S-Video Tv-out Resolutions

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Gerryn · #1 Post by **Gerryn** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:44 pm

Hi everyone.

I have a ThinkPad T42, with ATI7500 video, and I am trying to use the S-Video port to connect to my television. My TV is a Sony Widescreen HDTV.

The problem is... when I connect the ThinkPad via S-Video, the only resolutions I can choose are 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768. Even at 1024x768, it looks quite ugly.

I need to get the full widescreen HD resolution (Like 720p or 1080i) How do I do this? My TV does not have VGA or DVI, only s-video, regular video input, and HD inputs. Is there any way I can get the full resolution with my ThinkPad?

#2 Post by **GomJabbar** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 9:02 pm

Most commercial DVD player software (ie WinDVD or PowerDVD) has the option to maintain the aspect ratio. On a regular TV this results in letterbox viewing. I am not sure how it would work with a true widescreen TV.

davidspalding · #3 Post by **davidspalding** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 12:22 pm

I've seen Windows figure itself out, and offer 16:9 desktop resolutions when you boot up with the external TV already attached. make sure your TV is in 16:9 (not a "zoom" res, but true reverse anamorphic 16:9) mode beforehand.

Gerryn · #4 Post by **Gerryn** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 4:18 pm

I did boot up with the TV attached and turned on. The only resolutions that are available are the 4:3 resolutions up to 1600x12800, plus 5:4 1280x1024. If I choose a resolution over 1024x768, it goes into panning mode. It won't display more than 1024x768 pixels at one time. My TV should be able to run everything up to 1080i resolution, however nothing above 1024x768 works.

Bgradid · #5 Post by **Bgradid** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 4:25 pm

It'd be an ugly mess, but, I think there's DVI on a thinkpad dock, from which you can go to HDMI (which you might have)

davidspalding · #6 Post by **davidspalding** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 4:44 pm

Bgradid wrote:It'd be an ugly mess, but, I think there's DVI on a thinkpad dock, from which you can go to HDMI (which you might have)

Actually, I do exactly this with a MiniDock and Dock II, and it works quite nicely. The resolutions I can do with my 31" hdtv are 1920x1080 (preferred) and 1700x1133 (or something like that; not as good).

Check here for some more info:

http://www.hdtvinfoport.com/HDTV-Resolution.html

I might be mistaken about the S-video out doing 16:9 resolutions at all, as I've only done this once, and I left my tv at 4:3 without trying to change to widescreen. It could well be that you either have to use ATI's driver utillities to drive the s-video at a specific resolution, or rig a digital connection.

[edit] Actually, if the TV has DVI, a straight DVI-D to DVI cable should work, too.

strikeback03 · #7 Post by **strikeback03** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 7:12 pm

IIRC, the S-video standard only supports up to 640x480 or 800x600 anyway. that is why it has been replaced with the spread of HD.

S-Video Tv-out Resolutions

S-Video Tv-out Resolutions

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