Dual Monitors (Cloned & Scaled) with nVidia driver???
#1
Hey all. I have my XBMC machine installed in my theater. I have two video outputs hooked up. The first is HDMI to my theater projector. The resolution of the projector is 1920x1080 (1080p) and XBMC looks GREAT on it. The second monitor is a smaller touchscreen (we'll ignore the touchscreen functionaility for now) with native resolution of 1280x1024. In nvidia-settings, I have the smaller monitor set up to clone the projector display, which is set as the primary X screen. What I want to be able to do is leave the projector off if only listening to music, controlling the XBMC GUI using the smaller display. Right now, this does not work because the smaller display only shows the top left portion of the larger 1920x1080 display.

I have done some searching, and it looks like this is a problem with the nVidia drivers. Has anyone figured a workaround for this in XBMC? I know some people out there have those fancy HTPC cases with iMon touchscreens. Anyone figure out how to get this working?

Thanks.
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#2
There isn't going to be an XBMC-specific fix for this. The ubuntu forums or some other linux forums are likely your best bet.
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#3
Understood. I've found some other promising leads, but I think I have a long road ahead. In any event, XBMC is now fully functional in my theater and looking great. No noticeable bugs on my system.
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#4
Please update me or this thread if you happen to see this working. I have the same setup as you do. I would like to see a software support in XBMC for handling the 2ndaru monitor as a file browser and/or status window while playing back contents on the main (projector) screen.

But ultimatly I would like to scale the 1:1 output to the 2ndary monitor. A driver support would be preferable, but I think that XBMC could implement Xinerama support to achieve this in software aswell.

The most desierable would be a selectable 2ndary functionality for this monitor of course. Smile I.e. full software features.

Regards

Mikael
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#5
I have an Nvidia card and have my Sanyo PLV-Z2 connected to DVI with 1280x720 and my Samsung Syncmaster (native 1280x1024) connected on VGA. Both displays show the same 720p resolution. I tried a lot of stuff and my xorg.conf is a mess but it works for me.
Maybe you can take something out for you...

http://pastebin.com/f7e928557
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#6
have you guys considered running a second X session on the second monitor and opening up the web interface? The web interface doesn't have the pretty opengl graphics, but afaik it's functional.

Easiest way would be to have a separate, low end pc. Though should be possible to run it off the same box (haven't tested myself).

Having xbmc handle this on it's own is a cool idea, though sounds easier said than done.
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#7
NEI Wrote:I have an Nvidia card and have my Sanyo PLV-Z2 connected to DVI with 1280x720 and my Samsung Syncmaster (native 1280x1024) connected on VGA. Both displays show the same 720p resolution. I tried a lot of stuff and my xorg.conf is a mess but it works for me.
Maybe you can take something out for you...

http://pastebin.com/f7e928557

I don't have time to go through the xorg.conf file right now but will do so in a few days. But are you saying that on your displays, it shows the 720p image without cropping or stretching of any kind? And that they are cloned (i.e., show the same thing simultaneously)?

My understanding from various forums is that this is impossible using the nVidia drivers.
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#8
xgrep Wrote:have you guys considered running a second X session on the second monitor and opening up the web interface? The web interface doesn't have the pretty opengl graphics, but afaik it's functional.

Easiest way would be to have a separate, low end pc. Though should be possible to run it off the same box (haven't tested myself).

Having xbmc handle this on it's own is a cool idea, though sounds easier said than done.

That is an interesting idea, and one I might explore, however I am running a command-line only install from USB stick. I am not sure this is going to be a long-term solution, but at least it might be something I could use in the short term until I get the other stuff ironed out...
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#9
xgrep Wrote:have you guys considered running a second X session on the second monitor and opening up the web interface? The web interface doesn't have the pretty opengl graphics, but afaik it's functional.

