Timeshifting with picture-in-picture is a pretty interesting feature. Functioning along the lines of products like Tivo, this feature allows you to record a live broadcast while you are away. Once you return, you can play the video while watching the continuation of the live show in the picture-in-picture. By doing this, you never have to worry about missing out.

Matrox did a very good job implementing this feature. A single click will start the process of recording. After that, you can walk away and do whatever needs to be done. On returning, an additional signal click will either stop the recording or begin playing the recorded footage. While this is taking place, the picture-in-picture displays the live footage. With a single click it is possible to switch between the recorded or live footage being displayed full-screen. Whatever footage is full-screen will have the other being the picture-in-picture.

Quality, of course, is very important as well. The record quality was very good and it rarely dropped frames. On playback, there seemed to be no issue displaying both the live and recorded feed, which was good to see. The only real complaint I have is that it takes a bit too long to start recording and then begin playing the live feed. While it seemingly should be a very quick operation, it takes several seconds to begin and end the operation.

The G450 eTV also supports Matrox's DualHead technology. DualHead offers the capability to output to two separate displays from a single card with a single chip. In the case of the eTV, the primary display is a standard RGB output, with the secondary display being through a video out. Thus, the second display on the eTV must be a television. While initially this might sound rather strange, when one considers the purpose of the eTV, it really makes a lot of sense. Since the purpose of using the eTV is working with video in one form or another, a television is an obvious choice. For example, this implementation allows for the simultaneous display of a video on one screen, with editing software on the other.

Enabling the dual-head capability was very straightforward. Just a couple of clicks and it was up and running. The functionality was definitely there as well. It was pretty easy to work between two windows, simply dragging windows between the two screens and working from there. Additionally, there is support to clone the primary display onto the television. The main use for this feature would be for a presentation where two displays are needed at separate locations or perhaps if DVD movies or games are being used.