Help with PIP

[jayswizz]

Hello everyone,
I have a 42in Hitatchi Ultravision LCD tabletop being used as a monitor in my HT setup. My question is about the Picture-In-Picture. I am sure this is a dumb question but here goes: If I use the PIP mode I just get a smaller picture of the same channel I am watching. How can I get the small PIP frame to show a different channel than the one I am already watching?

 

[DTS]

I'm surely not the best one to answer your question, compared to all the experts on the site, but I think I can get the thread started. Depending on what tv signal source you are using depneds on what you can do with PIP. It needs 2 diferrent feeds. There should be 2inputs on the back of the tv (?) one for PIP the other for normal viewing. When using satelite you would have to run a line from the reciever from the room #2 output. Then use the 2nd remote to change channels. I have DISH but have never messes with PIP, didn't seem worth the effort. Just seems that everything that runs through a box and requires the TV to stay on a set channel (3) makes PIP alittlle tougher to utilize. OK people let me have it.

 

[jayswizz]

Seems complicated, but I will try. Thanks for the input.

 

[Hi Ho]

You should check the manual for your TV but DTS is basically right. You need two seperate feeds into your TV.

With my TV I used to have my VCR connected to the A/V inputs and the cable connected to the RF input. That way I could watch one channel using the TV's tuner and another using the VCR's tuner.

I don't use PIP anymore as I find it rather useless.

Some TV's have dual tuners which would allow you to watch two things at once without any external equipment.

 

[jayswizz]

The manual says that my TV does have dual tuner so I will keep playing around with it. Hopefully sooner or later I will figure it out. Thanks for the help.

 

[Duffinator]

You never stated what type of input you have, OTA, Cable, or Sat. Tell me what you have and I'll tell you how to do it. But if it's Sat you will need two receivers. With cable or OTA it can be done but maybe not with all channels.

 

[jayswizz]

You never stated what type of input you have, OTA, Cable, or Sat. Tell me what you have and I'll tell you how to do it. But if it's Sat you will need two receivers. With cable or OTA it can be done but maybe not with all channels.

I have a Comcast HD cable box. When I hit the PIP button on my TV remote the sub picture will show the same picture I am watching. My Hitachi manual says the TV has a built in dual tuner. Thank you for taking the time to help me out.

 

[Duffinator]

I'm going under two assumptions, one you don't want to use another cable box and two your cable box does not have OTA tuners nor do you have an antenna at your home. Here goes, the first thing you need to do is split your cable feed BEFORE it goes into your cable box. You will now have two feeds, one goes into your cable box and the other goes directly into your TV into the non HD coax input. This will give you your basic unscrambled stations on one input and all your HD and scrambled stations on the input you are using now. I believe most cable systems still have your local stations and a few others unscrambled. This will allow you to watch all your stations on your main input and basic non HD stations on the other. I'm not sure if you can watch HD in the PIP window or not so you will have to check your manual. TV's with dual tuners usually allow you to watch two different inputs and there should be a menu in your setup options that allows you to change the inputs to your PIP window. There could also be a button on our remote that allows you to do this. This is really the only way to do this without having a second cable/sat box or having OTA HD reception. But it still allows you to watch two shows at the same time. PIP works great for watching sporting events like football, baseball, or basketball. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I have a Comcast HD cable box. When I hit the PIP button on my TV remote the sub picture will show the same picture I am watching. My Hitachi manual says the TV has a built in dual tuner. Thank you for taking the time to help me out.

My guess here is that you want to images out of your cable box.

The problem being is that you only have one cable box. Your TV may have two tuners, but it isn't using either of them - or it seems to be that way. It is also very possible that the TV runs into some issues with it's ability to display HDTV with another source in a window at the same time. This is not always the case, but sometimes an issue. Since you do get the window, it sounds like it is not the case.

Bottom line is, if you only have the cable box connected to the TV, then you aren't using either tuner inside the TV and you actually need to run a cable line into the TV itself so that you are using the internal TV tuner along with the cable box. Then, read the manual, it will tell you how to pick a different source for the PIP window.

NOTE: A quick alternative to this is that many of the HD cable boxes, or at least the cable boxes with DVR built in, also include PIP functionality. I know my Scientific Atlanta HD-DVR cable box includes PIP.

 

[jayswizz]

You guys are fantastic, I will give it a try this weekend. I do watch alot of sports so this is the main reason I would like to try to utilize the PIP. Running the splitter seems easy enough. I will try both of your suggestions. Thanks