DVD Playback and TV

pcouture · #1 February 24th, 2002, 12:11 PM

In the Read Me that came with 10.1.3, it is mentioned that playback is now possible on a second monitor. I thought for sure that I could view DVDs on my TV set like I did in OS9.

After testing it last night, I could not drag the viewer window in the TV screen. That's what I used to do in OS 9.

Am i missing something? I am starting to get annoyed at how much time it's taking to do some of the "old stuff" in X.

cockneygeezer · #2 February 24th, 2002, 12:20 PM

Dear All,

Playing DVD's on a second monitor is possible within MacOS 10.1.3, in fact earlier versions as well, on a PowerBook G4 at least.

What you have to do is use the 'closed lip' method.

1. Shut down you PowerBook if you haven't done already.

2. Hit the Power Key and immediately close the lid of the PowerBook.

3. Give it a while and the second monitor should kick in.

4. If you want to use the keyboard because you don't have an external keyboard, lifted the lid a fraction.

5. When playing DVD's on your second monitor, make sure the resolution is no higher than 1024x768. The DVD will not work above this resolution.

6. Sit back and enjoy the DVD.

This solution only works on a PowerBook G4. I have no idea on a solution for the towers as I don't have one, sorry.

Hope this helps anyway.

CockneyGeezer

thedbp · #3 February 25th, 2002, 11:35 AM

You have to go to the Displays control panel and make the 2nd monitor the main monitor (i.e., drag the Menu Bar over to the 2nd screen).

Then you can play your DVDs on the TV or second monitor.

Cheers
thedbp

mke · #4 February 25th, 2002, 12:57 PM

I really hope it's possible to watch DVD's on a TV with the new iBook too? If so, is it done via the AV connector or the VGA port?

/Soon-to-be iBook owner

tismey · #5 February 25th, 2002, 05:02 PM

is that you can do DVD playback on a telly if you have the machine set to 'Video mirroring'. You don't need to do any restarting etc. Plug in yer telly, click 'Detect Displays' in the Display prefs, and you're away. It only actually plays the film on the bigger screen.

Colour saturation stil sucks though.

Cockneygeezer - what you describe is really only playing it on 1 monitor. It's just that your machine thinks it is the main monitor....

pcouture · #6 March 18th, 2002, 10:10 AM

I tried the mirroring thing and DVD Player seemed to hang up. It would not display on the TV nor the Powerbook.

When I set the TV as the main monitor, I could only play with the smallest viewer. As soons as I tried to increase the size or go full screen, the app crashed.

Help!!!

tismey · #7 March 18th, 2002, 10:39 AM

Bit confused by that... If you have mirroring on, then you don't have a main monitor?

How are you connecting your telly up?

jove · #8 March 18th, 2002, 10:56 AM

Hello,

On an iBook 500 DV

1) Plug the AV cable in to both TV and computer
2) Open the Display Control Panel
3) Select NTSA (or PAL) from the resolution popup menu
4) Your screen will flicker and a mirror image of your computer screen will show up on the TV
5) The DVD will only play on the TV (DVD Window on computer screen goes black)
6) Go full screen
7) Dim the brightness on the computer screen to nothing. It doesn't effect the TV's brightness and helps the ambiance in a dark room :-)