pc to tv

[rpwicked]

Hello everyone once again. I'm hoping someone here can help me with my problem. I have alot of movies on my computer, but am getting sick of watching them on my monitor. I just got a new 36 inch tv, well a few years old but new to me. The tv has a whole bunch of rca hook-ups, a s-video and a co-ax hook-up. I put a radeon 9600 series video card in my pc, years ago, it has the standard monitor cable, some other kind of 24-pin plug that I have no idea what it's called and it also has a s-video port on it. Yes, my computer is pretty old, but I keep it clean with up-to-date software, I am amazed at the speeds I get out of this old pc through Bit Comet.

My problem is that the tv has the standard 4-pin s-video port and the video card has an odd 7-pin s-video port. I was wondering, could I just get a regular s-video cable and will it work. Do those additional 3 pins on the card make a difference?

I'm just trying to find the cheapest way possible to watch videos on my tv? If anyone can tell me anything about this, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm hoping someone can tell me a way I can somehow rig it using stuff I already have, that would be extremely cool, seeing that I'm just a simple, humble poor man trying to get by the cheapest way I can find.

thanx in advance

[kluelos]

That's a DVI connector. You don't mention whether your TV has one or not.

The 7-pin and 4-pin S-Video connectors are supposed to be pin-compatible, so all you should need is an adapter cable from, e.g., Radio Shack or Frys. However, you can definitely get a 7-pin to RCA cable if you want to go that route instead.

S-Video is not a high-quality signal, so you may not want to spend too much on this. It isn't very different from the RCA connection, in terms of quality. Because of that, I would go with whichever of them is cheapest when you buy them. Neither of them is remotely "high-definition".

Look at the TV again and see if it has a HDMI input, because that's (theoretically) backwards-compatible with the DVI output. This is much higher quality. IF so, then again somebody at Fry's or Radio Shack can almost certainly help you.

[The UnUsual Suspect]

You might also consider buying a media player like Mvix Ultio pro, or Western Digital TV Live. Then can play video from a harddrive, or any computer over your LAN. The former accepts an internal harddrive and lots of nice features, the latter is cheaper and there are many refurbished units on the market for $50-80.

ps. both of these will play 1080p video, the idea you had would not, and would also use your PC resources and this player will eliminate that need.

[rpwicked]

Thanks to both of you guys for answering my post.

@Kluelos, thanks for telling me what connector that was. Now that you tell me ,I was told that before I guess I had just forgot. Unfortunately my tv doesn't have this or a hdmi connector. It has just the ones I had mentioned before.

@TUUS, if I go with a media player like you suggested I would still need to get some sort of cable, or a combination of cables to hook it up, right? Or am I just not understanding completely what the media players come with, ie- do they come with everything I would need to go from pc to tv?

At any rate, thank you both for posting back, I appreciate any help or feedback I can get. Every time I post, it's always either one of you guys or Grey Wizard, or all of you that get back to me, for that I am extremely grateful. I wish there was some way I can extend my appreciation and gratitude towards you guys, but I don't think there will be any issues any of you will have that I can help you with, unfortunately. I am sure ya'll know a h*** of alot more about computers than I do, I'm the one you guys are helping all the time. Thanx

Rpwicked

[The UnUsual Suspect]

Well, if you stick around here, you can probably learn a lot, and if your first on a topic, you can always point the to where the question was addressed, or (if necessary), suggest they provide the info in the "READ THIS before posting" topic.

Regarding that, I think if I change the name to "Don't read this", then people might actually read it, what do you think??? lol

Ok, my favorite is the Mvix Ultio Pro.

http://www.mvixusa.com/product/ultiopro

I think it's by far the best option, it not only plays the video, but it can also stream it across your ethernet or wifi network, play from internal or external harddrive, usb drive, or cd/dvd drive. You can also navigate files and copy/move them with the remote control (no computer needed). It even has a bittorrent client built in.

As for hooking upto your tv, it has everything...

AV Out Ports: HDMI1.3, Component (Y Pb Pr), Composite (RCA), Coaxial 5.1 digital audio output (Optical)

Basically it will send the video any way your TV wants it, and when you upgrade your TV, you can use it's HDMI port.

