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  1. Member
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    I'm working on an educational project involving a custom authored DVD.

    But for the final presentation, it would be great if I could have multiple copies of the DVD playing at the same time so that each child could make their own choices.

    Does anyone know if it is possible to have more than one copy of a DVD player up at the same time on a PC?

    (Ideally I'd like to have four DVD players up at the same time.)

    What would be the best DVD playback software for doing this?

    Any help would be appreciated.

    -Tchail
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  2. I'm a MEGA Super Moderator Baldrick's Avatar
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    Yes, you can start several instances of for example VLC Media Player or MPC.

    But the playback might be slow from the dvd reader. You could then copy the dvd to your hdd and play from it instead.
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  3. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    If you had the disc ripped to folder or ISO, it might be possible to "control" 4 copies of software DVD player on a hefty PC, but there would likely be a worse bottleneck regarding the video output. Were you going to have 4 separate video cards + displays? (Haven't tried this but might work)
    Otherwise the bandwidth of the decomprssed video could easily eat up the PC's capability.

    Best bet is 4 separate settop DVD players + 4 TVs.

    Scott
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  4. Originally Posted by Cornucopia View Post
    If you had the disc ripped to folder or ISO, it might be possible to "control" 4 copies of software DVD player on a hefty PC, but there would likely be a worse bottleneck regarding the video output. Were you going to have 4 separate video cards + displays? (Haven't tried this but might work)
    Otherwise the bandwidth of the decomprssed video could easily eat up the PC's capability.

    Best bet is 4 separate settop DVD players + 4 TVs.

    Scott
    Just for fun I tried it and no problems with my modest computer and I run 3 displays with Nvidia gts250 and gt460 cards (I believe the max number of displays for Nvidia is 3). But a computer with AMD Raedon with eye-infinity can handle up to six displays I believe.

    Still if it is possible then run the dvd on separate computers since it vill be easier to control via separate keyboards and mice's.
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  5. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    Let me get this straight - you ran 3 simultaneous instances of a title (or 3 titles, shouldn't matter) from Hard drive, using 3 separate distinct and non-related connections of mouse + keyboard (would be necessary if actually doing realtime interaction with multiple kids) controlling each of those titles, outputting to 3 separate displays, in full quality/full screen, without a single delay/skip/hiccup throughout the length of the title(s)? Even when multiple actions are being done simultaneously across the different titles?

    Tell us about your "modest" setup again...

    Scott
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  6. No, I ran 4 different instances of VLC . one with the windows maximized to 1920x1200 (main screen) and two with window maximized to 1080x1920 (side screens, screens rotated 90 degrees thats why I have the strange resolution) and the the fourth instance in a window on top of the different screens (window at original dvd resolution 720x576) and I only had one keyboard and two mice.

    They where running from a ripped VIDEO_TS folder on the same harddrive (actually the same folder for all).

    The only hiccup came when I tried to record the whole desktop with Camtasia Studio to show you, but that did not work so good since it had to record an area of 4080x1920 and that seems to be to much for the machine.

    The machine is about 2 years old and upgraded with an newer gfx-card (so I could run 3 displays). It is an iCore7 930 @ 2,8 and the only unusual thing is the amount of ram 12GB. So I think it a modest machine.
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  7. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    That's kind of what I thought.

    While your graphics capability is much better than originally expected, you DO have 2 quite modern higher-end/prosumer graphics cards. This makes a big difference.

    Also, you're running different instances of the same title, so if VLC talks to itself, it can just cache bigger chunks of the same clip.

    Also, VLC does NOT give you the interactive experience that a "DVD player" with VM controls/scripting, different VTS's and remote controls do. Especially with multiple DIFFERENT simultaneous interactions possibly going on.

    AND to top it off, your machine is fairly recent, using an i7 CPU, and with 12GB RAM. That's not "modest" by most consumer's definitions (and some professionals).

    I'm quite glad to see that something you've tried IS POSSIBLE. But I don't think that amounts to what the OP was asking...

    Scott
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    An i7 system of any kind isn't all that modest, in my opinion. My dual core AMD system with on-board video is a bit closer to the low end of the spectrum. I had 3 small windows open and playing different DVD-compliant MPEG-2 videos at once, on a single monitor, last night. 2 from MPCHC and one from Windows 7 Media Center. I didn't try a fourth. Audio is an issue. The audio from all 3 played simultaneously.

    Most graphics cards can only feed 2 monitors, although some mid-range ATI video cards can feed 3. Any more than that, and you need a specialized and fairly expensive video card. Audio will be problem even using multiple monitors.
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  9. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    Duh, I didn't even think of the audio burden as well (plus you don't want to have one user's audio bleeding into another's)...

    Scott
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  10. I agree that this might not be what the OP asked for, and so I stated in my first post

    Originally Posted by bacardi/avt View Post

    Still if it is possible then run the dvd on separate computers since it vill be easier to control via separate keyboards and mice's.
    And yes the audio is the biggest problem and that I do not think is easy to solve (actually I ran a Metallica DVD and the songs blended together in a big mess forcing me turn of the speakers).
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