1024x768 is the Minimum and required resolution. But VSL should perform at its MAX on any resolution above that. So I would set the second screen resolution to as high as it will go.

1024x768 is minimum and required? I've never seen anything stating such. Higher resolution doesn't equal higher quality video. What most of the people are shooting for is as close to the native resolution of the video source. So if the majority of your video is 640x360 or 640x480 then resolution of the secondary should be at or near that for the best quality image and to reduce the amount of upscaling/downscaling that would need to be done. Upscaling will either stretch pixels or attempt to fill in gaps. Downscaling squishes pixels. I think that's why you're getting mixed answers. I personally run mine at 640x480 which is standard vga def. I think the next one up from that would be 800x600 which is svga. Of course that also depends on your video card....and then also on the display resolution of the projector or tv you're using. But for output...basically look at the video source for the resolution that should be used.

Yeah.. thats exactly the pickle my head go into when I was trying to answer this dude.

he has the pre-unibody mbp 2.5

I have mine on 800x600 (I checked) and I get good picture and whatnot.
of course I have the nvida 8700MGT going DVI/VGA to a exetron500

Let me restate that:

The minimum resolution of SSL is 1024x768. There is no minimum for the second screen when running Video SL.

Yes it would be great to match the resolution of the actual Videos themselves for best quality. With the handbrake setting in Video SL - I can usually set the resolution on the second screen to the max and it looks great to me.

But all is in preference.

Okay. That makes more sense.
Yeah, with the Handbrake setting at max it should be outputting the video unscaled. Which in most cases is still 720x480. The difference really depends on the connection to the displays and how it upconverts the video feed. If you're going VGA out to displays then run a VGA setting 640 or 800. You really can't tell much difference between the two. However connected mini DV to HDMI at home I can see the pixel fill on my plasma when showing a 640x360 Smashvid at 1080p. At 640x480 it looks completely smooth. Granted from 50 ft away and two beers down the customers won't be able to tell the difference.

so, setting the 2nd screen max... could potentially tax your video card more than actually needed... if the native resolution is never more than 720x480 per usual...

Im suprised this hasnt been discussed/mentioned more...

Theoretically. I could see it as an issue for someone using an integrated graphics card trying to display out or someone with a dedicated card with a low amount of ram. A lot of the guys on here are using MBPs with a dedicated 512 card and tons of ram so upscaling those vidz isn't really taxing the system by any great amount. A good person to ask on this would be DJMark.
BTW good work on moving up in the remix world. I think I added you on Vimeo and it's cool to see the progress from when you first started uploading to now. Congrats mate. </sidebar>

thanks alot man... much appreciated.
I look back at my stuff from 2009 and Im like wow....
getting there, ya know?

we'll have to bring mark in, and some video gurus.
obviously its not a HUGE deal.. because no ones having issues runnin 1-way or another

So for all the videos that have a resolution of 640x360, to achieve the best output on a second display you should set it to the exact or very close to the original video resolution correct?

Im asking this because im kind of confused on this. When I would mess with the second display settings on my MBP, I could tell VSL would not run smooth or the video would look bad.

If the majority of your videos are VGA, which is 640x480, or VGA cropped for widescreen, which is 640x360 you won't see any improvement to the video by displaying it at a higher resolution...say 1280x720. 800x600 or 640x480 would be ideal.
People assume that because their laptop or computer will display at a higher resolution that it will automatically make whatever they are displaying look better.
The other thing to consider is the output as well. If you're plugging into HD televisions, projectors or switcher/scalers you should check to see what resolutions are recommended for the inputs you are using. Personally I've never had a problem plugging into anything with a 640x480 setting. Nor have I had problems with it running bad with a MBP.

When you try and output lets say a video with a resolution at 640x360 out of a MBP with an HDMI out to a 1080P widescreen tv, you should set the output to exactly what the source video is encoded at right? Im just wondering because I tried to set my output window for 1080P and it bogged my mbp down hard! Im guessing its because it upscaled the video to the 1080P resolution I had it set on.

It doesn't have to be exact, but it should be as close as possible.

Yeah. It's essentially ballooning those pixels to make them fit into a much larger screen.

Cool thanks for the help Carter!

I recommend the medium setting in vsl which displays 512x512 and secondary display to 640x480 or 800x600 (some projectors wont work in 640x480). Runs like a champ, no stuttering on either screens.

I had the same exact questions. I have been running my 13" MBP 2009 model with the HDMI output. I only used the HDMI output because I couldnt find a VGA Cable long enough. So essentially if I use the HDMI output it would stress/tax my system more than normal VGA? I have no problems or issues running the VSL with out the 2nd display. All my videos are downloaded from Smashvidz and some lose the sync when i use the second display. Any advice you can give is greatly appreciated on the best settings for second display, will be greatly appreciated.

they shouldnt loose sync unless your running some pretty long cables. No hdmi should not stress or tax the system any different from vga. Try to make sure that your output setting i sset to 640 x 480 or 720p max, I wouldnt recommend 1080. Also make sure your setup in vsl is set to medium which will prolly help. I would not recommend best setting unless your system can handle it.

Anyone else care to chime in on the loss of sync issue? I never have this problem.

I only seem to loose sync due to post pocessing of the video system.

if I run straight to a tv/projector, its money.
if I am running cables, and the exetron, and a video mixer... I get -1 delay