TV/Video Card for Analog Output

[yahootie]

I have built myself a Media Center running Windows 7 with the idea of using it with a DTV later, the mother board is a MSI with the following rear ports: PS/2 = 2, Video Ports = D-Sub + DVI, HDMI = 1 x HDMI, USB = 4 x USB 2.0 and Audio = 6 Ports. I have unused expansion slots available: PCI Express x16 = 1, PCI Express x1 = 1 and PCI Slots = 2.

My problem is that at present I only have an Analog TV with only RCA input jacks (red, white & Yellow) which will require me to buy an adapter or a convertion card with analog out. It may be awhile before I will be able to afford to buy a DTV. I am having a problem finding a low cost-low profile video board that I will be able to install in one of my available slots that will give analog output for my analog tv.

I was thinking of maybe a digital to analog RCA adapter, but I don't think this will work. Won't I need to have a converstion that will require an card? This I thought would be no problem in finding a convertion card but has become more diffucult than I thought.

Any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

 

[FunSurfer]

You need a graphic card with S-Video output. Cards today don't have RCA output. An adapter from S-Video to RCA jack (the yellow one) is included in the card's package. You need another cable from your MoBo's speakers output jack to the TV's red and white input jacks to get the stereo sound.

Low cost card can be the ATI 4650. Any PCIe card with S-Video output will do.

ATI card is recommended because usually when you connect analog TV to a PC, the picture does not fill the whole screen and there are annoying black distortions in one or both sides of the screen. The ATI display pannel has a simple option that strech the picture to the whole screen.

 

[yahootie]

Thank you, that's the type of information I was looking for. From another source I heard that S-Video will only give you about 240dpi resolution when connected to a TV. Do you know of any way to get a better resolution? Thank you for your response.

 

[FunSurfer]

DPI stands for Dots Per Inch and its value is relative to the actual size of the screen you have. This value is mostly used
with printouts. Resolution is more important value.

Here is a good explenation for this:
http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum36/1447.htm

Analog TV's resolution is usually lower than the PC monitor's. I have 21" analog TV connected to the s-video output of an old ATI Radeon 9550. My s-video output generates 1024x768 resolution, that is the maximum resolution that my TV supports.

What is your Analog TV resolution?

 

[yahootie]

I have no idea what my tv resolution is, the manual does not give that spec. It is a 20 year old RCA 31" model no: F31222 SB.

You have given me hope that maybe I should continue with my project but I will need a low profile video card. I won't be able to use you ATI card because it is a std height. I found one at Geeks.com for $14.00:

XFX GeForce 6200TC 128MB (256MB TurboCache) DDR PCI Express (PCIe) DVI/VGA Video Card w/TV-Out

This is a low profile with S-Video out and won't break the bank. Any thought on this video card?

I really do appreciate you input on my project.

 

[FunSurfer]

I said I am using a 9550 card to watch TV and I have on problems. The 6200TC performs the same as the 9550 so it should be OK, but I looked at this product on the internet and saw that the cable supplied in the package is s-video to s-video and not s-video to RCA. If this is true, you will need to get a s-video to RCA cable.