VGA to HDMI

[xXFRESHXx]

not sure this is the right place to post, so if its not sorry and please point me in the right direction.


i want to connect my PC to my HDTV to watch home videos and other videos i have saved to hard drive. i looked around on the net and have found a VGA to HDMI cable and was wondering if this would work and if the picture would be any good. any help would be greatly appreciated


EDIT: ok just checked my tv and its not HDMI i have a DVI port. same question though. will VGA from my pc to DVI on my TV work? and would the picture be any good?

[Krispy Kritter]

I've never used any of the converter cables, and to be honest I didn't know any existed. Assuming the cable works, you will just need to ensure your resolution and refresh rate are set to standard resolutions (480i/480P/720P/1080i/1080P@60hz). Your TV likely won't recognize any other resolutions. Quality will depend on the source files. If you are trying to playback VHS quality home videos on a 55" widescreen HD TV, it isn't likely to look very good.

[xXFRESHXx]

thanks for the reply!.

all my videos are dvd quality so that shouldnt be a problem.

do you think i would have a better chance at this if i used a video card with dvi out? if so could you recomend one? i dont really have much to spend and this card im using now doesnt work well with vista for some reason. its a geforce 5500, it worked well with XP but now with vista the picture stutters when playing videos so im thinking new card anyway. thank for any help!

[jagabo]

do you think i would have a better chance at this if i used a video card with dvi out? if so could you recomend one? i dont really have much to spend and this card im using now doesnt work well with vista for some reason. its a geforce 5500, it worked well with XP but now with vista the picture stutters when playing videos so im thinking new card anyway. thank for any help!

Yes, DVI from computer to TV will work much better. I use this card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121076

with a monitor and HDTV running at 1920x1080 60p.

There's a small possibility your TV will accept analog VGA via the DVI connector. The DVI spec has an option for analog VGA so a VGA -> DVI cable could work. Check your HDTV for a DVI-I connector. See diagrams here:

http://www.datapro.net/techinfo/dvi_info.html

By the way, there's no such thing as a VGA to HDMI cable. Anything labeled like that is for a specialized device that includes digital video on the VGA connector (there are several spare pins on a standard VGA connector). Unless you have one of those devices such a cable won't work.

[edDV]

DVI-I is usually used as an output not an input. DVI-I to VGA is valid but not usually the reverse. TV sets usually have VGA, HDMI or DVI-D inputs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVI

Laptops usually have VGA out. Some have analog component or HDMI.

VGA out and only DVI-D in is a no go.