TV-out question

[THC]

I got this video-card with TV-out and am wondering if it is possible to convert the S-video to coaxial. The card came with a s-video to composite converter, but that was it.
I have the house wired with coaxial to every room and am wondering if I can hook up the computer to this system so I can get the computer signal on all TVs.
Also, if the above is possible, how do I get the sound "on" the coax?

I really hope this is doable in one way or another!

[i6s1]

I think you'll need a VCR or something. Have a look around at garage sales and flea markets, you should be able to find one for not-too-much. I once got a broken VCR to use as a tuner for my C-64 monitor. It wouldn't play tapes but it would change channels fine.

[MazaNaza]

The fundamental problem here is that your card has a video out port, which is just that; a video out port. If you want sound, you'll need to run a second set of wires from your sound card into your receiver, which will probably require a second set of adapters to convert the miniplug format of your soundcard into something that is compatible with A/V equipemnt, such as RCA.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to convert S-Video to Composite, as far as I know, since you will get signal degredation and, as I meantioned above, a complete lack of sound :bawl:

If you're heart is set on some serious computer to TV action, I'd recommend picking up either an ATI All-In-Wonder card or an nVidia personal cinema. Both will have a full set of connectors like s-video, RCA and composite (coaxial).

--> Norm

[rus]

Although S-video signal uses separate channels for video signal and brightness, it is not that different from composite (RCA).

http://www.ixbt.com/video/images/gf-tv-out/bt869.png

I'm pretty sure there are commercially available S-video to RCA adapters. Quick Google search turned up this:

http://www.svideotorca.com/svideoaudiorca.html

Some manufacturers throw in a cheap S-Video RCA adapter as well. However, depending on your card and drivers, you might have to specify that you're using RCA instead of S-video to get the colors/brightness just right.

Rus

[THC]

Thanks a lot for all your input! This is a little embaressing, but after I posted I remembered that when I bought my first DVD-player my TV didn't have a video-in jack (old TV with coax only). So I had to buy this thing from Radio Shack that converted the signal for $30... I had completely forgot about this and after doing some thinking, that is probably exactly what I need! It's called a RF-modulator and has yellow video-in plus 2 audio jacks. So I think I am able to use the adaptor that came with the video card (s-video to yellow video jack, and two audio-in) and then plug that into the RF converter which converts it to coax. There's a switch on the RF converter that lets me choose between channel 3 or 4.
If this is doable, pretty amasing that I had all the stuff at home already... stupid me.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1&catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F002%5F002%5F012%5F000&product%5Fid=15%2D1244

The reason why I am bothered with this is because I just got a wireless card to my laptop that I intend to remotely control my "main" computer with. That way I can use the laptop as some sort of remote control for both video and music.

[Cantacuzene]

Good old radio shack: MAKING TECHNOLOGY HAPPEN!

[THC]

Things are not quite working out...
The RF modulator works but there is a problem that I can't seem to solve. I only get a signal in the tv-out port on the video card if I actually have a TV or VCR connected directly through a s-video or RF-cable. Things work fine if I hot-swap from this temporary setup and let the signal go through the RF modulator. Once I reboot the computer, the plug and play doesn't recognize the TV through the RF modulator and thus does not seem to send a signal to the tv-out port.
Anyone have any idea how to "force" a signal from the tv-out port even without the computer knowing there is a device hooked up there?

I also tried using a VCR. It worked but quality was pretty bad compared to to the RF modulator. If that wasn't enough... I'll probably need an antenna amplifier since I'm getting some distortion when I run it through the cables to the other rooms.
Things are getting pretty complicated and the smartest solution seem to be to re-wire the whole house with RCA-cable instead. Does anyone know how long a RCA-cable or s-video can be without significantly loosing quality?