VGA cable issue and question....

[HuckleCat]

This is my first time posting to these forums, I searched all over but can't seem to find a straight answer for my issue elsewhere, so here goes:

For the past 2 years or so I have had my PC hooked up to my HDTV with a 6' VGA cable with the resolution at 1080, HD, no problems. Recently my daughter has started crawling about so I had to move the PC away from the TV and further off the floor. I went and ordered a 25' VGA cable off Amazon, in fact, the one here:

http://www.amazon.com/Premium-VGA-Mo...9454505&sr=8-3

When I use the new cable, the PC no longer recognizes my HDTV, and instead sees it as a Generic Non-PnP Monitor, and no longer gives me the option of displaying at 1080.

Just to be sure nothing hardware related occurred, I tried the 6' cable again, and it went back to 1080, recognized the HDTV and all was ok.

So I know it's the cable - my question is this - Is it the cable that is the problem or is it the length? Do I need to get a different cable or do I need a signal booster?

(Before other alternatives are given, no, I don't want to use a HDMI cable. It actually does not look as good as using the VGA cable - which is weird.)

(Also, before anyone tells me VGA cables can't do 1080, please go look around and see that you're wrong before telling me that the cable I have can't provide the resolution it has provided for 2 years.)

Thanks for any help!

 

[Harvey]

The problem may be due to excessive capacitance in the cable. Capacitance is a characteristic that attenuates high frequency signals, and it's usually spec'd per foot. You may need to find a VGA cable specified for low capacitance.

Excessive capacitance can also present a problem to the output stage of your graphics card if it can't deliver enough drive to overcome it. If possible, try another computer or at least, a different graphics card. If it works, you'll know where the problem is.

The photo at your link shows the cable wrapped in plastic so I can't tell if it has ferrite beads. Those are cylindrical things commonly found on both ends of better VGA cables (see pic), that reduce high frequency noise from the computer that is outside of the video band and that may be interfering with the actual video signal.

This cable is $18 from All Electronics, in L.A. California.

 

[HuckleCat]

Thanks for the quick reply, I appreciate it.

About the new cable I have, no, it does not have the ferrite beads that the cable you showed has.

Sadly, I do not have another machine which I can try out. The only other machine in the house is my wifes Macbook Pro, and I don't have any required adapters to hook it up with the VGA cable.

My video card is a Geforce 8500 GT. Sort of an older one, but it's all I have. The card has a VGA and a DVI port. I have actually tried out the DVI port with a DVI to HDMI adapter, but the quality of 1080 out of that is blurrier, and not as crisp as it is with the VGA cable.

I could get a newer video card, maybe even one that has a straight HDMI port on it - would that possibly provide a better image with an HDMI cable? (The only drawback there is that I have an older motherboard that does not support the newer versions of PCI-E)

I'm sort of looking for the cheapest remedy to the situation for now. I'll eventually get a newer setup, I just don't have the extra cash currently.

 

[Harvey]

Thanks for the quick reply, I appreciate it.

About the new cable I have, no, it does not have the ferrite beads that the cable you showed has.

I'd suspect either it's a cheap cable that can't support the length or it's just faulty. Can you test it with a friend's computer and monitor, just to test the cable?

Your kind of problem is exactly why I don't buy stuff like this from ebay. I want it to be easy to return or exchange faulty items when necessary.

I know you're in Southern California (moderators are magic ) If you're in the Valley, the link I gave you is to All Electronics. Their store is on Oxnard west of Van Nuys Bl.

 

[JoeBleed]

I'd suspect your cable. I've never used a 25' cable for any resolution over 1024x768 before, but i have one here at work that i pulled out of the celling i can try on my tv at home. I use vga for my computer tv at home to. It works just fine despite what some seem to say here about vga can't handle that hight of resolution..... I think what they may be experiencing are a lot of sets' vga ports only support a lower resolution for some reason.

That being said, seems like i read they do have a resolution limit on some when they are upwards of 50+ feet. Like a poster above said, it is likely due to the cable design.

The longest vga cable run to my tv at home is 10' to a kvm then 6' from kvm to tv. But it works fine.

 

[HuckleCat]

Thanks, yes, please let me know how the longer cable works out for you.

As for the cable from All Electronics, I will probably order one. (I'm actually in Southern Indiana, not CA) Thanks again for pointing that one out.

 

[Ross Ridge]

When I use the new cable, the PC no longer recognizes my HDTV, and instead sees it as a Generic Non-PnP Monitor, and no longer gives me the option of displaying at 1080.

This actually sounds like your computer isn't recieving the correct EDID information that describes that capibilities of the TV. That may because either the cable is too long or because the cable doesn't include the necessary wires to transmit that information.

You might look at that solutions peope have come up with on the WWW to work around TVs with broken EDID information to see if they can be applied in your case.

 

[JoeBleed]

Sorry for the delay, i forgot to take the cable home with me that day. But i took it home last night. It wouldn't go past 13xx by 768 with the 25' cable. I used a 6' extension cable joined to another 6' monitor cable and that worked fine. So either it is the cable or cable length i would guess at this time. I'm trying to remember to bring a vga coupler home so i can extend one of my kvm cables to see what that does.

My 25" cable is a belkin pro series.

Edit: scratch the vga coupler. all i have here at work are either m/m or m/f. i need a f/f for what i wanted to try.