argghh!! fed up with dualhead. is hydravision better?

[fwiffo]

i got my g400max early last year, primarily because of dualhead, and have been wrestling with it since i've gotten it?

what i really want to do isn't all that hard:

+ i'd like to be able to run 2 monitors at different desktop resolutions in w2k. w/ the 5.51 drivers i was finally able to do that.

- i'd like to be able to play counterstrike without having to change modes and reboot! is it that hard? i know that the radeon's w/ hydravision can do it. is it that hard?

- why doesn't my dvdmax work? not only do i have to keep part of the video playing on my main screen at all times (sorta defeats the purpose right? - apparently a "known issue" over at matrox), and not all videos seem to display properly. can it be that hard to do?

- all i really want to be able to do anyway is to fullscreen to one monitor and keep working on the other. i can set my secondary monitor to primary and full screen it there, but whenever i click or try to actually do soemthing it brings it out full screen mode.

is all of this too much to ask? am i missing something simple?

does ati's hydravision fair any better?

[Rags]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">+ i'd like to be able to run 2 monitors at different desktop resolutions in w2k. </font>

Matrox is currently the ONLY dualhead type card that can run independent resolutions under win2k (it's a win2k limitation that Matrox ingeniously figured a way around).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">w/ the 5.51 drivers i was finally able to do that.</font>

Yep, and the 5.52 drivers allow it too.


[quote]<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">- i'd like to be able to play counterstrike without having to change modes and reboot! is it that hard? i know that the radeon's w/ hydravision can do it. is it that hard?

- i'd like to be able to play counterstrike without having to change modes and reboot! is it that hard? i know that the radeon's w/ hydravision can do it. is it that hard?

</font>

The ATI cannot even display independent resolutions in win2k....so that idea is canned. If you go to control panel/add-remove software/ and select the Matrox software and uninstall, then reboot, click cancel when windows detects your card, then install the 5.52 drivers, you can easily play games and use dualhead without reboots.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">why doesn't my dvdmax work? not only do i have to keep part of the video playing on my main screen at all times (sorta defeats the purpose right? - apparently a "known issue" over at matrox), and not all videos seem to display properly. can it be that hard to do?</font>

Do a little research, is it that hard to do? Some programs do not display an overlay when minimized. I suggest using a different player for your videos. I suggest using the Matrox DVD player and Sasami for other videos, you can minimize the player and still use DVDMax on your TV. Again, the 5.52 drivers makes this a walk in the park.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">- all i really want to be able to do anyway is to fullscreen to one monitor and keep working on the other. i can set my secondary monitor to primary and full screen it there, but whenever i click or try to actually do soemthing it brings it out full screen mode.</font>

This doesn't make sense, maybe you can clarify it.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">is all of this too much to ask? am i missing something simple?</font>

Nope (but I guess it's too much to ask that someone does some research...), and yes.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">does ati's hydravision fair any better?</font>

Rags

[fwiffo]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Do a little research, is it that hard to do? Some programs do not display an overlay when minimized. I suggest using a different player for your videos. I suggest using the Matrox DVD player and Sasami for other videos, you can minimize the player and still use DVDMax on your TV. Again, the 5.52 drivers makes this a walk in the park.</font>

My, a bit snippish, aren't we? I have done research. All the video is being displayed is using straight WMP7. It's a bug.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">- all i really want to be able to do anyway is to fullscreen to one monitor and keep working on the other. i can set my secondary monitor to primary and full screen it there, but whenever i click or try to actually do soemthing it brings it out full screen mode.

This doesn't make sense, maybe you can clarify it.</font>

If I'm in DualHead mode, I just want to be able to go into fullscreen mode with a movie, or a winamp plugin, etc. on my secondary display and then be able to continue working on my primary display. DVDMax can only do it with movies, and as we've just established, doesn't even do that currently.

It's too bad that there's nothing out there on the market that can fill my needs. I was promised things by Matrox that over a year later have yet to deliver adequately, of course, I probably should just have done the research.

[Rags]

Well, I can see that you haven't read my post or even done any REAL research. One post at Matrox's Tech Support forums about one of your "problems" is hardly any research. I just gave you a solution to the problem, but you would rather piss and moan than fix your damned problem.

