Toshiba 26" LCD TV as monitor? PLEASE HELP

**BKscrub** · 14-05-2009

Hi, I have a 26" Toshiba LCD TV (26AV502U) that I'm trying to use as a monitor for my HP Pavilion 750n, yes I know..it's old lol

Anyways..when I connect my TV to my computer via VGA/RGB, whatever it's called, it says there is no video signal..I think my video card is a NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64/Model 64 Pro....I just downloaded the latest drivers for it..but that didn't help.

Do I need to upgrade my video card?
Or maybe upgrade my TV's firmware?

Or is there some other way that I can connect my TV to use it as a monitor?
Like maybe VGA to HDMI?

I want it to look good, I remember a few of my teachers used to have some kind of adapter to where they could plug their computers into their TV with the red, white, and yellow plugs(sorry, I don't know what they are called...A/V maybe?..idk..) but it wasn't very good video quality...

Any help is appreciated...and sorry if it's confusing..
I can give any information needed, just tell me how I would find it

**Russell** · 14-05-2009

Or is there some other way that I can connect my TV to use it as a monitor?

connecting LCD TV to PC
Hook Laptop to TV
I think this could help you out.

**David23** · 14-05-2009

If you can take your computer down to 640x480, you can try connecting it to your TV. Many laptops actually include an "s-video" out for exactly this purpose. Depending on your laptop it may be treated as a mirror of your laptop display, or as a second monitor, or you may be able to switch between them. You will quickly see that the quality of the display is, likely, very very poor.

If S-video is not an option, there are converter boxes available from places like Radio Shack that will take a standard VGA connector and turn it into a composite video signal that can be plugged into a TV with a composite input. In general this results in roughly the same poor quality computer display.

Surprisingly, in both of those cases, video playback can actually look quite good. What I mean is that if you're using your TV as a computer monitor and to do typical things like reading email or surfing the web, you'll be quite disappointed. However if you are playing back a video - say playing a DVD in your computer and watching it on the monitor - it seems to be quite acceptable. My theory is that most DVDs and other videos are targeted at exactly the TV's resolution, and that, plus the fact that for video we're "used to" that resolution, our expectations for that type of display are simply met.

Oh, and as to using it as a second monitor - to mirror what's going on on your primary computer screen: many laptops support using both the internal LCD screen and the VGA (or S-Video) output at the same time, so you may be able to simply hook it up. If you don't have that option, you'll need to get a splitter of some sort that will allow you to take your computer's monitor output and send it to two different devices: your regular computer screen, and a VGA converter box as I described above. Alternately you could purchase a video card that supports TV-out, or supports dual screens.

Now, there is salvation on the horizon, but it'll require a new TV. Newer TV's are going digital, and many do, in fact, have digital (DVI) input - particularly those that are High Definition (HD) ready. In these cases you actually stand a chance of being able to connect your computer directly to the TV. The TV may not support the same higher resolutions that your computer monitor might, but they'll almost certainly support resolutions that are much more acceptable for computer usage.

Source : yahoo answers

**ApPy10** · 14-05-2009

I think there is a direct cable now-a-days available which you can connect to your TV and your system. Don't need to upgrade TV's firmware. Since your system is old, try to upgrade your video/graphic card and check....

**BKscrub** · 15-05-2009

Wow, thanks for the help guys

I wasn't sure if anyone would be willing to help me out

My computer, sadly, does not have an s-video or a DVI output on it..only VGA..I've tried the 640x480 resolution, as well as changing the refresh rate to 60Hz...but it still doesn't want to work :/

I think I just need to upgrade my video card...and buy a DVI to HDMI cable...

Do you guys have any suggestions on a decent card (lower price range) that would allow me to display my computer on my TV?

Oh, I would like to add that my TV is an HDTV (720p)...I would like to get the most out of it...it's mostly going to be used for MySpace and watching movies...so it needs to be as clear as possible, for text and video...

Thank you again for the help