Thinkpads Forum

Hi

I will be connecting my T61 to my Samsung HDTV. I plan on using a sub d
connection going from the laptop to the TV.

Everything will be wireless and l checked out the wireless for my laptop and it works well.

Could this be that simple or is there a specific kind of sub d that l have to use. The sub D is a 15 pin.

I only need the picture and not the sound but as long as l'm doing it l might as well try it.

Keep in mind D-sub (aka VGA) is 1) analogue and 2) limited to 1366x768 on HDTVs. Apart from that, it should just work with any D-sub (VGA) male-male cable.

However, if you're going to be connecting to your HDTV regularly and would like to obtain best possible picture quality, I would strongly recommend using DVI connection on a docking station with a DVI-HDMI adapter and a standard HDMI cable. This way you will be able to output full HD 1080p from your laptop and use your HDTV in its native resolution.

Pete

piit wrote:Keep in mind D-sub (aka VGA) is 1) analogue and 2) limited to 1366x768 on HDTVs.[...]

A VGA connection will handle up to 2048x1536 IIRC, I'm sure it handles 1080p (1920x1080@60Hz) because I've used it several times.

So, unless you're talking about big distances from your laptop to your HDTV, and assuming you have a decent quality cable, VGA should work just fine.

wap32 wrote:A VGA connection will handle up to 2048x1536 IIRC, I'm sure it handles 1080p (1920x1080@60Hz) because I've used it several times.

You are probably talking about conventional LCD monitors. For HDTVs, the problem is that many if not most of them limit their VGA input to 1680x1050 or less. Only the HDMI input supports 1920x1080.

pianowizard wrote:You are probably talking about conventional LCD monitors. For HDTVs, the problem is that many if not most of them limit their VGA input to 1680x1050 or less. Only the HDMI input supports 1920x1080.

Oh, I misunderstood that it was being mentioned as a connection limitation, sorry.

All the HDTVs I've come across supported a VGA link w/ the native resolution (Samsungs mostly).
But then again I didn't come across that many HDTV's, so my experience is limited.

My Vizio 32" supports the full 1920x1080

I just use an Advanced Mini Dock (can get them cheaply from eBay)

Connect video via dock DVI to HDMI cable and select underscan to 0% in the Video Driver control panel

Audio via SPDIF in dock to amp

Must use Audio Driver version Audio Features for Windows XP 5.10.1.5410 as 5.10.1.5520 disables SPDIF

Also the T61 Audio driver locks the SPDIF and headphone/line out together so if you mute internal speakers SPDIF is also muted so just insert a dummy 3.5mm plug into the headphone/line out in the dock and the internal speakers will be muted

When you mute sound on all other ThinkPads SPDIF is not affected it is only the T61 driver.

The only issue I have is that ALL Nvidia Drivers make video playback over bright as described in the post below. If anyone knows how to fix this please tell me it looks great under Linux and the Windows Drivers are hopeless.

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=76965