pc to tv cable advice needed please

Figment

almillar wrote: »

So does the TV just go blank, or does it actually tell you there's no cable connected?
Maybe your TV can't handle the resolution the computer is outputting. I have a 1080p TV (that's 1920x1080 resolution) but the best it can accept over VGA is 1024x768! This information should be buried somewhere in your TV's manual.
Try setting the resolution to 1024x768 or 800x600 or something similarly low to see if that works. Also try playing with he frequency settings (60Hz, 50Hz or even 30Hz if they're available). Another TV I have will accept 59.9Hz but not 60!

I would agree with this, except the OP says the TV displays output from the computer OK when using a different VGA cable.

wenger08

Lum wrote: »

I very much doubt you'll have to pay £50 for a new video card and the power supply thing is a red herring. It's the more expensive video cards aimed at gaming that need the beefy power supplies!

Something like an nVidia 610 should set you back about £20 and provide you with two DVIs either of which could be converted to either HDMI or VGA with an inexpensive cable. You would then be able to use both displays at once and drag windows from one display to the other, which may be preferable to faffing about with switch boxes.

Edit: Not sure what slots you have in your PC, but if you have PCI-E, this card for £13 would do the trick, so long as you're not intending to use it for fancy 3D games.

Thanks but i already ordered th cables etc now and i only need this so i can watch sky go and movies etc that i have saved onto my pc

wenger08

almillar wrote: »

So does the TV just go blank, or does it actually tell you there's no cable connected?
Maybe your TV can't handle the resolution the computer is outputting. I have a 1080p TV (that's 1920x1080 resolution) but the best it can accept over VGA is 1024x768! This information should be buried somewhere in your TV's manual.
Try setting the resolution to 1024x768 or 800x600 or something similarly low to see if that works. Also try playing with he frequency settings (60Hz, 50Hz or even 30Hz if they're available). Another TV I have will accept 59.9Hz but not 60!

Thanks

The resolution is already set to 1024 x 768 on the monitor, i know the tv is caable of 1920 x 1080 as i've tried it before with the exisiting cable

wenger08

Figment wrote: »

I would agree with this, except the OP says the TV displays output from the computer OK when using a different VGA cable.

Yep the existing cable works fine

So today this cable arrived:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001MQGOLU/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It has the blue connectors (the 5 metre vga cable had black connectors) and it works fine!

It plugs into the tv from the pc and displays windows on my tv

I'm thinking now that the other cable is just a cheap rubbish cable?

the reviews for the 5 metre cable here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B001MQGOL0/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Seem to agree with this?

Does it make a difference that the connectors are blue, on my existing vga cable and the new 1.8 metre cable, and black on the 5 metre cable im having trouble with?

Lum

Not really no. VGA cables are supposed to be blue as part of a standard to colour code the connectors on the backs of PCs, same reason speaker connectors are usually a rather sickly looking lime green, but ultimately it's just a block of inert plastic surrounding the actual cable, so the colour doesn't matter.

wenger08

Lum wrote: »

Not really no. VGA cables are supposed to be blue as part of a standard to colour code the connectors on the backs of PCs, same reason speaker connectors are usually a rather sickly looking lime green, but ultimately it's just a block of inert plastic surrounding the actual cable, so the colour doesn't matter.

Thanks lum

After reading those reviews on amazon i do think its just a cheap rubbish cable, ah well at least it was only £2.50

One of the guys who bought the same cable also complained and said this cable would be much better:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0027HP4CI/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

What do you think?

Sasahara2

Whatever VGA cable you get make sure it has a ferrite bead, these do a good job preventing interference. Generally it's the cheap VGA cable don't have these.

Figment

wenger08 wrote: »

Thanks lum

After reading those reviews on amazon i do think its just a cheap rubbish cable, ah well at least it was only £2.50

One of the guys who bought the same cable also complained and said this cable would be much better:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0027HP4CI/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

What do you think?

I think buy it, try it, if not happy return it under DSR.

wenger08

I got around this by using the faulty VGA cable to go from PC to monitor (on a very old pc) and then used that very old VGA cable to go from my switch box to the TV and it all works fine now.

Slight ghosting issues with the crappie 5m cable on the old pc/monitor but i can put up with it for now

Thanks to everyone who helped, much appreciated