Multiple channels of TV on one screen?

March 31, 2006 8:00 AM

How can I get four different television channels playing on a large plasma or LCD display at once? I'm guessing that cable inputs would need to go to a PC, and then piped to the TV through DVI, but beyond that (hardware, software) I am a little stumped. Anyone have any suggestions?
posted by GriffX to technology (7 comments total)

I'm sure some of the finer big screen tv's have the capability to do 4-in-1 picture in picture. Provided they have enough inputs, that is. Aside from that, I've never heard of software to do such a thing, but I'd be fascinated to find out about some.
posted by antifuse at 8:15 AM on March 31, 2006

there are a few ways, and some depends on your setup--, what will your inputs be? coax/digital cable/sat/ota?

....if i were me doing it i would buy 4 tv tuners, or 2 dual tuner cards....then sending that signal out from your computer to the TV, but keep in mind there could be extra application gui shit taking up valuable viewing space on your monitor.....you could also get a tv splitter...something like this
posted by killyb at 8:23 AM on March 31, 2006

It's all going to be coax...
posted by GriffX at 8:36 AM on March 31, 2006

coax analogue cable? no need a box to change the channels?

I would give two of these a shot.....BUT i have not tried this so I'm not sure if the software will allow for multiple instances to run at once....there are other tv tuner apps around the web....wintv for one. I have never seen a TV with this feature built in...most I've seen is two inputs to display at once.
posted by killyb at 9:23 AM on March 31, 2006

The cheapest way I know how to do what you describe is with four VCRs, a color security camera quad screen splitter, and five BNC-to-RCA adapters. This would cost about $400.

Use the four inexpensive VCRs as cable TV tuners. Connect the composite video outputs of the VCRs to a security camera quad screen splitter (such as the Lorex Quad Processor). Connect the monitor output of the security processor to the composite video input on your plasma display (assuming it has one, if it doesn't you'll need the appropriate adapter hardware). Most security video equipment uses BNC connectors for video, so you'll need at least five BNC male to RCA female adapters.

Note that this inexpensive setup doesn't create a higher resolution video signal, the signal to the display will be a standard NTSC signal. You'll need a much fancier setup if you want to preserve the original resolution of the four source signals.
posted by RichardP at 10:02 AM on March 31, 2006

I second RichardP's solution, however, quad processors are designed for security camera use and so may have features that you do not want or need. For example, some have a time/date or camera name displays that you cannot turn off, or alarms that sound when you disconnect a video signal. However they are cheaper than a computer if all you want is 2x2 video.

Also note that most of these devices do not support audio at all, and many support B/W video only, not color.

There are also LCD monitors designed for security camera use that have 4 video inputs and built-in color quad processors.
posted by drew3d at 10:53 AM on March 31, 2006

You could go hi-end and go for a Miranda quad-splitter which you can actually custom configure (one large screen/ 3 small ones) and it takes a variety of signals HD, SDI, composite. Trouble is, it runs about $4300 for the HD version. There's a Standard Def version also.
posted by phirleh at 11:24 AM on March 31, 2006