The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Using my TV as a monitor

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by Schubatis1, Jun 7, 2008.

  1. Schubatis1

    Schubatis1 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I am using my CRT TV as a monitor for my Dell XPS M1530 with a Geforce 8600M GT. I plug it into my TV using an S-video cable.

    However, whenever I have any images from my computer on my screen, there are these annoying horizontal lines that move up and down the screen (much like those caused by a weak analog broadcast).

    Does anybody know what's causing these and how to fix them. I have already tried all of the settings for the TVs resolution and refresh rate on the computer, but nothing has fixed it yet.
     
  2. casper_7779

    casper_7779 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    73
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    i got the sameprob even though i use my HDMI cable...
    but i realized its only with movies... dont get it while playing games
     
  3. benx009

    benx009 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    184
    Messages:
    663
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Are you sure that the S-video cable is plugged in tightly and securely? This seems to be a relatively minor problem, so it could be solved by just checking little things like that...
     
  4. Jlbrightbill

    Jlbrightbill Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    488
    Messages:
    1,917
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Your TV should have component... I'd suggest looking into a HDTV Component out adapter. I found one on eBay for around $5 and I get HD out to my CRT TV (Yes, I have an older CRT HDTV) and the picture/connection/color quality is much better.
     
  5. eleron911

    eleron911 HighSpeedFreak

    Reputations:
    3,886
    Messages:
    11,104
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    456
    You should make sure the signal corresponds to you country (pal,dal) in the nvidia control panel.
     
  6. Schubatis1

    Schubatis1 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I was watching a movie last night and didn't think that I saw the scrolling lines (but it could have been cause I was tired) but sure enough they weren't there.

    Apparently the lines are only there if my computer is plugged into the power source. If it's running off the battery, the lines aren't there.

    It's good to know that the power supply is the source of the interference, but does anybody know why it is causing the interference or how I can leave my computer plugged in while I'm on my tv and get rid of the lines?
     
  7. sirmetman

    sirmetman Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    679
    Messages:
    3,291
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Hmm... sounds like dirty power. Maybe you should look in to a line conditioner. More expensive UPSes have line conditioners built in, but you can pick them up at electrical stores and hardware stores too. My thought is that your GPU is designed to use the power grid frequency to regulate the output framrate, but your power isn't quite 60Hz. I'm pretty sure a line conditioner should help with that.