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reemas · Nov 21, 2004, 08:24 PM

im trying to watch a dvd through s-video out on my tv. works fine and i put it into full screen mode as well.

however when i use my powerbook, and click anywhere on the desktop area or in a program, the dvd playing on the tv EXITS full screen mode and goes back to a smaller window.

this wasnt happening before and i need some advice as to how to fix. can anyone check if they can watch a dvd in full screen mode on a TV while typing in word or browsing the web?

thanks

wuzup101 · Nov 22, 2004, 03:00 AM

I'm not sure if it's possible. I could never get it to work. I have a 19" LCD that I used to use in the dorms before aquiring a 32" flat screen CRT TV... never could get it to work like you want. Now I just sit there and let the movie play on the TV

tooki · Nov 22, 2004, 11:22 AM

It never hurts to check the preferences, you know!

In this case, it's a feature that's been there since Panther: DVD Player->Preferences->Full Screen. Check the "Remain in full screen when DVD Player is inactive" checkbox and make sure "Dim other displays when playing" is not checked.

tooki

gbarill · Nov 22, 2004, 10:00 PM

try playing the dvd with VLC.
vlc has options in the video menu for you to select the "video device" you want to use, so go to that menu, select "screen 2", then when you go into fullscreen it will go into fullscreen mode on the second monitor (your tv)
your main screen should be useable still.
i do this not with dvd's but with other movies on VLC all the time, and since VLC plays dvds, as far as i know it should still work.
let us know if it does!

wuzup101 · Nov 23, 2004, 02:29 AM

Awesome guys thanks for the info. I feel quite foolish for not checking the prefrences when I first tried this.

Also, I tried to download VLC (from the link provided in the software forum) and I got a vlc .dmg file but when i clicked it it said that it wasn't mountable or something like that. I guess I'll have to find a working copy somewhere and try it out.

tooki · Nov 23, 2004, 03:58 AM

Be aware that playing DVDs in VLC consumes about three times as much CPU as in Apple DVD Player. If you are doing anything processor-intensive, or if you are sensitive to the PowerBook getting warm, this may be a real concern. VLC's instability doesn't help. (I'm not saying it crashes a lot, but it crashes a lot more than DVD Player, which never crashes.)

Just use DVD Player: make the Preferences settings per above. Then drag the DVD playback window to the external display/TV, and then go into fullscreen mode. It will then work exactly as you want.

wuzup: sounds like the file was damaged in downloading. Just try downloading it again.

tooki

gbarill · Nov 24, 2004, 08:03 PM

oh, i didn't know apple dvd player behaved like that. i don't use it that much and assumed it worked like quicktime, which always goes into fullscreen on the main display for me.
yeah, if that works i would use dvd player then, since it's better suited to playing dvd's
well, now i know

tooki · Nov 25, 2004, 12:33 PM

They do indeed behave differently. (They should make them uniform.) In QuickTime, if you have Pro, then you can also use the "Present Movie" function, which will let you select which screen.

tooki

macaddict0001 · Nov 25, 2004, 05:18 PM

Originally posted by tooki:
VLC's instability doesn't help. (I'm not saying it crashes a lot, but it crashes a lot more than DVD Player, which never crashes.)

just for the record dvd player quits when the file is corrupted or when the disk is scratched beyond recognition while it isn't a crash it does quit without user imput.