External Monitor on HDTV

goshep wrote on 9/28/2007, 5:52 AM

I just purchased a 32" HDTV so I can monitor my HD footage on a BIG screen. My old setup was firewire out to D8 camcorder pass-thru to VCR to el cheapo 13" color TV via coax cable. Worked fine for me for SD output to an external source. Currently the new 32" beast is connected from the second DVI output of my NVIDIA QuadroFX 1500 to the HDMI 1 input via DVI to HDMI adapter. This is great fun for typing posts to the forum in fonts the size of my head and for stomach churning Flight Simulator sessions but I'm ready to drop the 32" desktop and use this thing like I used my 13" TV. Is anyone using a similar setup? What is the best configuration? The video card has a breakout box that allows for SVideo and Component out. How do I configure to let Vegas know it is an external monitor and not an extension of the desktop? I don't want to merely drag the Vegas preview window to it. I want the full HD image on the screen like I used to have the full SD image with the 13" TV.

Thanks as always.

Comments

megabit wrote on 9/28/2007, 6:10 AM

You connect via component, and configure the card's software to have the HDTV as "Extended" (not "clone"). In Vegas, go to Options->Preferences->Preview device; you should now have 2 screens available in the "Display adapters" drop-down list. Works like charm with me - if you choose the second (extended), you will see the preview window full-screen (BUT yo must configure it right in the card's software; for exmaple with ATI Catalyst, you must set both displays to "theater mode").

bakerja wrote on 9/28/2007, 7:39 AM

I have a similar setup with a 32" lcd as an extended screen. I like to put everything on it but the edit window. Trimmer, media, explorer, scopes, mixer and even the video preview in a small section of the 32" monitor. This allows me to have a full screen edit window and when you have a bunch of video and audio tracks, it is really nice to see so much at once. I have a button on my shuttle set to "sft-alt-4" to toggle to full screen video preview mode. So I can edit away and when I need a transition, or generated media or something else, a quick button gives me all that. I have found this setup to be quite nice and clients love the full screen preview on the 32".

JAB

goshep wrote on 9/28/2007, 10:41 AM

Thanks for the tips. I just realized my component out uses BNC connections. Any chance I'm gonna find BNC/RCA component cables at my local Best Buy? I'm thinking I'm gonna have to order those online. Boo.

JJKizak wrote on 9/28/2007, 2:06 PM

If you can find them MCM Electronics has the conversion jacks for a couple of bucks.
JJK

Coursedesign wrote on 9/28/2007, 4:00 PM

Best Buy carries BNC/RCA adapters, but they will charge you 5-10x what you could pay elsewhere for functionally equivalent product.

Why? They believe in Monstercable, and Monstercable believes that people's faith in A/V products is proportional to the product pricing.

goshep wrote on 9/29/2007, 3:33 PM

Sorry to resurrect this thread from the dead but I'm having a problem setting it up the way I want it. I have no problem making the 32" a secondary display. I can use the component out on the vid card breakout box or I can go DVI out and convert to HDMI. However, either way it is merely a desktop extension. When I preview my video, I'm merely previewing it the preview window which I drag to the 32" monitor. What I'm hoping for, is the ability to preview as if the HDTV were an external monitor like I did via firewire with the old setup. Is there a setting to make Vegas recognize this? The only video device options I get are Firewire or Blackmagic Decklink. I know I can get a pretty decent sized preview window on a 32" display but I was really hoping to have no window at all. I hope I'm explaining myself clearly....I'm beginning to get a little confused reading my own jibberish. In a nutshell, when I click the 'Preview on external monitor' button, I want the HDTV to be that external monitor. Maybe this is a limitation of my video card?

TimTyler wrote on 9/29/2007, 4:02 PM

Until the Black Magic Intensity Pro gets supported by Vegas, your best bet is probably not too far off from what you did before.

Go firewire to your camcorder, and then plug the S-video OUT on the camcorder into your big LCD.

JJKizak wrote on 9/30/2007, 6:02 AM

You might try (2) 32" monitors like I plan to do.
JJK

bwarshaw wrote on 9/30/2007, 9:10 AM

This is exactly what I do with my nVidia Quadro fx 540 card with breakout box. I have the box driving my SHARP LCD TV via component cables. I configure Vegas to use this second monitor as an external display, and the click on the little Monitor icon above the Preview window in Vegas. The SHARP then is switched from being a desktop extension to a preview monitor (I don't drag anything over to this monitor, Vegas drives it like it was a Firewire attached TV).

At least on my system, if the card is configured correctly to drive the display as a TV monitor it will show the output from some otner apps (such as Windows Media Player, PowerDVD) automatically as soon as I start playing them - nothing additional to configure. This is a good test to see if you have the card setup correctly (at least with the fx540).

/BILLW

/BILLW