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ATI Catalyst "Theater Mode" in Extended desktop under Windows 7

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I had a Radeon HD3870 before on DVI and I had Theater Mode. Now also on DVI my HD6950 doesn't show me the option.

However I do have a curiosity. WHERE is the theater mode option supposed to be? Can you post a screen-shot?




You "had" a 3870. I still use a 3870 and XP Pro... And yup, it works in Theater Mode using DVI, but not HDMI. What you will read below is just one more reason I'm sticking with XP. :love: 

I read at AMD's site that Theater Mode is no longer supported in Vista or Windows 7.

AMD has a "sort of" workaround. Look HERE


I visited other forums and also found this..

Quote:
From everything I've read the ATI theater mode will only work in Vista/Win7 with Overlay video mode, not with EVR or VMR7/9. All things point to it being disabled for DRM reasons (go figure). I have also read that if your secondary display is an LCD TV connected via HDMI/DVI (i.e. another monitor in Window's eyes) this may not be an issue - I cannot confirm this.

The only solution i've found for regaining the theater mode functionality you might have enjoyed in XP via components (RGB, Scart, S-Video etc) is:

"You need a video player that can use Overlay, like Media Player Classic, though Vista auto switches to Basic theme when video plays fullscreen on 2nd display". Also, failing that, in the same vain, I found this:

"Easy way to do it is download Media player classic homecinema, do a search to find the executible file and right click properties -> compatibility. Tick the bottom two options (disable desktop composition & display scaling) and save. Afterwards set it as your default player and open a video file, windows will switch to the basic theme and you will get perfect theater mode on your second monitor/tv."


Get Media Play Classic Home Cinema HERE

Not to belabor the point, but I do want to get you up and running on this. There is a good post at the AMD forums concerning making this all work HERE.

Some people are uninstalling their latest drivers and installing older drivers that Theater Mode worked with. Get it while you still can can, ATI Catalyst Video Driver 9.3 for Vista/Windows 7 HERE

Read about ATI Catalyst Video Driver 9.3 for Vista/Windows 7 HERE

This all leaves Vista/Windows 7 users between a rock and a hard spot. Use old drivers for videos but suffer on games or kiss-off Theater Mode and play games. What's the choice? (go back to XP) [:tigsounds] or get a second computer and a video switch box.
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Hello tigsounds,

When I said that I had a HD3870 it was on Windows 7 and I had no problems with the Theater Mode! This means that there is support from the OS for Theater Mode but now on my new HD6950 it's blocked by the driver somehow. However, now I can't remember where was the option in the Catalyst Control Center.

Your AMD workaround is from an older version of the drivers. Now I can't find any AVIVO option in the menus that look completely different. Maybe you can send some screenshots form you CCC with the location of the Theater Mode and the AVIVO menu.

My secondary display is a LCD TV connected to the second DVI but this doesn't fix the problem.

Regarding the video player I always loved GOM Player and it has the Overlay video option (Preferences - Video - Output type)

I found a solution that doesn't require neither Overlay nor Theater Mode: in Media Player Classic - View - Options - Playback - Full Screen - Full screen monitor.

Maybe it's time to upgrade from Windows XP. Good luck!

fulgeru99 said:
Hello tigsounds,

<snip>
Maybe you can send some screenshots form you CCC with the location of the Theater Mode and the AVIVO menu.

<snip>
Maybe it's time to upgrade from Windows XP. Good luck!


Sorry about the delay, I was summoned away by a desperate phone call from someone in need. (I am the senior volunteer at an emergency shelter).

Here are some screenshots. Just to be fair with AMD, I downloaded and installed the latest drivers and CCC. It still works, just named a bit differently. I am using CCC ver 2011.0908.1321.22053 and driver ver 8.892-110914m-125027C-ATI (8.892.0.0 as reported by Device Manager). It is the bottom picture. I included the "About" box for them so you can see what happened in the various versions. If the pictures are small or fuzzy, click on them to load in a new windows without Tom's compression affecting them.

Time to downgrade to XP?












EDIT: The CCC from 2009 allowed me to keep the latest video drivers (8.892.0.0). It was going to the 2008 CCC when it forced an old driver install, wiping out the new driver. The newest CCC works exactly the same as all the others.




Well, there you have it. Windows 7 bites, big time. I see a lot of adjustments to make your video look pretty, but that doesn't get it for me. I'll keep my Xp and sail into the beautiful sunset showing on my Theater Mode second monitor. :love:  (Ok, sorry to rub it in).

Just another thing to consider, I run XP Pro and dual-boot x64 also and it all looks and works the same there. To get the screenshots, I uninstalled and installed versions back to 2009, just to see what may have changed.. for me, nothing.
I think people running Win7 hate it but are ashamed to say they made a huge blunder buying it. [:tigsounds:5]
The one's that actually like it aren't doing anything with it to be disappointed with the thing.

On the bright side, x64 is selling cheap now days. Sure M$ won't support it anymore, but where I sit, who cares? I don't use M$ support anyway and the service packs have XP and x64 running so solid there's little to need from M$ with them now. Yes, I am stranded with DirectX 9c, but I've patched it up with pieces of DX10 so it looks quite good now. Not quite the full ensemble of eye candy one can get from DX11, but I don't miss anything.
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