Video from IBM to TV

[Meta03]

Is it possible to run video from a Thinkpad T43 to a TV through an S-Video cable, or some other means?

[Rushdie]

Sure. If you are limited to old school stuff, S-Video will fit your bill. You could also use the VGA interface directly to a TV, if that TV supports VGA. If you want to go digital I guess you'll have to use a docking station / port replicator to get access to an DVI port.


The following is just an note for the tech geeks:
With some minor soldering skills / ebay skills it's possible to create / get an adapter for running RGB with composite sync (instead of the RGB + horizontal + vertical sync). This can then be plugged into most TV:s using the SCART connector. Normal CRT monitors uses the VGA interface for sending RGB + horizontal and vertical synchronization. However, for some reason, RGB with a combined / composite sync used for TV:s (mostly through the SCART connector). Not all graphics cards have this capability, but ATI cards from the 7000-series on onward have it (not sure about the current ones...). This was quite popular back in the days when there was no digital interfaces available.

[RealBlackStuff]

FYI: Scart is not available in the USA.

[Rushdie]

FYI: Scart is not available in the USA.

Yea, forgot that. Do you have any means of connecting RGB (with any synchronization technique) to an older TV? Or are / were US users limited to S-Video only?

[Meta03]

I connected an S-Video cable from my T43 to the back of a JVC TV, but no picture, or sound. I tried to switch to different Inputs and channels on the TV. Do I need to do something on the computer to have it go through the S-Video cable?

[GomJabbar]

For S-Video to work, you have to right-click on the desktop, choose Properties > Settings > Advanced > Displays > click on the button for TV so that the button turns from Red to Green. For this to work, you need to have the TV connected, turned on, and set to the correct input (channel). Once this is done, to choose to watch videos on the TV, click on the Overlay tab and choose Theater mode options > then choose Theater Mode or Same on all.

Note that the S-Video cable does not include audio. For sound you need a second cable from the Line Out jack (1/8" mini stereo phono plug) on the ThinkPad, and connect the other end to the Audio In jack(s). These jacks are generally Red (right-channel) and White (left-channel). You can use a Y-splitter cable to get stereo on the TV. If you only have a single jack, it is normally White (mono).