That ain't no S-Video!? I'm confused...

Steffano2002

Hi there,

When I read a review of my new Graphics Card (7800GTX) on guru3d.com, it said it had "Dual DVI-I Connectors, 1 Dual Link TMDS DVI Connector, 1 Single Link TMDS DVI Connector. All the way to your left S-Video, Composite connector. It also can be used for component output" (see here).

I thought "great, just like my old ATi 9500PRO so I can hook up my PC to my TV with my 5m long S-Video cable! However, the 7800GTX has some kind of S-Video connector I've never seen before! There seems to be 9 (perhaps even 10!) holes and my standard S-Video cable (4-pin) won't fit in there! You can see this connector on guru3d (middle pic).

What kind of S-Video is this? Can I get some kind of adapter so I can connect my standard 4-pin S-Video cable?

Help!?

Ghost Train

Steffano2002 wrote:

Hi there,

When I read a review of my new Graphics Card (7800GTX) on guru3d.com, it said it had "Dual DVI-I Connectors, 1 Dual Link TMDS DVI Connector, 1 Single Link TMDS DVI Connector. All the way to your left S-Video, Composite connector. It also can be used for component output" (see here).

I thought "great, just like my old ATi 9500PRO so I can hook up my PC to my TV with my 5m long S-Video cable! However, the 7800GTX has some kind of S-Video connector I've never seen before! There seems to be 9 (perhaps even 10!) holes and my standard S-Video cable (4-pin) won't fit in there! You can see this connector on guru3d (middle pic).

What kind of S-Video is this? Can I get some kind of adapter so I can connect my standard 4-pin S-Video cable?

Help!?

It is compatible with s-video(sort of), but also allows component hd output. I've had to cut the plastic pin out of an s-video cable in the past and also cut away some of the outside plastic to get a good fit. think its just some cables dont fit well, some do.

Anti

did the card not come with a svideo cable and adapter? as mine did.

Steffano2002

eolhc wrote:

It is compatible with s-video(sort of), but also allows component hd output. I've had to cut the plastic pin out of an s-video cable in the past and also cut away some of the outside plastic to get a good fit. think its just some cables dont fit well, some do.

So basically if I cut away the plastic pin from my S-Video cable and manage to plug it in it will work? Might give that a try but I'm reluctant...

Steffano2002

Anti wrote:

did the card not come with a svideo cable and adapter? as mine did.

It came with an adapter but it's "S-Video to Composite" not "S-Video 9-pin (or 10-pin?) to S-Video 4-pin"...

8T8

It looks like the card did not come with the adapter cable that has s-video on the end of it. The connector has 9 pins on it but only 8 are wired up as I have said adapter (came with my BFG 7800GTX) it allows s-video out/in and composite out.

You can see a wiring of the 4-pin s-video at the bottom of this page as eolhc said if you cut away the plastic bit the pins should make the connection & give you a working link.

Did it come with the component adapter ? as if your TV supports that is it a better path to go than s-video anyway.

Ghost Train

Steffano2002 wrote:

So basically if I cut away the plastic pin from my S-Video cable and manage to plug it in it will work? Might give that a try but I'm reluctant...

just checked, it was my old pny nvidia 6200, my 7600 seems more normal

yeah cutting the plastic pin worked for me with my projector, so might be what you need to do

picture of the connector on the 6200 12.jpg, not a standard svideo at all, i think i used a pointy pliers to break the plastic pin, was a cheap svideo cable so wasn't too concerned

Steffano2002

eolhc wrote:

just checked, it was my old pny nvidia 6200, my 7600 seems more normal

yeah cutting the plastic pin worked for me with my projector, so might be what you need to do

picture of the connector on the 6200 12.jpg, not a standard svideo at all, i think i used a pointy pliers to break the plastic pin, was a cheap svideo cable so wasn't too concerned

That's exactly the same connector I have! What is this? I guess I'll just have to break the plastic pin off...

Steffano2002

8T8 wrote:

It looks like the card did not come with the adapter cable that has s-video on the end of it. The connector has 9 pins on it but only 8 are wired up as I have said adapter (came with my BFG 7800GTX) it allows s-video out/in and composite out.

You can see a wiring of the 4-pin s-video at the bottom of this page as eolhc said if you cut away the plastic bit the pins should make the connection & give you a working link.

Did it come with the component adapter ? as if your TV supports that is it a better path to go than s-video anyway.

Is composite better than S-Video? I was under the impression it was the opposite! My TV has a composite connector so maybe I should invest in a cable...

Zapho

I'm not sure which is better, they're probably nearly the same, I haven't noticed any difference between the two anyway. The good news is that a composite cable will be dirt cheap! (Its one of the most basic cables you can get, unless you really want one of those oxygen free, gold plated ones but they cost a fortune and really don't help).
As for the S-Video thing, in my laptop there are 7pins in the s-video out, but my 4 pin cable still fits it and works fine. The other pins are for digital audio out on my card (its a Dell thing). So my point is, as long as you can hook up the 4pins to where they should be, it will work. So you may have to cut out the plastic thing.

