PVR/video card question
January 20, 2006 12:01 PM Subscribe
For a friend who is also doing a PVR project with an old machine:
He also writes:
"My ultimate goal is to use this as a living room web tool, music player, video, etc. I would like to not have to rely on a standard monitor each time I boot.
What am I doing wrong?"
I have a home made PC with an XGI Volari V3 128 mgb and a Magnavox (27MT3305/17) and I am trying to connect them through S-Video. The TV shows nothing but rolling grayscale ghosts of my desktop. I cannot find any means of configuring the video card to s-video, so I assume this is automatic.
He also writes:
"My ultimate goal is to use this as a living room web tool, music player, video, etc. I would like to not have to rely on a standard monitor each time I boot.
What am I doing wrong?"
Maybe rule out the cable as the source of the problem as a first step? Can you try the cable with a DVD player or video game system?
posted by Otis at 12:49 PM on January 20, 2006
posted by Otis at 12:49 PM on January 20, 2006
I recommend buying a cheap nvidia video card and using that. They always seem to be the easiest to use with s-video (for me at least.) You should be able to find a suitable card for under $50.
posted by meta87 at 12:53 PM on January 20, 2006
posted by meta87 at 12:53 PM on January 20, 2006
Have you read the MAKE magazine's article on making your own DVR/PVR?
You might have better luck in their comment lists as well since people post their questions there as issues come up.
posted by Sallysings at 1:02 PM on January 20, 2006
You might have better luck in their comment lists as well since people post their questions there as issues come up.
posted by Sallysings at 1:02 PM on January 20, 2006
What OS? If a Microsoft OS, you'll have to tell it to extend the desktop onto the TV. This is a function of dual monitor support. The shadow of a picture suggests that the signal isn't being sent to the TV properly, but reflected down the cable. There are a number of things that can cause this. Is the TV tuned to the proper input? Is the video cable failing? Is the dual monitor support enabled? Is the video card output and the TV both NTSC or PAL?
posted by kc0dxh at 1:06 PM on January 20, 2006
posted by kc0dxh at 1:06 PM on January 20, 2006
Rolling grayscale? Sounds like the card is outputting PAL instead of NTSC.
posted by zsazsa at 1:27 PM on January 20, 2006
posted by zsazsa at 1:27 PM on January 20, 2006
its not automatic... at least under linux you have to configure the s-video out port in Xorg.conf/Xfree86.conf. support for interlacing and s-video in the nvidia drivers seems to alternately work and be broken from driver version to driver version, so its worth rolling back versions if it doesnt work with the latest driver...
posted by joeblough at 3:58 PM on January 20, 2006
posted by joeblough at 3:58 PM on January 20, 2006
Mark CrayDrygu's as best answer. An alternative to buying a new card would be to get a VGA -> S-Vid/RCA adaptor, it may work out cheaper.
posted by blag at 5:16 PM on January 20, 2006
posted by blag at 5:16 PM on January 20, 2006
The TV shows nothing but rolling grayscale ghosts of my desktop.
The video card is outputting PAL, which the TV can't understand. He needs to switch the card to NTSC.
posted by cillit bang at 6:06 PM on January 20, 2006
The video card is outputting PAL, which the TV can't understand. He needs to switch the card to NTSC.
posted by cillit bang at 6:06 PM on January 20, 2006
Response by poster: I will talk to my buddy in the morning and see what's happened-- he was excited at the advice he was getting hours ago and lots has been posted since then.
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:17 PM on January 20, 2006
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:17 PM on January 20, 2006
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posted by Good Brain at 12:47 PM on January 20, 2006