Missing Svideo on T61 ?

Hello

I wanted to know what will i miss by not having Svideo on the T61?

Thanks

 

The lack of s-video is one of the reasons I'm not looking at T61. I use SVideo to attach my current laptop to my TV to watch Internet video's or view pictures of movies stored on my laptop.

I think there is a converter to convert the VGA output to s-video or composite or even component, but prefer it built in.

 

The lack of S-video is also a problem for me. I also hook up my laptop to my TV.

Does anyone have any suggestions on this issue?

 

If you have an HDTV you can most likely use VGA directly out of the laptop into your TV.

You could also look at at a TV out PCMICIA (PC Card).

 

if you are crafty enough (push the buttons at the right time) you can also put an s-video out to your VCR and record onto VHS although you will have static in front and it will be obviously from your computer for the first couple secounds depending on the video player (ex. windows media player) you use.

 

This was one of the things that disappointed me about the T61, but the T61 excels so far in so many other areas that I was not dissuaded from wanting it.

 

I have only rarely used S-video out on my laptops. I did it once to hook my laptop up to a TV for a power point presentation. But now that my office has projectors, I don't have any need for it.

I guess you are trying to play a movie on a TV screen... but I never saw the need for it...

 

I'm curious whether you investigated docking stations for the Thinkpad T61. The Latitude D630 does not come with S-Video or SPDIF either, but the docking station, which is relatively affordable, does offer those ports, along with a DVI output.

 

S video would definitely come in handy. Although I do have an HDTV, most tv's that I know do NOT have a front panel vga port. So watching a youtube flick on the big screen is definitely possible, but not as simple as I'm used to.

Something small like this can be overlooked though.

 

i mostly used to use s-video for watching divx movies/tv shows downloaded over torrent sites...i lately have been just burning them to a vcd...but i've been burning up through a lot of cd-r's.....i can't even find a vga to svideo converter...does anyone know where to find one?

all the ones i find online are huge boxes..i would rather have it inline

 

http://www.eforcity.com/pothvgasvrc1.html?gad=CNGV0_4CEgjzLnO-zCySDRiJp-j9AyDV7too

 

that was a big thing for me also. thats why i went with the r61 model it doesn't have the LCD role cage though which kinda bothered me but im hopping it should be ok. i really think that having an s-video out is handy so thats why i got it on the r61 model. the other think i was kinda mad about is there isnt a model thinkpad that has svideo and a dedicated graphics card but hopefully the integrated one will do good.

 

well...if there's a vga to svideo converter that costs under $10...what is the big deal then?

 

i havnt found one thats that cheap. only them big box type ones and they are like 60 bucks. i was reading about the inline ones that just have an s-video on one end and a vga on the other that they dont work sometimes. the output from a vga is a different fomat then needed for s-video so it needs to be converted so it all depends on if the computer can output s-video format through the vga port. as long as the computer can output s-video from th vga then the cable would work fine but otherwise i think you would have to have a converter.
also im not sure how to tell if a vga port is capable of outputting in s-video maybe its built in on newer computers.

 

look on post 11...i find that pretty cheap. I also looked on ebay and you can get one under $5 shipped as well...not sure if it works though...anyone try to use one of these in line ones?

 

yea i checked out that link on post 11

NOTE: Your VGA card must support TV out directly through VGA port function. Please consult with your VGA card's user manual for more information.

how would you be able to tell if the vga card can support it

 

That's a good question...i have no clue...i am thinking about buying one of these so I will have to find out...if anyone else knows...please say something..thanks

 

I need to do this too, here is what I have figured out. In the nVidia control panel there is a section called change display configuration. You can get here by right clicking on the desktop, clicking on settings tab, then advanced then Quadro FX 570M then Start the NVIDIA Control Panel, in there select display and then select change display configuration. There is a lot of stuff in there about TV connections but nothing solid. I just bought that eforcity device and I will let all of you know if it works or not.

 

thanks...but i have integrated x3100 graphics

 

I'm interested. I was going to get one, but since you already ordered one I'll wait to hear how it worked out for you.

 

I also bought this same adapter. We'll see if it works...

I might not get my T61 laptop for a couple weeks though so I think the other guy will find out before me whether this cable thing works. I hope it does!

 

Have either of you got your adapter cable yet?

 

I just received my cable today, but my Thinkpad only shipped today, so I won't have the Thinkpad for a while.

