Laptop to TV

On 19/03/2010 19:54, Norman Wells wrote:

Much appreciated. I've done what I can to follow all this, but, to avoid
repetition, have set out what I've done in other replies. Please do let
me know if you have any ideas.

Just a thought... do you get the 'bing bong' (device detected) sound
when you plug in the VGA cable?

If not, check it is fully wired; some VGA cables only connect the
(minimum) R,G,B,H,V cores and not the EDID on pins 12 + 15.

Without the 'bing bong' you won't get the EDID info from the TV and then
its native res will not be available...

Monitor Asset Manager 2.4 will show if you're getting EDID info from the TV.
http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm


If all else fails, download PowerStrip and force the correct res.

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm

Guy

Norman Wells said...

The TV is in fact a Panasonic 26" LCD, model TX-L26X10B.

OK According to the info and manual at:
http://goo.gl/43mI

From the information on page 47 of the manual it would appear that it
can display 1366x768 and in the table on page 64 it states in that it
should accept a VGA signal at 1366x768 @60hz.

and on the website it says: Applicable PC signals VGA, WVGA, SVGA,
XGA, WXGA, SXGA 60Hz

So it looks as thought the TV should be doing what you want it to,
though the instructions for the PC SetUp menu are a bit vague.

So it might appear that the settings on the laptop are the problem.

The laptop is in fact a Compaq Presario C742EA,

Have you followed the instructions at?:
http://goo.gl/kj7Z

And most importantly the instructions at: "Select the monitor
representing your second display. Click the Extend the desktop onto
this monitor check-box and click OK". Sometimes, if using mirror or
presentation then both screens can only be set to the native resolution
of the main display on the laptop.

I'm using the VGA connection from the laptop, which is immediately to
the
left of the S-Video socket

Does S-Video not work? That would be the option I would choose for
watching video from PC to a TV, based on past experience but of course
it depends on the PC and TV playing ball.


Thanks for your help so far. Is there anything else you can add based on
the further information above, or should I just call it a day, and accept
that Bill Gates knows best?

Apart from the above I'm stumped. But you've got me thinking that maybe
I should have gone for the laptop with HDMI out which I rejected as
irrevelant when i got this model with a 1366x768 screen last year. It's
a pain, like viewing web pages through a letterbox, much better to have
got one with a more conventional aspect screen. Ah well.

--
Ken O'Meara
http://www.btinternet.com/~unsteadyken/

On 20/03/2010 11:20, Norman Wells wrote:

I don't think the cable is faulty,

Why do you think this?
The fact that it doesn't work would suggest otherwise...

You have to check it. Is it fully wired? Are all 15 pins present at
either end?
If possible use a DVM and check pins 12 + 15 for continuity.

If it's NOT fully wired, OR if it has an internal break then it will
give the symptoms you describe.


Does the laptop make its 'bing bong' noise when you connect the cable /
toggle the laptops display???

G

On Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:20:46 -0000, "Norman Wells"
wrote:

...or should I just call it a day, and accept
that Bill Gates knows best?

Unfortunately we can't blame Bill Gates for that problem, however
enjoyable that would be. :-)

The graphics hardware in the laptop and the software that controls it
are not MS products.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

UnsteadyKen wrote:
Norman Wells said...

The TV is in fact a Panasonic 26" LCD, model TX-L26X10B.

OK According to the info and manual at:
http://goo.gl/43mI

From the information on page 47 of the manual it would appear that it
can display 1366x768 and in the table on page 64 it states in that it
should accept a VGA signal at 1366x768 @60hz.

and on the website it says: Applicable PC signals VGA, WVGA, SVGA,
XGA, WXGA, SXGA 60Hz

So it looks as thought the TV should be doing what you want it to,
though the instructions for the PC SetUp menu are a bit vague.

So it might appear that the settings on the laptop are the problem.

The laptop is in fact a Compaq Presario C742EA,

Have you followed the instructions at?:
http://goo.gl/kj7Z

And most importantly the instructions at: "Select the monitor
representing your second display. Click the Extend the desktop onto
this monitor check-box and click OK". Sometimes, if using mirror or
presentation then both screens can only be set to the native
resolution of the main display on the laptop.

