Computer Question

SCC-Faust

United States3736 Posts

August 15 2008 18:38 GMT

I was looking for a way to connect my computer to my television so I can watch Starcraft on my huge television. We (my Grandma and me) went to Best Buy and she asked an employee and he said it really depends on the computer.

He then asked me if my computer has "SVideo" or "Dvi" - something similar to those two. I was like "I have no clue". Rly nao. What are those? How do I find what my computer has?

After I find the specifics of what I need for this "product" what am I exactly buying to make this work? He mentioned a cable that they sell in 5', 10', & 30'. I don't know what this "cable" is either.

Any help is deeply appreciated.

blabber

United States4448 Posts

August 15 2008 18:51 GMT

look on the back of your video card (ie. the place where your monitor plugs into your computer). If you see a (usually) white rectangle with holes, that's DVI. If it has a yellow circle with holes, that's s-video. There's a chance your television supports VGA, which is the more standard trapezoidal plug. There's also a chance your video card has plugs for all three

the cable is to connect your computer to the TV. I once connected my desktop to this HDTV we had. I used a VGA cable that came with the TV to connect my video card's VGA port to the TV's VGA port

yeah, I'd say it more depends on the TV rather than the computer

SCC-Faust

United States3736 Posts

August 15 2008 18:55 GMT

On my laptop I have what has a slot and it shows an "S" with an arrow pointing to a television so I assume I have SVideo. The guy at Best Buy said something about one of the features does not have audio or some shit? Will SVideo work good? What am I buying for SVideo? Thanks again.

ulszz

Jamaica1787 Posts

August 15 2008 18:56 GMT

i've never done this before on a tv, but if your card only has VGA there are adapters to fit to DVI. chances are if you have a newer card it is DVI.

micronesia

United States24804 Posts

August 15 2008 18:56 GMT

You'll also want to know what inputs your tv has obviously. Take a look and describe they types of ports if you aren't sure.

dyodyo

Philippines578 Posts

August 15 2008 18:56 GMT

As blabber has said, just look at what connectors your graphics card support. Once you know if you have DVI or SVideo then just go out and buy the appropriate cable. After that, its just a matter of hooking up your vidcard to your TV using that cable.

blabber

United States4448 Posts

August 15 2008 18:56 GMT

S-video is probably the worst option. There's a very good chance your laptop has a VGA port. It's a trapezoidal type port (usually blue) and has two holes for screws on either side

VIB

Brazil3567 Posts

August 15 2008 18:58 GMT

"SVideo" or "Dvi"

He's asking about the plug/cable your computer has. Computer monitors usually use RGB cable. SVideo is most common on old video tape players. DVDI or HDMI is what most today's dvd players and videogames use.

What you need is:
1) a plug on your computer
2) a plug on the tv
3) a cable that connects the two

Then it all depends of what plugs there are on your computer and what plugs the tv has. There are all kinds of adapters between one and another. Ideally you'll want a TV with a RGB plug, because all computers have that plug (monitor plug) then you just connect them with the same monitor cable you always used.

If you cannot find a TV with a RGB plug (most new ones have but old ones don't). Then you'll need a different plug on your computer. If you have some kind of video card, those usually have additional plugs in it to connect to different stuff. So most today's video cards will have like SVideo, Video Component, DVDI or HDMI plugs. So you'd need the respective cable to connect your computer plug to the TV.

All in all either just find a TV with a RGB plug and connect to your computer with a RGB cable (monitor cable). Or check if your video card has other plugs (SVideo or Video Component are most common) in it and buy a TV with the same plug, and the respective cable for that.

ulszz

Jamaica1787 Posts

August 15 2008 19:00 GMT

On August 16 2008 03:55 SCC-Faust wrote:
On my laptop I have what has a slot and it shows an "S" with an arrow pointing to a television so I assume I have SVideo. The guy at Best Buy said something about one of the features does not have audio or some shit? Will SVideo work good? What am I buying for SVideo? Thanks again.

sorry, once again i've never done this so i'm kind of wingin it. google image svideo to make sure that is what you have. S-video doesn't support audio on same cable, so you will probably have to either have some other cable from comp to tv, if you can, (i'm pretty sure u can). or just play sound from your top. S-video is standard definition, irrc so you should get just as good video as you do on your comp

