Using TV as a second monitor

[jazzmatazz2623]

Ladies and Gents,

Am looking for a little help here.

Am trying to connect my TV to my computer as a second screen. Want to use it to watch the odd DVD and such. I thus gathered "Dualview" would be the appropriate mode, as opposed to "Clone".

TV is an old Hitachi model which only has 2 Scart connectors. My graphics card is a XFX GForce 8800GTS and has 2 DVI and 1 HDTV (9 pin) connectors. Would love to post 2 links to the specs of the card and what came in the package, but sadly the forum prevents me from posting them. Can private message them though, if need be.

I am trying to connect PC and TV via a 5 pin S-Video cable and an S-Video-to-Scart adapter (for the TV).

Tried this hardware configuration, but no luck.

Now, my question is: is this a hardware or a software problem? I read somewhere that I might need an HDTV-to-S-Video converter, but when I went into PC World and Maplins I was told both times that such a thing does not exist. Is this true and if not, where could I get one? Alternatively, is this a software problem and I have just not found the right settings yet? If so, what are they? (e.g. what kind of PAL would I use - I/PAL, B/PAL etc...)

Many thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.

[streetster]

what happens when you do this:

PC -> S-VIDEO -> SCART Adaptor -> TV

and then turn on the computer?

my pc (with 7900gt) doesnt recognise the second screen unless the tv is plugged in (and turn on infact) when the PC boots up


once in windows you should be able to follow the guides within the nvidia driver page... you should also be able to rightclick on films (avi/mpg etc.) and choose Play On My--> TV

[dangel]

RGB scart is _basically_ compatible with VGA - RGB is the same but the dot clock frequency is different. You might find this interesting: http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/5/1...howThread.aspx

Note, it has to be _RGB_ scart, not composite scart (most tellies have at least one RGB scart port) or this trick doesn't work at all. It's worth all the hassle(?) because s-video is horrible by comparison (and getting a true s-video lead can be tricky - sometimes you end up with greyscale pictures etc) to RGB scart (because the channels are split and not mixed together). There's also a utility called powerstrip which allows you to generate custom resolutions for your telly (nVidia's are quite restrictive). Note that that forum will talk about 'timings' and how to do it for your TV (and you need to read up on this so you don't send out of range signals to the TV which might be er.. dangerous).

I've basically just done something similar with a 8600GTS but was lucky to have a CRT with component in (and the card came with a breakout cable for HDTV component).

I don't claim to know everything about this but I have done a lot of reading lately during the process of setting up a media centre pc.

[jazzmatazz2623]

right, sorry for the very late reply.

@ streetster: when i do as you suggest (i.e. PC -> S-VIDEO -> SCART Adaptor -> TV) my nvidia control panel recognises the monitor. i select dualview and then it gives me the option of choosing the type of PAL i want to use (i.e. I/PAL, B/PAL, etc...). anybody happen to know what the correct setting is?

but no matter what i select, the TV screen just remains at its normal background colour. i also don't get an option to play on my --> TV when right clicking on movie files.


@ dangel: you mean that the two scart ports on my TV may not actually be the same? i.e. one may be RGB and the other composite scart? interesting. i will have to try sticking the svid-scart converter into the other slot then.

also, what do you mean about dangerous signals sent to the TV?

[dangel]

@ dangel: you mean that the two scart ports on my TV may not actually be the same? i.e. one may be RGB and the other composite scart? interesting. i will have to try sticking the svid-scart converter into the other slot then.

also, what do you mean about dangerous signals sent to the TV?

Yes, not all SCART plugs are equal - sadly. Dangerous signals? Well, it is possible to damage certain sets by providing the wrong signals (i.e. outside of the TV's normal range) but it depends on the set really. If you're going to mess around with powerstrip and VGA->Scart leads then you need to do reading (AVForums) first.