Yes, I've done that, so that the image is just displayed on the TV not on
the laptop at the same time.

I'm using the VGA connection from the laptop, which is immediately
to the left of the S-Video socket

Does S-Video not work? That would be the option I would choose for
watching video from PC to a TV, based on past experience but of course
it depends on the PC and TV playing ball.

And on having an S-Video cable of course, which unfortunately I don't at the
moment. Do S-Video cables differ at all, or should I just get the cheapest
from Amazon to try one out? Does S-Video carry the sound signal as well,
which VGA doesn't?

The reference above is interesting in that VGA is only specified for
connecting to a 'monitor'. Other connections are apparently required or
preferred for 'TV' or 'High Definition TV', but the laptop doesn't have DVI
or HDMI outputs, and I don't have an S-Video cable, so I'm stuck at the
moment with VGA. Could that be a warning that VGA won't work whatever I do?

Thanks for your help so far. Is there anything else you can add
based on the further information above, or should I just call it a
day, and accept that Bill Gates knows best?

Apart from the above I'm stumped. But you've got me thinking that
maybe I should have gone for the laptop with HDMI out which I
rejected as irrevelant when i got this model with a 1366x768 screen
last year. It's a pain, like viewing web pages through a letterbox,
much better to have got one with a more conventional aspect screen.
Ah well.

It's just God's way of telling you that you haven't paid Bill Gates enough
money.

Bigguy wrote:
On 20/03/2010 11:20, Norman Wells wrote:

I don't think the cable is faulty,

Why do you think this?
The fact that it doesn't work would suggest otherwise...

Well, I get a perfect picture down it. It's just that it doesn't fill the
screen on the TV.

You have to check it. Is it fully wired? Are all 15 pins present at
either end?

Well, no, actually. There's one missing at either end of the cable, in both
cases the second one in the middle row where that row starts inward of the
top and bottom rows. Any idea what that one does?

If possible use a DVM and check pins 12 + 15 for continuity.

If it's NOT fully wired, OR if it has an internal break then it will
give the symptoms you describe.


Does the laptop make its 'bing bong' noise when you connect the cable
/ toggle the laptops display???

No, but then I suspect I probably configured the laptop when I set it up to
eliminate all extraneous bongs. It certainly recognises the external TV,
however, and goes so far as to display the proper image on it, albeit one
that is smaller than I really want.

What would a bong tell me in addition to that?

Peter Duncanson wrote:
On Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:20:46 -0000, "Norman Wells"
wrote:

...or should I just call it a day, and accept
that Bill Gates knows best?

Unfortunately we can't blame Bill Gates for that problem, however
enjoyable that would be. :-)

The graphics hardware in the laptop and the software that controls it
are not MS products.

OK. I'll have to find another scapegoat then.

Norman Wells said...

And on having an S-Video cable of course, which unfortunately I don't at the
moment. Do S-Video cables differ at all, or should I just get the cheapest
from Amazon to try one out?

They all do the same job, some are more upmarket than others, just go
for the cheapest for now as it's not certain that it will solve the
problem, Argos does a 6 foot one for £7 I see. http://goo.gl/XpUb


Does S-Video carry the sound signal as well,
which VGA doesn't?

Nope, just video.




--
Ken O'Meara
http://www.btinternet.com/~unsteadyken/

The message
from "Norman Wells" contains
these words:

Peter Duncanson wrote:
On Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:20:46 -0000, "Norman Wells"
wrote:

...or should I just call it a day, and accept
that Bill Gates knows best?

Unfortunately we can't blame Bill Gates for that problem, however
enjoyable that would be. :-)

The graphics hardware in the laptop and the software that controls it
are not MS products.

OK. I'll have to find another scapegoat then.

It's important to make sure the refresh rate hasn't been set too high.
60Hz is the usual maximum for an LCD TV set cum monitor.

--
Regards, John.

Please remove the "ohggcyht" before replying.
The address has been munged to reject Spam-bots.

