Hi, all. This is my first post, thanks for your patience with a newbie. Also, I apologize for the absurd length of this post, I just figured I'd lay the whole situation out here in all its technical ugliness.

I have a PC running WindowsXP, and an nVidia GeForce FX5200 graphics card with a DVI output.

I just bought a Toshiba 42HL67 (the 720p one). It looks great for TV and DVD (not the best on the market, but I got it for $999, which seems like it was a pretty good price).

I want to connect my PC to my TV. Mostly, so I can watch videos and play Civilization.

Step 1: got a VGA cable, and connected it to the TV's PC input. I see my computer, but res is 640x480. Not particularly pleasing... I want to utilize all those lovely pixels on my new TV!!!

Next step: Tech friend at work sez, "get a DVI-to-HDMI cable, and it should be fine!". I order the cable, and ... the only res the TV will recognize through the PC input (VGA) is 640x480.

Step 3: Surfing. Several people recommend MonInfo to find out what res my TV will accept, and PowerStrip to create custom resolutions (if nec). I get them both. According to MonInfo, the Toshiba should accept 1920x1080 at 60Hz [which, I understand, it would downsample to 1080i, and display at 1366x768, just like it would if I plugged in a BluRay player and fed it a 1080p signal]. PowerStrip shows this as an available resolution from my video card with no special adjustment necessary (even the advanced timings matched up!), but when I send that res, I get "No Video Signal" and a black screen on the TV. I tried all the available resolution settings from the video card, but the only one that will display (this is through the HDMI input) is 640x480. :(

Step 4: The Manual. The Toshiba manual sez "HDMI input supports the following signal formats: VGA, 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p at 24Hz and 1080p at 60Hz." So, I should be good, right???

Also, there is a page which sez that if you're having a problem with an HDMI source, try turning OFF the "Lipsync Latency" feature which "may not be compatible with some older sources". PAYDIRT, thinks I! So, I restart the computer, replug the cables, turn the TV off and on, and turn the Lipsync feature OFF for HDMI 3. AND I GET A PICTURE WHICH FILLS THE ENTIRE SCREEN!!! ......... For about 3 seconds, then it goes black, comes back for a second, then goes away, Never to return. WTF!?!?!?!?!

I've tried to recreate the situation several times, but ... nothing but "No Video Signal" now.

Has anyone run into a similar problem??? Any ideas?? Thanx!

Surprisingly Panasonic flagship professional plasma display TH-50PF10UK (have one running at work) does not properly support native panel resolution 1920x1080 over VGA input (works properly over HDMI inputs with 1:1 mapping enabled though) :(

I've connected my HDTV to my PC, but I can't seem to get the correct nVidia configuration for resolution/aspect ratio. I have a Daytek LM37 connected to XP box with a GeForce 8800 GTS (latest drivers) via VGA. I have the TV setup on Dual-View as a second display, but it detects is as an "analog display," just like my desktop monitor. I've tried several different resolutions, but their aspect ratios are either 4:3 or 5:4. The only other option I have is manually setting custom resolutions and timings. I can't seem to get the combination right though, as anything I try just results in an "Out of Range" error on the TV.

I remember when I had an older TV connected via S-Video, it actually detected as a TV and the nVidia Control Panel had a bunch of TV specific options. I'm thinking that if I could get the HDTV to also register as a TV, I'd be able to set it up with a 16:9 resolution and everything would go from there. Is there any way to change a display's "type" on the nVidia Control Panel? Or are there other options for getting nVidia to detect my HDTV is actually a TV and treat it like such?

All my Googling seems to refer to old versions of the nVidia software and nVidia's support website turns up the same. Any suggestions/ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks!

When I connect my Toshiba 32hl66 LCD TV to my MacBook using a DVI->HDMI cord, the TV flashes my desktop for a second, then goes black. If I power off the TV and turn it on again, it does the same thing. The Display preferences show that the laptop GPU has detected a Toshiba TV, and it is set to 1280x720 60Hz.

Any ideas?

Hi all, I'm new, so forgive me for being a N00b LOL!

So I have a 42" Prima plasma tv, and I have it hooked to my PC via VGA. My tv's native res is 1024x768, but its capable of 1080i/p. Currently, I am running off my pc at the native res, 1024x768 @75hz. It looks fine and all, but should I be running it at the max? My vid card is an nvidia 8800 gts so high res is no problem. Also, is 75hz appropriate for the native res and this tv?

Also, is there any way to make regular cable look good on a plasma? Cuz it looks kinda bad running off my cable box (1998 General Instruments box - red, white, yellow RCA's is all it's got) The tv has it's own coax hookup, would it work better through that?

Thanks in advance, from the UBER NOOB! LOL!

Also, is there any way to make regular cable look good on a plasma?
Please stick to the topic of this thread. Here's a link regarding SD PQ.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=18580

As for the resolution, although the TV is capable of receiving 1080i or 1080P, the signal is still changed to the native resolution, so you're probably better off not scaling if the computer is capable of sending the native resolution and you're happy with that.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=73528

Ok thanks, sounds good. Thanks for the link for the SD as well, sorry bout the off topic, I'll refer you to my Noobishness LOL! Thanks again!

