Stupid question on HTPC

[machinist]

I'm in the middle of collecting all the bits I need to build a HTPC.

I'm thinking of getting the Leadtek PVR2000 tuner card, and am wondering how to connect it all up.
I want to watch movies via my HTPC, and all my NTL channels. How do I hook up the HTPC to my TV to get sound, video, etc ? Do I connect my gfx card via VGA to the TV, or do I buy a separate thingummy to go in via component ? Do I need a specialist sound card to get the sound from my PC to the TV ?
I'm completely stuck on this bit.

Ultimately, I want to eliminate the need for a DVD player or hifi in the front room, and run everything through the HTPC.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks

[mike306dt]

Hello mate,

When we built a media centre box for a friend we used the TV out (yellow lead?) to go into a scart adapter. The scart connector had three plugs on it Yellow Red and White.

Red and White were for audio and we simply used a 3.5mm jack to phono going from the sound card again to the scart lead ---> scart into tv. Hope this helps

http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/AD001.html

Edit ^^ That kind of adapter

[jamena]

depends what sort of inputs your tv has really...

most recent tv's will have SCART, S-Video, and maybe composite inputs, and many have AUX audio inputs as well. If you've got a nice up-to-date tv you might also have options of component (YrPrPb) input, and possibly VGA, DVI, and HDMI. Scart, HDMI, s-video, composite all carry both video and audio. I imagine component does too but not really used it before.

If your tv has HDMI/DVI/VGA inputs then you should be able to hook up the output of your graphics card to the tv *as long as the graphics card can output tv-compatible signals* YMMV. Optionally you can use a tv-capture card that also does tv-out. Have a look at something like the haupage 250 and 350 (I seem to recall from another review somewhere) PVR cards. While this should work fine you might want to use one card for capture (from an aerial/dvd-player/etc) and another for output (normal video card).

Now, you're not going to get scart directly out the back of your htpc (if you do please let me know how!!!) but most video cards come with some sort of tv-out, usually s-video and/or composite. Some allow for component-out, usually requiring special breakout cables (check out ATi AIW card reviews on this)

You can get SCART<->s-video/composite/rgb/component conversions pretty easily I think (see above post)

Using the above ideas as starting points you should be able to work out a link from one of your video cards outputs to the tv, this is the playback. As to recording, you need to get the htpc to accept a video signal from your dvd-player/skybox/etc, probably via a PVR/tv-capture card - this should let you record tv, and from this point on it's probably mostly fighting with software!!

I'll let you know how I get on!

edit: on the audio front, again it depends on the inputs available on your tv (or home theatre amp?) s-video/composite carry audio anyway so no extra cables are needed here I think. if you use DVI or vga to get the picture to the tv you will need to use your soundcards line-out to feed the tv aux-audio in, or your home theatre amp, however you have it set up.

...any audio-out will be fine (quality concerns you might have I ignore here) - Usual connection to a tv for audio only is a 3.5mm "headphone" jack to 2x phono aux-in

[mike306dt]

The above guy always furthers my knowledge about 5x Go with what he says

[jamena]

happy to help (if that helped!)...I should be working

[-ChEM-]

if you have a choice use component over svideo and svid over composite as that should improve your picture a bit, and scart is capable of carrying stereo audio so you shouldnt need another input on your tv

this is kind of what you need:


but as you want to output to the tv and record through the same scart you need one that has another set of those 3 connections

then you will have the s-vid out from your gfx plus your stereo out from your soundcard going into the scart to watch tv, and the tv sending it back down to the pvr svid input and linein on your soundcard

however you might not be able to get an output from your tv down the scart lead (i use a vcr as the first box so it outputs and records no problems) so you'd have to connect your ntl box with one lead (pvr/linein) and your tv with another (tvout/lineout), you should then check the cables work in the right direction when you buy them as you could be feeding the wrong pins of the scart lead depending on how its wired

sorry for not making any sense

[Clunk]

the pic above isnt a component lead. its just a scart to s-video and right and left audio. if your tv has component in (3 seperate phono connectors red/green/blue coloured) and your graphics card came with a sutable lead (also with the 3 phono connectors) then you can use this method to connect to the tv. i would avoid using the composite (yellow phono) connection as this offers a poor quality picture. i would also avoid using an s-video connection for the same reasons, although it is slightly better than composite. more details on the type of telly and what connections it has are definately needed.

[mike306dt]

Also the sound link is going to go from 3.5mm not two phono leads surely?

[Clunk]

well the sound cable would depend on what connections his tv has and also what connections his pc has for outputting the sound.

and dont call me shirley

[mike306dt]

Surely = shirley now?! Seen as he asked if he will need a specialist sound card, lets assume he goes for onboard - show me one that has phono connections, its going to need a 3.5mm jack on one end

[Clunk]

i havent mentioned phono connectors for sound

i was waiting to see what tv he had before assuming anything.

[mike306dt]

wasn't referring to your suggestion fella.

[machinist]

I have a Samsung 32" LCD TV, with HDMI, Component, S-Video, etc, etc. See here for full spec : http://www.samsung.com/uk/products/t...Specifications

So, out of those choices how would you hook it all up in my case ?

P.S. Thanks for replies so far

[The Codfather]

I've got a JVC LT26DX7 HDLCD, you could do the same as I do when connecting the PC. VGA>VGA cable for video, then 3.5" to Phono cable from the soundcard to the appropriate phono's on the TV that'd carry the VGA sound.

[Clunk]

looking at the specs on the website, it has got a dedicated pc input for both sound and picture.

im guessing that your graphics card on the pc has 2 x DVI outputs, and if the case, you will need 1 x vga - dvi cable (or use any standard vga cable and an adapter) for the picture.

ive just tried to download the manual to see what the audio connection on the tv is, but it wont download for some reason. anyway, it is probably a 1/8 inch/3.5mm stereo jack the same as the onboard sound on your pc, so just a standard 3.5mm jack to jack cable will be fine.

this will get you up and running.

you could also connect via the hdmi socket on your tv, but im not sure what resolution you will be able to get, some tv's are a bit fussy.

[jamena]

you can get DVI--HDMI cables, no idea how well they work, but probably worth a try?