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How can I make this work?

buffettfan33

buffettfan33

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 7, 2005
56
0
Arlington, VA
Hello All,
I have a 32" Gateway Destination monitor that I am trying to use as my TV. The problem is that it only has a VGA in hookup on the back. I basically need a RCA in female to a VGA out male cable, but I haven't found one for sale yet. This could turn out to be a stupid question but beings that 99.8% of you are much smarter than me, I thought I'd run it by the MR crowd first. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions on how to get this working it would be much appreciated.
 
I think you want something like this ... try googling for "VGA composite adapter" or something of the like, instead of using "RCA" -- that might get you more hits. Good luck! It's very frustrating when you're so close to looking for something right, and some small interchange of words means you can't find it with search engines. :(
 
Unfortunatly I already bought that cable and it does not work. That cable is only for VGA out, and does not work the other way around. Any other ideas??? BTW if anyone needs a cable like the one in the above link, PM me, as I have one sitting here with no use.
 
Anyone else have any other ideas for this? Also, if someone on here knows how or knows someone who could make a RCA-in Female to VGA-out Male cable I would be willing to pay (within reason). Thanks for all the help! :D
 
buffettfan33 said:
Anyone else have any other ideas for this? Also, if someone on here knows how or knows someone who could make a RCA-in Female to VGA-out Male cable I would be willing to pay (within reason). Thanks for all the help! :D
Click to expand...

Wait... RCA Female to VGA Male is what the cable I linked is. Do you need the opposite -- a cable with a VGA female plug? I'm confused.
 
I thought it was the right one as well, but when I received it, it was clearly marked RCA out, when I need it to be RCA in. I didn't think this would make a difference, but when I tried to use it, I only got a medium sized flickering red box on the monitor. I know the monitor works, because when I directly connect my roommates laptop to it (VGA to VGA), it works great, so I am assuming it is the wrong cable. Is this a correct assumption?
 
buffettfan33 said:
I thought it was the right one as well, but when I received it, it was clearly marked RCA out, when I need it to be RCA in. I didn't think this would make a difference, but when I tried to use it, I only got a medium sized flickering red box on the monitor. I know the monitor works, because when I directly connect my roommates laptop to it (VGA to VGA), it works great, so I am assuming it is the wrong cable. Is this a correct assumption?
Click to expand...

What exactly are you hooking into the monitor?
 
You'll need more than a cable as your trying to feed a component monitor with a composite source. Basically you'll need a device capable of demuxing the colour info from the composite feed and then converting it to analogue component. Try googling VGA standards converters but you may be shocked by the cost.
 
leachy said:
You'll need more than a cable as your trying to feed a component monitor with a composite source. Basically you'll need a device capable of demuxing the colour info from the composite feed and then converting it to analogue component. Try googling VGA standards converters but you may be shocked by the cost.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is what I'm thinking too, as you described it more and I understood it more. :eek:

I think the sort of device you want will cost you closer to $70-100. Probably something like this:

http://www.svideo.com/video2vga.html

If your VCR has S-Video, that'll be slightly better than composite. If it has component outs, better yet.
 
WHOA, never thought it would be that expensive. Oh well, for a 32 inch TV, it might be worth it. Or mabye I'll be selfish and just connect my powerbook to it in my room. :D Thanks for all your help mkrishnan and leachy, much appreciated!!!
 
if there is a proper cable converter, i dont think it will work, or if it does it wont look good. analog television signals are at a very low resolution, a VGA conection starts a 800x600 resolution and works its way up from there. it can display smaller resolution but it ends up turning the smaller resolution into huge pixels on the screen. so essentially the image would be very pixilated. what i would do is buy a mac mini and an el gato eye TV the eye TV can take the analog signial from the RCA jack and convert it into a digital signal that will go into the mac mini through firewire. then out of the firewire will come a crisp digital signal which will work well on the monitor. you can then set up your mac mini and possibly an external HD as a DVR (Digital Video Recorder, like a VCR but records to a hard drive) that is not exactly the least expensive solution but it would work.

i found this http://www.starkelectronic.com/vga300.htm it would work. it takes the analog signal and prcesses it to a proper VGA resolution so you can hook it into your VGA monitor. im 99% sure a VGA monitor cannot read a standard TV analog signal (unless it has a built in converter like the dell 2005fpw i have, and some other monitors. they essentially have this box i gave a link to built into the monitor)
 
You need an AVerTV Box made by AVerMedia. Have a look for one on eBay.
 
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