I'm having a real difficult time deciding whether I should go with a TV or PC monitor. On one hand, the TV has a tuner, nice remote control and speakers. With the PC monitor, you don't get those things (not all have speakers and if they do, they usually suck) but you do get a much higher res (most can display 1920X1200), they have a faster response time (usually between 5-6ms) and boot up much quicker than a TV set. Also, PC monitors are a tad cheaper too.

So, which do you recommend I go for if I'm looking for something between 24"-26"? I don't really care about the tuner as I won't be using this for watching cable television. It's mostly going to be for gaming and HD movies. The only problem I see with a PC monitor is hooking up an external speaker system and limited inputs. Down the road I wanna be able to have component inputs and HDMI and not all PC monitors have them. So, in your opinion what are the benefits/disadvantages of each? I just wanna know before I spend the cash. Btw, I need to stay around the $600 mark. Any advise is greatly appreciated. :D

A buddy of mine was over and he was tinkering with it but all we can get to display on the TV now is the background (aka no icons, start menu, etc.).

Any suggestions?

THX

all we can get to display on the TV now is the backgroundYour TV is configured as a second monitor in "extended" mode...
Switch to "clone" (with apropriate resolution) and you'll have your desktop.

Your TV is configured as a second monitor in "extended" mode...
Switch to "clone" (with apropriate resolution) and you'll have your desktop.

Weird thing is that the desktop only appears when it is checked as "extended".

Any other ideeas?

Yes a agree to 100%
I have tried it to and must say im very glad over the result.
But i dont want to pay to mutch:)

Weird thing is that the desktop only appears when it is checked as "extended".
Any other ideeas?"Clone" means the same resolution, color space, refresh rate, etc.
Your TV is 1366x768 native. Set you PC monitor to 1280x720, 60Hz and it should work
as long as there are no restrictions on the connection you use on the TV...

I have an HP laptop, NW8000 sitting on a docking station that has DVI output. I have a DVI to HDMI cable going from that to a Monoprice HDMI Switcher (HDX-401E). From that I have an HDMI cable going to my 1080P Panasonic plasma.

If I go to change the display properties on the laptop, it correctly recognises that the TV supports 1080P resolution, but if I set the resolution to that value, the screen is blank. If I set the resolution to 720 on the laptop then it display fine. Can anyone suggest why I am not able to get the full resolution displaying on the TV? I don't have any other full HD source to try at the moment.

Hi,

I'm not 100% sure this is the right place to post...but I think I will get the best response here...

I currently have a PC that I want to hookup to an HDTV (yet to be purchased), approx 50 feet apart. I'm looking for the best solution on how to connect with minimal issues with my current setup...

I currently have a ASUS EN5900 Video card. It has 1 VGA, 1 DVI and 1 VIVO (RCA-video and/or Svideo in & out) connections. My motherboard has an SPDIF output for audio.

Initially, i was thinking DVI (PC) -> DVI (HDTV) and then SPDIF (PC) -> SPDIF (Home theater). However my home theater doesn't have SPDIF connection...so then I suppose I could just run L, R (red/white RCA cables) from the 'line out' from my pc...

Some questions I have:
1) Am I going to run into issues with my vid card only having 1 output for DVI? (I was thinking perhaps plug my LCD monitor from VGA and then HDTV to DVI...I don't even know if this would work...that is, having multiple resolutions?)

2) Am i best off just to buy a HDMI ready video card that can carry the audio and video to save myself all this trouble? Would this be the easiest way? Have others done this and found any problems?

All i'm really wanting to do is watch my HDTV shows housed on my computer on a large HDTV screen.

Any help is appreciated! :)

Most new HDTVs don't have DVI inputs these days. They have pretty much all switched to HDMI.

That isn't a big deal though. A DVI to HDMI cable will work just fine for getting video to the TV.

The problem you may have is with the length. 50 feet is pretty far. You'll need to get a heavy gauge (thicker wire) cable to make sure the signals get there correctly.

As to your multiple resolution comment, there are few options. My suggestin is to run the displays in clone mode, i.e. both showing the same resolution. It is the simplest and most error free.

I have no problem using DVI to HDMI conversion cable...i'm actually thinking of ...I'm not so worried about the 50 feet..i can find some decent cables on monoprice.com.

I wonder though if my vid card will even output on VGA and DVI at the same time...I guess i should try finding an old CRT monitor around and test with my LCD to see...

What about audio? Any suggestions?

I have a 42 inch Sharp Aquos tv and an Nvidia geforce 7600 gs video card. I used to watch downloaded shows and movies on my tv from my computer using an s-video cable. The quality was not very good so I decided to buy a dvi to hdmi cable to connect the two. The tv recognizes the cable but I am having a hell of a time with the resolution and getting the settings right so I can watch stuff. Has anyone had similar problems or can someone point me in the right direction on where to get some help!! Thanks !

The problem is i don't have component on my pc video card so i had to go with dvi to hdmi

You just sent me a link to tell me what cables do..that really didn't help me all that much with the question I had..I know dvi and hdmi are digital..that wasn't the question.