Yes, and um... no. Not a feasable option imho. It may be ok, but it's not desierable and probably not good enough. I would rather invest in a 2ndary monitor handling 1080p to be able to clone the image 1:1.

Quote:Having xbmc handle this on it's own is a cool idea, though sounds easier said than done.

I think coding with Xinerama support would be quite straight forward. Or atleast not more or less demanding than any other lib. Smile Correct me if I am wrong.
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#10
NEI Wrote:I have an Nvidia card and have my Sanyo PLV-Z2 connected to DVI with 1280x720 and my Samsung Syncmaster (native 1280x1024) connected on VGA. Both displays show the same 720p resolution. I tried a lot of stuff and my xorg.conf is a mess but it works for me.
http://pastebin.com/f7e928557

Doing a clone on a display with the same or higher resolution is usally not a problem. I have a 1:1 720p clone to my 2ndary VGA connected 16:9 monitor. It was no magic at all.

With your 1280x1024 however I am suspecting that you get a stretched image if you output 720p to it. Unless your monitor itself corrects it. Or you use a DVI connector and the nvidia's built in aspect scaler.

The aspect scaler does however not work on 1080p. It complains about too high resolution.

Mikael
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#11
Addition: Best all around support without dependency on strange driver supports which noone has today would be a software solution intergrated in XBMC which detects the 2ndary monitor and has config options for the usage for it.

Mikael
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#12
mhakali Wrote:Doing a clone on a display with the same or higher resolution is usally not a problem. I have a 1:1 720p clone to my 2ndary VGA connected 16:9 monitor. It was no magic at all.

With your 1280x1024 however I am suspecting that you get a stretched image if you output 720p to it. Unless your monitor itself corrects it. Or you use a DVI connector and the nvidia's built in aspect scaler.

The aspect scaler does however not work on 1080p. It complains about too high resolution.

Mikael

Exactly, the clone of the 16:9 (1280x720) is squeezed on the 4:3 (1280x1024) screen. But this is no problem for me. By the way, look just at the sreen0 section in my xorg.conf file. There is most of the magic... ;-)
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#13
mhakali Wrote:Doing a clone on a display with the same or higher resolution is usally not a problem. I have a 1:1 720p clone to my 2ndary VGA connected 16:9 monitor. It was no magic at all.

With your 1280x1024 however I am suspecting that you get a stretched image if you output 720p to it. Unless your monitor itself corrects it. Or you use a DVI connector and the nvidia's built in aspect scaler.

The aspect scaler does however not work on 1080p. It complains about too high resolution.

Mikael

First, I actually was wrong. The smaller monitor's native resolution is 1024x768, not 1280x1024. In any event, here's what happens:

If I select 1080i or 1920x1080 (Full Desktop), the theater looks great but the image on the monitor is heavily cropped. By default, it only shows the top left portion of the GUI.

Strangely, if I select 720p, 480p, etc., I am not sure what happens on the theater screen, but the smaller monitor shows an image that takes up 60% or so of the screen. It is weird because the 720p and 480p images take up the same amount of space. Still, I do not really care about this because I have no intention of running XBMC at 720p or 480p.

That's why your solution will not work for me; I want full 1920x1080 resolution in my theater. That, for me, is more important than the functionality of the second monitor.

FYI, my theater projector is hooked up via HDMI. My secondary monitor is hooked up via DVI.
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#14
mhakali Wrote:Best all around support without dependency on strange driver supports which noone has today would be a software solution intergrated in XBMC which detects the 2ndary monitor and has config options for the usage for it.

Agreed. It would be great to see XBMC support this. However, I think this will be a long wait, until what is there works 100%. My understanding is that they will not be adding any features until everything "just works." That is fine with me -- the greatest thing about XBMC is it just keeps getting better with time -- and until then maybe I will try to keep myself satisfied using the web interface... We'll see...
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#15
Just get this:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Origen_ae/T12

12" 1980*1020 (able) touchscreen.

Downside; a bit expensive..
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