Touchscreen and interface only on one screen

[camzhtoc]

Hello,

I would like to get SageTV to run video on my TV and the interface only on my touch screen.

The problem is that I cannot seem to find a way to turn the interface off on the TV. I only wish to see TV and Video on the TV no interface. I will use the touchscreen for all input.

I have tried cloning the screens but the interface shows up on both. Is there a way to disable the interface on one screen? Or is there away to to make Video and TV go to primary or secondary monitor? Is it possible to use the option to strech across both screens and drag video to the second display?

I would really like to browse the guide while watching TV without everyone in the room forced to see the interface being displayed.

Current Hardware

ATI All in one 9600 128 mb ram for Video out
Happauge 250 for video in
Standard Sony Wega
Viewsonic 15" Wireless touch screen

Hope you can help!

[salsbst]

With Radeons, I think you can do "Theater Mode" where the overlay goes to the secondary monitor (tv) and the normal Windows display goes to the primary (touch screen). This separation will only work with overlay, not VMR9.

Caveat: I've never actually tried this, but the above is my understanding of the feature based on docs and some forum reading.

[camzhtoc]

Thanks for the reply

I will give that a try. I have seen the "Theater Mode" I will try it out.

I am a bit confused about something. When you use the term "overlay" does "overlay" mean the actual user gui interface? I am learning lots of new terms and mixing them up as I go.

I guess if the overlay change does not work. I may need to move back to a older video card that does not support overlays.

Thanks Again.

[salsbst]

Overlay is not a SageTV term, it is the standard, older method of displaying video from a graphics card. Overlay is a special buffer of video memory that is drawn directly to the screen, rather than going through all of the machinations that video cards normally do to take screen repaint instruction from software to your display.

The newer method is VMR9, which does more of the rendering in software bypasses the overlay. Some people prefer VMR9, others overlay. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

With Radeon cards, I believe theater mode allows you to direct the overlay to the secondary display only. This would mean that the video would only land on your secondary display, and the SageTV GUI would only land on your primary display (if I understand theater mode correctly).

[camzhtoc]

Sweet!

I got it to work for me. Thanks very much for the help.

Thanks for saving me a bit of hair to pull out when I try something new.

[dvd_maniac]

Hi camzhtoc,

I have the ATI AIW setup in theatre mode the same way and it works great. I am glad you got it to work with your HAIR intact.

I was wondering what are you using for your touchscreen? How do you have it setup?

I would love to have a little 10-12" screen built into a coffee or end table...
Hmmm the possibilities with Sage just never end.

[stanger89]

FWIW, what I'd like to see is Sage support two screens simultaneously, one for the UI and one for video. Ideally it would have a custom STV, not necessarilly much different from the current ones, just without any video on the menu screen and probably some navigation buttons (play/pause/stop/etc). That way we could still get the OSD (optionally), use VMR9, etc.

The question is if it's possible with just an STV, or if it requires a core change. Ooh, the possibilities. Of course, I need a touchscreen before I really care

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by stanger89

FWIW, what I'd like to see is Sage support two screens simultaneously, one for the UI and one for video. Ideally it would have a custom STV, not necessarilly much different from the current ones, just without any video on the menu screen and probably some navigation buttons (play/pause/stop/etc). That way we could still get the OSD (optionally), use VMR9, etc.

The question is if it's possible with just an STV, or if it requires a core change. Ooh, the possibilities. Of course, I need a touchscreen before I really care

If it is already showing the video on one screen & the UI on the other, what else do you mean other than perhaps playback buttons on something like the menu header? You can already continue having video play while using menus -- just set it to be the background & wouldn't that continue to show it on the TV while the UI is on the other screen? Then, set the OSD to never turn time out & it will always be visible too.

Oh -- I guess you mean that you want VMR9 video playback on one screen & the UI display on the other. I think what I'm talking about requires the use of overlay instead of VMR9.

You know... this advanced feature is already supported when using the Xcard! The video is always displayed via the Xcard, while the UI always stays on the monitor. I can let the video play on the TV & control playback while I browse through the menus on my monitor. And people said SageTV's usage of the XCard wasn't very sophisticated!

