Would this work? (Video sender, TV card)

corblimey

Apologies if I'm asking questions that have been asked a thousand times before, I just need a simple yes or no answer, really.

I have a bunch of video (mostly AVI, some MPG) on my machine here. If I buy a TV card (hauppage (sp?)) and one of those video sender thingies they sell in Argos, could I watch the videos on my regular TV? The video senders work with SCART connections, AFAIK, so I assume that the TV card includes a SCART connector.

It seems a cheaper solution (currently) than a full-on media PC, but I have absolutely no idea if it's even feasible as is.

dingding

The Hauppage card will just let you watch TV on your PC, It wont display your computer on the TV.

Would probably need a video card with S video out.

corblimey

Tks, dingding. Would a video card like that also include a SCART connection, as that seems to be the best way of transmitting video (wireless)

Tom Dunne

Very unlikely - SCART is simply too big a form factor to put on the back of a PC card, hence the s-video output.

You can get s-video to SCART adaters, but be warned - I went through three of them until I got one that actually gave a colour picture (do a search - the post is over on the computer forums).

cosgrove80

I was in the same situation as you corblimey. I didn't find a way of doing it wirelessly though.

All I was was connect the s-video from my radeon 9800 to the s-video on my tv using a 10m s-video cable and drilling a hole in the wall between rooms.

If you find a way of doing it wirelessly I'd be very interested to find out what you did

Good luck

Tom Dunne

cosgrove80 wrote:

If you find a way of doing it wirelessly I'd be very interested to find out what you did

I have all the gear here in front of me, and it goes something like this....

S-video out + audio out -> SCART adapter -> SCART gender bender -> Digidender transmitter -> Digisender receiver (beside TV) -> picture on TV

The SCART gender bender is the key here - I got it in Woodies for 6 Euro. It is a SCART male to male convertor.

The SCART adapter I have takes both S-video and normal video out (yellow connector) see here.

cosgrove80

tom dunne wrote:

I have all the gear here in front of me, and it goes something like this....

S-video out + audio out -> SCART adapter -> SCART gender bender -> Digidender transmitter -> Digisender receiver (beside TV) -> picture on TV

The SCART gender bender is the key here - I got it in Woodies for 6 Euro. It is a SCART male to male convertor.

The SCART adapter I have takes both S-video and normal video out (yellow connector) see here.

Thanks for the reply.
Is this the digisender you have?
http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=3151&productId=121246&clickfrom=name
My crude solution worked out at about €12 and works fine:) but would be interested in this.

I'm only out of bed so this might be a stupid question but, is it possible to control mediaplayer/dvd player using a remote with this setup?

Tom Dunne

cosgrove80 wrote:

Is this the digisender you have?

It is, but mine's an older version.

cosgrove80 wrote:

is it possible to control mediaplayer/dvd player using a remote with this setup?

It is. The recievers can transmit back the remote control signals to the transmitter.

cosgrove80

It is. The recievers can transmit back the remote control signals to the transmitter.

Excellent, was getting tired of running into the other room to pause video when phone rang etc.

Might consider a purchase if I can find a slightly cheaper alernative.

corblimey

tom dunne wrote:

I have all the gear here in front of me, and it goes something like this....

S-video out + audio out -> SCART adapter -> SCART gender bender -> Digidender transmitter -> Digisender receiver (beside TV) -> picture on TV

The SCART gender bender is the key here - I got it in Woodies for 6 Euro. It is a SCART male to male convertor.

The SCART adapter I have takes both S-video and normal video out (yellow connector) see here.

Thanks, Tom. Nice clear layout there. Can I ask how much all that set you back? I can't imagine it broke the bank, but considering I'll prolly need to buy a decent video card. Is s-video and TV/out the same thing, by any chance?

Tom Dunne

I think I paid 99 Euro (or was it punts?) around 3-4 years ago for the Digi Sender. Scart cable thingy was 29 dollars (from the website above), gender bender was 6 Eurons, total around 150 Euro.

I have to say the Digi Sender has to be one of the best gadgets I have ever bought.

TV-out is a generic term - it depends on the video card of the PC. On my laptop, and on my PC, it is s-video (kinda like a ps/2 mouse port). On some pc's/laptops it is a yellow RCA connector.

dahamsta

I bought one of those digisender things from Argos a few months ago (not that particular one, another one) and found it absolute crap, the colours were truly awful. (It was a big TV though.) Also, I have a SCART socket on my rig (an ALDI Medion jobby) but it only operates OUT for some reason, you might want to watch out for that.

adam

corblimey

Tom (or anyone). I was talking to the muppet in (Sound)(Compu)store just to try and get a price on the setup I'm looking for, and he said something that made a lot of sense to me. If I'm connecting my graphics card s-video to a SCART connection, then am I not just sending video only: the graphics card knows nothing about audio, right?

