PC to TV and dual S-video display degradation?

[Disco Makberto]

Hi, there!

I have a computer with an integrated video graphics, and I am planning to add a PCI video card for upgrading purposes. Both the integrated video graphics and the PCI card have/will have S-video out, and I will use the S-video out of the PCI card, which is an analog connector, to connect an analog TV and watch my computer screen on TV. In spite of it, as you can see, I am left with the dilemma of having both S-video outs (one as part of the integrated video graphics and the other as part of the PCI video card) working at the same time, or to disable the integrated S-video. My concern is to know if by having both S-video ports working, the signal to the TV via the S-video connector of the PCI video card will degrade in any way as opposed to disabling the integrated S-video and using the S-video connector of the PCI video card as a dedicated connector.

Thank you for your help in advance.

Carlos "DM" Albert

[Bjs]

Need to fill in some pc specs.

It shouldn't cause problems but without knowing the motherboard ... if it has agp and pci's (of course) make sure pci 1 dose not have any pci card installed as it shares resources with onboard video, agp and pci 1.

[Krispy Kritter]

There is no reason for the signal to be "degraded". If anything, you will have more issues just getting the onboard video and the video card working together. In most cases, unless you are setting up multiple monitors, you would simply disable the onboard video and install the new video card.

[Disco Makberto]

Hi, again!

Thanks for your reply.

My computer is an HP with a Magnetite motherboard. Specifications can be found here:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&objectID=c...reg_R1002_USEN

I think that my BIOS allows for choosing a primary video card and a secondary video card; alternatively, the on-board video card can also be disabled.

My original question still remain, what option is better? As for degradation, are you sure that there is no degradation by having both S-video out active, that is, outputting the same signal whether or not I connect a second device? My concern is that S-video is analog, and splitting an analog signal causes degradation in some scenarios, though I am not sure if this can be applied to internal processing in a computer. Of course, if we were talking about two DVI digital outputs, there would be no degradation at all since we would be dealing with a digital signal.

Thanks very much,

Carlos Albert
D-Makberto

[Disco Makberto]

Unforftunately, after some research, I have found out that my set up doesn't work because both the PCI video card and the integrated video card use the same bus, so I have to disable one or the other, but both cannot work at the same time.

Carlos Al "Disco Mak"