2 questions

[MariafromFl]

Hi all.
Just bought a HP Media Center m8200n with Nvidia GeForce 6150 SE, and a couple of weeks later upgraded my CRT monitor to a Hanns.G.
Problem is the monitor has DVI cable and output but video only has VGA input. Ive looked at some DVI to VGA converters but I'm not sure which to buy? Or do I need another graphic card?

My other question has to do with the old Direct TV Box I am using. My CPU has the capability of recording 2 programs at a time, but the Direct TV box has only 1 output.
I realize all I have to do is upgrade the box, however I'm looking for something I can own and take with me, as I'm living here for part of the year and home the other times.
Any suggestions?????
Thanks

 

[krnmastersgt]

Welcome to the AT forums

For your first question, any dvi -> vga or vga -> dvi converter will probably work the same and they can be had for ~$5. No need to buy a new video card unless you feel the 6150 is underpowered for what you do.
Sorry but I have no idea as for the second question, mayhaps go ask in the general hardware section?

 

[MariafromFl]

Thanks for your help km. I found I have a DVI-D sub monitor and am unable to find a converter for the D-sub. There are plenty for A-sub and I-sub. Any suggestions?

 

[Peter]

VGA does not convert to DVI-D - these adapter dongles don't magically make a digital DVI signal from an analog VGA signal, they merely pull the analog copy that's already there on a DVI-I (or -A).

So the answer to your original question is no, that does not connect in any way. You need a monitor with a VGA signal input, or a graphics card with a proper DVI output.

 

[Fallen Kell]

There is no VGA to DVD-D... this is one of the reasons why DVD-I became the standard in terms of connection (however, the digital link is the important part of it, since it will be the cleanest in terms of signal quality). You will have to either get a different graphics card or a different monitor.

As for recording TV from a Direct TV feed, well you have multiple problems. Your computer will not be able to change the channel of the Direct TV set top box without additional hardware (and potentially software). You will need an IR blaster like a USB-UIRT, or some similar product. You will also need your TV recoding software to be able to interface with that blaster so it knows to send a IR signal to the blaster to change the channel. As for recoding two channels at once, unless your computer has two separate COAX inputs, or two separate RCA, or a combination of an RCA and COAX, as well as getting two set top boxes and two IR blasters (and isolating them from each other so that one IR blaster does not happen to change the channel to both set top boxes at the same time), then you will not be able to record two channels at once. If you had cable, that is a different story and you could use a single COAX input to view the normal channels a cable ready TV could get (usually channels 1-125, as long as they are not encrypted (premium channels are encrypted)).

 

[Peter]

The solution to the recording dilemma is to use (multiple) PCI tuner cards inside the media machine, not these external boxes. The difficult bit is finding one that decodes your (possibly encrypted) feed.

 

[hans007]

uh..

DVI-D is a connector that only uses the digital part of DVI. DVI-A is the analog pass through. DVI-I has both.

your card probably has DVI-I ports . i doubt your monitor is DVI-D only, it probably also has a normal analog port. so you will need an adapter onthe computer end , if your computer doesnt have analog output.

 

[taltamir]

It is as hans007 said...

DVI-D = Digital Video Interface - Digital = the digital portion of DVI
DVI-A = Digital Video Interface - Analog = an analog VGA signal on a DVI port to be used with a DVI-VGA convertor
DVI-I = Digital Video Interface - Integrated = contain the pins for both DVI-A and DVI-D (they use different pins on the plug).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvi

The "conversion" is so simple because there is no need to convert the signal, it is just a matter of connecting to different pins on the same plug.

 

[bigsnyder]

I doubt his DVI connector is DVI-I. Most of the HannsG monitors I looked at had HDMI ports and the few that had DVI were DVI-D. If if the OP could tell use the model of the monitor, that would take this guess work out of it.