video out to hdtv

ok, i'm not sure where to put this. i want to be able to connect either my laptop (preferred), or one of my other comps to my hd tv (that my mom gave me last summer). i bought a cable, but it doens't work (the link i provided below says this "This cable is not designed to work in anyway with a computer's input or output." i know my cousin bought a cable (i think hers was vga, to vga) and we hooked up my 2nd comp (in the study), to her hd tv last summer. i just don't know what's going on. now, i think i remember reading some about (the cable below), it won't convert an analog signal to a digital signal (or something like that).

http://www.altex.com/product_info.php?products_id=4913 <-- 12FT VGA TO RCA Component Video Cable

http://www.hometheatermag.com/crtdisplays/95/ <-- RCA F38310 38-Inch CRT HDTV (i'm pretty sure this is the tv - i can't get to the back of the unit right now).


laptop specs:
compaq presario r3000
amd athlon 64 3000+
1.79 ghz, 512 mbyte ram
nvidia ge force 440 go 64m
xp, sp2

study comp:
hp pavilion a1214n
intel pentium 4 w/ht (630)
3.0 ghz, 3.24 gbyte ram
intel graphics media accelerator driver 8294g
xp mce, sp2
note: has an available pcie slot

new comp that i pieced together
hp pavilion 742n (well the chip, and case, etc only)
biostar m/b (m7vig 400) --> http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails.asp?model=m7vig+400
amd athlon 1.25 ghz, 480 mbyte ram
xp, sp2

i am trying to do this the cheapest way possible with a decent picture (as i'm not working right now). i don't know if there is a different cable that will work, if there is a setting i need to check/change, or even a decent pci, or pcie card for my study comp? right now, we are watching a movie from netflix online, on my laptop, connected to my 5.1 surround sound system. i'd like to be able to watch it on my tv, with my surround sound.

note: if i use my study comp, i will have to drag it from my study into the living room, if i want to go that route. that's why i'd prefer the laptop. anyway, i'd appreciate any/all options, and what you'd try, or do. also, this tv does not have any hdmi, or vga inputs. thx, sos

 

I was going to suggest VGA to VGA but then you said it doesn't have any VGA ports!

If you use the VGA to RCA adaptor you'll get poor picture quality because unless your video card can output a HD signal (and judging by those specs, none of them do!) then you'll get a poor signal as the tv thinks it's receiving a HD signal and it's obviously not!

I'm surprised that buying a tv only last year does not have VGA port, one idea could be s-video to s-video on the tv?

 

well, this is an older tv, it's been in storage for about 1.5 years or so? i'm not sure how long she had it prior. anyway, i found out my laptop has s-video out (7 pin), and that a 4 pin cable will plug into a 7 pin connector. i purchased a s-video cable (4 pin), and after playing around, i can see my desktop wallpaper. for a while there i could actually see the icons, and taskbar on the tv. but, now i can't see the icons, but i can still see the wallpaper, and taskbar. i can't see the cursor unless i move it to the extreme right hand side (off the screen on the laptop), but it gets on the screen of the tv. i think this has something to do with "windows spanning across monitors", but i'm not sure?

i'd like to be able to view what's on my laptop, on my tv. or, if i can run an application on my laptop, and send the screen to the tv? there are lots of little settings, i can't figure it out, and/or the hotkeys, etc. - sos

 

You need to set the tv to be a secondary monitor from within your graphics settings (providing this is what you want to do). Then drag the program across from the normal monitor onto the tv screen.

 

thx, i finally got it working. it's not perfect, but at least it does what i wanted (for cheap)!! i couldn't really figure it out, and couldn't find anything at nvidia (or their forums), so i checked out hp/compaq site, and got what i needed (just posting the link for reference). it took me a bit to figure out how to get it over there. i can drag an icon over to the other screen, but when i opened it, it would open on the laptop monitor. there is a little utility, that i added to my toolbar, that gives me options (screenshot below). anyway, once again, thx alot mcadam!! - sos

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00471015&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=425558

 

Widescreen tellys and computer screens still have different horiz/vert pixel ratios (aspect ratio) so you can never get the ouput from a pc quite right on one.

Wake up graphics card manufacturers.

Telly manufacturers provide VGA or HDMI or other interface and some do a creditable job of the translation.

What interfaces do you have on the telly?

Even M$ are not to blame on this one, in fact they have a good read about it here.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/howto/articles/PixelFrames.aspx