 

Hi there
I have a T61 with the Intel graphic card.
I recently bought a VGA to Svideo cable from ebay (search VGA to TV) but it does not work properly.
After pressing Fn+F7 you can see something on the TV screen, but it is not right (just as if the resolution is not supported).
Automatically it is set to 800x600, so I tried 640x480 Interlaced with no luck.
The problem is that there is no place to choose video format for TV-OUT (like NTSC or PAL).
I've searched on the lenovo support site, and there is a document on how to enable the TV-Out:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-58625
or search for migr_58625 on lenovo support page.
For Intel type graphic cards, there should be a menu: Graphic Options/Output to... which is missing on my T61.
I've tested the VGA out of the laptop on my desktop monitor and it works. In graphic properties I could even see that dual display thing showing two options: laptop and monitor (not happening when the TV was connected). So I assume, because the S-Video output is missing from this laptop, they just disabled the TV support and only left the external monitor/projector support.
I also called Lenovo/IMB support and they only gave me that link and said if I need more support, it is for Software configuration and it is not for free.
I'm not sure what the problem is, but I don't think it will work with this type of cheap passive cable.
Has anybody else tried it?

 

Have you tried the video driver from intel.com to see if those features are still in the driver?

 

Installing intel drivers was the first thing I've tried, but they are not supported. You have to use OEM versions of the drivers. There was an update from Lenovo/IBM, but it did not fix the tv-out problem.

 

any updates on this topic...anyone??

 

OK I have this adapter which I purchased, and I have a T61p with the Nvidia Quadro FX 570M.

I tried using the composite output RCA plug on the adapter. Windows detected that there was another display, but no resolution setting would make the display work. All I got on the TV was a bunch of moving diagonal lines.

I have not yet tried the S-Video plug yet. It MIGHT work better, we'll see. I'll let y'all know.

There may be a way to make both work but with the current drivers, I haven't seen a way so far.

 

It seems like I saw something in the nVidia driver about forced detection of TVs. Maybe that will work.

I doubt that the s-video will work if the RCA video cable doesn't work.

 

this is bad news..i was hoping this woudl work

 

I wonder why lenovo took out the S-Video from the thinkpad design, it was included up until the T43, and from the looks of it, it was popular...

 

Hey guys, I don't think this adapter is going to work, unless there is something else that can be done.

The reason I think it won't work is, usually you can make a half-assed S-video to composite apater just by connecting both the luma and chroma pins from the S-video, to the center pin of the RCA jack, and the grounds both to the RCA outer ground. I tried this and it didn't work, I got the same black and white garbled stuff.

The funny thing is you can see part of the display, it's just all distorted like the frequency isn't right or something. No color, though, that is a pretty bad sign.

I tried the "force TV detection" option in the driver, no difference.

What I do know is that this adapter is not universal, it only works for cards that happen to support it, it uses a proprietary method of having the TV-out signals go through the VGA pins.

It looks to me so far like our thinkpads DO NOT support this proprietary technology. I tried lots of refresh rates and settings and I really don't think it is going to work, the display looks consistent of what you get when you are using a video card that doesn't support this adapter cable.

Sorry guys, you guys feel free to try and prove me wrong but I'm pretty sure it won't work.

 

thanks for the detailed response hellbore

 

R61 has LCD roll cage, just check out the First Thougths of R61/T61 noteookreview.com review: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3685&article=T61andR61
" The great news is that the same magnesium roll cage used in the T61 lid and main body chassis is used in the R61. Also, the same rugged yet radio wave penetrable lid material is used in the R61 as is used in the T61."

 

Only the 14" R61 has the LCD Roll Cage, not the 15".

Check it out: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=2752602&postcount=2

 

Hi ,
Has anyone succeeded in connecting the R61 with the TV ?
Mine is a NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M dicrete card.
I bought a cable that converts VGA to S-video but all i could see is some B/W images and also very scrambled..
Any Help ?

 

http://www.avermedia.com/AVerVision/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?id=15

work great

 

I am looking for an s-video solution for my T61 too.

This looks like it will do the trick. Only problem is, where in the US can you get one of these?

 

That looks like an Australian product. It looks like they ship outside of Australia, but I doubt that it will work in the US because I think Australia is PAL. So unless neo1234 is from the US and can verify that it works with NTSC I wouldn't go that route.

Besides, if you are willing to spend that much there are other alternatives.

http://www.svideo.com/pctvez.html

Or this one is MUCH better:
http://www.svideo.com/vga2video2.html







.

 

I'm from Europe. supports NTSC/PAL.... with PAL it works great. it gives better picture than my old ACER with s-video....

 

What about VGA to RCA Composite? Has anyone tried that? I just bought the R61 and it doesn't have a S-video either...

 

Yes. Doesn't work.

I really need a s-video, but didnt find any cheap way to do it.

The simplest and expensive its a VGA Conversor ($85 in my country). If you're in US, its $25. It doesnt require any TV Out function.

 

nice shovel

 

I used to hook up my T42p to an old HDTV with S-Video input.
I bought a new LCD screen and had to get the VGA cable and audio since it didn't included the S-video port. Later I upgraded to a T61.

So in a way I don't miss the S-Video.