Twinview with TV-out

hi

following Problem:
I have a G4 TI 4400 and wanted to connect my CRT and my TV at the same time with twinview and "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone".

Everything works fine exept of one thing:
if I set the resolution of my CRT to 1024x768, I only see the top left quarter of the screen on my TV .

if I set the resolution of my CRT to 640x480 eveything works fine but 640x480 on a 17" monitor is not very usefull.

here are the relevant parts of my config file:

Option "TwinView"
Option "MetaModes" "1024x768,640x480"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
Option "TVOutFormat" "COMPOSITE"
Option "TVStandard" "PAL-B"

my question is:

is it posible to run twinview with two different resolutions? (eg 1024x768 for the CRT and 640x480 for the TV)

Thank you

Karl

I don't no about PAL-b but NTSC only specifies
640x480 800x600 1024x786

but most tv's can only do 640x480 it's only the good big (35+) ones that can do 1024x768

As for "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
you cann't clone sonething at one res on a screen with a different res

[Thunderbird]

First you need to understand a bit about xfree86. The protocol X uses X11 is already very old. Even the oldest apps (more than 10 years old) still work on it. When X was designed there were not much resolutions.

Some things from the past cause "troubles" now. For example the Display sections of your XF86Config-4 file. For example you have this:
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

1280x1024 will then be used as the main resolution, when you switch to 1024x768 or another resolution then that will become a virtual resolution. The desktop on the screen will still be 1280x1024, but for example only 1024x768 is visible. To access the rest of your screen you need to scroll.

This is a limitation that will be fixed a bit in the future using an extension for X called RandR.

For TwinView the same problem appears. When both screens don't use the same resolution, there will be virtual desktops. Defaultly you can't scroll to see the rest of the desktop. (only when using nvidia's twinview virtual desktops) But when you change Option "MetaModes" "1024x768,640x480" to "1024x768, 640x480@1024x768" it will be a real virtual resolution.

To make a long story short, you won't get a full non-virtual desktop in twinview mode when both screens don't use the same resolution.

hi

thank you

next question: Is it possible to change the resolution while the X Server is running or do i have to restart the X Server? If it is possible i simpy would change the resolution to 640x480 if i want to use the TV(eg to watch a DVD) and switch back to 1024x768 when I am back at the CRT.

(sorry for my bad english I'm from Germany)

[Thunderbird]

Normally you have for example something like this:
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

Then you do "ctrl alt + or -" to switch virtual resolutions. For metamodes it is the same.

Real resolution switching is impossible at the moment, in the future it will work using something called RandR.

Likely you want to use your TV for movies. I thought there was a little hack you can use. If you do "1024x768@640x480, 640x480;" movie players will think 640x480 is the real resolution and will work fullscreen at 640x480.

ok thank you

i now created a script that starts a different Xserver with 640x480.

I only have one question left:

is it possible to move windows from one XServer to another(eg a status windows)?

Thank you

Karl

[Thunderbird]

Not sure if that is possible, but it is possible for example to launch an app you started on Xserver 1 on Xserver2 but that is not what you mean.

What you want can only be done in "Xinerama mode" and that is used when twinview is enabled.

Sorry, I use a metamode 1024x768@640x480, 640x480 with connectedmonitors "crt,tv" but when X starts it detects that 640x480 y smaller than 1024x768, so my fullscreen is 1027x768.

one realy last question:-)

is it possible to configure a X server so that it always puts it output to the TV even if i switch to another X server at the desktop?

I'm thinking for somthing like: my brother is watching a DVD over TV with the 640x480 XServer and i'm writing e-mails with the other 1024x768 Xserver on my CRT.

Thank you

Karl

[Thunderbird]

Using that metamode 1024x768@640x480, 640x480 apps in X think that the current resolution is 640x480 (atleast some apps like movie players think that). So when you use that metamode and launch a movie on the TV and you put it in fullscreen mode it will work correctly. (will verify that now ..)

The thing you want with Xserver switching is not possible. It is possible when you use more than 1 videocard but that will cause some other trouble.

Originally posted by Thunderbird
Using that metamode 1024x768@640x480, 640x480 apps in X think that the current resolution is 640x480 (atleast some apps like movie players think that). So when you use that metamode and launch a movie on the TV and you put it in fullscreen mode it will work correctly. (will verify that now ..)

The thing you want with Xserver switching is not possible. It is possible when you use more than 1 videocard but that will cause some other trouble.

If I start mplayer with 800x600 Resolution it thinks 800x600 is fullscreen, even if I switch to 1280x1024 later.

If I start mplayer with 1280x1024 (With the Metamodes you gave me) mplayer thinks fullscreen is 1280x1024.