Connecting a Computer to the TV

[Isk8NYC]

For those of you who subscribe to IceNetwork and want to watch the skating on the "big screen TV" instead of a monitor.

It's fairly easy to hook up a computer to the TV. You can buy the cables at RadioShack if you don't own them already.

Figure out what "In" jacks you have on your TV or DVD player. I used my DVD player's in jacks because they were easy to access. I had an "S-Video In" and red/yellow "audio in" RCA jacks on the DVD player.

Now check your computer - you should have a matching "S-Video Out" jack if it's a newish computer. (Looks almost like a mouse or keyboard jack) It should also have a single headphone or speaker jack.

Make sure you measure for the length of the cables. I had my laptop in front of the TV, so I didn't need a long cable, 6' was plenty.

The audio cable's tricky because you have to get one with RCA red/white on the TV/DVD end and a mini plug on the computer end. The woman at RadioShack knew exactly what I wanted.

To make the connections:

Turn off your computer and TV/DVD. Connect the cables (PC=OUT, TV/DVD=IN) then turn on the TV and DVD to the proper channel/video input. In my case, it's "Video 2" because that's how my DVD player's connected to the TV. Then turn on the computer. It should detect the signal going from the computer to the TV.

[Query]

If you have a VGA output, and your TV has a VGA input, that will be highest quality. Seperate R,G, and B outputs and inputs are the next highest quality, followed by S-Video, then by Composite Video, then by Antenna out. (I'm not sure about HDMI - might be comparable to R,G,B).

I think most desktop PCs do not have a TV-out of any type, but many portable computers do.

The S-Video output you referred to is often unmarked, but can be recognized by it's particular circular plug shape and arrangement of pins. If you took your computer into a Radio Shack store, they could probably tell you what you have, though they may not have the cheapest solutions.

If you have no TV-out options, there are various converter boxes that convert VGA to TV signals, maybe $30.

Depending on your TV and the connection, you may see the individual pixels and some shaking or extra dark or bright lines scrolling up or down the screen. If possible, try choosing a 60 HZ refresh rate (for US market = NTSC style TVs) or 50 HZ (I think - for European or Japanese market TVS), and you may get rid of those lines.

I'm sorry if what I just said sounds a bit technical. Computers and TVs are pretty confusing nowadays.

BTW, if you figure out how to get your portable PC in external output mode, then try this: just after turning on your computer, snap the lid closed. Should stay on, but turn the screen off and keep dust out.

[Onward]

I just did this with my mac computer...basically I had to buy an "s-video" attachment and the three pronged AV cables.

It is great because I can watch internet shows on my TV...all of the major networks have old episodes you can watch.