- Andy

[mediahome]

Andy,

I am interested in doing the "two display thing" with the Xcard too. What I would really like to do is to have a tablet PC running the Sage Client so that I have the full UI, guide, and Video Preview on the tablet PC. I wish there was a way to have the HTPC with the Xcard in it "slaved" to the tablet PC so that selections made on the tablet controled the video out to the Xcard. I guess this is "out there" but it would sure be a killer remote.

Short of that you could use a tablet to "Remote Desktop" the HTPC. But with an Xcard in there the video goes to the Xcard and all you have on the tablet is the UI and guide, no Video Preview. Any ideas on how to get the Video Preview too?

Matt

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by mediahome

Short of that you could use a tablet to "Remote Desktop" the HTPC. But with an Xcard in there the video goes to the Xcard and all you have on the tablet is the UI and guide, no Video Preview. Any ideas on how to get the Video Preview too?

When using the 350, you can have both hardware & software decoding enabled, but with the Xcard, it is treated as if you selected a software encoder in the first place, so there is no setting to do both.... so no, I don't currently know how you would use the Xcard for TV-out + have video preview in the SageTV window.

Hmmm... how much are those touchscreens anyway.

- Andy

[camzhtoc]

Hello DVD_Maniac

First if you go with a wired touch screen all you need to do is plug it in and make it the primary monitor. Then it will all work. I saw a sale a while back on a wireless monitor. Before looking into all the details I bought it. I just assumed it would act like a wired monitor. Was I wrong.

I am using a Viewsonic 15" airpanel. It is a bit big, but it is wireless so I can pick it up and pass it around the room. The 10" model is also available but I also wanted the airpanel for some other things to play around with so I got the big one. It is a bit clucky but it does what I need very well. Eventually it will be pushed into a wall setting for some other big dreams I have.

Here is how I have set it up.

I have set up 2 boxes. One HTPC and one a mass storage Server box.

Sage is installed on the HTPC box with the Hauppauge 250 to receive TV signal. I use the All in Wonder 9600 to go out to the TV.

Because the Airpanel uses RDP it effectively screws me up by disabling the ATI video card if I connect directly to the HTPC box. My way around this was to set the airpanel up to connect to my server. I then use Real VNC to pull up the display on my HTPC. When connected it displays the primary monitor and Sage in full screen. I had to choose to use Overlay and not VMR9 in sage and theater mode on the ATI Card.

I am currently trying to get the video that by default is displayed on the both monitors to not be played on the primary display. My current work around was to adjust the gamma settings on the ATI card so video was just black on primary display.

After getting this set up I do think the ideal set up would be a wired monitor on some sort of swivel base where it can be turned and tilted for multiple operators. The problem would be to get it into a location where it is reachable with no strain.

I got very big dreams for future growth here. This is more of "cannot wait to play with new toys" setup.

[dvd_maniac]

Interesting setup. I do have a couple questions though? How do you FF/RW and stuff like that? Do you still use the remote? or is it easy via the touchscreen? This is the only thing stopping me from purchasing one at the moment.

[Jesse]

Camzhtoc,

I am looking at the V150p myself. How about using the RDP Hack for xp to allow two concurrent sessions? With this you could rdp directly to the htpc with the airpanel without disabling the output of the video card. If I understand the "theater mode" correctly you should then just get the interface, that would normally appear on the monitor, on the airpanel, and the video programming on the tv. Yes? Hack can be found at osnn.net forums.

How easy is it to switch from "theater mode" to "standard mode" with the radeon. For waf I need the interface on the tv and controlled via ir remote. I personally prefer the tablet myself (currently using an ancient progear). If it is easy to switch back and forth this could be a go for me. If not for waf I would just go with the mighty xcard.

For those interested J&R Music World (jr.com ?) has the now discontinued V150P for $349.00 after rebate.

Take care,
Jesse

[korben_dallas]

I do mode switching all the time between my TV and Flat Panel. Ctrl + Alt + T for TV and Ctrl + Alt + P for the FP. Just set it up in the ATI Control Panel quick keys.

[Jesse]

Oh, wow. The significance of dvd maniac's question just sunk in.....

So camzhtoc, how do you handle ff, rw, etc. with the touchscreen?

Thanks to corben dallas for the info provided.

Jesse