S-Video to composite: will any adapter work?

[Spicedaddy]

My friend has a Toshiba laptop with S-Video output. (16MB Geforce 2 Go) It didn't come with any adapters, and his TV doesn't have an S-Video input.


If I get an adapter from ATI for example (they sell them online), will it work with his laptop?

 

[Spicedaddy]

/\
II
II

 

[Katana]

I don't see why not. I'm not sure how much ATI sells them for, but you can get an svideo -> rca converter from PartsExpress for only $5.25 plus s/h.

 

[WobbleWobble]

I was wondering the same myself since I have an IBM laptop with s-video out only and wanted to connect it to a TV with only RCA in. So I borrowed an s-video to RCA cable from my friend but it didn't work. The computer didn't detect a TV connection.

I do know the TV out does work as I've connected via s-video to an s-video TV.

 

[bearxor]

Radioshack carries an SVideo to RCA converter.

15-1238

Bit on the expensive side ($20), but if you want to get one without having to order it...

plus the picture quality is very good.

 

[bacillus]

I got the ati s-video>rca with my 9700 but it didn't work with my laptop & tv which didn't have a s-video socket.
eventually got it to work by using a s-video cable & attached a pass thru s-video>rca adapter!

 

[Pauli]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
I was wondering the same myself since I have an IBM laptop with s-video out only and wanted to connect it to a TV with only RCA in. So I borrowed an s-video to RCA cable from my friend but it didn't work. The computer didn't detect a TV connection.

I do know the TV out does work as I've connected via s-video to an s-video TV.

I don't think the computer can detect if a TV is connected to it. The Laptop should just be sending the signal to the S-Video output. It's up to the TV to display the signal at that point. Did you set your TV to "Input" instead of "Antenna"?

 

[Spicedaddy]

I was thinking of getting it from ATI because they're only 5$... But after looking at mine closer, the ATI adapter isn't a standard S-Video plug, it has 8 metal pins, while a real S-Video cable has 4 metal pins and a little black plastic thingy.


The one from PartsExpress seems to be what I need, and it's pretty cheap. This one should fit in the laptop output.

Geez, you'd think they could give you a 5$ adapter when you buy a 2000$ laptop...