Making TV as 1st monitor (My LCD backlight stopped working ; ;

[LinktheDeme]

How do I go about this? I have the SVideo to RCA cord atm and my monitor recently just blew the backlight out. And I wanna make the TV my main monitor as my TV because I can't use the laptop.

also i mean to make it as main one not the extend mnitor to such

[Norellicus]

If it's a laptop then there should be a function key on the laptop keyboard that will force it to switch from panel to external feed; it's usually on the F1-F12 row, bound by the 'Fn' colored alternate commands. Try plugging in your cables and pressing it a few times (wait about 10 sec between each press, it takes time for the system to sync your screen on some laptops).

[EagleCeres]

Also on a laptop, if you are using S-Video, be ready to get really low resolution.
Unless you are sending the signal to an HDTV and/or your current TV accepts input from either VGA/SVGA (HD15) cable or DVI cable.

If youre on a Desktop you should be able to boot normally as long as you use either of those cables.

[LinktheDeme]

Also on a laptop, if you are using S-Video, be ready to get really low resolution.
Unless you are sending the signal to an HDTV and/or your current TV accepts input from either VGA/SVGA (HD15) cable or DVI cable.

If youre on a Desktop you should be able to boot normally as long as you use either of those cables.

which are the best quality cables?

[EagleCeres]

which are the best quality cables?

Quality: HDMI > VGA/SVGA > S-Video
And yes... you get what you pay for.

Note: check what kind of inputs your TV has, and what outputs your pc has.

[SephYuyX]

You know you can replace your backlight for ~30$?

[LinktheDeme]

You know you can replace your backlight for ~30$?

I called up Dell and they gave me a whole new LCD I personally think its of lower quality though :/
It's also a laptop and i'm scared to touch those as I have little experience in them.
Anywho whats the HDMI cable called for PC? is it VGA to HDMI or DVI to HDMI ? which one is better

[SephYuyX]

It's not too hard, aside theres only one way to learn.

DVI is the bigger white connector on your vid card, VGA is the small blue one. Generally DVI<>HDMI is better. Order from HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more!

[EagleCeres]

DVI - Digital Visual Interface
This one is just exclusive for high quality video, better video quality in large screens (think LCD's and projectors). Most newer videocards will have an DVI out (like SephYuyX said).
Here you can use a normal vga cable (male-male) with a vga-to-dvi adapter (female-male) or a VGA (HD15) to DVI cable (male-male).


HDMI - High Definition Multimedia Interface
Like DVI, it's used to send out HIGH quality video; the difference is it can ALSO send Digital Audio to compatible devices (most newer HDTV's, dvd's, blueray, etc), some will also have a small HDMI port.
You can use either straight HDMI cable, if your pc does not have an HDMI port a DVI-to-HDMI cable, or a DVI cable (male-male) + HDMI-to-DVI adapter in the case where you dont want to spend on HDMI cable.

[Crouchingllama]

I've been wanting to do this for my setup for a while. I've got DVI from PC to current monitor, but the TV only has standard RCA style plugs. I've not looked in to it, but am I correct in assuming I can get an adapter to go PC->DVI cable->adapter->TV, right?

[EagleCeres]

I've been wanting to do this for my setup for a while. I've got DVI from PC to current monitor, but the TV only has standard RCA style plugs. I've not looked in to it, but am I correct in assuming I can get an adapter to go PC->DVI cable->adapter->TV, right?

In this case you would need a Converter (VGA -> RCA), there are plenty of them out there available, only nitpick I have is you wont get a good looking rez higher than 640x480, while some converters will do 1024x768, but it just doesnt look as crisp as on a monitor (sorry... I'm a high rez/hi def snob).

I used to do this with an old nvidia card that had it's own adapter (VGA out + RCA/SVideo in/out ports) to watch anime/movies some 4-5 years ago and it worked ok, considering I didn't mind the video quality (I had a 19" tv back then).

Also: check both your video card and tv for an S-Video port... if so, no need for extra hardware, just a long enough S-Video cable... again your mileage may vary with screen rez vs visual quality.

[Amastacia]

Edit:

Didn't read the end of the post above mine, sorry. Listen to Lorenze and check if you have S-Video. It's a lot less of a hassle than trying to convert DVI to composite.