[macd23]

if i only have 1 cable box, does that mean pip is pretty much useless to me?

 

[BillP]

If you split the cable, you can have PIP. There are 2 ways to do it: 1) split the cable coming out of the wall and have one coax go to the cable box and the other coax directly to the TV (Antenna A); or 2) have the coax from the wall go directly to the TV (Antenna A), and run a coax from the TV (Ant A out) to the cable box. Either way, you can have PIP with 1 digital/HD picture (Component 2 or 3) and 1 SD picture (Ant A).

 

[rodneyremington]

What he said.


Personally I have my PIP showing my TiVo vs. component input from my cable box.

 

[macd23]

well what if i have video and audio cables going from digital cable box into video1 input and coax going from cable box into antenna a? i tried that and it let me do PIP, but it wouldn't let me change the PIP channel to anything but the same as the current channel...

 

[ender21]

It's because your digital cable box only has one tuner in it.


Try it the ways listed above. It should work.


Rick

 

[Terran]

Further question:


Can I set up PIP to show any two of my inputs? (i.e. Show my DVI input and my Cable TV)


Thanks!


-Terran-

 

[Salmoneous]

For PIP, there are two types of input


Group A: Antenna, composite, s-video

Group B: Component, DVI, VGA


Groups B cannot be put in a window


Then there are two types of PIP


Overlay: One input taking up the full screen with another input in a small window in one of the corners

Side-by-side: Two imputs, each taking up half the screen


With two A's, you can do any PIP you want

With an A and a B, you can only overly the A over the B

With two B's, you can't use PIP

 

[Terran]

So in my example, I could display my DVI in full screen and have a tiny Cable PiP window in a corner. Fantastic...at least THAT's possible.


Thanks for the info.


-Terran-

 

[ender21]

Yeah, Samsung's PIP features need a *lot* of work. For example, in Salmoneus's A/B scenario, overlaying A over the B: The tiny cable PIP window you have in a corner is 16x9, *not* 4x3, so if you're not watching 16x9 content, it'll be stretched.


Rick

 

[macd23]

Bill,


If I split the coax like you said (wall into ant A, ant A out to cable box) and have my cable box also hooked up to component 3, how do i change channels on the pip window without changing channels on the main view?


i understand i will be watching in component 3 and when i bring up the PIP window it will be set to "air" or "antenna a", but what i don't get is how do i change the channel i assume i press channel up and down on the tv to change the PIP antenna A channel?

 

[holemania]

Can this apply to DirecTV and Samsung TS-160 stb also?


I should probably know this, but can you route signal from D* antenna directly to TV?


If not, is it even possible to have PIP if using D* without 2 stb's?

 

[kadeeu]

Quote:

Originally posted by macd23 Bill, If I split the coax like you said (wall into ant A, ant A out to cable box) and have my cable box also hooked up to component 3, how do i change channels on the pip window without changing channels on the main view? i understand i will be watching in component 3 and when i bring up the PIP window it will be set to "air" or "antenna a", but what i don't get is how do i change the channel i assume i press channel up and down on the tv to change the PIP antenna A channel?

On Samsung's remote there is a set of buttons under a cover at the top of the remote. There are channel up and down buttons there for changing the antenna channel in the PIP window, along with other PIP feature buttons.

 

[macd23]

thanks kadeeu, i will try this when i get home tonight.

 

[macd23]

well, this is strange,...



i did what billp said, i ran the coax from the wall into antenna a on the TV, and the ant a out to cable box. i also have the cable box running video cable into video1 on the tv.....pip now works......BUT the main picture on the network stations like abc, nbc cbs looks like HELL. its all snowy like i have rabbit ears on......espn looks better and hbo digital looks good.....the tv is set to video 1 for the main picture and the pip is set to "tv and air" as the sourcem the pip picture is crystal clear...what am i missing guys?


ps: next week i won't be going through video1 anymore i will be going through component 3 (hdtv cable box install)....


i feel like i am almost there.....

 

[BillP]

A video connection is the worst quality connection. You'll get a much better PQ using component 2 or 3 connection. I actually set mine up the other way, splitting the coax, with one coax going to the cable box (which is then connected to Component 2) and the other coax going to the TV (Ant A). You change the HD channel using the cable box, and the small PIP using either the small CH up/down buttons on the remote, or by using the PIP menu.

 

[macd23]

yeah its interesting that the picture on video1 is adequate when the coax from the wall goes straight into the cable box, but when it goes into the tv antenna a and then the tv goes to the cable box the video 1 picture is HELL on the national stations....its also strange that at the same time hbo comes in near perfect.....


maybe i will pick up a splitter this week and wait until hd is connected via component3......i hope i can get PIP to work better, as it would be a nice feature to have when keeping an eye on multiple sports events or something. but at least now i can change channels on the PIP.....i am getting closer!

 

[macd23]

i got it working with the splitter beautiful. thanks to everyone..........


one more question:


how do i select a different source other than TV and Video1? like if i want to watch a dvd and TV or play playstation and watch tv. i have my cable going into video1 and antenna a (which allows me to use pip with cable) and a dvd player hooked up to component1, vcr on antenna b.....but i can't choose anything other than TV or video1 as the PIP source....