canadian397 Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 Hey, So my dad and I are finishing the basement in our house and we're getting to the point when we have to do all the wiring. I had an idea about running a cable from the computer on one side of the basement to the other side where there's a TV. Would it be worth it? My dad says if I go get the wire I can do it. My plan is to get a s-video cable and an audio cable to run from behind the computer, up in the roof and then connect to the tv on the other side. It was be around 30-50 feet of wire. Would it be worth it? - Barret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted February 20, 2005 Veteran Share Posted February 20, 2005 Not at all. It'll be a crappy picture. PC's only look good on high res (hd) televisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadian397 Posted February 20, 2005 Author Share Posted February 20, 2005 what about maybe just Audio Cables from the computer? We are going to wire up surround sound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted February 20, 2005 Veteran Share Posted February 20, 2005 that would be ok, but expect a hell of a job. You'll need 3 mini jack to rca converters and a ton of rca cabling. I hope your receiver has analog 5.1 inputs otherwise you'll run into some issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xstream Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 yea i have my comp hooked up to my Hi Fi...sounds wikid! its worth doing the sound..if u avnt got 5.1 dedicated to pc.. if u watch movies n stuff then hookin up ur pc to tv is cool...but for gaming its not advisable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadian397 Posted February 20, 2005 Author Share Posted February 20, 2005 we actually don't have the surround sound system yet, just looking at prewiring into the roof and walls. Couldn't i just use RCA Audio Cords (Red and White plugs) from the computer to the tv. I have an adapter for the computer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted February 20, 2005 Veteran Share Posted February 20, 2005 we actually don't have the surround sound system yet, just looking at prewiring into the roof and walls. Couldn't i just use RCA Audio Cords (Red and White plugs) from the computer to the tv. I have an adapter for the computer 585506756[/snapback] why would you do that? All thats' going to do is give you stereo sound out of crappy speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadian397 Posted February 21, 2005 Author Share Posted February 21, 2005 why would you do that? All thats' going to do is give you stereo sound out of crappy speakers. 585506773[/snapback] what about a basic PC speaker wire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan V Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 For the Audio, couldn?t he just use a RCA Y-Adapter and connect that to the stereo like the one in the picture? That wouldn't sound that bad at all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted February 21, 2005 Veteran Share Posted February 21, 2005 what about a basic PC speaker wire? 585506933[/snapback] why do you want to run sound through your TV speakers? It doesn't make much sense to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porsche Design Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 Put the PC right next to the TV Use VGA adapter if your TV has a VGA in, otherwise use DVI or S-Video... Your Video Card must be good or else it wouldn't look that great There are Stereo-to-RCA [red-white,right-left] cables, but i don't think it will be 5.1 surround sound if it is only right and left Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunky Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 Not at all. It'll be a crappy picture. PC's only look good on high res (hd) televisions. 585506654[/snapback] I disagree, I hook up computers up to non HD TVs all the time to watch movies and it's just as good as a DVD. Saying that PC's only look good on high res televisions is a misleading statement, it depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to watch movies and use a front end (media center perhaps?) you'll be golden. You can get an s-video and headphone to RCA cable from www.svideo.com . I use one and it's fantastic, the process couldn't be less painless. Obviously since it's a headphone to rca cable, you'll be getting stereo sound, but you can always go buy the correct hookups if you have a 5.1 sound card and 5.1 decoder for your TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadian397 Posted February 21, 2005 Author Share Posted February 21, 2005 why do you want to run sound through your TV speakers? It doesn't make much sense to. 585506989[/snapback] No!!! We're pre-wiring surround sound in our basement and while the roof is open I would like to run a speaker cable from the computer to the surround sound system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted February 21, 2005 Veteran Share Posted February 21, 2005 I disagree, I hook up computers up to non HD TVs all the time to watch movies and it's just as good as a DVD. Saying that PC's only look good on high res televisions is a misleading statement, it depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to watch movies and use a front end (media center perhaps?) you'll be golden. You can get an s-video and headphone to RCA cable from www.svideo.com . I use one and it's fantastic, the process couldn't be less painless. Obviously since it's a headphone to rca cable, you'll be getting stereo sound, but you can always go buy the correct hookups if you have a 5.1 sound card and 5.1 decoder for your TV. 585507032[/snapback] I've watched a PC's video over an svideo connection. The picture was not as good as it was on the monitor. There were some coloring issues especially in areas of light to dark. thenewbrgnewman: if you wish to wire up for sound, like I said, you need to get mini jack to rca connectors and then run rca cabling (6 connectors in total) to where ever your receiver will eventually be. Then you will need to make sure your receiver, when you get it, supports 5.1 analog otherwise you need diff wiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadian397 Posted February 21, 2005 Author Share Posted February 21, 2005 how about this: I just buy one of those MediaCenter Extenders that works with Windows Xp Home :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sukamusiru Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 in response to your question, i think it'd be worth it, and be cool :p it's not fun dragging my tower to some other part of the house to throw wires around to get some display for a more general audience than myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted February 21, 2005 Veteran Share Posted February 21, 2005 You could do that. If you have an xbox, you could just get the package to turn it into a media center extender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doli Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 I've watched a PC's video over an svideo connection. The picture was not as good as it was on the monitor. There were some coloring issues especially in areas of light to dark. 585507211[/snapback] The picture should be just as good if not better depends on the video. I was testing my video input on my computer (VCR to input) and the quality didnt look so good on the monitor, but when i played the video from my computer to the TV it llook the same as going from VCR to TV. TV doesnt look good on monitors when people have there screen resolution up high. the only way i can think of a monitor beating a TV is when its a DVD but ill take a TV over a monitor ("hey lets watch a DVD on my monitor everybody, pull your seats up"). oh yea HD looks better on a monitor if you dont have a HDTV, but it makes a nice widescreen version until that HDTV comes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazihouse Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 I have a really old Hitashi TV (20") that doesn't have S-Video input. I run an S-Video cable from my Radeon 9600 and use an S-video --> RCA converter along the way and connect it to my TV. It doesn't look that bad at all, especially on a TV as old as mine. I also connected just a normal jack from the computer and used another converter to put it to RCA all the way to my 5.1 receiver. The sound isn't that bad either. btw, how could I connect surround sound on my computer's sound card to my receiver for the TV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richardo Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 I have a 50' S-Video from my PC to the TV in the living room, and 4.1 ch. sound running through phono cables. For Windows, its virtually unusable. For watching Xvid/DVD its excellent. I also have the ATI Remote Wonder that allows the control of the PC from the living room. I made a program in VB that displays all the movies + tv series i have on my computer, and i can use the remote wonder to navigate that list and play what i want to on the TV. I made the VB app because i needed to make the Text in the "playlist" big enough to see on the Low-Res screen. I love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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