How to display PC video on TV?

[jsteph]

I had an issue with this before, and can't seem to get this working. I have a video card with a TVOut connector, and I connect to my TV. It's an HD ready, 1080i tv, so I would expect a crisp, sharp display. What I get is a blurry, hard-to-read display, with a lot of flicker, as if the refresh is at < 60hz.

I tried the Add Hardware, but the only thing possible is 'Default Monitor'. No 'Standard TV' or even '1080i TV' or something, which I would think should be available by now.

I've gone to the card settings (System is WinXP Pro, Video is PNY-NVidia 7300) and in Nvidia's "new improved" control panel, the *only* thing under 'Video & TV' is color settings. Nothing about setting up a TV monitor, etc. In the standard Windows Video settings, there is no 'Add Monitor' or 'Change Monitor'.

Can anyone help with this?
Thanks,
--Jim

 

[ski]

Did you select the tv in Windows?
>>>Go to Start; Control Panel; Appearance and Themes; Display; Settings; Advanced; select the "tab" for your Graphics card; select "Device Settings"; select TV<<<

If so, then use 1024x768 resolution.
If no luck, then try 800x600.

Also, what is the connection configuration for this setup?

 

[jsteph]

ski,
I originally had S-video, then I used the a 3-color composite cable from the video card to the tv. In the Display settings, Nvidia has it's own control panel, and when I went to the 3-color cable, it showed a setting for 1080i HD. When I set this, it did show what I guess was 1080i--it filled the whole widescreen format.

But it still was blurry. Maybe I'm expecting too much? I guess if I stood far enough away from the tv it would look clearer. I just sort of expected to see an extremely fine definition of each letter onscreen. But up close, the desktop icon titles for instance, were blurry. I suppose if I took proportion into consideration, ie--I'm used to a 19-inch monitor, and this is a 52 inch screen--that then standing back far enough to make the proportional distance the same as my typical 2 feet from the 19" monitor, then it might be the same.

But even still, the flicker was too noticeable to have this be something I could look at for more than a minute. There was no Refresh Rate adjustment for the Nvidia control panel, and the one in Windows Display/Monitor tab was set at 60hz, and was greyed out, I couldn't even check or uncheck the 'hide modes this monitor can't dsiplay' box. And the Montior still said 'Default Monitor', whereas in the NVidia panel, it was 1080i HDTV.

If I could get the flicker worked out, I think I'd be fine.
--Jim

 

[Nelviticus]

The problem is that you're using the wrong connection. What inputs does your TV have? If it has a VGA or DVI input (like those found on many computer monitors) use that instead. The TV will also have a 'native' resolution - the manual will tell you what it is - and you should set your PC to that.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[ski]

Normal viewing distance for a HDTV is approx. 2-3 times the screen size. For a 52" screen, it would be 8.5-13 ft.

Also, some HDTV's come with only composite, S-video, component, and HDMI inputs(no VGA or DVI inputs).
If those are what your tv has, then you can connect to the tv with a DVI/HDMI adapter(assuming your video card has a DVI output).