Pip how do i get pip to work when hooked to a cable box. trying to change channels just takes it off channel 3 and gets no picture.

The Picture in Picture (PIP) on VIZIO televisions works on multiple input sources. This means you have to have signal or a device connected to more than one input on the television and have both inputs selected to display the information going to them. Here is an example. Let's say you have an HD cable box connected to your television and you would like to have more than one channel displayed on the screen in order to keep an eye on both football games at the same time. With one device connected that's not going to work out the way our TV functions. What you want to do is get a coaxial splitter and two extra coaxial cables; these can be found anywhere home theater equipment is sold. Then follow these steps.

1. Turn off both your cable box and television.

2. Take the coaxial cable that comes OUT from the wall and connects to the IN of your cable box and disconnect it.

3. Connect that cable to the IN on your coaxial splitter.

4. Connect your two extra coaxial cables to the OUTs on your coaxial splitter. We will call them cable 1 and Cable 2, just because.

5. Connect cable 1 directly to the DTV/TV input on your television.

6. Connect Cable 2 directly to the IN on your cable box, this will be the same connection you removed it from in step #2. Your HD cable box should still be connected to your television with either an HDMI cable or Component cables (Identified by their Green, Red, Blue colors for video and Red and White cables for audio.)

7. Power on both the cable box and your television. Using the INPUT button on your VIZIO remote select the input connection where your cable box is located your cable box picture should come up on the Main screen.

8. Press the PIP button on your VIZIO remote to bring up the small box in the corner. Press the PIP input button until you select the TV input and you should be ready to go. You may need to perform a channel scan with your TV tuner to locate all available channels before you do this step. In order to understand better how to perform a channel scan please check under the F.A.Q.s in the discussion area of your particular model television.

In order to change channels in the small screen use the PIP CH - and + buttons located near the bottom of the remote. You can swap picture in the Main and Sub screens using the swap button and swap which screen will sound off its audio by using the AUDIO button. You might notice an X next to some of the selections in the INPUT and PIP INPUT screens when you have PIP activated. That means that input selection is unavailable and cannot be used. For example, if you have the input TV selected on your main screen then if you press the PIP INPUT button and bring up that input menu you will see X's next to the TV and AV selections. The X's mean that when you have TV on the main screen you won't be able to use TV or AV on the small screen. Instead you would need to use any of the input selections that do not have an X attached to them.

You would need another cable box to watch a different channel on the secondary picture. If you can hook up another cable box then that one will plug into the secondary input.

Try a hard reset.

either you don't have your cable connected to the right spot or your main tunner has failed check your cable connection also try to swithch the pip input to the main see if that works

the 3 or for setting on the vcr is on the back( a switch)
or if the cable box has a channel 3 or 4 setting on the back of the box
but otherwise the tv may need some work on the tuner or need a new tuner

In order to get a picture of what is going on you must understand what is happening. The cable box converts all channels to channel three or four depending on what it was intitially set on. That means that you have only one channel coming into the tv. So you cannot program the set. You just have to put the TV on Channel 3 or 4 and leave that alone. Do not try to program the TV. Then change the channels on the cable box. The hitch is that there are several ways to hook a cable box to your set. One is with the RF connector, which is the screw on one, into either Antenna A or B. and the other is through the AV cables which are yellow, red and white. Yellow for video, red for right audio and white for left audio. If your box is hooked to the AV input then you must use the INPUT button on the tv to select the proper AV input. On that set there are several.

I wonder if the RF interference from the digital tuner. That box will only allow ouput either through the coax or the AV ports. If you do both you will not get a picture.

If you switch them you have to tell the box what your using for output by going through the setup process.

Is the Zenith 901 converter box for your cable TV.

When you use the Time Warner Digital box, you're using the tuner inside that box rather than the tuner inside your TV to select a channel. Picture in picture TV's have two tuner's inside so you can view two channels, but they can only tune the analog channels from your cable company, and only if it's hooked up in a manner that will permit this to happen.

So you only have one digital tuner (the Time Warner Box) so you can only view one channel at a time even though your TV supports Picture in Picture.

It MAY be possible to have limited use of the PIP if you connect your TV in a different way. Your Time Warner box is most likely connected to your TV set with composite cables, those are the Yellow, Red, White cables. If you buy a coaxial cable splitter and split the cable before it goes into the Time Warner box you can then run a coax cable into both the Time Warner box and the coax input on your TV. This would allow you to tune the analog Time Warner channels with both of your TV's tuners. In my area I think the first 60 channels or so are still available in analog, but there is no way to watch any of the higher premium channels without the Time Warner box.

If you go through these steps and you select the coax input on your TV your PIP will work on the lower channels. It MAY be possible to tell your TV to display the input from the composite cables on one of the PIP screens and the input from the coax on the other, but I kind of doubt it.

I know this sounds complicated and if you're not familiar with the way all this works it is complicated. The reason lots of people won't respond to this kind of question on this site is because there is no easy fix and by trying to help I run the risk of getting a bad rating. I don't get paid for this, I just like trying to help, so if I have not explained this in a way that's helpful to you please ask some additional questions before you give me a bad rating. Thanks.

I was told that in order to view 2 different channels at the same time u have to subscribe to SKYCable and use the digital input instead of the antenna input and the antenna input you will have to use the regular antenna since there is only one tuner in the TV

If you have it hooked up to a digital box, it shouldn't matter if the TV is on cable or antenna mode. The only thing that matters is that the TV is on channel 3. Channels will be changed on digital box. Some newer TV's use input 1 or 2 or AUX for it to work. If I were you i would hook everything up and start playing with the channels going up and down until you get a picture.