Multiple TV feeds on the one TV screen at the same time

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andyfuller
Posts: 4619
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:23 pm

Hi,

I have a project upcoming for Rugby which will involve watching incidents in matches from multiple camera angles. It is likely to be four camera angles at a time.

Each camera angle will be coming from its own feed.

Rather than rig up 4 TV's I was wondering if anyone knew how I could get all four feeds to display on the same TV screen at once?

I was thinking along the lines as what you see on a shop TV for their CCTV where they display multiple camera feeds.

The output souces can be scart, hdmi or Red White Yellow cable.

Audio would be needed but only from one feed as they will all have the same audio, just different camera angles.

Does anyone have any idea how to achieve this? Could I just buy a cheap CCTV system and use that but plug my feeds into the box that comes with it rather than the CCTV cameras?

Any help most welcome!
spreadbetting
Posts: 3140
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:06 pm

When you say each has it's same feed what do you mean? Are you able to transmit these all at once from one device or have four devices with their own feeds?

Even smart TV's are usually only able to do 1 picture in picture as they only have two tuners, you'll probably need to look at the dedicated split screen processors. Do an ebay/google search for 4 channel picture in picture processors or split screen processors, might find one cheap. They're usually the things used in sports bars or large pubs.
The dog of ry
Posts: 262
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2014 2:17 am

Do you run the "Bunker" Video ref system for NRL here in Australia???

Because obvious ties to Betfair would explain a lot of the decisions we've been copping this year...
andyfuller
Posts: 4619
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:23 pm

spreadbetting wrote:When you say each has it's same feed what do you mean? Are you able to transmit these all at once from one device or have four devices with their own feeds?
Thanks for the reply mate, each of the four camera angles will be coming from its own device. So there will be fore example four DVD players each playing the match from its own dedicated camera angle. Therefore in total there will be four camera angles of the same match.

So one option is to set up four TV's but this is far from ideal as trying to watch four screens at once is obviously near on impossible but watching one screen showing four pictures is much easier.

spreadbetting wrote:Even smart TV's are usually only able to do 1 picture in picture as they only have two tuners, you'll probably need to look at the dedicated split screen processors. Do an ebay/google search for 4 channel picture in picture processors or split screen processors, might find one cheap. They're usually the things used in sports bars or large pubs.
Thanks for the advice - I will do some googling. My thought line was that CCTV such as the one below costs very little now and displays four CCTV camera images at once so I wondered if I could buy one of these and instead of plugging in CCTV camera, plug in the DVD players.

I have no experience though of CCTV so don't know if it is as simple as that.

Eg. CCTV: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Recorder-Secur ... 013ANIH5I/
The dog of ry wrote:Do you run the "Bunker" Video ref system for NRL here in Australia???

Because obvious ties to Betfair would explain a lot of the decisions we've been copping this year...
Think you posted this in the wrong place? :?
Last edited by andyfuller on Tue Sep 06, 2016 11:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
spreadbetting
Posts: 3140
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:06 pm

Basically they all pretty much work in the same way as the CCTV thing, they take in the feeds then the processor converts them back to a single picture and thats fed out to a TV/PC etc. The prices go up with the output/input quality as you'd guess, so a lot depends on what quality feeds you're putting in and what quality feed you want out as to how much you'll pay. CCTV feeds are very low quality compared to say 4 1080p feeds.

Have a look at the Ambery site as they do a lot of the pip stuff, http://www.ambery.com/spscvipr.html . You'll see the low end stuff (http://www.ambery.com/pivipr.html) can go for around $100 but when you start looking at hdmi in and out prices rise drastically as the processors and hardware needed costs more.
andyfuller
Posts: 4619
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:23 pm

Thanks mate for that reply - very useful. I have been searching around and came across Ambery but unfortunately they seem to be US based - I am struggling to find UK vendors though I am sure there are some.

All the ones on eBay seemed to be US based.

The quality doesn't need to be 1080p. It would need to be around the quality of normal Standard Definition pictures you would get from your normal TV aerial as they are recordings of camera feeds that are used for TV transmission.

Do you think a run of the mill CCTV system would be around this quality? Unfortunately I don't have any experience of CCTV so don't really have a clue.

Many thanks.
spreadbetting
Posts: 3140
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:06 pm

I'd guess the CCTV is around the same standard but you have to remember the quality on the cheaper ones will be degraded because of the output being limited to say PAL at 720×576 pixels to cover all 4 re-rendered feeds.

I'd imagine most should have the output and input specs listed, try searching Amazon/Ebay for quad multiplexers or PIPS, they're obviously used more for CCTV feeds where quality of image isn't usually the most important aspect for the quad feed as switching to single feeds from each camera would give the native resolution not a degraded 4x4 one if people need to see a single camera or zoom in etc.

They'll probably be loads of CCTV forums out there too that would be able to give better advice as to the output quality you can expect for a minimal cost too.
Atho55
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Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 1:37 pm
Location: Home of Triumph Motorcycles

andyfuller
Posts: 4619
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:23 pm

spreadbetting wrote:I'd guess the CCTV is around the same standard but you have to remember the quality on the cheaper ones will be degraded because of the output being limited to say PAL at 720×576 pixels to cover all 4 re-rendered feeds.

I'd imagine most should have the output and input specs listed, try searching Amazon/Ebay for quad multiplexers or PIPS, they're obviously used more for CCTV feeds where quality of image isn't usually the most important aspect for the quad feed as switching to single feeds from each camera would give the native resolution not a degraded 4x4 one if people need to see a single camera or zoom in etc.

They'll probably be loads of CCTV forums out there too that would be able to give better advice as to the output quality you can expect for a minimal cost too.
Thanks mate for that info - it has been really helpful. TBH, I hadn't thought about the output being limited like you say to cover all 4 re-rendered feeds.

I will keep on searching and exploring and will look for a forum or two.
Atho55 wrote:Spotted this in Costo last week

http://www.costco.co.uk/view/p/swann-nv ... ras-189633
Thanks for that - I was looking for a 'relatively' cheap solution i.e. no more than £150.

The reason being, I would only need to buy 2 more TV's to be able to get all four camera angles visible at once as I already have 2 TV's in the house. For around £100 each you can get a decent TV that I could then either sell or put in a bedroom after I have used it for this project.

Whereas the CCTV camera 4 PIP processor thing I doubt I would use again so would just look to sell.
andyfuller
Posts: 4619
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:23 pm

It is a shame this item called Skreens isn't available yet - I will be buying one when it is though!

It will be great for gaming.

Skreens trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZUU8bxDJaM
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