Hi All,
Wondering if anyone has any pointers in getting this set up. I recently upgraded my graphics card to GTX 1060 which has dual HDMI so that I can connect my TV (1080p) upstairs as well as my new TV (4K) and Sony Receiver downstairs. Now I obviously can't set the screens as duplicate as it will make both screens the lower 1920 x 1080 resolution so currently have it displaying on the 4k one only. I have Kodi on Window set with profiles for a Downstairs and Upstairs profile to set the sound, etc but what is my actual best way of setting up the 2 screens correctly?
I'm using a Harmony remote downstairs and have another for upstairs so ideally would like both screens to be at their max resolutions when in use and a quick and easy method that each profile uses the correct TV.
Hope that all makes sense to someone
(2020-05-13, 16:40)Reddwarfposse5 Wrote: [ -> ]what is my actual best way of setting up the 2 screens correctly?
Anything that works is the ticket. You can only watch one at a time, set for the 4K display. I do understand what you are trying to do. - Good Luck.
Suggestion: two PC's or an android box along with your PC.
No idea if Windows can do this, but on Linux I run two Kodi instances with one nVidia GFX card. One Kodi install is a standard install, the other runs in portable mode. One outputs to the TV, the other outputs to a monitor. Although they both generally run at 1080, either of them can change their particular output to a different resolution and/or refresh rate without affecting the other. They each use a different output on the one gfx card.
If windows can do the same sort of thing then I'd just run two separate instances of Kodi (possibly with shared databases).
(2020-05-14, 00:56)black_eagle Wrote: [ -> ]windows can do the same sort of thing
Ah, the beauty of Linux only. Mind you it would be possible to run Kodi and some other fork, if you want to entertain the dilution in windowed mode.
(2020-05-14, 00:56)black_eagle Wrote: [ -> ]No idea if Windows can do this, but on Linux I run two Kodi instances with one nVidia GFX card. One Kodi install is a standard install, the other runs in portable mode. One outputs to the TV, the other outputs to a monitor. Although they both generally run at 1080, either of them can change their particular output to a different resolution and/or refresh rate without affecting the other. They each use a different output on the one gfx card.
If windows can do the same sort of thing then I'd just run two separate instances of Kodi (possibly with shared databases).
Might be worth trying a second version of Kodi in portable mode. My other option is to look into the second zone output from the receiver but that entails the hassle of running an HDMI cable back upstairs.
(2020-05-14, 00:56)black_eagle Wrote: [ -> ]No idea if Windows can do this, but on Linux I run two Kodi instances with one nVidia GFX card. One Kodi install is a standard install, the other runs in portable mode. One outputs to the TV, the other outputs to a monitor. Although they both generally run at 1080, either of them can change their particular output to a different resolution and/or refresh rate without affecting the other. They each use a different output on the one gfx card.
If windows can do the same sort of thing then I'd just run two separate instances of Kodi (possibly with shared databases).
As a matter of interest, how do you run it from either end? As in, if you're at the monitor, how do you run it and same for TV? I'm assuming they're in different rooms?
(2020-05-15, 01:07)Reddwarfposse5 Wrote: [ -> ]As a matter of interest, how do you run it from either end? As in, if you're at the monitor, how do you run it and same for TV? I'm assuming they're in different rooms?
The main instance starts (via a script) when Ubuntu boots (not that I reboot it very often!) and starts on the TV via HDMI -> AVR -> HDMI -> TV. The second instance I just run as and when I want to and start it from command line with the -p switch. This runs on the monitor via DVI -> monitor (but could be HDMI if the card had dual HDMI instead of HDMI, DVI-D, VGA). The TV instance is controlled via IR remote, the monitor by keyboard. As Kodi can "see" both outputs, I just configure one (in settings -> System -> Display -> Monitor) to point at HDMI-0 and the other one to DVI-D-0. Just as an extra, because the TV one uses HDMI to the AVR, I don't run pulseaudio on my system so the second instance uses ALSA and I can plug my headphones into the PC and listen to it that way.
Doing it this way means that I can have two completely independent instances of Kodi running at the same time on the same PC with just the one video card outputting each instance to the right screen.
It's been this way now for at least the last 6 years. All the cables ultimately run back to the one PC (HDMI, DVI and IR-receiver) but the portable version is not configured with the IR-remote map so the remote can't interfere with it. Both instances share the same MariaDB databases apart from if I'm working on something in which case I tend to just use local db's for the portable one.