Hooking up my computer to my TV

[SniperClops]

Hello,

I am trying to hookup my computer to my HDTV which is a Sharp Aquos 40". My video card is the EVGA 295 co-op edition which has two DVI ports.

I connected an HDMI cable to my TV then plugged the other end of the cable into a DVI/HDMI adapter then plugged that adapter into my videocard.

When I reboot my computer the POST screen appears on my TV, but as soon as windows finishes loading the TV goes black and my monitor turns on.

I can't get windows to appear on my TV unless I unplug my monitor. Does anyone know how I can get both my TV and my monitor working with this setup?

Thanks

 

[alyarb]

update your video card driver and you'll see an nvidia control panel in your system tray. you can set your monitor modes from there. i dont know what version of windows you're using but right-clicking the desktop and hitting either "properties" or "personalize" will take you to your display settings, and you can configure your card for dual outputs.

 

[SniperClops]

I have the latest Nvidia drivers installed. I am using WinXP Pro SP3.

When I go to the Nvidia control panel there is no option to select multiple displays. From the nvidia help panel it says...

"From the Nvidia Control Panel navigation tree pane, under Display, click Run multiple display wizard to start the wizard which prompts you through several pages that allow you to configure your displays. "

...but the option for the wizard is not there.

 

[kalrith]

I had the same problem. With an HDMI cable and the HDMI-to-DVI adapter that came with my 2900 Pro video card, I would get video at post and in safe mode, but not in normal Windows. It would show a picture on the screen all the way until the Windows welcome screen, and then it would go blank and pretend I only had one monitor connected (instead of two). I had the latest drivers and ATI CCC and tried several different things (such as keeping the video card from reading the EDID info from the monitor), but none of it worked.

I swapped it out with this exact DVI-to-HDMI cable (which I was using with my other computer at the time), and it worked great the first try. While I was in Windows, I switched to the HDMI cable and DVI-to-HDMI adapter, and it still worked. I rebooted with the adapter connected, and it had the exact same problem as before!

Since I had a 4550 with native HDMI ready to be installed in my HTPC, I did that and freed up the afore-mentioned DVI-to-HDMI cable. I've been using it for months with no problems whatsoever, and I used it for almost a year with my HTPC connected to my other TV and had no problems with that either.

I recommend just ordering that cable instead of wasting several hours like I did trying to get it to work with the adapter. It should be about $7 shipped, which is a steal compared to the price for that quality of cable in a B&M store.

 

[SniperClops]

kalrith, I am able to see the monitor and HDTV when I "right click-> properties-> settings" and the resolutions for my monitor (1920x1200) and my HDTV (1920x1080) are shown. Did you have this too?

 

[kalrith]

You know, I really can't remember. It was late at night a few months ago, and my memory's kind of foggy about some of the details. My first notion was that it didn't show my TV at all, but on second thought, it might have shown it.

I know that doesn't help, but I'm not sure of the answer to your question, and I don't want to steer you in the wrong direction.

 

[SniperClops]

In the Nvidia control panel under "set multi-GPU and PhysX configuration" there is an option that lets me choose which display I want. If I set it to "Sharp HDMI" then windows appears on my HDTV (the resolution looks wrong) and my monitor goes blank OR I can set it to my monitor and the my HDTV goes blank.

I have never used dual display before. Should I be able to use both displays at the same time or is it normal you can either see one OR the other?

 

[blackangst1]

There should be an option in the Nvidia control panel where you set them up. The two main options are (not verbatim): clone displays (then choose which one is the master) or extend desktop onto this display. Youre going to want to choose extend desktop if you want HD on both displays (the control panel will tell you this). The difference is, with close you get exactly that. With extend, the extended display will not have task bar, start menu, etc...it will just be a blank screen (but with your background image on it). You would drag what you need over to that display.

 

[SniperClops]

ok, I have made some progress. After reading the notices in the Nvidia control panel I saw it said that I had to set "do not use multi-GPU mode" which means 1 GPU per display. Once I did that, the option to setup multiple displays was shown.

I now have it in "Dualview" mode however the resolution of my HDTV (although it says 1920x1080) is, I think, 1920x1200 because the desktop is slightly bigger than the HDTV screen.

If I go "right click -> properties -> settings" then "extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor" is now enabled for my HDTV.