vga to s video

[bammthis]

i have been haveing a problem with my HDMI out on my pc and thought i would solve my pronblem with a vga to s video cable.i have seen several on ebay at a cheap price.i have also seen another product with a small converter box. i am looking for the best eaiest way to go from my pc or laptop to tv.can i buy the vga to s video cable and plug and play or do i need the cable with the small box i have no ideal.my tv is set up with an s video out and i have used my laptop with an external montior with no problem and that is what i am hoping for. to access the s video on my tv i would go through the input till i find the right one?is this correct or is there something more i need to know.please someone give me a clue.i like to watch justin tv or movies i have downloaded from the net and it would be great to watch them on my 47in tv.thanks all of you are great at helping me when i have a problem and have helped me to save a few bucks as well as a few hairs that i dont pull out.

[jagabo]

There is no such thing as a VGA to s-video cable. What you are seeing on ebay are cables with a D15 shell connector on one end and an s-video connector on the other end -- but they will not convert VGA to s-video. You need an active device to do that. They start around US$50. Search for "VGA s-video scan converter".

You will only get low resolution video with s-video. About like the image in this post:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/283861-VGA-to-S-video?p=1756748&viewfull=1#post1756748

OK for watching low res Youtube or Divx videos, but not HD videos or the Desktop.

If your TV has a VGA input you could use a regular VGA cable to connect the laptop and TV. That will be far superior to a VGA to S-video scan converter. Otherwise, you'll be better of resolving whatever issues you have with the HDMI connection. For HDMI set your laptop to 1280x720p or 1920x1080i.

[edDV]

A new HDMI display card would be a better investment. This assumes the current card has failed.

There are also USB display devices that are suitable for limited video playback but not gaming. For example,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815306021&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_m...ond-_-15306021
http://www.powermax.com/parts/show/r83465?utm_source=Google%2BProduct%2BSearch&utm_med...2BSearch&src=g

Another option is to use a Media player.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&source=hp&q=WDTV&rlz=1R2ADRA_enUS343&oq=&...wAw#ps-sellers
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=WDTV+live&hl=en&cid=6556221774401004032&sa=title#p

[bammthis]

thank you guys for the help.i am thinking that it will probly be a much better fit if i were to buy a video card with the s video out for my laptop?if i buy a decent one off of ebay for around $50 and install it my selfe i am hoping that the res will be much better than the external device that has been talked about in the other post.i have never taken apart a laptop but have installed memory and other cards on my pc.i am hoping that that installing a video card will not be a big deal?can someone go through the process and give me a clue also what you think about the card vs the external device talked about in the other post. i want to thank all of those that have posted you have been vary helpfull.

[edDV]

Several problems with that.

You can't change the display chips in a laptop.

S-Video is effectively less than 640x480 luminance resolution with color around 40x480 resolution (i.e. horizontally smeared).

You are much better off with an external USB display device if you are just watching videos. As said, these aren't intended for gaming. The better devices will decode 720p or 1080i MPeg2 to DVI-D. I'm not sure if any do h.264 in hardware. For those you are limited to software decoding limited by your CPU. Read the reviews.

[bammthis]

thanks for the input.i will go with the device you are talking about.i dont have to take my laptop apart and from what you are saying the res will be much better.

[edDV]

I haven't used these yet so you need to do your own research.

[jagabo]

I don't think those USB display adapters work very well for high definition video playback.

[bammthis]

i have been thinking a little more about this and was thinking that i might buy a tv card with a out either s video or what ever else may be offered.there is just one prob can i watch justin tv or some other computer sight with a card like that?i am just looking for the best way for me to go with this.every time i look on the reg tv there is just nothing i want to watch so i go online and find something but watching it on my 19 in monitor vs my 48in tv.if you can let me know what you think that would be great.

[jagabo]

What problems are you having with HDMI? That is your best solution.

[bammthis]

i have a acer revo 1600 with the HDMI a card reader no disk drive so i added a sony dvd burner and xp.from what i understand i should just have to hook it up from my computer to my tv and away i go.no such luck.i have looked up this on the acer web sight nothing in the manual about the HDMI and nothing in the op system in fact nothing on the computer about the HDMI any where.i have tryed several support sights no one can help.i have read a few things and have come to the realization that the computer is f---ed up. i read that prople were haveing not only this problem but there was a peoblem with the monitor blinking and of course the computer i have dose this as well.i bought this computer back in nov and then landed in the hospital for more than a month so by the time i found out there was a problem my 30 days were up and i was left with this piece of s--t. i am left with trying to decide between some of the ideals listed above if i want to watch the movies ect from my computer so if you have an ideal please give me a clue.

[edDV]

The HDMI selection should be in your display control panel. Each chipset has different menus but NVidia has settings for multiple displays. You will need to have the TV on and HDMI connected to allow detection during computer boot. Then look for the multiple displays or screen resolution menus.

Acer support should be able to walk you through the settings.

[jagabo]

I don't think the Revo 1600 has multi-monitor output on VGA and HDMI. There may be a miscommunication between the computer and TV during the initial handshake phase where the computer determines what resolution the TV supports. Try the following:

With Windows shut down and everything switched off, connect an HDMI cable from the computer to the TV. Do not have a VGA cable plugged into the computer. Turn on the TV. Turn on the computer. See if they automatically negotiate the HDMI connection.

If that doesn't work you may need to attach both the VGA cable into a monitor, the HDMI cable into the TV, power up, then use Nvidia Control Panel to explicitly enable the HDMI output and set the resolution to 1280x720p60, or 1920x1080i30.