I got it to work. Make sure you're H & V cables are in the right spots.
For my setup, I set the PC to 800x600 @60hz. The key was two things: 1) The video card will either output to svideo or VGA, depending on what it is plugged into. It only will check which output to use at boot time (hard reset).
2) The TV - same deal. Had to cycle it once off/back on with the PC using the VGA output. Make sure you're set to use the RGB input as appropriate on the TV.
Once booted, it's a lot easier to determine which resolutions it can support. RGB over s-video.. Big difference.
BenSaunders, I'm in the same quandry and it's driving me nuts! Have searched forum after forum but am as confused as ever, so would love to know whether you eventually sorted it...
I am attempting to use a VGA-RGBHV cable to connect my Inspiron 6400 laptop to my Sony Plasma KE42TS2E. All I get on the S5 input mode display is "No Sync".
I get a black-and-white picture using the S-Video output from my laptop to the Plasma's S-Video input. I get a very poor quality, but colour picture when using s-video-to-composite adapter to the plasma's composite input. I get a black screen with "No Sync" when attempting to use the VGA output on my laptop to the plasma's RGBHV inputs.
I've tried <function+f8> to wake-up the plasma. No good. I've tried connecting the plasma to the laptop, then cold rebooting the laptop. No good. I've tried changing the resolution of the laptop to all available resolutions on the ATI X1400 card, then doing the above. No good.
I've also just bought a VGA-Component cable over the net (but haven't got it yet) in desperation. I am starting to fear tho, that this might be money wasted.
Is a high quality picture (via VGA-RGBVH or VGA-Component) even possible with my set-up???
BTW I have also followed DCG's suggestions but to no avail. And as previously noted, am awaiting delivery of my VGA-Component cable to try Joe's suggestion...
Yep, money wasted it seems. VGA-component cable won't work either, although instead of getting "No Sync" message, I get a message on the footer of the plasma display that says "Other" when tuned into S5.
Judging from the plethora of plasma-to-pc questions on forums throughout the Net, this would have to be one of the least understood and frustrating issues around.
So, in frustration, I'm going back to S-Video. Someone told me that the TV-Out port on my Dell laptop uses a special proprietary cable. It looks like an s-video cable, but with 6 pins instead of 4, and a composite female adapter on the other end. When I use a regular 4-pin s-video to connect my laptop to my plasma, I get reasonable resolution but in black and white only. I even tried using an expensive s-video cable that is verified to deliver good results on a friend's set-up - exactly same problem. When I use the Dell "6-pin s-video" (don't know what else to call it) with the composite connection plugging into the plasma, I get colour but the resolution is so degraded that, in order to read the text, I'd need a couple of six-packs everytime I surfed the Net on my plasma. Tempting as that sounds, I'll concentrate on getting a working s-video connection in colour. Can anyone suggest what is going wrong with my s-video connection?
VGA to Component Vidio- use of breakout cables - Is there a true success story here? If so, I'd love to hear about it. I have a Sony 36" XBR HDTV CRT which I'd like to connect to my Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop through the VGA connector. I found the breakout cables on the web but thought "this sounds too easy" and dug for more info which is how I found this forum. It sound like this is the bleeding edge of rigging technology
dcg, you're probably the only success story I've come accross so far, and I'll definitely give the cables a try now (low investment cost). I definitely agree with most that the signal converter boxes are a waste of money and don't necessarily even work - If I have to go that route I'll get a new vidio card.
I am having the same problem trying to use the VGA out on my laptop going to the component in on my Panasonic TH-50PX60 plasma. I am using the same VGA / component breakout cable that I successfully use for going from component OUT on my DVD player to VGA in on my projector. The VGA connector on the projector is called VGA/RGB in the manual, so I thought they were interchangeable. But from what Ive been reading about PC to Plasma, the key is getting the video card to output the TV's native resolution. In my case, that's 1366 x 768. My video card can output lower and higher resolution, but not that exact one. I've read that for this, I need to use a video transcoder, which takes VGA input and converts it to HDMI or component. I've seen these priced at a couple hundred dollars online, but can't find any locally. I have yet to talk to a retailer who even has a clue what I'm talking about. I'm still researching in hopes of finding something like a piece of software that will allow me to manually adjust my laptop's output resolution. If that would even work. This is pretty frustrating, especially since I already received the wireless keyboard with built in trackball that I ordered just for this purpose. Good luck everybody!
Derrick, I feel your pain. I've also yet to find anyone in retail who knows what I'm talking about. As it turns out there is a place near me called You-Do-it Electronics. I figure if anyone knows the real skinny on this someone there should: I'll get back to this forum with the report.
I'm using 3+ year old Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop with an Nvidia Geforce2 go/32MB vidio ram extending my desktop to a second monitor(Sony 36" XBR HDTV CRT). With S-vidio connection, the only resoltion I can set for the 2nd monitor is 800x600 (Laptop screen resolution is 1600x1200). Still, I can play windows media player, real player or streaming vidio on the tv while working on something else on the laptop screen.