Hi,
I am able to connect my Compaq Presario 2190US laptop to my TV (old Philipps $100 TV) using S-Video cable. But I cannot watch any video on my TV. When I play any .mpeg or .avi files using Real Player or Windows Media Player, I can only see the players on my TV but not the video content. The TV just shows a black screen. I was able to connect and see video a few times, but more often than not, the TV shows a blank screen. Can someone tell me why this happens, and what I could do to fix this? I have tried changing the Display settings but this hasn't helped.
This same thing happened to me when I connected my laptop to my front projector. It doesn't make sense to me either. Would love to know what the answer is.
I've ran into this issue in the past with my laptop as well. I haven't really narrowed down what the exact cause is, but I think it has something to do with the ATI Catalyst driver, because I've only seen this with ATI laptops. The 2190US also uses an ATI graphics card. I would be interested to know if anyone has experienced this with an nVIDIA based laptop.
The only way I've found around this (not that I've extended loads of effort in trying to figure it out) is to reverse the primary and secondary monitors in the graphics card setup menu.
Under the "Settings" tab of the display properties menu, you'll see a button named "Advanced". From there click the tab labeled "Displays". Under this tab, you'll be able to select "TV" as your primary monitor. If you experience problems when the TV is not connected, then you'll want to reselect the panel as the primary monitor, but the laptop should be able to detect that nothing is connected to the S-video port when it's not in use.
Enjoy!
Got this while searching for info on connecting to tvs....
"DVDs should not show on the TV out for a few reasons. I'll give just 2 for now.
1. It's a license issue. www.mpegla.com wants 2 bucks per video "stream." Since that's stream #2, DVD output may be blocked from the TV output.
2. DirectPlay drivers are usually programmed to block video playback to TV outputs to thwart casual piracy. The TV out signal might be taped with a VCR which is the common reason they give for this disabled feature.
You can try turning down the video acceleration in the drivers settings, but it only works on some machines, drivers, but not all.
Hope this helps you understand the issue and why I always dissuade TV out for DVD playback on PCs."
This thread should really be entitled, "Getting video to play from your laptop to your TV".
For an article on connecting your laptop to a TV see:
http://www.techlore.com/article/10061
i know youre probably sick of getting this question..but i need help
I have my laptop hooked up to the TV i just dont know how to make the TV my primary monitor. So far all i have on the TV is my laptop background (no icons or mouse) I went to properties, settings....and i see a button that says "use this device as my primary monitor" but i cant click on it. please help
Markymark337,
Your connection is working. If you were to open a window and move it to one side of your primary, the window would start to move to the other monitor...like an extension of your desktop. This mode is designed for users that have two monitors in front of them at all times. You can swtich it so the TV becomes you primary monitor, or you can mirror both monitors to show the same thing.
I'll need some info on your laptop to be of any help. Do you know what kind of graphics processor it uses? ATI, nVIDIA, or Intel?
its a nVIDIA card. Yesterday i got a program that mirrored my laptop moniter to the TV so now i have it on both screens now. HOWEVER...my whole point of this was to be able to play games on my TV instead of the laptop. The only problem is, is that the resolution is really shi**y and i can hardly read the text on the TV...is there anyway to change that?
First, what kind of TV is it that you're hooking your laptop up to? What kind of connection did you make; S-vid, VGA, DVI, etc.?
27" TV and i hooked them up with a s-vid
Okay, any connection to an analog display with S-Video is limited to 480i. The output is scaled from the computers current resolution setting. Simply, that means the higher the resolution of the desktop, the smaller and fuzzier things are going to look when scaled.
The smaller the res, the better it will scale on S-video. Games can be a pain to output through S-video, since the details in PC games are usually too small to scale. Try setting the game to run n 640x480 at 16 bit color depth for the best results, but don't make your expectations too high.
hi
I am new here so bear with me . I recently bought a tv for my drom room. Its a pretty old set so it doesnt have an s-video input . It does have a component video input though . Anyways I just got an s-video to component video cable . I found it at the local convenience store . The problem is nothing displays on the TV . Whenever I change my settings to try to extend the desktop to this monitor nothing happens and the box becomes unchecked by itself . Also the cable I got is 4 pin while my laptop has a 6 pin output . but the guy at the store said it wouldnt matter . If it help when I apply the settings there is something on the screen fro a split second.
Thanks
r3bell,
Unfortunately, the guy at the store was probably wrong. In my experience, it does matter. There is a special adapter you'll probably need to plug into that 6-pin port, which will provide a standard S-Video output, as well as digital audio and composite. Contact your notebook's manufacturer for assistance.
Hi Matt,
Two days back i got an s-video cable to connect my compaq presario 2201AS to a 21" LG tv...i made all the connections and followed the procedure as given in the presario manual like Display properties ->Settings->Advanced->Display???......my problem is i cannot find this "Display" tab as mentioned where the red button against tv has to be selected....My tv screen simply flickers whenever i click my mouse buttons - its a black screen......For ur info i'm using the default Intel Extreme graphics card.....refresh rate is set to 85Hz...do i need a graphics card for this.....the s-video is a 7 pin similar to the port provided on my comp....Do i need a different graphics card?....i'm not sure as to where to find and change the primary monitor ... can u pls chk this out for me.......Thnx in advance....
