Computer to TV connections

Carol Reed

In Memoriam
Messages
5,533
Location
Coolidge, AZ
I want to run a Powerpoint slide show at church for announcements and prayer requests.

I have a Dell laptop and a TV with the A-V jacks.

How do I connect them?

If I have the terms right, the TV has RCA jacks (red, yellow, and white.) The computer has a VGA jack for a second monitor.

Please, no suggestions for large flat screens, etc. We are lucky to have what we have.

Is there a cable that works for this? We also have a DVD player and a VCR, if that helps.

I do have a cable with RCA plugs on each end.

Guru's, what say you?
 
Ahh Fry's, the Harbor freight of electronics stores...

I love going to Fry's and never miss an opportunity to wander around in it's geeky glory.... :thumb:
 
"Ahh Fry's, the Harbor freight of electronics stores..."

...meaning the quality is suspect???

Please explain yourself, young man.
 
Well, They've got lots of stuff, The customer service can be hit and miss, and some of the product you get there can be junk.

BUT, they've got everything a geek could want. You can buy everything to build a computer from the ground up. Racks and Racks of parts.

Similar to Harbor Freight, I generally have a good experience there.

I do think that they would be able to set you up with what you need quite easily and quickly though...

And seriously, I love the store. For me, a great shopping experience everytime...
 
Oh, don't get me wrong, they do have lots of quality stuff. Nothing is "Fry's Brand", but there is some junk in there as well...
 
You'll have to find out if your computer supports 'TV Out' via your VGA cable. If it doesn't, then you need this:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10114&cs_id=1011407&p_id=4724&seq=1&format=2
 
Not sure what you are pointing me to, Chris. My copy/paste led me to the home page of this site. What am I looking for?

And, how do I check the laptop to see if it has TV out?
 
Carol to answer your question No you cannot do what you want to without one of the following.

If you computer has a little yellow RCA jack then that will be a video out Jack which can be connected by RCA cables directly to the TV yellow jack for Video in. You would then need to get a jack that would go into the speaker or headphones audio out connection on the computer and have that connect to the red and white audio in jacks on the tv.

If you laptop/computer does not have these connections and only VGA then you going to need a VGA converter box. Money i am afraid.

If your computer had a high end graphics card in it you might have a combination output on a mini 9 pin din like the VGA output looks but i doubt it with what you describing.

The VGA connector output provides the video components in the original form that they are usually fed to the electron guns in a tv set that is RGB output. The two signals are not compatible.

But be warned, the resolution of the TV screen might make what you intend doing very blurry. Those old TVs were not really intended for fine graphics.

Here is a link to the kind of gadget you need to get and its off ebay.


Here some background for you to read up on

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_and_video_interfaces_and_connectors#RCA_Jack

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector


Great idea you have but it will depend a lot on the TV. I would sooner put my money into something that has legs for the longer term.

I know you said not to mention flat panel tvs etc but that is really where you want to go. Does not have to be a huge high end one but a walmart flat panel with VGA input meaning the tv doubles as a computer monitor is way better place to sink your resources.

Just a suggestion but 10 weeks of collecting on Sunday at $20 dollar per week would do way better and give you something to work with in the future.
 
If you have a DVD burner, your could also find some slideshow software and burn the power point into a dvd slide show and play it on the TV through the DVD player. I've never done the burning myself but seen the end product before and it worked pretty good.
 
Thanks, guys. I'm off to Fry's this week.

I am aware of the TV clarity trade off. All things in their own time.

I am writing a grant. It will include the very large screen (65"). If that comes through, then we will see what we will see.

Any guru's here that can help me with the list of equipment I would need? I need that information for the grant. If so, we can PM info back and forth. I'd be happy to explain what it is that we ultimately are trying to do. This morning, some one mentioned a Smart Board. What the heck is that?

Thanks.
 
Carol, Let me know when you are coming down. I cane meet you over at the new church. They have incoperated two large flat screen system and who know what else in to the build so they can utilize the latest in AV for the congragation. I am sure I can arrange for you to see what they have and talk to our music director who is the person most familiar with the equipment.
 
Everything...
attachment.php

... Except a functioning flying saucer. :rofl:

(only been to Fry's once, in San Diego when I was there at a computer conference.)

Is this the Fry's at Roswell New Mexico?? :rofl: :rofl:
 
I've never had much luck with Fry's.... only went to the one in Houston and on several occasions bought new and in the box items, only to get them home and have parts missing, the items didn't work, etc.... found out that if you take something back, they're supposed to send back to the mfgr... more likely they just re-taped the box and put it back on the shelf... at least that seemed to be the practice in Houston.
 
I've never had much luck with Fry's.... only went to the one in Houston and on several occasions bought new and in the box items, only to get them home and have parts missing, the items didn't work, etc.... found out that if you take something back, they're supposed to send back to the mfgr... more likely they just re-taped the box and put it back on the shelf... at least that seemed to be the practice in Houston.

They actually have machines that re-shrinkwrap the packages. I usually dig around to make sure I get one that hasn't been re-wrapped.

But I did pick up a nice little d-link wireless ip camera there the other day for 40$. Of course you have to send in a rebate... :rolleyes:
 
Top