HD output to HDTV

[Axeman]

I am putting together a new computer so I can get HDTV in Sage v.3. I am confused by what video card I should buy for HDTV output.

At first I thought I could just but a DVI or VGA to component adaptor cable but from what I've read these cables do not work with computer video cards. Could I get a few recommendations for good cards that can output HD?

Thanks,
Axeman

[aperry]

I believe that most of the more current NVidia cards come with the necessary hookups to connect to your TV via component cables.

For the ATI cards, there is a DVI-to-Component adapter you can buy. There are much cheaper alternatives than the ATI branded one available on eBay, but I'm not sure how well they work.

[Fluffdaddy]

Can't you just go DVI out from your ATI card to your DVI input on your TV ?
why miss with a DVI-to-Component adapters ? I read DVI is better for HD PQ
anyway.
Just asking
Thanks

[mlbdude]

Most newer cards (ATI and nVidia) will come with component and DVI connections unless you get a budget card. A general rule of thumb is analog for an analog TV and digital for a digital TV. If the analog TV has a good digital to analog converter then you may get good performance with DVI on an analog too.

[Mike Young]

I tried hooking up my HD display via HDMI to my radeon DVI port, I could see the picture quality difference right away, but I found that I could not change the resolution, it seemed to be 'locked' at 1920 X 1080 and seemed to cause some performance problems as well, I got some lockups, so I went back to using the VGA port on my display. I have heard others have problems using the DVI port on thier cards as well, so I would go with VGA to component if your display does not have a vga input.

mike/

[Axeman]

Fluffdaddy:

My Toshiba TV manual says the DVI input will not work with a computer video card DVI as output. I don't know if it's true or not. Maybe they just want me to buy a Toshiba HDTV receiver or something

[stanger89]

That's basically saying they won't help you get it working.

[Fluffdaddy]

Originally Posted by Axeman

Fluffdaddy:

My Toshiba TV manual says the DVI input will not work with a computer video card DVI as output. I don't know if it's true or not. Maybe they just want me to buy a Toshiba HDTV receiver or something

OK thanks, I was just wondering.
My DLP TV use my video card DVI and VGA ouputs just fine. I guess it's all about what kind of TV people have.
thx

[mlbdude]

One important thing to remember is that you must color callibrate for each input as they will have very different default settings. Some TV's let you store settings per input others have presets you can save to. Can make it hard when switching between the two for test purposes.

[Kanati]

My Toshiba TV manual says the DVI input will not work with a computer video card DVI as output.

What mustang said. They lie. DVI is DVI (well... there's really two versions of DVI so you have to be careful to get the right cable but most likely it's DVI-D) Both mitsubishis and the JVC I had said the same thing in the manual. The Mitsu CRT I had even said the VGA port wasn't compatible for computer hookup. They lied about that too.

[mattdcknsn]

I have a sony LCD rear projector and the manual says the same thing, DVI connector will not work with computers. I am using a DVI-D cable just fine.

The only thing that you need to tweak afterwards was the resolution. On my Sony I had to set the video output to 720p. The 1080i setting would not work well. But that is specific to your video card and TV.