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Computer to LCD TV connection problem!!

Computer to LCD TV connection problem!!

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u
The So Fist

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I just bought a new compy and hooked it up to my 40 Inch Samsung 1080P HDTV to use as the monitor using an Svideo converter on the Svideo out and plugged a yellow composite cable to attach to the tv. ( i didn't have a vga or hdmi cable handy)

It worked fine.

Then i did all the windows updates and driver updates and now the screen is all garbled and almost impossible to read. I changed all the resolution settings but nothing helped. I also reinstalled all the drivers again with help from a Hewlett Packar online rep.

I took it to futureshop and they plugged my compy into a small 20 inch lcd via a vga cable and it worked perfectly.

So, my question is, does this mean that if I buy a vga cable it will also work fine? I don't understand why my picture was fine until i did all the Updates and what difference using a vga cable will make now. Shouldn't the vga cable just be a little more clear but NOT fix the garbled image problem??

Any help?

EDIT: I also noticed that using the composite cable I only had 3 resolution settings but when the tech plugged in the vga cable there were more settings available in the settings tab. Is this normal?

u
The So Fist

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Ah, come on...no compy techs in here??

Ragnorak
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Originally posted by uzless
Ah, come on...no compy techs in here??
What is this "compy" you speak of?

D

u
The So Fist

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Originally posted by Ragnorak
What is this "compy" you speak of?

D
computer. Anyway. I think the Hewlett Packard online rep dude, answered this one for me.


Argustus H: Yes, the S video is of low resolution, it is not recommend to use S video for text viewing, it is only used to watch movies or moving pictures. Since you have a 40 Inch LCD 1080p Tv and also using it as a monitor and you also need to view the text, I suggest that you connect this using the DVI this provides best quality and this will resolve the issue.

ME;: ok, but why was the screen normal when I first connected it before doing all the Windows updates?

Argustus H: Yes, during the installation of the updates, there might be some updates that might have installed for the graphics card and this updates might have some files that might be required for the more resolution or might be with the files. After installing this update, the S video might have changed or some files might have updated. Since this S video is analog and the updating of files might have caused the issue.

ME: ok, thank you very much. You have been very helpful

: However, please do not worry about the graphics card, if it had problems then even with the VGA connection it should not have worked, since it worked fine with the VGA this indicates that drivers are fine and the PC is working, please go ahead and connect using the DVI and this will resolve the issue.

u
The So Fist

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Moral of the story....

Don't use S-video to connect your computer to a big tv.

Russ
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Buy a DVI to HDMI cable. (ebuyer can supply these, if you are in the UK)

And your TV will then make a fine monitor.

-Russ

Russ
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Originally posted by uzless
Moral of the story....

Don't use S-video to connect your computer to a big tv.
It is worse than that - you used s-video to connect to a 'yellow composite cable'.

Composite has its uses, such as an old playstation on a 14inch portable CRT, and little else.

-Russ

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Originally posted by Russ
It is worse than that - you used s-video to connect to a 'yellow composite cable'.

Composite has its uses, such as an old playstation on a 14inch portable CRT, and little else.

-Russ
Russ/anyone

My pc works fine however we sometimes watch a movie on our pc downloaded from sky anytime. Although watchable it would be much better if we could temporarily link our pc to the television and watch it on that (much larger wide) screen. Would one of these cables allow this on an occassional basis?

Russ
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Originally posted by stevetodd
Russ/anyone

My pc works fine however we sometimes watch a movie on our pc downloaded from sky anytime. Although watchable it would be much better if we could temporarily link our pc to the television and watch it on that (much larger wide) screen. Would one of these cables allow this on an occassional basis?
Yes. I do just this from time to time.

But, only if your TV is a modern Flatscreen which is most likely to have an HDMI port.

Sets from a few years ago would often have DVI rather than HDMI, so a normal DVI to DVI cable is good too.

Note : DVI does not carry sound, so you will need to plug a jack from your pc into your amp or TV inputs for that.

-Russ

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Originally posted by Russ
Yes. I do just this from time to time.

But, only if your TV is a modern Flatscreen which is most likely to have an HDMI port.

Sets from a few years ago would often have DVI rather than HDMI, so a normal DVI to DVI cable is good too.

Note : DVI does not carry sound, so you will need to plug a jack from your pc into your amp or TV inputs for that.

-Russ
Thanks Russ, I went onto ebay after posting and the cable info said 'be aware that DVI only can transmit video signals and no sound' howver I rang up the company and they said its probably possible if I gave him the pc and tv spec details he will find the correct cable for me. So thanks for alerting me to the possibility, we were thinking of buying a widescreen monitor, but now that looks like it's not necessary.

u
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Originally posted by Russ
Buy a DVI to HDMI cable. (ebuyer can supply these, if you are in the UK)

And your TV will then make a fine monitor.

-Russ
Thanks Russ.

I've looked around and can only find a DVI-D to HDMI cable. My compy has a DVI-I output but I can't find any DVI-I to HDMI cables.

I'm thinking i'll just buy the DVI-D to HDMI cable and hope it works. My understanding is that HDMI is digital only anyway so i'd lose the analog capabilities of the DVI-I output anyway.

Take care.

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