I’m trying to display video from my computer on my TV. The TV is a plain old glass tube, non-HD thing. The computer has an integrated Intel GMA X3500 GPU and has both VGA and HDMI output ports. The good people in this thread managed to get the idea through my thick skull that I would need a scan converter to convert the digital signal coming from the computer’s VGA or HDMI port to an analog signal the TV could receive over its S-Video or Component port. So, I bought a VGA (RGB) to Component (YPrPb) converter box, hooked it up and…nothing. The TV, when switched to the Component input, shows the blue screen that indicates no signal. It makes no difference if the monitor is connected (via the HDMI port) or not. The converter box has, in addition to the Y, Pr, and Pb outputs, a H+V output (color-coded white). I have no idea what this is for, nor where I would connect it to the TV, and the instruction manual doesn’t explain anything. Any ideas? Thanks.
Laptop or desktop?
If it’s a laptop, you may have to play with the Fn key and one of the F1 - F12 keys to toggle between laptop screen/external monitor/both.
As far as converting the signal, I use an adapter cable with a VGA connector on one end and 3 RCA connectors on the other end for component video, and it works fine.
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S^G
This is probably a dumb question, bit are you sure that it’s component into the older TV? If it’s not HD, why would it take component in? Could it be composite (the yellow RCA connector) plus red and white for the audio?
It’s definitely component not composite, which it also has. You’ve got me as to why it’s there, but that is the unused input on the TV. Also, the computer is a desktop.
If you’re not using a utility like PowerStrip to change your graphics output to 60Hz interlaced with the right number of scan lines, you may be sending a signal to the TV that it can’t display (hence the blue screen). PowerStrip should have an NTSC mode that all American TVs can display, and that should be your starting point.
For what it’s worth, the hassle of getting my VGA-to-TV hardware working with a Windows or Linux desktop made me abandon the project altogether. I now record the shows straight from the coax using a Hauppauge PVR-250, strip out the commercials manually on the purpose-built desktop (argh), and then send them over the local network to the most reliable DVD burning machine in the house, where I turn them into video DVDs that I can watch using the DVD player hooked up to my TV.
Good luck!
I downloaded Powerstrip. I changed the resolution to 480X640 @ 60 Hz. I hit Apply. The image on the monitor rotates 90 degrees and the TV displays a distorted, yellowish, flickering, sideways version of the image on the monitor, also rotated 90 degrees. It does not seem to matter if I select Twin, Intel Dual Display Clone, or Extended Desktop in the multiple display settings in the driver. It looks as though I should have used the money I spent on this computer on a new TV and a Tivo.
You’re probably close to finding a configuration that works with your TV. If you want to resolve the 90 degree issue, try 640x480 @ 60 Hz (not the reverse). Forums and wikis with pages like this one will help you write custom settings files for your TV. Note that 640x480 @ 60Hz is also called “480p” and is considered one of the first HDTV resolutions, so your TV may not be able to display it. Try the same set of numbers at 30 Hz (or 60 Hz interlaced), and let us know how it goes.