I’ve recently been reminded that there is still one person out there who is a big fan of picture-in-picture. PIP, as you might recall, was a popular feature of early HDTVs. It let you watch two programs at the same time, usually by putting the second one in a smaller window on the screen. In other words, the smaller “picture” was “in” the bigger “picture.” At the dawn of the 21st century, it topped the “must-have” list for videophiles.
PIP takes over TVs and DVRs
The economic situation got rough about 2010, and most people had already upgraded to their first HDTV. The industry, flush from years of growth, wanted more and more. PIP became the “must-have” feature for many manufacturers. Along with 3D (remember that?) PIP was going to revolutionize the way we watched TV. It was going to drive us toward buying another new TV, and another, and another.
Alas, while many people fretted about how to make a house payment, premium features on TVs seemed a little less important. Still, manufacturers rolled out PIP on their TVs, and DIRECTV followed suit in 2011 with its first PIP-enabled DVR, the HR34 Genie. With five tuners, the HR34 was the first DIRECTV DVR that could show two images and still have some capability to record.
Issues from day 1
PIP ran into roadblocks from almost the first moment. Many early copy-protection schemes didn’t work with it, meaning it was impossible to use your satellite receiver for one picture and your Blu-ray Disc player for another picture. DIRECTV’s HR34 gave you two live TV pictures, but most TVs with PIP installed balked at combining sources if there was any copy protection involved. Personally, as the owner of a PIP-enabled television made in 2011, I’ve never gotten a lot of use out of that feature because of such copy protection issues.
While the HR34 gave picture-in-picture on the main DVR, it didn’t provide the same function on the Genie mini clients. This meant that it wasn’t possible to have PIP in every room, just the main one.
Some folks here will tell you that DIRECTV’s implementation was hampered. They’ll say it should have had a single button toggle on the remote. Personally I never found it too difficult to start PIP on a DIRECTV Genie, I just didn’t do it.
The state of PIP
A little over two years ago I noticed that the newest TVs — even the high-end ones — no longer had picture in picture. That feature, along with 3D, had started to disappear as TV prices plunged. It seemed like people weren’t interested in anything on a TV other than its size and price. To some extent they cared about whether it would do 4K, which really came later.
About a year later AT&T showed its DIRECTV Genie 2 and that was the beginning of the end for its picture-in-picture effort. The Genie 2 does not support picture-in-picture at all. That’s because there isn’t a “DVR” part of it, just a server that doesn’t output video.
To be really honest, I never really embraced picture-in-picture. It’s not because it was hard to use. It’s because my TV was always used for the main picture while I got other information on my phone. There were times I’d watch two or three things at the same time. Instead of PIP I’d use my phone or tablet, held much closer to my face, for a more encompassing experience. That’s pretty much what people do today.
I’d like to give one final statement about PIP. I probably won’t mention it again. I guess it would be that it’s time we changed the name… from PIP to RIP.
Many years ago, my father received as an anniversary present a HUGE Panasonic tube TV with the best feature – PIP! Back in those days we had analog cable in our apartment building so everything was unscrambled. PIP worked as promised and my parents successfully watched whatever mom wanted in the main window and dad watched a ballgame in the tiny frame.
Eventually the building switched from the limited cable they offered to a real cable company (well… it was RCN.. close enough). Luckily enough they still had some ClearQAM so the PIP worked for the most part.
Flash forward a number of years and my dad was given a brand new Sony HD RPT. It was HUGE but had a great picture for its day. (I eventually picked up the exact same model a week later as my old tube TV died.) This model had PIP/PAP but making the switch to HD meant adjusting to a new way to use the PIP feature. Only one HD “external source” could be displayed. If you didn’t use the internal ATSC/QAM tuner, that meant you could only see the HD cable box and a second, analog source. In order for my dear old dad to still have PIP/PAP, we connected a second, analog box to the TV. It was a bit complicated as the concept of switching sources on the remote control was too difficult. Instead, we laid out all the remotes on the coffee table and explained how to change the channels and turn on/off the PIP/PAP. For years this setup worked (with the frequent “support calls” and some troubleshooting).
Alas, HDTVs aren’t meant to last forever and after replacing the bulb and a few other parts, it was time to buy a new HDTV. Finally a FLAT screen! Unfortunately as this article demonstrated, there aren’t many who actually used the feature due to the limitations. The family all tried to explain to him that it would be much easier for him to simply pick up mom’s iPad and watch whatever your heart desired but he resisted with everything he had. (Dad’s a bit of a Luddite when it comes to phones/tablets/computers.) With no reasonably priced options, he finally relented and he no longer has PIP. I told him if he really wanted PIP, it would be much easier to buy a smaller TV and mount it directly above the main screen. (You could use it to display artwork when not in use as a TV! Family portraits, whatever you like!)
It’s a shame that the manufacturers and the broadcasters couldn’t come up with a way to get it to work as it was a decent feature but it’s certainly something that has been rendered useless with all the new technology and ways to watch.
It’s all about opinions …..
…. and I disagree with the author.
About 10 years ago we had a Sony with PIP – and it was one of my favourite features:
– watching sport doesn’t need commentary
– waiting for one news item
So much so, that I was pretty p*ssed off when a newer purchase didn’t have PIP.
We’ve just been looking for another new TV – and PIP was the first feature I looked for.
It’s ok to disagree, that’s half of the fun of life!