Picture-in-picture
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Picture in Picture (PiP) is a feature of some television receivers and similar devices. One program (channel) is displayed on the full TV screen at the same time as one or more other programs are displayed in inset windows. Sound is usually from the main program only.
Picture in Picture requires two independent tuners or signal sources to supply the large and the small picture. Two-tuner PiP TVs have a second tuner built in, but a single-tuner PiP TV requires an external signal source, which may be an external tuner, VCR, DVD player, or a cable box with composite video outputs. Picture in Picture is often used to watch one program while waiting for another to start, or advertisements to finish.
Some manufacturers implement picture-in-picture in a very non-traditional manner. For example, and verified with their tech support group, Samsung redefines PiP on their LN-T4042H LCD television as the ability to switch between a personal computer input signal and an analog broadcast channel. In other words, Samsung's PiP only works when one is using this LCD television as a computer monitor.
Adding a picture into an existing picture was done long before affordable PiP was available on consumer products. The first PiP was seen on the televised coverage of the 1976 Montreal Olympics where a Quantel digital framestore device was used to insert a close-up picture of the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony.
An early consumer implementation of Picture-In-Picture was the Multivision set-top box; it was not a commercial success. Later PiP became available as a feature of advanced television receivers.
The new HD DVD specification includes picture in picture, allowing viewers to see, say, the director's comment on a film they are watching. However, Blu-ray Disc develops a similar picture-in-picture experience as of HD DVD, but other movie companies such as New Line Cinema, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, and Lionsgate, are planning to release future Blu-ray products with true picture-in-picture features provided by Profile 1.1, such as War, Resident Evil: Extinction, Pan's Labyrinth and HD DVD's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
Picture and Picture (PAP, P&P) (commonly referred to as PBP - Picture by Picture) is a related feature showing two programs side-by-side on the screen, with the sound from one program being played through the speakers, and the sound from the other being sent to headphones.