PC to TV methods?

[Tracyman0111]

Hey all--

Pulling my hair out here!! :'( My laptop is JUSSSSST old enough to where it has no HDMI ports, but I want to hook it to my TV. One TV has HDMI, and the other does not, but has the full range of component inputs. One thing I've been trying to do is utilize the streaming functions of the PS3 on the one TV, and the Dish Hopper on the other, but it's hit or miss as to whether the video files will be recognized. I bought a $50 USB to HDMI convertor from Radio Shack for the one TV, which works fine, but once on the TV screen, the picture is only about 60% of the screen size, so that's no good. I ordered a VGA to Component cable from Amazon (the Y, Pb and Pr) but the picture doesn't come through right, it's all purple and fuzzy. Anyone have any ideas? Maybe some type of a more reliable wireless streaming device? I'm finding it really hard to believe that I need to buy a newer laptop to make this happen. Thanks for everyones input!!

 

[qtnguyen87]

screen size is like that becuase its being converted

 

[smitbret]

The issues you are having is just because of file incompatibilities of your playback devices (PS3 and the Hopper). For instance, the PS3 does not support .mkv files. There are other formats and streams that are unsupported but that's just the most common for your situation. For .mkv files, you could try remuxing them to .mp4 files using something like:

http://yamb.unite-video.com/

Just load the .mkv file into it and run. It will spit out an .mp4 file that is PS3 and probably Hopper compatible in a few minutes as long as the streams are compliant (shouldn't happen very often).

Your other option is to invest in 3rd party server software that runs on your PC that will create a library and transcode the incompatible files on the fly (while they playback on your TV). Keep in mind, that transcoding in real time takes a lot of CPU power so your laptop may struggle with that, depending on the particular file and the CPU.

Plex is the most popular but may not support the Hopper. Tversity used to be the go to program for this along with PS3 Media Server. I prefer a program called Mezzmo. Twonky is often used as well as Serviio.

Option #3 is to invest in a better box for local streaming like Roku or WDTV Live.

 

[DesiPower]

Also, the TV needs to be set to PC mode, so that it does not "process" the signal from the PC, anytime you hook up a PC/LT with a TV from ANY port, doesn't matter if its DVI, VGA or HDMI or display, if the TV does not know its coming from a PC, it will mess it up big time.

Does your LT have a DVI port? I have used DVI to HDMI, TV set to PC mode and it worked fine at 720, 1080 did not look good.