Play live TV after HDMI TV turns off then on (2 Viewers)

tomtj

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  • March 18, 2012
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    Hi,
    I would like to leave the live TV playing in fullscreen when I power off my LG tv which is connected by HDMI cable. The current behaviour is when, the TV/HDMI gets powered off the MP goes back to the screen that prompts for the guide/channels/TV on/ etc, it seems to ultimately go back to an initial screen and the interface jumps to a smaller size that no longer fills the screen.
    Somebody is likely to ask "why". Well, I have a wife, she is going to need this rig to behave as a TV connected to an Antenna before she is willing to engage with what she considers complexity. So like a TV, when it turns off, I/she needs to expect it to come back on to live TV ,and ready to scroll thru the channels when the TV is powered back on.
    I know, I know, good grief, the things we have to go through. I hope somebody can help.

    Thanks
    Tony
     

    Jay_UK

    Test Group
  • Team MediaPortal
  • October 6, 2009
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    Hi there,

    This is not a deliberate feature of Mediaportal.

    Its a limitation/design of the operating system. When you switch the TV off, the display device is lost/removed, so the OS switches to a different/default device. This destroys the DX display (or something like that) - so the playing of the TV is stopped (or any other video playback).

    I do not believe there is an option to change this behaviour. Assuming you just want mediaportal to start with full screen TV when your HTPC is turned on, you could use MPstartit plugin and configure that to launch TV in full screen when Mepo loads?

    J.
     

    tomtj

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  • March 18, 2012
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    Hi J.
    Thanks for the quick response. I just did some checking and I'm pretty sure it can't be that this would be a WIN7 Operating System limitation. What I did was check it out with the TV tool that comes with the Tuner, and also went back to Windows Media Center. In both cases I when I left live TV playing on the HTPC, then after turning off the TV power only, when I power the TV back on it goes right back to displaying live TV with those two tools. Any ideas out here?
    The MPstartit is something I will explore, it will result in one more button push for the wife. She is loathe to embrace change when it comes to the man-cave domain of the HTPC, I'm trying to make this as simple as possible for her sake. I also have a couple more issues to work out, but I'll post to those separately.
     

    SimondusMaximus

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  • December 27, 2009
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    Hi Tomtj,

    You've come across a common issue! There's an ongoing thread all about MediaPortal and Windows resizing the resolution when HDMI signal is lost. When the resize occurs, this also stops the video playback within MediaPortal. Once you fix this issue then you'll be able to leave TV playing and all should be as you want it. And 'er indoors, of course!

    The thread is very long but there are two main work arounds - one uses VNC to remotely connect to the HTPC, the other a few registry hacks. The VNC trick works for me every time (on different ahrdware - ATI and NVidia) but rather than make you read the whole thread on this issue, here's what works for me:

    Install Tight VNC on your MediaPortal HTPC - you only need to install the "VNC Server" part. Accept all other defaults.
    Install Tight VNC on another PC or laptop. You only need to install "VNC Viewer". Accept all other defaults.
    Start up your HTPC and once all's started, connect to it via VNC from your laptop/PC.
    Unplug the HMDI cable from your HTPC/TV. You should now see the resized Mediaportal on your VNC session.
    Close MP.
    Right click the desktop, select "Screen Resolution", click "Advance Settings".
    Click the "Monitor" tab, then click "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display".
    Click the "Adapter" tab, then "List all modes".
    Select the resolution you want, probably 1920*1080 True Colour (32 Bit). Refresh rate is probably only 30 Hertz max. (refresh rate isn't important at this point).
    Click OK and the desktop should resize.
    Now connect the HDMI cable from your HTPC and you should see the correct resolution.
    Disconnect your VNC session.
    Restart your HTPC and test by plugging/unplugging HDMI, changing your TV's or receiver's source. Resolution should stay at the full resolution and TV/Video should continue to play.
    If all is well, you can remove VNC if you don't need it.

    That works for me every time so fingers crossed for you. The original thread can be found here:

    https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/windows-7-half-fullscreen.71785/

    Good luck chief!

    Cheers
    Si
     

    tomtj

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  • March 18, 2012
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    Si,
    Yahoo, that did it! I used the VNC method. You know, I just knew there was a thread about this, but the description half-fullscreen just didn't grab my attention, but that was also a behaviour I had noted, there is so much to wade through on here. I do appreciate the point in the right direction. The MP community here is the best!

    Tony
     

    glenb83

    Portal Pro
    April 24, 2009
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    Digging up an old thread, but I've got this same issue on my Gigabyte Brix system, and I've tried the above fix which worked for the resolution, but I'm still having the same problem. One thing I noticed in the screen resolution box was that the display box changed when unplugging the hdmi cable, and I'm guessing this is where the problem is....
     

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