Planetarion Forums

Brimstone · 17 Sep 2004, 17:16

I wish to use my TV in place of my monitor on my PC, though for the life of me i dunno how to do it.

I have a Geforce FX5700 in my PC, and if i remember correctly it has VGA and DVi output, and a TV-Out, but i wish to know how you connect a TV via either SCART or the 3 Phono connection on the TV (the exact name of which escapes me)

And if you know how to resolve the issue, where would be a good place to get the required cables etc?

JetLinus · 17 Sep 2004, 20:04

Generally, replacing a monitor by a TV is a BAD idea. A TV screen's resolution is about 640 * 480 or at max 800 *600, and you won't be able to read normal-sized text (i.e. like these forums or normal webpages). It's ok for watching films or gaming though.

Make sure you've got the latest display drivers from www.nvidia.com , called Detonator. Do that before doing anything else.
I guess your pc doesn't have a scart output (mine does \o/), so to use your TV's scart input, you'd have to get an adaptor (game consoles like N64 come with one). It has these "3 phono connectors" on it (as you call them, I'd name them just cinch). So you could just use the front connectors of the TV straight away, if the look doesn't bother you.
The name for this method (the cinch-like yellow cable) is called composite.
Quality-wise best method is S-Video, a cable that looks like an old PS/2 keyboard / mouse plug. Your TV needs a socket for this of course.
Graphics cards usually have an S-Video output and an adaptor that splits it to composite (cinch) / S-Video. If you've lost this adaptor, S-Video would be the best choice ofc (or get a new one).
For composite, you can use normal cinch-cables, even if they're for audio (i.e. a pair of red / balc or red / white). They yellow color is really just the color.
S-Video cables are usually more expensive, and a normal sorted household doesn't tend to have them lying around (better chance for cinch there).
Once everything is connected, you right click on your desktop, choose properties, to get to Display Settings. Click Advanced, choose the monitor tab (or display devices), and find a thing to switch to TV.
A really really great help for nVidia cards is TVTool. I'm really sad it doesn't support my ATI graphics card. If you keep on using your TV for PC output on a regular basis, make sure you try it out!

meglamaniac · 18 Sep 2004, 12:39

As a note, the yellow composite cables (also called RCA cables) are generally thicker than audio cables.
So while you can use an audio cable, you might not get a brilliant picture out of it.

Brimstone · 18 Sep 2004, 13:24

I wanted it for playing games etc. on as i've had enough trying to play games on 1024 resolution on a 15 inch CRT monitor.

Im also looking into the Dual screen option, so that i can leave monitor for TXT etc and the TV for playing games at the same time. And as im hunting for a touch screen monitor (easy to find when working for a company that makes them) it'll be an interesting idea to use.