Hi all,I wonder if anyone more techy than me could help me out? I'm a complete novice at this so appologies for the non-techy terminology!! I recently bought a new new computer which came with XP Media Center on it. I haven't done much with as yet but I thought I'd try and get starting hooking up my spare TV to it. The idea being that I can run wires into the bedroom next door and be able to view the films/ music on the pc via the tv (a bog standard 32 inch CRT) using the media center software.I've tried various leads but I can't get the monitor image output to the TV screen (the microsoft website made it sound so easy!!)The TV has the following ports;2 scartsRCA/Composite In (Yellow, White, Red)RCA/Composite Out (Yellow, White, Red)Aerial portThe PC has; S-video (not sure if IN or OUT)The Yellow, White and Red ports (not sure if IN or OUT!)2 aerial type ports (one male, one female)Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!!
the outputs will be from the video card (same place you connected a monitor). there might be a converter in the box with the computer that takes what looks like a round hole with a bunch of little holes and turn it into a variety of common analog type tv connections, one being composite. that runs to the tv.
then you need to connect it up to the tv. the sound comes from the sound card. then you need to activate the screen in the monitor/screen settings (right click somewhere on the desktop and select properties). most likely the video card will pop up a help you wizard if you reboot after connecting it up.
Many thanks for the help mate.
I've found the convertor - it's a round hole (s-video?) to component (R,G,B) but the TV I'm outputing to only has the white, red and yellow slots (composite?) or SCART. Presumably I now need a lead which converts component into one of these?
If so which do you think would be best? Or do I need an s-video to composite convertor instead? My head hurts!!
I would approach this by finding out what that round port (looks like S-Video) really is. It sounds like you have a converter which gets component video (Red, Green, Blue) from that port, but does it also carry composite video? If it carries composite, then you will need a converter that provides that signal only (a single Yellow RCA jack). That is what you conect to the yellow lead on your TV to provide video.
I would also look into what the yellow/red/white connectors on the PC are for. If they reside on the video card, then they are outputs. If on the TV tuner card, then they are inputs. My bet is that they are Inputs. If those are output, then just connect them to the TV and you are all set....except for configuring the video card.
Audio will come from your audio card...either a separate PCI card or maybe built-in to your motherboard. You will most likely need a mini-headphone to 2 RCA cable. These go to the red/white connectors on your TV.
Once you get the inputs and outputs figured out, you need to cable these thru the wall. If you have existing coax cabling thru the wall already, you may want to consider using a RF modulator. This will convert the video and uadio into a TV channel (usually channel 3 or 4). You connect the TV to the coax like an antenna cable and tune channel 3 or 4.
Lastly, how do you control the media center to select channels, etc... You can try a remote control extender. It comes in 2 pieces, a sender and receiver. The sender sits next to yout TV and receives the IR. It converts the IR (infrared signals) to radio waves where the Receiver converts them back to IR in order to send them to the media center.
Once you have all of the connections, you will have to configure your computer's video card. You need it to turn on the outputs that you have selected to use. Then you will likely have to reduce the resolution that you display in order to get it all to fit on the TV. Most likely you will have to select 640x480, 800x600 or 1024x768.
An alternative method to all of the above is to run a single CAT5 or 6 ethernet cable between the 2 rooms. Purchase an Xbox 360 Core for the remote room and connect it to the TV and the ethernet conection. You have now simplified all of the above into 1 cable and you can play games and DVD movies on the Xbox 360 as well. In addition it reduces the load on your computer and frees up the screen when someone wants to watch TV in the other room. (With the initial scenario discussed above, the TV matches what is viewed on the computer monitor...so you cannot wacth TV in one room while using the computer in the other...well not 100% true, but that's an advanced topic fraught with gotchas and specific features being avalable on your video card along with a lot of patience)
My recommendation...purchase the Xbx 360 core and run the ethernet cable...simple and easy!
Many thanks for the advice DanH_HP_m376n.
I appreciate your advice re the xbox but I'm not a massive gamer and I'm only really experimenting with this at all because I bought a new Plasma so it freed up the old CRT.
The idea is to continue using the computer as a computer and use the TV in the bedroom to watch downloaded movies/ play music occasionally, the issue of 2 people using it at the same times not really a problem for me. A couple of further points occur to me;
I cannot help with SCART as we do not use that interface in the US. But, assuming that you can do what you say...S-Video + Audio to SCART, then it should work. My guess is that the audio lead will need to be a mini-stereo headphone. If it's not, then you will need another cable to convert from mini-stereo to whatever the SCART cable needs.
Resolution-wise...yes, you will need to reduce it when you enable the S-Video otherwise you will only see a portion of the screen on the TV and not the whole display.
As an aside I have to mention that please don't judge Media Centre by using it on your CRT alone. I used MC on a 32" Sony trinitron for 3 years and I have just ugraded to a 37" LCD flat screen. The difference is like night and day - a whole new experience.. Everything is pin sharp and the interface is 10 times lovelier to use. Should have done it years ago.
Good luck with the interconnect confusion....
Thanks Guys,
Yeah I imagine the image isn't going to the best resolution wise (I've only just upgraded to a 37 inch Plasma in the front room which I'm very happy with) but I guess there's no reason it shouldn't be at least analogue quality?
If all goes well I may well upgrade in time, I'd quite like to get something on the Plasma downstairs but that'd have to be some wireless solution as the missus won't have wires trailing around downstairs - thats her domain!! Dare I say that the AppleTV unit is looking quite attractive?
I'm heading out to Maplins later to pick up the stuff so I'll let you know how I get on!!
One option, which produces a much better quality image than S-Video, is to make your own VGA to SCART cable.
It only works with ATI cards (because they're the only ones that can produce a composite sync signal). I'm using one I made (and I'm a really poor solderer) and it works like a charm.
Instructions here.
Thanks Simbo,
The graphics card I'm using is an nvidea GeForce 7600 GT - I don't think this would be an option?
Sorry the make-your-own VGA-to-SCART cable isn't an option then. You can buy VGA-to-SCART converters but they're expensive, because they have to do some clever electronic magic to generate the composite sync signal.
S-Video-to-SCART is your best option, IMHO, although quality may be lacking and you might have to use something like Powerstrip to obtain a true widescreen image.