I can't for the life of me think how the audio gets to the other box of the video sender, but since this was a shop where I rarely get someone who knows anything, I'm sure it's all very simple and straight forward :rolleyes:

Tom Dunne

See my earlier post - the link to svideo.com with the picture. The SCART connector has three inputs - one for s-video, and two others (red and white) Guess what they are for .

You connect the smaller, 3.5mm jack to the headphones socket (or audio out) of your sound card and these are fed into the SCART connector, which is fed into the Digisender.

Hash Boy

dahamsta wrote:

I bought one of those digisender things from Argos a few months ago (not that particular one, another one) and found it absolute crap, the colours were truly awful. (It was a big TV though.) Also, I have a SCART socket on my rig (an ALDI Medion jobby) but it only operates OUT for some reason, you might want to watch out for that.

adam

I agree - absolute sh*te. I brought mine straight back. And before any gobsh*te says anything: Yes, I WAS using it correctly.

Tom Dunne

Hash Boy wrote:

I agree - absolute sh*te. I brought mine straight back. And before any gobsh*te says anything: Yes, I WAS using it correctly.

My, my. We are an angry little troll, aren't we?

corblimey

tom dunne wrote:

The SCART gender bender is the key here - I got it in Woodies for 6 Euro. It is a SCART male to male convertor.

tom, how long ago did you get this convertor? I've asked in several shops around Cork and most sales people look at me like I've just grown an extra head.

I would assume since you got one, they do exist, and you didn't just cobble together something yourself with duct tape and a cornflakes box, but I'm even having trouble finding one online. Did you just ask for a male-to-male scart connector? Did the muppet in Woodies really understand what you were looking for? You're so lucky to find competence in Woodies

Tom Dunne

corblimey wrote:

Did you just ask for a male-to-male scart connector? Did the muppet in Woodies really understand what you were looking for? You're so lucky to find competence in Woodies

Competence in Woodies? Nah, don't think that is possible.

I actually went straight to the TV section myself (they have loads of scart leads and co-ax cable, over near the lights/electrical section). Wasn't too hard to find, best have a root around yourself.

Looks like this one on Amazon.

corblimey

Thanks for the link and the continued help. I'm gonna print off a picture of it and show it around to the muppets I was talking to today.

corblimey

Okay, here's what I got:

Connection marked 's-video' on PC (there's also one with 'composite' on it) + audio out -> scart convertor (it has 4 in connectors, 2 audio, 1 video, 1 s-video, with my set up the 'video' one is empty. it's set on 'output') -> scart connector (gender bender) -> a/v input on transmitter.

Nothing.

I know the digisender is working, I tried it on standard scart-scart, and I know my TV is set up correctly because it was able to pick up the signal. So the weak point is my PC/connection to digisender.

I have a GeForce FX 5500 which apparently allows me to switch the display mode from monitor to "TV" using ALT+F5, but no matter what I've tried since I connected everything up, there's no signal hitting my receiver, and I'm starting to get maaad.

corblimey

bump.

Anyone? tom dunne?

Tom Dunne

corblimey wrote:

Anyone? tom dunne?

Glad someone appreciates me around here....

It's a process of elimination. I would probably start by making sure you really have an output from the video card. Can you move the PC to beside the TV temporarily? Or perhaps a portable TV? Plug it in directly to make sure.

Also, the SCART convertor set to output - try it on input.

The ALT-F5 can be a little flaky - try right-clicking on the desktop instead and enable the second monitor there. I find that more reliable.

Let us know how you get on.

corblimey

tom dunne wrote:

Glad someone appreciates me around here....

Hey, I always appreciate people who feel sorry for me. It's how I get most of my dates.

tom dunne wrote:

Can you move the PC to beside the TV temporarily? Or perhaps a portable TV? Plug it in directly to make sure.

By plug it in directly, I assume you mean s-video to SCART by way of the convertor? I'll try that tomorrow and let you know.

Thanks

Tom Dunne

corblimey wrote:

Hey, I always appreciate people who feel sorry for me. It's how I get most of my dates.

Just as long as you understand I am not asking you out on a date. It would never work.:D

corblimey

Okay, finally got a chance to plug my scart lead directly into a TV bypassing the video sender. And....nothing. Tried all the channels on the TV (it has settings for Euroscart, S-video, etc) but nothing was going on.

I would assume at this stage that my settings for the video card are not correct. I really just took the default "TV" settings, so perhaps I need to find an FM to R.