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What do I need to watch TV on PIP on this setup?

Forum Graphic & Displays : ATI - What do I need to watch TV on PIP on this setup?

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yathink13   08-26-2008 at 07:40:28 PM

I have a Dell ultrasharp 24" monitor (1920x1200) and a 19" LG being suppported by the following rig:
Asus Rampage mobo, Q9450 OC'd to 3.2, 4gb of crucial ram, sapphire 4870, and a couple of 500gb HD's. edit..750W PC Power and cooling power supply.
I want to be able to watch TV on the PIP on the main screen or possible on the side screen when i am playing games (warhammer online is going to be my new addiction). I think I will need a TV card for this but I have no idea how to set it up or what to get. I am also considering getting a 4870X2 and running that with the 4870, will I see any meaningful performance gain?

When I game I constantly have the side monitor running numerous other apps, web sites and what not.
Thanks for the help.


Message edited by yathink13 on 08-26-2008 at 07:42:55 PM
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zeek987   08-26-2008 at 08:34:33 PM
- 0 +

Hey yathink13,

I actually have that same dell monitor and another dell 17 inch sitting to the right of it. I extend my desktop on to the second monitor. I don't game much anymore, but I do use the second monitor to watch a video or display Itunes while doing something else on the main monitor.

I did try to use the second monitor to display the TV using my ATI TV Wonder PCI. But unfortunately every time I tried to drag the TV window from the main monitor to the "secondary" display the program would crash, sometimes the entire system. This obviously is due to faulty ATI drivers (even the most update ones seem to be worse then the ones on the CD).

I do know that on an older system I had an ATI 7500 All-in-wonder paired with a ATI TV wonder PCI and a ATI TV Wonder USB. The TV Wonder USB's software allowed me to Have PIP or Pic-by-pic (two seperate TV displays on one computer), with sound from only one, but either one.

I saw that the newest ATI All-in-wonder PCIe card is a 3650 based card, not good for gaming. But if you have a second PCIe slot, maybe you could put it in there, and use a ATI external TV Tuner via USB2.0.
Theoretically, This would allow you to game with your current Video card (4870) on the Dell 24 inch, and then hook up the second monitor to the all in wonder 3650. Use it display TV and other secondary apps. Plus you could even do picture in picture with that ATI USB TV Tuner.

I'd say that should work for you. But I could see driver problems getting in the way. And since I haven't done it my self, I couldn't say it would be perfect or the best setup. Just an idea.

Let me know what you decide to do, and what works best and what doesn't work at all. I may like to try something similar soon!



Good luck, Thanks.


Message edited by zeek987 on 08-26-2008 at 08:35:30 PM
Reply to zeek987
Wolfshadw   08-26-2008 at 08:35:54 PM
- 0 +

NVM.

Zeek reminded me of a problem where the TV windows would not move to the second monitor. Sorry about that. With my ATI All-In-Wonder X1800XL, it would support dual monitors, but only in Clone mode.

-Wolf rescinds


Message edited by Wolfshadw on 08-26-2008 at 08:38:48 PM
------------------------------ System Specs:
Gigabyte EP43-UD3L Intel Core2Quad Q8400 8 Gig RAM
NVidia Geforce 8800GTS-640/Creative X-FI Extreme Music/Dual-Boot XP-64&Server2008
 Reply to Wolfshadw
yathink13   08-26-2008 at 09:38:53 PM
- 0 +

Here's a question that I don't know if will work. If I get one of the all in wonder type things and plug it into the 19" on one of the other inputs (it has like 4 of them I think), would I then be able to select it and view it there without having to use the main desktop?

Reply to yathink13
AdioKIP   08-28-2008 at 03:42:42 PM
- 0 +

I run a 3 monitor setup on my computer. I have 2 4850's running (crossfire when gaming). For TV I have a Hauppauge HDTV card. I use windows media center for viewing tv and I have no trouble at all draggin the tv from one monitor to another. Commonly I watch TV on my left monitor, game or do whatever I'm working on on my primary monitor in the middle, and keep other tasks (yahoo messenger, temp monitors, itunes) running on the 3rd. I would avoid an all in one card, get a dedicated TV card that only does tv, not one that is built in with a graphics card. Pic of my setup is below.

http://www.3shiznits.com/image_hosting/Computer_01.jpg

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