connecting htpc to a Panasonic th-42pa60a plasma

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › connecting htpc to a Panasonic th-42pa60a plasma

Meat2Potatos

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#13424 9-May-2007 19:01

Hey people,

Have any of you ever succeeded connecting a htpc to the above plasma.
I have tried using a vga to rgb component cable and whilst i get a picture, it is coloured wrong, distorted etc.
I am using a integrated gfx solution atm with limited resolutions and when using either 600/480, 800/600 or 1024/768 at 16 bit colours and 60hz refresh, the problem occurs.
i have heard its native resolution is like, 833/480. Is this the resolution i will have to use or have i options.

I would appreciate some informed feedback.

Cheers

RobDickinson

1524 posts

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#70107 10-May-2007 11:14

852 x 480 resolution, but I would have thought the TV is expexcting a standard component video signal, i.e. 576, 720, 1080. Not sure if it'll do VGA via component?

sbiddle

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#70113 10-May-2007 11:34

My understanding was that VGA->Component cables only worked in supported video cards (such as many ATI models).

What is stopping you from using the VGA input on the TV? It's normally always the simplest and best method.

Meat2Potatos

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#70161 10-May-2007 14:09

It didn't come with a vga input. It does however have *1* hdmi input.
Is it the intregrated card thats the problem? Could a albatron 6200 pci, output dvi, input hmdi(to the 42pa60a) with the correct nvidia drivers help resolve this?
Free netvista a30 2.2 ghz celeron, i gb ram 100$,1 pci vid card 147$, a audidgy zs 2 outa the old comp as is the dvd rw.
The stock psu may pooh itself tho.
Just want to have a simple desktop on TV and maybe play the odd old game like total annihilation or the civ series. Watch dvd's off the main yammy setup.
No tv card coz I don't watch tv..
1024/768 would be sweet enough.
What do you think? Achievable easily enough?

Meat2Potatos

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#70162 10-May-2007 14:11

Maybe even a Ati but without a fan is preferable. I don't mind even removing the fan and putting on a bigger hsu

Regs

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Snowflake

#70287 11-May-2007 01:04

I have my HTPC connected to my Samsung 42" Plasma (native 848x480) via DVI. It supports 848x480 as well as 800x600 and 1024x768 resolutions. The DVI output is part of the integrated video on the motherboard - a 6150 Nvidia GPU.

If you want to use the PC Desktop on the screen your best bet is always to use DVI or VGA connections.

If your PC can output DVI-D (i.e. digital DVI, not Analog DVI) then you can probably get a DVI to HDMI cable/converter and connect to the HDMI input on your screen.

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Meat2Potatos

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#70296 11-May-2007 07:38

Thx so far.
I am using the vga/rgb component to connect atm with distorted effects.(via a 845 integrated gfx)
I have seen a albatron 6200alp for like 145 which says dvi out in the blurb yet gives no details if it is dvi-d or dvi-i or even dvi-a.
This is the only pci card i have found so far.

sbiddle

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#70301 11-May-2007 08:07

Meat2Potatos: Thx so far.
I am using the vga/rgb component to connect atm with distorted effects.(via a 845 integrated gfx)
I have seen a albatron 6200alp for like 145 which says dvi out in the blurb yet gives no details if it is dvi-d or dvi-i or even dvi-a.
This is the only pci card i have found so far.

Firstly I can't find any reference to the 845 supporting component output from the D-SUB connector. The 855 appears to be the 1st Intel chipset that does. This will be why your colours are all messed up.

Secondly to use a PC via the HDMI input you need to establish whether your TV can support a PC input via a DVI->HDMI adapter. Many Plasma's (including later model Samsung's) specifically mention this in the manual and it will not work no matter how hard you try. I would suggest ringing Panasonic and finding out whether it is supported and what resolutions/refresh rate you will need to use.

Your best bet may be to look for an ATI card that supports native component output. Hooking a PC up to a flat panel display and getting it perfect can be a very difficult thing to do with many screens. It's nowhere near as simple as just plugging your PC into a PC monitor.

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Meat2Potatos

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#70313 11-May-2007 09:04

thx. I will look into it more.

Meat2Potatos

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#70329 11-May-2007 10:05

Panasonic have said yes to hdmi with the video card/drivers/resolutions etc. being the variable.

sbiddle

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#70365 11-May-2007 12:21

If you're going to go and a buy a DVI->HDMI cable check out Trademe first - I only paid $15 or so for mine which is a lot cheaper than you'll find anywhere else. I actually still use the VGA input on my 50" Pioneer Plasma because IMHO it gives a better picture than using HDMI and I get 1:1 pixel mapping.

lchiu7

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#70394 11-May-2007 16:49

I had some strange experiences when trying to connect my PC to my JVC RP set. Tried VGA first but the set only displays 1024x768 over VGA which meant the image was windowed in the set screen.

Next tried DVI to HDMI but had problems with HDCP and the image would not display. So for a while used a VGA to component adapter and sent 1280x720 (720p) to the TV and compensated for overscan using Powerstrip. But the image was fuzzy.

Finally after endless calls to JVC and several tech visits including a firmware upgrade to the set, got DVI to HDMI to work and compensate for overscan using the builtin ATI HDTV driver configuration. I now send 1280x720 to the TV and the picture is clear.

Works well but it's a little unsettling when the PC boots up and you see nothing on the screen until the Windows logon screen when the HDTV drivers kick in.

Larry

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