Hi Basant,
The "display" tab is something I've found on ATI and nVidia based notebooks, but I haven't had much of an opportunity to play around with an Intel Extreme based notebook. It's certainly possible that no such menu exists in the advanced display settings.
You shouldn't need to adjust your refresh rate when using S-video, but I'd change it to 60Hz for testing purposes.
Check your keyboard shortcuts for a CRT/LCD option. On Dell notebooks (like the one I use) Fn + F8 toggles display modes on and off for external monitors. Look on yours for somthing similar.
Also be sure to check the Compaq site for any newer drivers for you notebook's video hardware.
Also, make sure both your notebook and TV are speaking the same language. If you TV is PAL and your notebook is putting out NTSC, it won't work properly. I can't tell from your post if you're from the US or somewhere else.
Post back with your results, and if you still can't get it working, I'll see if I can dig up some specifics on your notebook.
Hi Matt,
Thnx a lot for your immediate inputs. U got it right in assuming my whereabouts, i'm from pune,india. In india we follow PAL system or format.
I strongly doubt my cable, cause the TV option aint appearing at all, but can u tell me; whenever i make mouse clicks and opens new windows or anything for that matter the tv screen blinks between which u get a chance to see ur computer monitor contents from which i feel my connections are fine.
In my notebook Fn + F5 toggles the monitor on/off. But it still aint working for me. The monitor simply blinks and i can see the monitor for a split second and the tv goes blank...
Coming to PAL and NTSC, after googling out i found that the the television option is not available in my advaned->intel extreme graphics->graphics properties pop up window. In this window when i tick mark the television icon i get to select to change my comp to PAL, pls lemme know if thats how to go about?
I tried changing my resolution with 640 x 480 and 800 x 600......color quality to Medium 16 bit..changed the Monitor "2" as primary and applied the changes....after the restart still i'm back in square one.....Any ideas??
Looking forward to ur reply my friend.....Are u from US???? if so u can contact me in
AIM : Bugtracker007 as per ur timings...US WESTERN/EASTERN time........pls lemme know
Hello Basant,
If the display appears briefly, have you considered trying a different S-video cable, just in case the cable itself is bad. Or, you could try wiggling the end that plugs into the TV in case there it's an intermittent connection.
Did you buy both the notebook as well as the TV in India, or did you acquire the components from different areas of the globe?
I am from the US, and though we here at TechLore certainly don't mind visitors from all over the globe, our site is more US gear focused. The majority of TechLore visitors are from the US, and my area of expertise outside of US gear is more limited. Of course, I'll be happy to help in any way I can.
Hi Matt,
I am attaching a copy of the s-video cable and the tv inpput inlets i have.Pls lemme know whether i'm using the right ones.
The cables are brand new ones but still i will try changing it this weekend and let u know the result on monday,So before that i would like to confirm about the right cables. By that time i will be updating all the drivers for my comp including the Graphics/video drivers as u mentioned last time.
Yes i bought both my comp and tv from india, but my comp is manufactured in korea or some south east asian country by HP/COMPAQ.
Make sure you only have one video source plugged into your input at a time. It sounds like the cable you're using to connect the laptop to the TV breaks the 7-pin jack into a composite (yellow) red, and white audio. If you happen to have an S-video connector plugged into the adjacent input, the TV will ignore the composite input. Use only composite OR S-video, not both at the same time.
Check that and post back after you update any drivers.
Hi Matt,
The good news is i succeeded in my mission.The fault in my case turned out to be a non-standard cable. My video jack(yellow) and Audio(red) was interchanged. Technically after my market research it seems that out of say all laptop makers no one follows a particular standard for the audio and video port locations in the 7-pin config, so the interchange which i overlooked.
But the bad news is my picture quality is not upto satisfaction.
Anywayz matt i thank you for all your informative inputs from which i have learnt a lot about the graphics features, resolution settings among others. Thanx a lot my friend. I'm extending my hand of friendship through which i expect to share a lot of know-how in future too.
My email id is [email protected]
I'm glad to know you got it working, and we welcome your future insight and advice to other users here at TechLore.com. We're continuing our efforts to make this a great electronics community, and you'll see some new and innovative community features in the future that we hope you'll love.
As far as your picture quality goes, that's one of the issues when connecting a PC display to a TV using analog connections. Probelm 1 is that these are interlaced, which doesn't bode well for PC graphics, and the ultra-low resolution you'd need to run it at.
You'll get the best looking picture at 640 or 720 x 480, but it's such a low res that everything is huge. 800x600 is more manageable from a UI perspective, but the quality will suffer because of the scaling involved. I suppose it's better than nothing. :-)
I'm glad to have you in the community, and look forward to discussing all kinds of elecronic topics with you. Oh, you may want to change your e-mail address to a non standard format. I'd hate to see you get creamed by spammers that crawl sites looking for e-mail addresses.