Steffano2002

Well, had a look at the plastic pin and thought I'd give it go. Assumed I'd only manage to wreck my cable but when I used a knife to bend it, it simply fell off! :eek: Was really easy in fact and I managed to hook up my TV perfectly!

However, I now have a new issue: the image doesn't fully fit on the TV screen. Indeed, it seems it is too big for the TV. It is cut in all 4 directions (top, bottom, left and right). This was not the case when I used to do it with my old ATi 9500PRO!

Why doesn't my 7800GTX do the same as my old 9500PRO?

Steffano2002

Oh and by the way, I never spotted a real difference between composite and S-Video either... And seen as I have a S-Video cable I'll keep using it!

Zapho

In the ATI control panel you should there should be some options where you can adjust the size and position of the tv screen. Mess around with that for a bit and see what you get.

Steffano2002

Zapho wrote:

In the ATI control panel you should there should be some options where you can adjust the size and position of the tv screen. Mess around with that for a bit and see what you get.

But I have an NVIDIA card now (7800GTX). I think it should do this by itself!

I'll mess around see if I can find something... Actually, just noticed that my NVIDIA Control Panel is completely different and the tray icon is no longer there!

God I'm a n00b... :rolleyes:

Ghost Train

Steffano2002 wrote:

Oh and by the way, I never spotted a real difference between composite and S-Video either... And seen as I have a S-Video cable I'll keep using it!

alot of devices use conposite over s-video, instead of proper s-video, ie you use an s-video cable but the signal is a composite one, s-video should be slighlty better if it's proper s-video

if you havnt worked it out yet, you go into display properties and bring up the nvidia setting, looks like this
13.jpg
right click on tv icon/picture and go into device adjustments, you then be able to adjust the screen position and zoom in and out

the resolution you have the tv-out set at might make a big differance how things behave too

the thing i found recently is i had to make the tv the primary display to get decent quality video (no tearing) which is a bit annoying

Stephen

/hijacks thread

I have a Gigabyte 7800GTX with VIVO, but the breakout box for all the VIVO stuff is missing (bought it used on adverts here). Anyone know where I could get one?

Steffano2002

Hi Eolhc!

Firstly, my NVIDIA Control Panel doesn't look like this anymore! It used to, but now it looks different for some reason (see attached). Why is this? Did I change a setting or something?
Or maybe I'm just confused and the Control Panel was only like that on an old PC I had with a 6800GS...

I found the TV adjustments menu though! I can move the image in all 4 directions and zoom in/out also. Thank you for that!

Ghost Train

Steffano2002 wrote:

Hi Eolhc!

Firstly, my NVIDIA Control Panel doesn't look like this anymore! It used to, but now it looks different for some reason (see attached). Why is this? Did I change a setting or something?
Or maybe I'm just confused and the Control Panel was only like that on an old PC I had with a 6800GS...

I found the TV adjustments menu though! I can move the image in all 4 directions and zoom in/out also. Thank you for that!

yeah there's a setting somewhere to switch back to the classic style menus, should be under "view" in the menu bar, i think it much better to find what you want in the old menus. Glad you got it all working

8T8

Is composite better than S-Video?

No composite is worse than s-video but component is better than s-video, component is usually only found on HDTV's this side of the pond.

NVIDIA have changed their driver control panel in the newer drivers, the new control panel is located in the Windows\Control Panel section which is what your looking at

If you want to you can restore the classic control panel by going into the display properties where the old control panel was and click the button to re-enable it.

Edit: You can make the same changes in the new control panel as well which I see you found as well NVIDIA changed things around, if you click the view menu it will show the section where you can restore the NVIDIA icon tray if it is missing.

Steffano2002

8T8 wrote:

No composite is worse than s-video but component is better than s-video, component is usually only found on HDTV's this side of the pond.

Subtle, yet, huge difference! I thought you meant "composite" seen as I never even heard of "component"...

8T8 wrote:

If you want to you can restore the classic control panel by going into the display properties where the old control panel was and click the button to re-enable it.

Which Display Properties do I have to go to 8T8? I got the nView Desktop Manager working but it doesn't look like the Control Panel I was used to (the one eolhc posted a screenshot of).

8T8 wrote:

Edit: You can make the same changes in the new control panel as well which I see you found as well NVIDIA changed things around, if you click the view menu it will show the section where you can restore the NVIDIA icon tray if it is missing.

Tray icon decided to come back after reboot I must have hid it by mistake yesterday...

Steffano2002

Disregard the above 8T8. I switched back to classic view by going to Control Panel > NVIDIA Control Panel then in there, View > Use Classic NVIDIA Contro Panel which is exactly what eolhc said... God I'm slow... :rolleyes: