S-Video

[jbbrown]

I am looking for a way to hook up my laptop up to a TV with s-video. Is there any PCMCIA or USB to s-video (output) device that would work for this? I have searched around, but I haven't found much. Thanks!

 

[alkemyst]

Best bet is getting a VGA adapter to s-video adapter box. If your laptop is capable of doing TV out over VGA then all you need is a cheap VGA to SVideo cable.

 

[jbbrown]

Best bet is getting a VGA adapter to s-video adapter box. If your laptop is capable of doing TV out over VGA then all you need is a cheap VGA to SVideo cable.

Do you know what the quality is like when using a VGA to s-video box? Will it degrade the image much?

 

[BigSmooth]

Review of this one seem to indicate good picture quality: http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10114&cs_id=1011407&p_id=4724&seq=1&format=2

 

[vshah]

fyi text will be pretty tough to read. is svideo the best input option on the tv?

 

[Modelworks]

svideo is 720x480. It also depends a huge amount on the quality of the display.

One of the best converters is the avermedia averkey. They are not sold in stores much now but on ebay can be had for $10-20.

 

[jbbrown]

fyi text will be pretty tough to read. is svideo the best input option on the tv?

I also have component and DVI on the TV.

I have tried a VGA to component cable and did not have any success with that. The image was all distorted with lines running through it. So a friend brought over their laptop that had s-video output and they hooked it up to my TV. It looked pretty good, but like you said, text is a little hard to read. I will be using it primarily for pictures and video, so it doesn't bother me too much.

The DVI input on the TV is a little different from from what I've used for a computer monitor. I'm not sure what kind it is. And I think I would need a special type of converter box (more expensive) for that.

 

[sdifox]

if you have dvi, use dvi, assuming your laptop outputs dvi
or you can get a usb dvi breakout box

 

[Modelworks]

The DVI input on the TV is a little different from from what I've used for a computer monitor. I'm not sure what kind it is. And I think I would need a special type of converter box (more expensive) for that.

Does it look like this ?

 

[jbbrown]

Does it look like this ?

It looks like the bottom left picture, the DVI-D connector.

My laptop only has a VGA output.

 

[alkemyst]

vga to dvi may be a better approach.

 

[vshah]

you could use something like this to get a much better picture. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815290006

might be a bit slow for video though.

what laptop is it? you may be able to find a cheap docking station on ebay that has a dvi output.

 

[jbbrown]

you could use something like this to get a much better picture. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815290006

might be a bit slow for video though.

what laptop is it? you may be able to find a cheap docking station on ebay that has a dvi output.

It is a Dell Latitude D620. Come to think of it, there might be a docking station at work I could use. I did not even think of that. I will have to check it out!

 

[alkemyst]

D620 should definitely be able to do it. Our D600/610 bases have dvi out and I believe video out (standard RCA).

 

[jbbrown]

D620 should definitely be able to do it. Our D600/610 bases have dvi out and I believe video out (standard RCA).

I was able to find the docking station for the laptop. It has VGA, s-video and DVI.

The DVI on the TV looks like this:

I do have a DVI cable that connects to the TV.

The DVI on the docking station looks like:

Do I just need to find an adapter to connect the cable I have to the docking station? Where would I find one? I looked on MonoPrice and didn't really see anything.

 

[vshah]

that's really weird...my d series docking station has a dvi connector exactly like the one on your tv, not the 2nd one you posted...

mine looks like this:

 

[BigSmooth]

I have a D630 and my dock looks exactly like vshah's.
I do know that at one time Dell made two different "docking stations" for the D-series, one was the "port replicator" which I have and the other was an actual docking station which was larger and may have had different connections.

 

[Modelworks]

I was able to find the docking station for the laptop. It has VGA, s-video and DVI.

The DVI on the TV looks like this:

I do have a DVI cable that connects to the TV.

The DVI on the docking station looks like:

Do I just need to find an adapter to connect the cable I have to the docking station? Where would I find one? I looked on MonoPrice and didn't really see anything.

The cable you need is a DVI-D cable . The connector that fits on the docking station will also work for the tv. The TV has the two additional vertical slots but those are not used in a DVI -D link, so just ignore them.

 

[Apex]

The cable you need is a DVI-D cable . The connector that fits on the docking station will also work for the tv. The TV has the two additional vertical slots but those are not used in a DVI -D link, so just ignore them.

+1

 

[jbbrown]

The cable you need is a DVI-D cable . The connector that fits on the docking station will also work for the tv. The TV has the two additional vertical slots but those are not used in a DVI -D link, so just ignore them.

Alright, that makes sense - I will get the DVI-D cable. Thanks to everyone for your help!