[Dave Brown]

I've tried I-Tech, and haven't yet gotten word from them. I thought this might be a configuration problem, so thought I would post here as well to see if anyone else had run into it.


I just got an AccessDTV card. I have a RADEON 9000 card. I've gotten the software installed and can get a beautiful HDTV picture. However -- the loopback cable does not seem to be working at all. I don't get any picture at all unless I hit the "Full Screen" button. As it is, I basically use a monitor connected to the PC to configure everything, then hit "Full Screen" to see the HDTV on my projector screen. But I can't get anything BUT the HDTV picture to show up on the projector screen. I assume I'm supposed to be able to get my desktop up there.


Ideas? The obvious answer is either loopback cable or the port on the card. But I'm hoping there is an answer other than hardware...



Thx,

Dave

 

[Eiffel]

This may sound obvious, but have you tried connecting your video card directly to your projector? (i.e., just connect the cable currently connected to your AccessDTV card to your Radeon)


Assuming the above works well, make sure you have the loopback cable plugged correctly, and that the 'Enable Loopback cable' option is checked in the AccessDTV setup dialog (Alternatively, the highly recommended latest beta releases of the software offer some additional ways to enable the loopback cable).


If this doesn't work, there might be a hardware issue (sometimes a KVM switch provides a convenient workaround... in other cases, a receiver can be used to switch video signals. If all fails a dedicated switch might be needed, unless -of course- you can/want to return the card for an exchange).

 

[cbagger01]

The round end of the loopback cable that plugs into the AccessDTV card is touchy. Sometimes if I move my PC around I will lose the PC Video Card signal fed through the cable eventually to my computer monitor.


Usually, re-seating the cable or sometimes even bumping it will bring everything back to life.

 

[Dave Brown]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm out of the country now, but will try when I get home. I don't really want to get an external switcher box...sounds like a bit of a pain. I am using the latest Beta software, by the way.


Another thing I was having some problems and puzzling over...when you search for channels, does it look for sub-channels? I find that it isn't finding a number of different sub-channels. And when you try to "add channel" -- it looks like an analog channel, and doesn't even give you an option of subchannel. ???

 

[gsr]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dave Brown Another thing I was having some problems and puzzling over...when you search for channels, does it look for sub-channels? I find that it isn't finding a number of different sub-channels. And when you try to "add channel" -- it looks like an analog channel, and doesn't even give you an option of subchannel. ???

A subchannel is simply a piece of a channel. Each channel is given a fixed amount of space to do with as the broadcaster chooses. They can send out 1 full resolution HD channel, or 1 slightly compressed HD channel and a low bandwidth subchannel, or a bunch of low bandwidth subchannels.


When scanning channels, the idea is to see if a certain frequency can be received or not. If you can receive that frequency, you can receive whatever subchannels the broadcaster is transmitting on that frequency.


When recording, the entire transmission for that frequency, including all subchannels, is saved. It would be a big job to record only the piece that is desired as the transport stream would have to be rebuilt on the fly.


When watching a live broadcast, you can switch subchannels by typing a decimal point followed by the number that represents the subchannel you want to switch to, or you can type in the entire channel number (ie: 41.2), or you can use the cursor left/right keys to switch subchannels.

 

[Dave Brown]

That clears up the question on the subchannels. Thanks.


I'm going to get a new loopback cable sent out to me this week, so we'll see if that fixes my main problem...which is almost certainly hardware.

 

[Dave Brown]

I got the new loopback cable, and have now gotten the loopback cable to work correctly; I can get either desktop or full-screen HD view on my monitor.


HOWEVER, for some strange reason I cannot see the WINDOWED view of the HD channel; it just shows up as black. Anyone happen to know why?

 

[gsr]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dave Brown I got the new loopback cable, and have now gotten the loopback cable to work correctly; I can get either desktop or full-screen HD view on my monitor. HOWEVER, for some strange reason I cannot see the WINDOWED view of the HD channel; it just shows up as black. Anyone happen to know why?

In the Setup -> Audio/Video/General tab do you have "Enable Application Video" checked? If not, make it so . Otherwise, make sure you have recent ATI drivers installed, go into the ATI control panel -> Troubleshooting tab and make sure that Hardware Acceleration is enabled (not sure if it has to be set to full, but it definitely can't be at the minimum setting or the overlay won't work).

 

[cbagger01]

Also, make sure that you have selected a display resolution that is supported by the overlay.


1024p and 1080i resolutions are not supported in the Overlay Window.


If you right-click on the application window and select a 720p or other resolution then you should see the television program appear inside the window after a few seconds.

 

[Dave Brown]

Thanks for the suggestions! The problem turned out to be the resolution setting. I had it set to 1024 x 768p. Changed it to 720p and it worked great.


There were a few bumps along the way, but now I think I have everything working...and I'm extremely pleased with this card. One of the key reasons I went with AccessDTV was because of the amazingly good help you can get on this forum.


Thanks again.