VGA to TV...

[lee551]

i dont play computer games, so i dont have a fancy graphix card. however, i would like to view my computer's output on my tv. since i only have a vga port, i looked on ebay and found http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-VGA-to-TV-CONVERTER-S-VIDEO-RCA-OUT-CABLE-ADAPTER_W0QQitemZ5836221094QQcategoryZ41999QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem.


just find a 20ft. s-video cable then and i'm done? can it be that easy?

edit: upon looking for another minute, i think i'll need a little 40-50 dollar box to it huh? :pinch:

[cpt_azad]

well depends. the new TV i bought for my room (only reason i bought it was for x360) has a shitload of inputs in it including VGA, so im guessing ur TV doesnt have VGA input. S-video will work as long as ur video card has an S-Video out, if it doesnt then its not worth it. I have an s-video cable for my card that's about 5 feet long, and it gets the job done (guess it kind of depends on how far away ur tv is from comp.)

edit: i dont know why, but i encountered these "problems" when I hooked up my comp to my other TV (Sony 60" 4:3 Tv, and no its not HDTV), it was hooked up via S-video, and trust me when i say the picture quality was fucking crap, like ouch my eyes hurt. so i dont know if it was the TV or svideo cable, but when I plugged my comp into my new LCD via VGA it looked so crisp and clear i was blown away, and then i tried with S-video and voila, craptacular. so ya, VGA if u can.

[tesco]

My svideo looks like crap too, ctp_azad. It's not just you. :P

[lee551]

well, i dont even have a graphix card. its just the onboard vga output.

i would guess i need something like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815100117).

[GepperRankins]

what's your graphics card?

[spirex]

It also depends on the max resolution of your televison. Non-HD tv's are only capable of 640x480 so any image will look like crap except for movies.

Vga signals can carry a higher resolution signal than S-video or composite.

[GepperRankins]

there's some video cards that have it a composite out on an unused pin. can't remember the make. i'll tell you later

[cpt_azad]

It also depends on the max resolution of your televison. Non-HD tv's are only capable of 640x480 so any image will look like crap except for movies.

Vga signals can carry a higher resolution signal than S-video or composite.

yup, right now my TV is outputting at 1280x720 (widescreen) but for some reason when i actually turn the TV to VGA mode and it looks very sharp and clear, and as rossco pointed out SVideo is really really crappy for computer use. If I were you, I'd just go buy a very cheap card like a 5200 or something, costs like 30 bucks anyway and has video out.

[Wolfmight]

It also depends on the max resolution of your televison. Non-HD tv's are only capable of 640x480 so any image will look like crap except for movies.

Vga signals can carry a higher resolution signal than S-video or composite.

yup, right now my TV is outputting at 1280x720 (widescreen) but for some reason when i actually turn the TV to VGA mode and it looks very sharp and clear, and as rossco pointed out SVideo is really really crappy for computer use. If I were you, I'd just go buy a very cheap card like a 5200 or something, costs like 30 bucks anyway and has video out.
"DVI Output + a tv with DVI input" is one of the best choices for quality.
I've never been able to read any text using the S-video output on graphics cards, so I have no idea why they even have that. (videos can still be watched slightly blurry using it though, so I suppose that's a reason)

[tesco]

It also depends on the max resolution of your televison. Non-HD tv's are only capable of 640x480 so any image will look like crap except for movies.

Vga signals can carry a higher resolution signal than S-video or composite.
Ya but mine comes out fuzzy and staticy, it might be my video card tho (we'll see when i get the new one :unsure:).

[Wolfmight]

If your TV has DVI, that's also good.
I can also add that a computer's S-video output looks terrible on my TV.
I use DVI.