coaxial output to cable TV

[kula]

I'm not sure if this belongs here. Call me a newbie!



My goal is to find a video card with a TV coaxial output that I can use with a channel blocker to feed a power point presentation to residents in a high-rise apartment building. The cable TV company tells me that I need a coaxial input to make this work.

I have been searching through lists and specs of video cards and find lots with S-video, VGA, HDMI, etc., but nothing with a simple coax output. Does anyone know if they exist? Could you point me to some options please? Or any other suggestions? I'm in over my head on this.

[edDV]

Are you trying to insert a channel into an existing cable system? That will take specal equipment provided by the cable company.

[kula]

Yes, I plan to insert a channel and the cable company is happy to rent whatever gear I need. The problem is that the channel notch filter wants coaxial in and out, hence the need to find a card or converter (or whatever) to provide a feed to them from a CPU running Vista or Windows 7.

[jagabo]

I've never seen a video card with a coax output. I think you need a video card with composite or s-video out and an RF modulator.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-LkD5FgCFzP4/p_209MINI/Terk-Mini-Modulator.html?tp=2949
http://www.amazon.com/ConnectAll-High-Performance-S-Video-Modulator/dp/B00009MDBN

[edDV]

I've never seen a video card with a coax output. I think you need a video card with composite or s-video out and an RF modulator.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-LkD5FgCFzP4/p_209MINI/Terk-Mini-Modulator.html?tp=2949
http://www.amazon.com/ConnectAll-High-Performance-S-Video-Modulator/dp/B00009MDBN

Yes but consumer modulators are usually limited to channels 3 or 4. Cable modulators can tune to a selection of cable channels (frequencies). These are usually provided or specified by the cable company.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_cable_television_frequencies

http://www.multicominc.com/catv-modulators.html
http://www.multicominc.com/active/comparison/modulators/modulators.html

[kula]

Thanks for the input. Of course this type of set up is common in high rise apartments and condos where there is video surveillance of the lobby and the entrance intercom panel, and in hotels where the daily agendas for conference room locations, etc are posted on a "house" channel. I have even seen them in a home security system to see who is at the intercom at the front door.

I don't know what kind of output these security cameras would offer that they tap into, but whatever it is is somehow accommodated by the cable company's gear. I was being pointed to a coaxial requirement, but possibly they will accept something else.

I suppose that a "poor man's" solution would be to point a web cam at a screen with the power point presentation playing on it, however I'm thinking that there must be a slicker way.

[jagabo]

By the way, any standard definition (composite, s-video, analog cable RF) solution will be very low resolution. The equivalent of a fuzzy 640x480. Something like the image in this post:
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/283861-VGA-to-S-video?p=1756748&viewfull=1#post1756748

[edDV]

Thanks for the input. Of course this type of set up is common in high rise apartments and condos where there is video surveillance of the lobby and the entrance intercom panel, and in hotels where the daily agendas for conference room locations, etc are posted on a "house" channel. I have even seen them in a home security system to see who is at the intercom at the front door.

I don't know what kind of output these security cameras would offer that they tap into, but whatever it is is somehow accommodated by the cable company's gear. I was being pointed to a coaxial requirement, but possibly they will accept something else.

I suppose that a "poor man's" solution would be to point a web cam at a screen with the power point presentation playing on it, however I'm thinking that there must be a slicker way.

Typical input to cable company modulators/band pass filters is standard composite NTSC 1Vp-p (or S-Video) and separate audio (usually pro 600 ohm XLR or RCA high impedance). A typical display card or VCR can feed the video. Audio can be fed directly but may need impedance matching.

From a user standpoint this isn't much more difficult than feeding a TV set. They will probably give you a limited choice of channel numbers they provide for this purpose. Each channel you feed needs a separate modulator.

