Travel Technology - Playing DVD from the Laptop

I was trying to play DVD from my laptop onto the TV. I managed to hook it up so I can see the laptop screen on my TV. However, when I try to play a DVD, the window is black. For example, the DVD can be playing inside a window on screen and I can see it without any problems on the laptop screen. The TV will display the rest of the screen, but the window that is playing the movie is black.

Is it a copyright thing? Are there ways to get around it?

I'm using XP Pro, DVD Region Free 5.05+CSS Free (from DVDIdle.com) and WinDVD 4.

Thanks.

I was trying to play DVD from my laptop onto the TV. I managed to hook it up so I can see the laptop screen on my TV. However, when I try to play a DVD, the window is black. For example, the DVD can be playing inside a window on screen and I can see it without any problems on the laptop screen. The TV will display the rest of the screen, but the window that is playing the movie is black.

Is it a copyright thing? Are there ways to get around it?

I'm using XP Pro, DVD Region Free 5.05+CSS Free (from DVDIdle.com) and WinDVD 4.

Thanks.

NO, it's an "overlay" thing. Windows will only display an overlay (video) on the primary display. You need to somehow convince the video driver that your external display (the TV) is the "primary." If it's an ATI Mobility video chipset, there's a number of additional settings that can be adjusted under the Advanced settings of Properties|Settings when you right-click on the desktop.

Or better yet ensure the DVD decoder can be set to use "VMR" and not "Overlay"... This will work on the second monitor *ONLY* if the TV encoder chip (or internal) supports Macrovision.

Tell us the notebook model, and what is shown when you go to Control Panel, Display, Settings under "Display"

Thanks for your help, but I'd a look around and I didn't see any of the options you mentioned.

It's a Toshiba M10, running GeForce4 420 GO.

Under Settings in Display, there're 2 options under the Display drop-down box. Both options are the same (listing the video driver).

Under the Advanced Settings and in the GeForce tab, I can choose Standard or Clone, which I can't tell if there's any actual difference between them.

Hope this helps, there is a way of setting most laptops, so the IT guy told me when we had a client with exactly the same problem, trying to give us a presentation, to get this to work.

Yes the display needs to know that it's changing output, and you would do well to have the TV hooked up before trying this, as the laptop screen goes blank/black. It is Fn + F5 and use it like you would "ALT + TAB" you need to make the thing output to TV these options should appear as an on screen transparent ovelay. Just make sure that you have the thing hooked up to a secondary display before doing this or it can take a lot of trial and error to get the display back like it was.

The IT guy also sent me this: www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/ using/windowsmediaplayer/expert/scancon.mspx which he said he had first figured out how to do it from. Aren't the IT dept usefull sometimes.

Do post back and let me know if this works.

Fn + F5.

It is Fn + f5 that is the answer. Took me about a week of head banging to find that out......

The IT guy also sent me this: www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/ using/windowsmediaplayer/expert/scancon.mspx which he said he had first figured out how to do it from. Aren't the IT dept usefull sometimes.

Do post back and let me know if this works.

Thanks, I'll try this tonight. I only just saw your post. The URL doesn't work though.

Now that I'm back at home, it turns out I've already tried Fn+F5 last time.

I have a Toshiba, too, and was just playing with it last week to run movies I downloaded from Starz on the TV and the function/F5 key works for me, too. I found it in the online manual. Are you holding down the function button and then pressing/releasing the F5 button to go through the screen settings? It gives me about 4 different options, and one of those will be a TV display.

This link does work, but typical microsoft, it has inserted a %20 in the URL when you click on it, thus buggering it up. I'll post it again, but if you remove the added bit at the front, and the %20, the original 'should' work.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/windowsmediaplayer/expert/scancon.mspx

You want to look at number three, which says (just in case):

To use both your monitor and your TV display simultaneously, connect the monitor cable to the scan converter. Note: Laptops generally cannot support video on two displays. To switch to external display, you can typically use the Fn + F5 keyboard shortcut. Your laptop screen will go blank.

Great fun instructing the client on what to do on his machine, whilst being instructed myself by the IT guy, down the phone. Best bit was when the laptop screen went black, there wasn't another display hooked up to it and the client thought we had just killed his laptop! :D