[serious] Do you connect your PC to a television set?

[abhijit]

I got a LCD television set (SHARP). What I noticed is that, I am not able to switch between various modes (Sports / Film / Standard), when I connect my PC to it. The manual doesn't mention this.

I haven't got cable yet, so I don't know if it works elsewhere.

Is that a standard thingie on television sets or is it a glitch?

[kregg]

I've always wanted to, can't see how it's not possible with HDTVs, but with normal TVs, apparently you might need some kind of adapter. Don't take my word for it though, lets hear what others have to say...

[timeshifter]

I have an old rear-projection TV... I have a Composite/S-Video switch with four devices plugged in to it, and the switch goes to the TV. As far as the TV is concerned, there's only one input source, so I never have any issues switching devices. A couple nights ago, I did hook up my laptop so I could play my own music while playing games on the PS2, or watch video. Haven't had an issue. It's all old, crappy technology, but it works together quite well

[abhijit]

I've always wanted to, can't see how it's not possible with HDTVs, but with normal TVs, apparently you might need some kind of adapter. Don't take my word for it though, lets hear what others have to say...

I have an old rear-projection TV... I have a Composite/S-Video switch with four devices plugged in to it, and the switch goes to the TV. As far as the TV is concerned, there's only one input source, so I never have any issues switching devices. A couple nights ago, I did hook up my laptop so I could play my own music while playing games on the PS2, or watch video. Haven't had an issue. It's all old, crappy technology, but it works together quite well

I don't have an issue with connectivity. I am able to see the PC output on the LCD. I am not able to adjust certain elements of the picture like COLOR / SHARPNESS / TINT.

[Atheist]

I used to connect my PC to my HDTV, but now since I moved my furniture around, the cables are too short to reach

I dont think there was a problem with adjusting various display settings when connected to the PC..though I cant say for sure. One thing I do remember bugging me though was that the TV did not allow full-hd resolution while connected to the PC..even though its a fairly new TV!

[timeshifter]

When connected to a PC, a TV is nothing more than a secondary monitor. Just go to your display settings and change the resolution. S-Video cables can only carry a 1024x768 signal (if I recall correctly), but D-Sub can handle 1080p. Even better if you've got DVI or HDMI... but there's nothing wrong with D-Sub.

[Atheist]

I'm not sure if it is that simple, because the manual specifically states that it does not support 1920x1080 resolution when displaying the picture from a PC. My graphics card settings properly identify my monitor as being a Sony Bravia TV aswell, and does not supply me with an option of 1920x1080 in the list of resolutions.

[timeshifter]

Is it a 1080 TV? They do still sell a lot of 720's...

[Atheist]

Is it a 1080 TV? They do still sell a lot of 720's...

Yes indeed, its a Sony Bravia KDL-40W4000 (Excellent opportunity for you to learn some swedish! )

[timeshifter]

What kind of cable are you using? If it's D-Sub, then maybe the TV is set to not do 1080 through D-Sub... although that would strike me as rather dumb...

[Atheist]

I'm using an HDMI-cable, with a HDMI-DVI converter for the graphics card.

(sorry, abhijit, for talking unrelated nonsense in your thread)

[shakti5385]

No I am not

[BillGeek]

What I noticed is that, I am not able to switch between various modes (Sports / Film / Standard), when I connect my PC to it.

When I hook my PC to the TV I can still adjust just about everything except Zoom. (I suppose this is understandable) I think it has all to do with both the PC's graphics card as well as the TV's features on the AV channels.

I have a Sansui 32" Full-HD LCD and an ATI RX2600XT in my PC. The graphics card supports what MSI calls "Native-HD". Sufficed to say, when I hook up to the TV using a normal HDMI cable, I can set the display to 1080p and still adjust the settings.

Atheist, maybe the problem lies with the refresh rate of the TV. I suspect that the Sony can only handle a specific refresh rate at that resolution that isn't supported by many graphic cards... (I'm just guessing here. ) I had this problem as well (my TV can only handle 50Hz or 60Hz on 1080p) with my old card. The new card (I suppose it's only the drivers) can actually display at 50Hz when going up to 1920x1080, so the TV displays everything properly.

Now all I need to do is get a BluRay player.

[Arrow_Raider]

Certain settings such as color and tint can be set in the graphics control application thing pretty easily if you have an nvidia or ati card.

[abhijit]

It maybe due to the fact that I am using a monitor cable to connect to the TV instead of the other fancy technologies.

[timeshifter]

D-Sub? It can handle HD resolutions, too. I've run 1080p out of an XBox 360 to my monitor before with no problem.

[abhijit]

D-Sub? It can handle HD resolutions, too. I've run 1080p out of an XBox 360 to my monitor before with no problem.

Here's a picture of the pin-head.

[timeshifter]

Know your cables

That's a D-Sub, also known as VGA cable. DVI is white, HDMI doesn't really have a color, composite (aka RCA) are yellow for video, red/white for audio, component is one cable each for RGB, and red/white for audio, S-Video loosely resembles a PS/2 jack...

These things are important, yo!

[BillGeek]

These things are important, yo!