The easiest (and universal) way to connect a computer to a TV (reliably) is to use a transcoder, such as this one. Don't go to a place such as RadioShack looking for one, as the cheap ones usually only support 480i, which won't look any better than S-video.
ATI has its own VGA-component adapter and a DVi-component adapter (neither will work on a non-ATI card). I have my HTPC connected to my HDTV this way.
Occasionally, connecting to DVI-I port of a video card to a TV's DVI-D or HDMI port will work, but either of the above two methods is safer.
Either way, the best way to get the resolutions you need is to use PowerStrip. My desktop resolution on my TV is 856x480, and for moves I use(d) a variant of 1080i (1776x1000), though I now use an upscaling DVD player for movies.
Hi,
First off great site, I have been browsing it the past week and wow!!!
I've got a Dell Inspiron 9200 (winxp sp2) with a ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 card. I've got a standard VGA, DVI-D and S-Video connections. what is the best way for me to hook up to a TV for both gaming and general usage. I am ready to spend ~$200.00 to get this working... any thoughts?
Any suggestion for flat TV's that will work with my laptop would also be helpful. I dont want to spend too much, somewhere in the $600 range (I hope I'm not kidding myself with the dollar amount
). Again any help would be great...
Thanks for the help and this wonderful site,
Thanks for the kind words on the site. I hope you spread the word about TechLore.
As for your questions, It really depends on the type of TV you want to connect it to. Since you're planning on upgrading to a flat panel, I'd use the S-video connection on whatever TV you're using now, mostly because it's easy and doesn't cost anything.
$600 for a flat panel isn't a big budget. What kind of size were you hoping to get?
I plan on gaming with my laptop/TV combo...
Most TVs I've seen dont accept DVI-D only DVI-I is there any way to convert the DVI-D to DVI-I? or what about DVI-D to Component? what are my options there? I have heard/read the S-Video isnt that great a connection for gaming....
What's your take, whats the best connection type for gaming and the best graphics with the lease amount of issues?
What kind of possible Issues am I looking at with the 9700 card?
I think I might have to wait till I get some more $$$ before making a purchase, unless you know of something that might fit my budget... I would like something in the 30+ Inch range...
Thanks again and keep up the great work!!!
First, you may want to brush up on all the different variants of DVI. Jeff Block wrote a great article about DVI-A/D/I a little while back. It's called: Connecting with DVI.
The basic gist is that you should be able to plug a DVI-D source into a DVI-I socket, since "I" supports both digital and analog connections. Most TVs use "I" sockets to handle both types of connections.
It is possible to convert DVI to other types of connections, like component and VGA. There are different ways to do it, but rest assured it can be done.
S-video is not the greatest connection between a laptop and and TV, but it is easy and has little to no cost. Most importantly, what kind of connection you use will depend on the TV you have. Sure, you could knock DVI down to component video, but if you don't have an HDTV, it's not really worth it, and S may even look better.
So, to get you going now, I'll need to know the make and model of your TV. There's no way to advise you without it.
Second, if you are planning to get a flat panel, there's no reason to buy adapters and such for your notebook when you can pick up a flat panel digital display that can handle PC resolutions through VGA or DVI. If you pick the right panel, hooking it up to a computer is just as easy as connecting it to a PC monitor.
I couldn't find anything in the LCD TV market at around 600 bucks in the size you want, and that is PC compatible. Any chance you could spend around 1,000?
Matt,
I currently have a Samsung TXM2756 TV. Any advice on how to connect my laptop to it would be really helpful...
Thanks again for the info and help
Sure presmmbb,
The Samsung TXM2756 is an analog television, so it makes sense to limit your options to analog connections since that's all your existing television supports.
Samsung doesn't have the manual for your particular television online for reference, but other research indicates that your set does not hae an S-video input. If that's the case, it's a terrible oversight on behalf of Samsung.
I know for a fact your set offers a 480i capable component input, as well as a regular composite input. One way or another you're going to hook up the PC using the S-Video output on your PC. Since it's not likely you have a receiver that offers S to component conversion, your best bet would be to pick up a S-video to composite adapter from Radio Shack. They're cheap, and handy for stuff like this. Another option is to pick up an RF modulator that can handle composite and S-video connections. RF will likely be a little noisier, but either will do the job fine.
Until you pick up a new TV, this will be your best bet in connecting your existing PC to your TV. Don't get fooled by devices that knock VGA down to S-video. While these certainly work fine, your Inspiron 9200 already offers S capability, thus you'd be paying for something you already have.
Matt,
Thanks so much for the help...
Hey if you ever have any questions about medical equipment (configuring, repairing, etc) let me know (Biomed Tech) :-)
Thanks Again
You *can* do that, but it has its limitations. If you plug something in that requires HDCP, it may not work, as most DVI-I inputs don't support it. What uses HDCP? Upscaling DVD players use it, as an example.
Hi Matt,
I Have a IBM Thinkpad t60, but it doesn't have a s-video port, nor does the vga have tv out capability i think. my video card is ati x1300 series. i have a 24" sanyo flat tv, it has provision for component and s video input. how can i connect my laptop to the tv. i bought a vga to component cable, but it doesn't work. can u suggest me what should i do
thanks
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