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PC to TV

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by sebastian42

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I would like to make a TV the 'secondary monitor' instead of the PC monitor (which works fine). Device Manager says that the Display Adapter is RADEON 7000 / RADEON VE Family. I have connected the secondary monitor socket on the video card via a Dick Smith PCtoTV converter to the TV's RCA Video input socket without success. I've tried another product, almost twice the cost with the same negative result. What might be lacking (in the TV or the PC) ?

I connected that same TV input video socket via the Dick Smith converter from a laptop, and the result was an 'image' which drifted diagonally, but of which I could see only a border. When that laptop was connected via a cable from its S-video sicket to the same TV input video socket, a b/w image of ONLY the desktop appeared, without shortcuts or open programs.

I've added the information about the laptop just in case it is useful, and more importantly, because it gave the beginnings of success which attempts with the PC failed to achieve.

15 replies

by oh smeg

Purchased from Dick Smith?

As for the Second S Video Image being just the Desktop this is correct for a Extended Desktop. The Primary Desktop will have the main Work Screen and the Second or Extended Monitor will just display the Desktop without any Shortcuts as you can move from one screen to the other by moving the Mouse Pointer to the second Screen by just dragging it.

To find out which way you need to drag the mouse right click on a unused portion of the Desktop and in the drop down menu select Proprieties and when the next window opens select the Display Setting Tab.

This will open the display settings and with the ATI you will see 2 monitors with a 1 & 2 through them. If the second monitor is tot he right of the first you just move the mouse right to go onto the second desktop. Same if it is above, below or tot he left you need to move the mouse that way. ;)

Also check the RCA lead for correct connections or possible breaks either of which could be causing this problem or also you may need to enable the Second Monitor in the Display Settings.

Col

by sebastian42

Oh Smeg
Yes, my further delving into the topic confirms your suggestion, that once the desktop shows, one can then drag things onto it.

Two points about that - the desktop shows in b/w whereas I expected colour.
AND - the b/w desktop shows for the laptop, which was just an experimental 'control', not the PC whose image I want on the TV.
However it DOES show that the TV, video socket and lead are all functional for THIS purpose.

For what it is worth - since my first post I have discovered an S_video socket on the dual monitor video card AND that there is a VGA socket on the motherboard as well. But neither of these give a satisfactory result - nor does any evidence of the item connected to them show in Display; Settings, or Device Manager.

by oh smeg

That's correct the Display Seatings do not show connected devices just what is available particularly if you are using the S Video Socket out on the Video Card or NB.

As for the Display being in Black & White this is because the Receiving Monitor the TV in this case isn't correctly set to receive the signal and is doing it's best to show the input. Here you'll need to set the TV as required to give the best results and for this the Users Manual for it is the best place to start. You'll need to find out what is required to get the correct Display for the S Video Input so generally speaking the TV needs to be set to AV not one of the TV Chanel's. But that may vary depending on the individual TV.

As for the VGA Socket on the M'Board this should have been disabled when a Video Card was fitted by the BIOS. It shouldn't actually work if you connect anything to it. ;)

Col

by sebastian42

I thought I had already posted an extensive response to this - but it does not show in the thread.

From two laptops I have been able to get a b/w
display of PROGRAMS - one connected from RCA and another from SVideo. No amount of adjusting on the TV would change the b/w status.

On the PC I started my original post about, I've been able to get the briefest view of a jumbled '2' when I clicked the Identify button (in Dispaly's Setting tab). This is when I had connected the expensive PVtoTV converter to the secondary VGA socket of the dual monitor video card.

by .martin.

first off as DSE only stock the one cable, I assume it is this one http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4a9912da041c2f1e2740c0a87e01064f/Product/View/XH1290

now correct me if I am wrong, but your situation is this:
you have a graphics card with two VGA and a SVHS
a tv with only? RCA inputs

you have tried to connect the both with a RCA-VGA cable and a SVHS-RCA cable.

if you have tried the VGA-RCA cable, plugged all three connectors, and installed any software (can't remember if there is any).

If that doesn't help, take the cable back, from memory it has a replacement warranty, so they should replace the cable for you, give that one a go, and if it doesn't work, then there is something wrong with the computer.

with it all plugged in go into display settings, make sure resolution for the screen is set at standard for your tv (if you know it), also check to make sure the color is set all the way up

get back to us with how this went

by sebastian42

I started with a PCtoTV converter from Dick Smith (~$100) - could get NO joy from it. Exchanged it for a SVideo-RCA cable (~$20). With THAT I have been able to get a b/w display on the TV of program(s) on a recent laptop. With an RCA-RCA cable, I've been able to get the same from an older laptop on the same TV.