I am sorry if I sound harsh, but you come here with an attitude to begin with, then when I answer with my short attitude (AND give you some VALUABLE info to boot), you piss and moan some more.

It's not a Matrox bug, it's a media player problem, and I am sure that Matrox COULD find a way around it as well, but they would have to completely change the way DVDMax is run. Use the player I told you to, and your problems will go away.

Now what you do is up to you, I have mine working fine, do you want help or not?

EDIT:

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">I was promised things by Matrox that over a year later have yet to deliver adequately, </font>

Please enlighten me as to what isn't working for you that Matrox promised you over a year ago....please do.


Rags



[This message has been edited by Rags (edited 22 May 2001).]

[Casey Jones]

fwiffo,

I find it pretty weird that your first post here is to bitch about things, rather than actually trying to solve your problem. Maybe you should take Rags' advice and then see what happens, Or do you just want to come to a user to user help forum to piss on everyone?

Casey

[fwiffo]

Jeez,

My post title says "fed up with dualhead" with an angry face, what are you expecting? Of course my tone is frustrated.

The DVDMax does _not_ work, and it's not a function of player. I get the same problem with my software DVD player, AND with Sasami.

If it _did_ work I wouldn't have a problem, right?

The condescention is what I don't get... whatever. Casey, I think you have the pissee and pisser confused.

[Rags]

Well, Good luck in your endeavors, because you will never solve your problem with your attitude.

I am enjoying a Divx right now in win2k on my G450, with the program minimized.

BTW, it IS a function of the software. Your software DVD player sucks, what do you expect? Media Player is a toy too.

Rags

[Liquid Snake]

Actually, I believe that the overlay problem can depend on the codec. I remember reading that DivX files had to have a resolution divisble by 32, else it wouldn't work. Not sure if it was a codec or hardware limitation. Rags is right, in that some players don't use overlay properly unless the window is open on your primary display. I'd try another player first before drawing any conclusions. <A HREF="http://www.sasami2k.com">Sasami2k</A> is a good player, though a little buggy. I use PowerDVD for my DVDs, and it doesn't display video on the second monitor if it's minimized. I don't have access to other DVD players.

Well, it seems that WMP 6.4 and Sasami2k both displayed the few DivX files I had without any problems. I had to lower the resolution from 1280x960x32 to 1024x768x32 though. In fact, there's a thread now discussing overlay problems, the solution was to cut down on the resolution/color depth because of the amount of memory the overlay takes. Here's that thread: http://forums.murc.ws/ubb/Forum5/HTML/010711.html

[This message has been edited by Liquid Snake (edited 22 May 2001).]

[Rags]

LS,

His problem is that he is using software that won't display overlay while the program is minimized. An overlay has to be displayed in order for DVDMax to work. It's not the 32 problem you are referring to. It's up to the player how it displays...not the Matrox drivers.

Rags

[Rags]

The Matrox DVD player has that option, and there are options in other DVD players to do so.

Rags

[Tempest]

Names, I need names
I currently own the Matrox DVD Player that came with my G400MAX (not for Win2K, I think - last time I tested it worked but the image was all green) and PowerDVD v3.0. Is there a chance to get these playing back on the 2nd head in minimized mode in Win2K, or do I need to invest in another player? If so, which one?

Edit: OK :/

[This message has been edited by Tempest (edited 22 May 2001).]

[Rags]

The best deal can be found on Matrox's website, for 9.95 (I think), you get the newest Ravisent player. It works flawless for me under win2k.

Rags

[Rags]

Oh, and I will check on PDVD tonight if I get a chance, if I remember right, there is a way to get it to display overlay all the time.

Rags

[Tempest]

Ookay... Everybody just calm down.
I have yet to see a DVD player that enables one to reproduce minimized video on the second head in Windows 2000. But I just downloaded Sasami2k and it's wonderful (although a bit buggy). First it didn't display minimized video for me either, but I went to Preferences and checked "Prefer Overlaymixer (Needed to enable Desktopview feature)" on the Renderer tab, pushed OK, then quit the application. After restarting Sasami2k, minimized video worked fine. So fwiffo, have you done this? Just asking...

[Brian R.]

I have had good luck with WinDVD