A simple fix is to goto display settings set the primary to the TV, hit Apply, start SnapStream in fullscreen, let the menu screen appear on the TV, set the primary to the monitor, hit OK.

IT sounds more difficult than it really is, but you can do this just once when you reset the computer. It takes about 30 seconds of work and fools the machine.

See it will start Fullscreen on the TV but once that happens you can change the primary back to the monitor, SnapStream still works if it is not primary just it will not start fullscreen unless you do the above trick.

-Brett

[archie]

interesting. that doesn't work for me. when i move the primary monitor, snapstream goes with it.

archie

[ranjeetsodhi]

I just set up SS 3.3 with my Hauppauge 250 and ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. Managed to get the system working with TV mode set to Overscan to make it look good. Here are the two issues i face:
1. Overscan, eats up a nice chunk of my SS interface on the TV, but the TV programs seem to be in the same place as before (before I used SS).
The interface works perfectly on my computer monitor.

Question: Can i have SnapStream adjust for the OverScan done by the ATI Catalyst 3.8 drivers???

2. If i set the TV as my primary monitor and my computer monitor as secondary, and then full size SS; Things work fine except that my mouse pointer dissapears. I can't get my start menu to respond. Is SS doing something here??? I can't use my computer when SS is in full screen mode at all except to watch TV....

My computer's configuration:
P4 3 Ghz (800 FSB).
1 GB RAM (400 MHz).
280 GB HDD (2x 120 GB Segate drives in Raid 0).
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (128 MB) video card.
Hauppauge Win-TV 250 TV Card.

[V_D_O]

In the PVS Web Admin interface, you need to disable the 'True Fullscreen' option.

[ranjeetsodhi]

I disabled it, but then it reverts to the MAX resolution of my Primary monitor (1600x1200). This resolution is not even usable on the TV.

[PaulyT]

I tried using the overscan feature, after installing the latest drivers for my ATI 8500DV. But it didn't seem to change the TV display at all, either in the usual desktop display or e.g. fullscreen mode in SS. I tried switching between monitor and TV as primary display, but no change there. Is there something else I'm missing, some other setting that I have to use in combination in order to get overscanning to work?

[V_D_O]

You should be able to change the resolutions of the primary and secondary monitors independently, by clicking on each one and changing the settings in the display properties page.