I think it retails for $169 without optional internal harddrive.

The WD Live TV is cheaper, but it's a proprietary device, where the ultio has opensource firmware so any talented programer can write a firmware to make it do all kinds of things, and most importantly, no one can force you to install Digital Rights Management DRM on it, like is happening with Xbox and other media streamer. Do a search for "Cinavia" if you want to read about a lot of unhappy people who have their movies stop half way through with a message that it's an unauthorized copy.

However, the WD Live can be purchased refurbished for about $50 and the WD Live Plus (major difference is netflix software is included) for about $75. They have a TV Live Hub out now that accepts a harddrive much like the ultio, but it cost as much so is no bargain. I believe it has the same hookups as the ultio, but you can check western digital's website for details.

[The UnUsual Suspect]

ps. Just checked the WD website. The "Live TV" box has the following

Ethernet, HDMI, Composite A/V, Component video, USB 2.0

So it doesn't support a coax cable, nor does it support SATA harddrive like the ultio pro does. As for coax, if your TV does have a coposite AV, or even component (rca jacks), then you can also run the video into any VCR and output it to your TV, but a tv that old would have horrible picture quality anyway so that's not likely to be a problem for their customers.

One other major drawback is that the live tv box only supports Windows and Mac PCs, where the ultio is much more "geek friendly" and will support pretty much any Linux/unix, mac or PC operating system.

[rpwicked]

Ok, I checked out the Mvix Ultio Pro, and it is way cool. I never realized this kind of technology existed yet. I guess I'm kinda behind on my technology. Right now that particular one is out of my budget, but I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed and check the local "geek's thrift store", it's kinda cool I have one right down the road that has a ton of computer stuff. If I can't find what I need there, then I guess it's off to e-bay.

Now that you showed me that, I definitely want one. My wife will probably get a little hot under the collar about it, so I think I'm gonna stick with getting cables that will work, until next time she NEEDS to get make-up then I'm gonna NEED to get the media player. Lol.

Thanks for all your help and for filling me in in some really cool technology. Thanks.

p.s.- I'm sure if you changed the, "READ THIS before posting" to "Don't read this", you would probably have some kind of traffic jam at the post just from the amount of people trying to read it. Lol. It's unfortunate but that's the world we live in. Thanx again

[rpwicked]

I forgot to ask in my last reply. TUUS, do you know what bit torrent client Mvix Ultio utilizes? It would be great if it was Bit Comet. I saw a couple screen shots on their site, and it said something like Neighbor Web or something to that affect. Is that the client they use? If so, I never heard of it. Also, would you know if I would be able to install BC on it? Thanks again for giving me the info you know of this so far, and if you have answers to my new ?'s. It is appreciated. As you can see, I am slap full of questions

Rpwicked

[The UnUsual Suspect]

The default firmware has a quite limited bittorrent client. I think it can only run 2-3 tasks. Also, it will never run BitComet, or any other windows client since the firmware is Linux based, but there will be other firmwares pre-made to use other clients, probably "transmission", which is often used on these devices and nas servers.

You definitely wouldn't want to use the standard embedded client as your main client, but being the firmware is opensource, there will be other options, but bitcomet won't be one of them.

[Legion5slov]

Hello! I'm downloading movies through Comet and look them through the LAN to the Samsung TV E46D700LS. To do this, I use Windows Media Player or Samsung AllShare Player. He transmits stream from the directory "Comet dovnload" to TV. But Windows Media Player and AllShare can not play files that are not completely downloaded. MPCStar can play these files! Can MPCStar transmit stream on TV?

[The UnUsual Suspect]

You can use many televisions as a display for your computer, but if you want the files to be streamed over your LAN, then the player has to be installed on the device it's streaming to, so unless your televisions will run windows programs, you're going to have to use the player it comes with.

[jpmcsale]

We just got a new smart TV by sony. I copy movies from my pc to flash drive usb and then plug the flash drive into usb port of tv and it plays the movie full screen. The wonders of modern technology!