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#236340 - 03/10/2004 16:02 TV out dongle
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
I have a laptop that does not have a built-in TV output. Does anyone know of a USB, FireWire, or even PCMCIA dongle to provide TV output so that I can play video files onto a TV? I'd have thought that this would be easy to find, but apparently not.
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Bitt Faulk

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#236341 - 03/10/2004 16:48 Re: TV out dongle [Re: wfaulk]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31602
Loc: Seattle, WA
Quote:
I'd have thought that this would be easy to find, but apparently not.

Yeah, because it's not just an adapter plug. Converting VGA to television requires scanrate conversion and such, which is do-able but not a trivial task. And it's gotten to the point where that feature is built-in to enough video cards and laptops that it's not as huge of an issue as it used to be. And since most people needing to put computer pictures up on a bigger screen are usually doing it on conference room projectors which have VGA-in, there's not a lot of corporate push for that sort of thing.

But anyway, what I think you need to be googling on is a VGA to TV converter. I know they exist, I have no idea how much they cost or anything.
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Tony Fabris

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#236342 - 03/10/2004 17:18 Re: TV out dongle [Re: tfabris]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
I suppose VGA to TV would work, but I was thinking that there would be something that would do native NTSC.
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Bitt Faulk

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#236343 - 03/10/2004 18:14 Re: TV out dongle [Re: wfaulk]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31602
Loc: Seattle, WA
Right, that's called a video card with native TV-out.

But you're talking about a laptop. And they don't make PCMCIA video cards, not enough bandwidth on the PCMCIA slot.

Dunno about how firewire would work, I suppose that feature would exist on some video-editing-station thingamajigs, you know like the "snap" thingys... Perhaps that's the tree you should be barking up.
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Tony Fabris

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#236344 - 03/10/2004 19:27 Re: TV out dongle [Re: tfabris]
webroach
old hand

Registered: 23/07/2003
Posts: 869
Loc: Colorado
Quote:
...And they don't make PCMCIA video cards, not enough bandwidth on the PCMCIA slot.


Errrr.....no.

PCMCIA Video Card
Info regarding PCMCIA video cards at the Berkeley Center For Embedded Systems Design
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Dave

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#236345 - 03/10/2004 19:42 Re: TV out dongle [Re: tfabris]
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
Quote:
And they don't make PCMCIA video cards, not enough bandwidth on the PCMCIA slot.


Out of a PCMCIA slot, probably not. Out of a modern day Zoomed Video Cardbus slot, yes.

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#236346 - 03/10/2004 19:44 Re: TV out dongle [Re: drakino]
webroach
old hand

Registered: 23/07/2003
Posts: 869
Loc: Colorado
Quote:
Out of a PCMCIA slot, probably not.


Again, I point to the first site I linked above.
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Dave

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#236347 - 03/10/2004 19:50 Re: TV out dongle [Re: webroach]
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
Quote:
Again, I point to the first site I linked above.


Thats what I get for keeping a reply window open too long.

The above linked card is a Cardbus card using Zoomed Video. As far as I know, there wasn't a 16 bit PC Card video solution. Not that lack of Cardbus or Zoomed Video support should be a problem, as every laptop worth using these days likely has it. If you start getting into 486 laptops, then it could be an issue.

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#236348 - 03/10/2004 20:01 Re: TV out dongle [Re: tfabris]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
This looks about like what I want. Even includes audio out, which is super.
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Bitt Faulk

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#236349 - 05/10/2004 05:53 Re: TV out dongle [Re: wfaulk]
gbeer
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
Quote:
This looks about like what I want. Even includes audio out, which is super.


Looks like that meets your requirement. Did you intend to mirror the desktop as well? I don't think it does that.

I have the Instant TV gadget. Works well hooked up to a bullet cam.
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Glenn

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#236350 - 05/10/2004 06:48 Re: TV out dongle [Re: wfaulk]
g_attrill
old hand

Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
Otherwise this kind of thing can be had on ebay for very little money.

Gareth

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#236351 - 05/10/2004 13:01 Re: TV out dongle [Re: gbeer]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Nope. I just want to be able to play video files on the TV. My only concern is whether it'll be able to play random codecs over that link or if they'll need to be in their own format. I'll find that out before I commit.
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Bitt Faulk

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