.kaz

1963 Posts

August 15 2008 19:01 GMT

#10

Does your video card, or onboard video card have a blue or white box that you connect the monitor cord to? If it is white, then that is Dvi. If it is blue, it is VGA, and I think you will have to get a connector to turn it into Dvi, but I'm not sure if that will work because if your video card doesn't have Dvi it might not support what you're trying to do. If it has a little circle with a few dots in it, similer to cable in the back of the tv or your mouse / keyboard plugs then that is Svideo. Depending on which you have is what kind of cable you will need. The cable he is talking about is just like the cord that plugs into your pc for your monitor, except it will end in the 3 colors or another form of connecting it to your tv (such as HDMI). If your tv is old its likely that it wont work, the same if you have an old computer / non upgraded graphics card you might have troubles. I have never done this and haven't tried but I was trying to answer as many of your questions as I could. Just use google and search for a guide or help with what you're trying to do.

Help with Svideo -> TV http://www.svideo.com/compaq1700.html
4 page guide that describes connecting with Svideo and VGA/DVI. -> http://www.techlore.com/article/10061/How-To-Connect-a-Computer-To-Your-TV/

Goodluck~

Wow a lot of people answered. The reason you wont have audio is because you are only taking the video from your computer, the sound will still play out of the computers speakers. You can get yet another cord for this and plug it into your tv so you have sound and video, but I'm not sure which it is. Just ask next time you go, or someone else might answer.

SCC-Faust

United States3736 Posts

August 15 2008 19:07 GMT

#11

Looks like I only have S-Video and my television only has S-Video too.

So now I guess to the sound. If it doesn't support sound I'll have to find another way I guess because my Laptop's sound is really low even when put to the highest. I only have money for an S-Video Cable apparently. So I guess this won't work after all. I do have headphones I can use with my laptop but it will defeat the purpose of watching Starcraft with other people.

.kaz

1963 Posts

August 15 2008 19:11 GMT

#12

There are cords such as this one -> http://www.svideo.com/svideorcapro93.html <- that have the Svideo -> Svideo AND audio cords in one. If not, you will need a cord that can be plugged into your speakers (or since its a laptop your sound card / headphone jack) that splits into the red and white colors at the end. If you ask the people at best buy they should know what you are talking about and what you need, or if they are confused you can simply know that A. it splits into red and white at the end, and B. the other side will fit into a headphone jack.

blabber

United States4448 Posts

August 15 2008 19:11 GMT

#13

hook up a pair of pc speakers?

thoraxe

United States1449 Posts

August 15 2008 19:21 GMT

#14

S-video:

DVI:

Check your computer to see if there are any kind of imputs that look like this behind it, if they are, then just buy a cable that will connect them both.

Another solution is to check if your tv has the VGA input:

If your tv does, then get the VGA cable that's currently connected to your monitor, and move it to your tv.

For connecting your computer to a surround sound system, there are a number of solutions, but the easiest one is to buy is this cable that connects to your line out (green color) in your computer.

Most of the time, this cable also has it on green, instead of black like in this picture. OR, if you'd rather use your computer's home theatre, just continue using it normally.

VIB

Brazil3567 Posts

August 15 2008 19:23 GMT

#15

On August 16 2008 04:07 SCC-Faust wrote:
Looks like I only have S-Video and my television only has S-Video too.

So now I guess to the sound. If it doesn't support sound I'll have to find another way I guess because my Laptop's sound is really low even when put to the highest. I only have money for an S-Video Cable apparently. So I guess this won't work after all. I do have headphones I can use with my laptop but it will defeat the purpose of watching Starcraft with other people.

Your TV should have sound plugs too. If it has a P2 plug (same as computer speakers) you just buy a P2/P2 cable and connect from your computer speaker plug to your TV plug. If your TV has video component plugs (should say "audio (L | R)") then you could buy an adaptor cable (last pic that thoraxe posted).

SCC-Faust

United States3736 Posts

August 15 2008 23:20 GMT

#16

I got the S-Video cable right now.

It is plugged in from my laptop to my television.
How do I view it? I went to "video1" and "video2" on my television, still nothing.

Any help?

SCC-Faust

United States3736 Posts

August 15 2008 23:28 GMT

#17

Oh got it working.

By the way I'm really dumb.

I also bought Composite A/V cable for sound because there was nothing else for sound, and apparently A/V cable doesn't fit into my headphones slot, not any of the three.