Here is an example of a low end cable modulator used for this purpose. Inputs are just NTSC RCA connector composite video and RCA audio. Channel selection is by DIP switches. The cable company will suggest or supply the equipment they support.
http://www.multicominc.com/active/manufacturer/olson/catalog/dsk_300s_550.pdf

[kula]

Thanks again. I think that I have some rails to run on now. Could you comment on what kind of resolution one could expect with this set up assuming the cable company provided something by way of a modulator that offered an S-video input from the graphics card on the CPU? Would there be sufficient resolution to deliver high quality video and images embedded in a PowerPoint presentation for instance? I'm wondering if there might alternatively be a PCI card that would provide a Hi-Def output?

[yoda313]

s video is limited to standard definition. THats it. Though its better than rca.

I'm wondering if there might alternatively be a PCI card that would provide a Hi-Def output?

There are plenty of cards that do component output and hdmi output.

Your problem will be your broadcasting equipment. They probably won't offer high def inputs so you'll be limited to standard definition.

[greymalkin]

why are you embedding it in a powerpoint?

Is this the reason you need to use a computer vs. a special purpose hardware unit for camera surveilance? The 2nd option would be much less hassle.

[kula]

The objective is to provide information to the residents of the building who would like to turn on their TV to a specified channel. The content would be primarily text mixed with some jpgs/gifs. However I can envision a requirement to add some video such as a link to YouTube or similar. Possibly play a video file from the hard drive on the CPU.

It is not at all for security purposes.

Why PowerPoint? The people who would be creating the information content are not necessarily very savvy in preparing this type of screen presentation. Probably no HTML or CSS skills whatsoever so if they could be introduced to something like PowerPoint it would make this a great deal friendlier.

The information content would change at least every day and it is possible that it would need to be updated even moore frequently to accommodate some special circumstances that could arise.

As I somewhat jokingly suggested above somewhere, I suppose that we could point a security camera at the screen of a CPU running the PowerPoint slide show, but it seems to me that there should be a better way around solving the problem. However if that would get it done inexpensively and effectively I think it could be a viable alternative.

[bsulli]

There is a lot more it than just output from a video card depending on what equipment the cable company is supplying. You need the specific model number of the device in their network you are connecting to see what it expects on the wire. We own a inhouse cctv network built using these http://www.trms.com/signage/carousel/player300R which will do exactly what you want with powerpoint. You can also play videos, tickers and more all at the same time. The cable company question is this a digital network or analog your plugging into? This box will do both. If your trying to do this with pc's then you will need either equipment from PICO or Blonder Tongue to do the conversion, take s-video, composite or vga, hdmi out of the pc, to the correct frequency for the cable company to transport. If the cable co. in the building is analog then the tightrope can output 720p or 1080i which is the only spec ever developed for coaxial end user networks. Most digital tv's under 55" generally only support the 720p as the highest. 55 and above will sometimes but not always do 1080i.

[edDV]

The objective is to provide information to the residents of the building who would like to turn on their TV to a specified channel. The content would be primarily text mixed with some jpgs/gifs. However I can envision a requirement to add some video such as a link to YouTube or similar. Possibly play a video file from the hard drive on the CPU.

It is not at all for security purposes.

Why PowerPoint? The people who would be creating the information content are not necessarily very savvy in preparing this type of screen presentation. Probably no HTML or CSS skills whatsoever so if they could be introduced to something like PowerPoint it would make this a great deal friendlier.

The information content would change at least every day and it is possible that it would need to be updated even moore frequently to accommodate some special circumstances that could arise.

As I somewhat jokingly suggested above somewhere, I suppose that we could point a security camera at the screen of a CPU running the PowerPoint slide show, but it seems to me that there should be a better way around solving the problem. However if that would get it done inexpensively and effectively I think it could be a viable alternative.

I've never heard of local HD inserts for this purpose but it is technically possible with a QAM HD modulator. You should hire an engineer if you have that kind of budget.

PowerPoint is an easy solution. Whatever you feed to the composite or S-Video computer output would go to the modulator. It is important to use TV fonts and follow overscan title safe rules. A large amount of the picture edges will fall off screen for a typical TV set. Also avoid highly saturated colors or over sharp edges. NTSC can't handle it. Best to preview on an old CRT TV for monitoring.