Using HDTV as a Monitor help...

[Tomcat0403]

ok, i have an older laptop that has decent graphics card, for three years ago, and i just bought a sony KDL32s5100 1080p tv 32".

my question is, i have it hooked up to my tv using an s-video cable, up to date drivers, but when i switch over from the laptop screen to the tv it will not display it in widescreen as it does on my laptop (1440x900 i think). The only other connection i have on the computer is a regualr monitor output and the tv has the same input, should i try using that combo or will it still not support 1440x900. Also, why does it support widecreen on the computer but not the tv.

I'm pretty computer savvy but i have not been able to figure this out yet and a search on google yielded few results...anyone have some more experience with this?

[Cheech]

ok, i have an older laptop that has decent graphics card, for three years ago, and i just bought a sony KDL32s5100 1080p tv 32".

my question is, i have it hooked up to my tv using an s-video cable, up to date drivers, but when i switch over from the laptop screen to the tv it will not display it in widescreen as it does on my laptop (1440x900 i think). The only other connection i have on the computer is a regualr monitor output and the tv has the same input, should i try using that combo or will it still not support 1440x900. Also, why does it support widecreen on the computer but not the tv.

I'm pretty computer savvy but i have not been able to figure this out yet and a search on google yielded few results...anyone have some more experience with this?

First thing: Ditch the S-Video.

I'm not sure what "decent graphics card" means, but if your laptop isn't a widescreen by itself it's possible (but unlikely) it won't support widescreen resolutions. Chances are even better than the PC input on the TV is tuned to certain resolutions (the Sony site wants to reference the manual which you have and I don't). A possibility is to get a DVI-VGA adapter and a DVI-HDMI cable and give it a shot. If you can hold out until the 23rd when I get back to the States I can bring mine over and try it out. I've got a Inspiron with a DVI out and a GeForce card that runs like a champ on my 37in 1080p, and a GeForce MX VGA desktop that pushes 1366x768 (anything else is unreadable) on a 42in 1080p.

[natedogg624]

chris,

did you try the nvidia settings? rt click on the desktop of the comp, select your display (don't think it matters) and then you should see the laptop and tv show as detected devices. click on the tv and there should be either a drop down menu, option, or rt click and find "change device settings."

you can stretch it to make it fit, however im not sure we can fully customize our resolution to the exact pixel area we need (i believe we have the same graphics card).

[Harb67]

As Cheech said above, get rid of the S-video for a better output format. You say your PC has "regular monitor out"...what exactly does that mean? It's either VGA or DVI:

VGA:

DVI:

DVI is preferred and will give the best picture, but VGA is acceptable and both will do a much better job than S-video. If you need to buy either cable, head over to monoprice.com and search for what you need; they have the best deals on cables. Don't buy cables in retail stores...their markup is obscene.

All that being said, if your video card can't handle 1920x1080 resolution, you can be hooking your display and laptop up with cables woven with hair from the Virgin Mary and your image will still look like garbage. It'd be helpful if you supplied what video card you have, or at least the model of laptop you have. To find out; go to the start menu, click Run, type dxdiag and hit enter. Go to the Display tab and let us know what it says in the Name field in the Device box (should be the first thing listed in the upper left)

[Cheech]

chris,

did you try the nvidia settings? rt click on the desktop of the comp, select your display (don't think it matters) and then you should see the laptop and tv show as detected devices. click on the tv and there should be either a drop down menu, option, or rt click and find "change device settings."

you can stretch it to make it fit, however im not sure we can fully customize our resolution to the exact pixel area we need (i believe we have the same graphics card).

i almost forgot, i had to do this on my laptop. The native positioning was off-center, this cleared it right up.

[natedogg624]

its s-video, or vga out for chris.

youre welcome chris.

Edited December 15, 2009 by natedogg624

[Tomcat0403]

Yup...regular monitor out to me is VGA...sorry thinking old school here. I have tried going to the nvidia settings but the best it will do is 1024x768 (? Guessing numbers here since I'm on my phone) so I will try the VGA today and see what happens and hopefully it will let me produce some sort of widescreen

[vw151]

even if you were able to get the right resolution settings to output on your S-video cable the S video won't support it. You need to use VGA and set your resolution to the native resolution of the TV. If it's 1080p then that will be 1920x1080. hopefully, using the the vga cable your computer will recognize the TV's resolution capabilities and will give you that resolution setting.