TV Tuner S-Video Out Question

[fordguy]

Hello, new to the forum. Thanks ahead of time. Can I output to a big screen via s-video with my tv tuner w/out any input to the tuner (no signal coming in). My other question, if this does not work, is what video card can i get that will simultaneously output vga and s-video. The card I have (ATI Radeon 2400) will not do both.

[jagabo]

Hello, new to the forum. Thanks ahead of time. Can I output to a big screen via s-video with my tv tuner w/out any input to the tuner (no signal coming in).

What card do you have? Does it have s-video output? Tuner/capture cards typically don't have s-video outputs, just inputs.

My other question, if this does not work, is what video card can i get that will simultaneously output vga and s-video. The card I have (ATI Radeon 2400) will not do both.

A Radeon 2400 should be able to output to both simultaneously. You probably just have a setup problem. Exactly what card do you have? Radeon 2400 is just a chipset.

[fordguy]

i think the it is a Radeon 2400 XD. Gateway told me it would not do both and we could not find a way to change the outputs in the software. I will have to get the tuner card info. thx

[fordguy]

actually i think it is an HD. I will check at lunch.

[TheFamilyMan]

If your card only supports one monitor, it probably won't support a monitor (vga out) and s-video out at the same time. Windows treats the s-video out as if it were a monitor, so without support for two monitors it's one or the others. It really sucks that some cards will have a dsub, a dvi and a svideo socket but only one can be driven at a time. If you get a new card, make sure it can drive two monitors if you want to use s-video (or HDCP) and a monitor at the same time.

[jagabo]

Every card I've had with an s-video port would could at least mirror the desktop on the s-video port while using the VGA or DVI port. The desktop resolution might be limited to 1024x768 or 800x600 while doing this though.

Probably even better would be to use ATI's Theater Mode where whatever is playing in a media player on the desktop will appear full screen on the s-video port.

If you really want recommendations for a new video card you should supply some more information:

PCIe or AGP (probably the former)

Is this computer used for gaming? That is, do you need a powerful gaming card? Vista? XP? Something else?

Is your big screen TV an HDTV? Does it have VGA, DVI, HDMI inputs?

How much do you want to spend? US$50? US$500?

[Video Head]

s-video on a big screen is not going to look very good...

As jagabo said, what TV do you have? What type of input connections does it have and what output connectors does your video card have. You may already have the right gear for a high-quality solution. Gateway will probably not help you with this because you are trying to do something they do not want to support for the masses.