My desktop - which my original post refered to - has a dual monitor card plus SVideo socket. I've had NO joy from the SVideo socket [cannot detect the presence of the TV in Display; Settings tab; Advanced button - UNlike the recent laptop that DID show TV.]

I got a $200 PCtoTV converter (no name) which requires VGA input and connected that to the secondary socket of the dual monitor card - it briefly showed a jumbled '2' when I clicked the Indentify button in Display; Settings tab; It intermittently shows BRIEFLY, a jumbled display that MIGHT derive from a dialog box.

The TV has RCA inputs front and back as well as a co-ax cable input.

<>
I have tried a SVHS-RCA cable and two different converters, one VGAtoRCA, one
VGAtoSVHS

The VGAtoSVHS converter had anote with it that said no software was needed, but it still provided a CD which I 'ran'. The VGA-RCA converted provided no software.

I don't want to interfere with the dual monitor set up.
Would it be an option to ADD a quality video card, keeping in mind that the slot
that the present card is in is 'unique' - the empty slots are different (& PCI ?).

by .martin.

i have my days :D
lets see if we can do better this time. :D

ok first to make sure the card is not faulty, unplug your current monitor, and plug the VGA end of the VGAto(other end) into the VGA port, and then into the tv. turn on both and see if that works. if not, the card is good.

rule out the cable not working, as the chances of three cables not working is very slim.

if it wasn't the computer card or the cables, then obviously, it would mean something is wrong with the TV.
As you have not supplied us with any TV specs, I am led to believe that it is a CRT Tv, with only RCA and an SVHS input.
As stated by others, make sure that the settings are all correct, also try plugging the end into a RCA/SVHS port that you know works.

most likely it will be the settings,

If you need any help, just let us know :)

by older mycroft

Which means that within the laptop chassis, there resides a TV-Modulator to convert the (normally directed to) VGA (monitor) signal into something that a television can decipher.

If your system does not have a TV-OUT - then you need to find something that can modulate the 'complete video description' for delivery to the TV unit.

Bear in mind that no matter what setup you are pushing the signal from, or pulling the signal to, Televisions do not have the same resolution as a monitor, thus you will inevitably find that the image is blurry, particularly in the horizontal view.

[i]PCs generate [u]pixel dots[/u] for their monitors whereas Televisions expect to receive [u]horizontal image rectangles[/u][/i].

Edit for SEVERAL stupid typos !!

by sebastian42

My original post was about a desktop PC - with which I have had no success yet, but since I had access to two laptops with different TVout sockets, I have experimented with them and got b/w (fuzzy) images on the TV from, in one case an RCA socket, and in the other, from an Svideo socket. Display; Settings tab; Advanced button; Displays tab; has shown a TV connection with 1024 x 768 resolution at 60Hz.

I've had not such 'good' results with two different PCtoTV converters ($100 & $200) which take their input from the laptop VGA sockets.

On the desktop PC, I tried (in vain) a direct connection from the SVideo out socket to the TV RCA. I also tried the two PCtoTV converters from VGA sockets, but cannot get a display tab in which the choice of a TV is an option.

by older mycroft

As has been suggested elsewhere within this thread, there is a very good chance you are TUNING to the wrong channel.

If you attempt to tune to the wrong frequency, you CAN end up with a B&W image.

by kentontator

What sort of TV are you using, don't TV's refresh a lot slower than your computer monitor or am i getting it backwards? Your TV might not be up to being a monitor.

Here's exactly how I did mine took about 5 seconds to get it to work....

Run S-Video computer-TV
Make sure TV is set to the correct input device select the S-Video option, most have Video 1, Video 2 etc...
In the display settings enable second monitor.

to me since you don't seem to be saying much about your TV I would start there and make sure you are switching over to S-Video

by flakeyjake

I use a vcr for pc to tv. s-video out from pc to s-video in on the vcr, splitting audio also helps. Just remember that most tv's are 640x480 res(crt). you might get away with 800x600 on a 25-30" crt tv, but I don't push it, text is too hard to read.

by sebastian42

Martin
The card is not faulty.
The TV is CRT - has RCA video inputs front and back, plus coax cable input.

The TV shows (b/w, 'fuzzy') PC content when input is from RCA socket of one laptop, or SVideo from another laptop.

The desktop PC in question, has an SVideo socket between the VGA (monitor) sockets on the Radeon 7000 video card. Connection of that to the TV gives NO TV display; and in Display; Settings tab; ONLY 2 monitors show in the graphics window - NOT 3. Clicking on Advanced button does NOT offer a Displays tab in which TV display could be chosen.

by sebastian42

There is no tuning - the TV has just one AV chanel - which displays content sent to the RCA video socket.

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