Connect your TV: S-Video or RCA?

The TV-Out feature adds great benefits and flexibility to your PC. The ability to view the computer’s display on a television gives the user the advantage of more desktop space. The TV-Out feature on EVGA.com video cards may either be selective or have the TwinView feature. TwinView offers the option of having one computer monitor and one TV displaying video at the same time. The selective feature, on the other hand, allows the use of only one display at a time (computer monitor only or TV only).

Identifying the Video Output Jacks

The video output jacks are located on the backside of the video card’s mounting bracket. There will either be one or two types of video output jacks depending on the EVGA.com TV Out video card that was purchased. The first type of jack is a 4-pin female S-Video jack. An S-Video cable will be supplied with video cards that have this jack. The second type of jack is commonly referred to as an “RCA” video jack. The correct name is Composite Video female output jack, and its yellow color is easily identified. Televisions that do not have S-Video Input jacks may be connected to EVGA.com video cards using a single Composite video cable. If you had purchased a video card that only supports the S-Video feature but your television set only supports a composite connection, an after market adapter can be purchased that can convert the video signal from S-Video to Composite or vice versa. These cables can be purchased at an electronics store or online at http://www.svideotorca.com.

   
S-Video on the left, Composite Video (RCA) on the right.

S-Video Versus Composite Video Resolution:

Aside from the higher resolution that S-Video offers over Composite video, there are other factors as to why an S-Video signal looks clearer than a Composite video signal. S-Video is also known as Y/C video where the Y represents luminance (black and white portion) and the C represents chrominance (color portion). S-Video separates these two signals which results in a higher picture quality. Composite video combines both the luminance and chrominance into a single signal which must then be separated by a comb filter inside the television. During this separation, certain amounts of distortion and signal degradation occur.

Preparing the Television for TV Out:

Be sure that your operating system is using the correct drivers for your EVGA.com video card before connecting it to a television. You can refer to our Install Guides available under our Support page for detailed step-by-step instructions on how to check if your system is using the correct drivers as well as which version of drivers you have currently installed. After confirming the preceding, you are now ready to connect a television. The following are recommended steps:

1. Shut down your computer completely.
2. Be sure the television is powered off.
3. Connect either the S-Video cable or a Composite video cable to the back of the mounting bracket of the video card. These jacks will be located next to the DB15 jack for the computer monitor.
4. Connect the other end of the S-Video cable or the Composite video cable to any available Video In/Video Input jack on the television.
5. Turn on your television and select the correct video input.
6. Turn on and boot-up the computer.

Avoiding Possible Problems:

The maximum display settings for televisions are 800x600, 32-bit color set at a refresh rate of 60Hz.

Please Note: any display settings above these values may cause irreparable damage to your television set!

When connecting the video card to a television, it is highly recommended to go directly to the TV and not through any type of intermediate devices. There is a 50% chance of successful video output when a VCR, RF Modulator, Receiver, or any other similar device is being used.

For DVD playback and the TwinView feature: Select Clone Mode under TwinView options and use the Video Mirror Controls, found in the Overlay Controls Panel, to adjust advanced settings. Click here and download the Detonator Driver Release Notes (Adobe Acrobat, PDF) for a complete guide on how to access Clone Mode, Overlay Controls, and Video Mirror Controls.