"Norman Wells" wrote in message
...
Yesterday, I finally found a good reason to connect my laptop to the TV,
namely watching something on BBC iPlayer with someone else in the comfort
of my living room. That worked OK-ish, but I found I couldn't get the
picture to display full screen on the TV. Although I set the player to
full screen mode, the TV display still had about a 2 inch black border all
the way round. Is that normal, or should I be able to view a bigger
picture? If so, how please?

In case it helps, I have a current model Panasonic 26" LCD TV, and the
laptop is a Compaq Presario 700 running Windows Vista Home Premium..

Thanks for any advice or information.



Hi,


Here is a little bit more of a short and incomplete (and probably not
necessarily very useful) reply.

You don't want to force your TV / configuration to the 13xx resolution...
that is very sub or non-standard. Hence, your laptop is thinking or
saying.... what the ...? ... try something normal? ... industry standard
etc... that resolution "MAY" be industry standard in the TV sector but it is
not anything that most any or all mainstream graphics (PC) vendors would
hark nor recognise - lol.

Equally or also... you don't want to use the "highest" or (supposed?)
"native" resolution anyhow... not if it is actually perhaps somewhat
(significantly?) exceeding the optimal performance characteristics of both
or either of your TV hardware or laptop display equipment.

Hence... 1024 x 768... is perfectly adequate or good... and often 800x600
may even be better or preferable. Faster, smoother, quicker, easier for your
laptop and TV, etc., etc. (potentially etc.). Further, your TV should not
be "windowing" or "view port"(ing ing) things... it should show whatever
resolution you choose (within specification or reason) full screen or such
as to fill the entire screen (native scaling or whatever).

To that end, try setting the display to 1024x768 or 800x600... then review
on your TV... load something... a picture, web page, whatever.. to confirm
what boundaries it is actually outputting to the TV... is it full screen or
not? Is the TV able to be asked to use a "zoom" mode... Further you may want
to try a supposed "wide screen" resolution option.. .perhaps something more
like 1280 x 800.

Finally there or then.. you might want to consider how iPlayer works... try
playing some video (local file [on / off your hard disk] or streamed off the
internet) using windows media player... then put that full screen that
should give you what you want... again... just look first (lol!)... and make
sure the original video (windowed) (as in when played normally, not full
screen in windows media player) that the file / media (video) doesn't
actually have it's own black bars in the video feed / stream itself lol!...
Then you can play and evaluate.. you may need to mess about with iPlayer...
and not use it's own "full screen" option or button... but pop the player
out and then use a proper full screen moded internet explorer window (F11)
to maximise the output displayed etc. to your TV.

Just to quickly reference some of the other stuff from our earlier
communications.. I assumed you were using traditional TV type out stuff -
S-Video, composite, etc... that you are using a VGA cable and therefore
"monitor" connection is altogether quite a different, easier and better
situation. You certainly don't need any DVI, HDMI, firewire nonsense... good
old VGA is more than adequately capable, etc. : - P .

(BTW / Aside: As for the "maximum [resolution] for television" that is
assuming S-Video or Composite.. and is based on the traditional 468 scan
lines or whatever is... so actually any resolution really above that is a
nonsense that the [traditional TV, TVs or TV Modes] cannot actually
display.. and so just becomes a blurred reduction to 468 lines.. etc. ? ...
this is not necessarily or at all applicable with proper PC or monitor
connections or modern digital connections, displays or panels, etc - e.g.
HDMI, VGA D Connector, DVI, etc.).

Last note... it may be that your TV just misbehaves.. and the manufacturers
or whoever just didn't or couldn't be bothered to implement standard scaling
of different resolutions in the normal or standard form... so .. whatever
they have written in the manual about supporting different resolutions.. in
reality... it is the weird 1368 or whatever only or nothing! ...lol... and
their version or idea of support for the other resolutions is just to use
that as a subset of the maximum resolution shown, retained and actually used
on the TV (namely the 1368 and all the extra nice black borders, - lol?)?...
Unlikely.. .probably a configuration issue on the TV.. but may well not be -
lolo!...

Finally.. using one of the TV out / display tools as mentioned in the
subsequent previous threads... may well totally fix everything instantly...
by just forcing the native or fixed resolution of the TV... so don't dispare
to much... or too little... lol... that tool may just totally sort it
straight away.


Best wishes,





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