Home Theater PC, Kind Of
While I generally plan what I am going to use my computers for, this time I didn't quite do that. When I bought my new notebook last year, I noticed that it had an S video port out on it, but that computer ended up in the basement, and never got moved to connect to the TV set.I bought a new computer this year, the MSI VR420, simply because it was too good of a deal to pass on. It also had the S video out port, and I happened to have an S video cable handy. Also, with more shows online, and a DVR that fills the internal hard drive with 20 hours of HD video, I've been relying on the internet for some of the video content of my weekly shows. The tricky part is getting it onto the TV set.
While the S video cable can transmit the image, it is decidedly standard def only territory. While some shows look ok, the other day, one was off center in the 480 x 640 format. It was quite frustrating as both sides got cropped off (more like chopped off).
Ideally, the notebook would have an HDMI out slot, but it simply doesn't. Hey, for under $400, I can't expect everything.
Then I noticed that VGA out port on the notebook. I disconnected the cable from my desktop monitor and hooked up the notebook to the HDTV. I have to say that the picture quality was excellent. All solved, right?
Not so fast. While the video looked great, the audio was now the issue. While on S video I had sent the audio from the notebook to the TV via the headphone out jack. Somehow, on VGA out, the this method didn't work. I'm not sure why, as the notebook still had audio. Perhaps that HDTV doesn't accept an audio input when using the VGA as the input? That is my best guess, but all of this is not documented in the manual that would rather go on for pages about not putting electronics in a puddle, and other nonsense.
As of now, I have to choose between standard def video with TV audio, or HD video with notebook speaker audio. Too bad HDMI isn't built in. From a bird's eye view, it is intriguing to see how an extra computer ges put to use....
Jonas
Labels: Digital Television, HDTV, notebook, S video, Television
posted by digitaldoc at 9:19 PM
2 Comments:
Actually you should be able to use VGA and a RCA audio cable for audio, thats how I have mine set up upstairs (32"LCD Oliva I think is the brand). Hard to explain how to check everything, but hook your VGA up and your audio, if no audio is coming out of the notebook and none on the tv, then start changing the tv inputs to see if one of them has audio on it. Some tv's only allow certain rca ports to be used with the vga port, others will allow you to change them, you would have to look up your model number online to see if you can find any more information. If you cant, throw up the make and model of the tv and I can see if I can find anything for you.
Mike
Thanks for the advice. I'll dig out the manual. I did go into the audio settings menu, and there were no options to play with. It is a Samsung 26" LCD in TNL-R.
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