Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Pete]

Hi All:

As you may know by now, I'm trying to integrate my computer to my home entertainment system and use MJ8 (and soon MJ9) with dual monitor support to display cover art and file details on my TV.

Since my computer is on one side of my living room and the A/V system (including TV) is on the other side, I purchased a 50-foot cable that included S-Video and RCA audio plugs to go under the carpet from my Soundblaster Live card to my Denon A/V receiver.  Listening to my MP3 collection through my A/V system is awesome; I'm really digging it.

I also bought a Gainward GeForce 4 MX video card which supports dual monitor. So I've hooked up the S-Video cable from the GeForce 4 card to Video Aux on the Denon receiver. However, the card doesn't detect the TV device. I'm pretty sure it's because the S-Video cable is so long. The manual says the cable shouldn't exceed 6 feet - obviously a lot shorter than 50 feet. However, it also says that if it's longer than 6 feet, I can use a s-video amplifier or repeater box.

Has anyone had issues like this and can lead me in a good direction? I've been to Fry's and can't find a s-video amplifier or repeater box. I can't find one on the web  either. Anyone have any suggestions/advice?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Pete

[JimH]

I would try hooking it up with a short cable to see if that worked.

[Roger the Shrubber]

Maybe give the xten 2.4 Ghz remote system a try (more flexibility)

[Roger the Shrubber]

Sorry, forgot about the link:

http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecentral/reviews/1409/1/

[JohnT]

I've got a 50ft s-video cable running from my computer's video card to my TV and it works fine. Like Jim says, try the 6ft cable to rule out length as the problem.

[Pete]

Hi All:

Thanks for the help. In fact, I made a stupid mistake and hooked the S-video cable to the wrong plug of the card adapter. My bad...

So I do have a picture on the TV screen. However, it's not that good. Color comes through and you can see that it's a cloned desktop image, but the text is blurry. I'm running my primary monitor at 1280x1024, 75 Hz and I'm also having to pan the desktop around the TV screen.

I did find a S-video amplifier at Radio Shack for $19.95. However, I was disappointed that it did not seem to make much difference in the video quality. In fact, my 50-foot cable is a 3-in-1 patch cable: s-video and the audio plugs. When I amplify the video, the only difference I find is the audio gets a lot of noise interference.

I may try separate higher-quality s-video cables, but I have other major issues with this GeForce4 card to work out first. Unfortunately, you'll be seeing these problem posts very soon in the forum.

Thanks for your help.

Pete

[JimH]

Try 640x480 and enlarge the font size in both MJ and in Windows.