[mythtv] TV-Out Resolution

[Bruce Markey]

Micah Morton wrote:
> Everybody,
> 
>      we really need a newbie mailing list, as I really didn't know where
> to ask this.  I am not new to the linux scene but am, however, new to
> the whole linux on your TV scene.  So, I have a crappy TV a
> "Sylvania" with no Svideo or anything, just composite in. On my
> laptop (s3 savage IX chipset) I can output to the TV only in 640x480
> and see it all on my TV. Any higher and I have to pan around to see
> the whole desktop. In linux with the same chipset, It does the same
> thing, only it doesn't pan.. just locks me out of the rest of the
> screen.  So, I guess I don't quite understand how different
> resolutions are displayed on the TV.  Some cards support TV out as
> high as 1024x768. Does that mean that the 1024x768 will make things
> smaller on  your tv? or make it have to pan a bigger surface?  I'm
> not really getting this... does your TV have to support 800x600 in
> order to display it?  Anyways, any help is appreciated.  Thanks..

There are three sizes that are important here:

-) the X Desktop (virtual) dimensions

-) the X display size

-) the MythTV GUI dimensions.

The MythTV GUI uses it's GUI dimensions regardless of the
other two and is anchored to the upper left corner of the
X Desktop.

The MythTV Fullscreen uses the X display size dimensions
regardless of the other two and is anchored to the upper
left corner of the X display.

So, the first thing to do is to set the X virtual Desktop
to be the same size as the X display size to get rid of the
panning effect. If, as you say, you can only display 640x480
to the TV, make sure that 640x480 is the first resolution
in the lists under "Screen" of your XF86Config-4 file.

Next, set the GUI sizes to 640 and 480. In 0.7, edit the
file "themes.txt". In 0.8, go the Setup->Appearance.

Then everything should fit.

The fonts for the GUI and OSD will scale to whatever sizes
you use. The fullscreen mode locking the to X display size
is important for Xinerama. Fullscreen mode should fill the
screen and not pan. However, if you press "f" the picture
will go into a window. In 0.8, this window can be resized
and moved so you can have a TV somewhere on your desktop
as a distraction while you should be working ;-).

Hope this helps,

--  bjm