PC to CRT projection HDTV

[slayer4567]

I have my PC connected to a 47" CRT projection HDTV.
My video card is a x800 ATI card with DVI, VGA and 7-pin S-vid outputs.
The TV has component video, 4-pin S-vid, Coaxil and RCA inputs.

Curretly I have the PC's 7-pin s-vid connected to the component video on the tv. The picture looks OK... I want to see if I can get it better.

Here is my issue. When I play a video from my PC, I will see a line form somewhere in the middle of the TV picture, distorting the video around this thin line. It's not a black line, but its definable by the distortion in the picture. And this line doesn't always appear. It only seems to happen when there is alot of motion in the video.

I also can't read any of the fonts that are about 20pt or less. On my monitor I can read them fine.

I'm guessing both problems have to do with the fact that I'm hooking the connection from a 7-pin S-vid to a component, but i'm not sure... This is where the community comes in...

Will I ever be able to get a crisp picture on the TV? Would it happen if I changed which output I used from my video card? What would be the best way to get a crisper picture on the TV?

Just for reference, the tv is a 1080i screen. When I output to the TV, my ATI catalyst controls sets the resolution to 1000x1778 to get rid of overscan (i think).

[slayer4567]

I forgot to mention that the TV is a Panasonic PT-47WX49S

[edDV]

You will get a much better picture over analog component.

480p will be excellent for progressive DVD and less flickery for a PC desktop.

1080i should be used for the HD cable/sat tuner.

Experiment 480p/1080i for ATI in theater mode and choose which looks best to you.

[redwudz]

Since your TV has component input and you have a ATI video card, you might look into a ATI DVI to Component adapter. It may work with your card. You would have to take a look at the ATI site to see if your card qualifies: http://ati.amd.com/products/hdtvadapter/faq.html#2

Component will look quite a bit better than S-video. DVI is better, but if your TV doesn't have it, component is a good option. That adapter only works on certain ATI video cards, but it only costs about $25US, so it's a good option.

If that doesn't work and you don't want to upgrade your TV, you might look into a different video card that can output component.

I don't think there is much you can do to improve S-video.

[slayer4567]

So, a suggestion of DVI to component will be better than 7-pin (different from 4-pin) s-video to component... I'll look up getting a dvi to component...

my next question is.. does it matter if I get a dvi-i or dvi-d to component? I'm not even sure what the real difference is.

[neomaine]

Which flavor of the x800 do you have? If its like my latest ATI purchase, I believe that 7-pin 's-video' output on your ATI card is actually the component out. Should have got the component adapter, a pigtail with the 7-pin on one end to the red-green-blue component plug at the other end, with your card if it is.

EDIT: Does it look like this? If so, then just the 7-pin -> component adapter is all you need. Shouldn't be much more than a couple of bucks if you didn't get one with the card. Actually, if you didn't get one with the card then I'd complain to whatever place you purchased it from and have them send you one.