netbook with vga slot to hdtv connection?

kate36kate36 Posts: 13,715
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is it feasible to connect my netbook which only has a vga slot [which i think is analogue] to a hdmi slot on my hdtv?

i have seen vga/hdmi cables but am reluctant to buy unless i know they will work, i always thought you needed something else as well?

feedback appreciated, thanks
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  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    kate36 wrote: »
    is it feasible to connect my netbook which only has a vga slot [which i think is analogue] to a hdmi slot on my hdtv?

    i have seen vga/hdmi cables but am reluctant to buy unless i know they will work, i always thought you needed something else as well?

    feedback appreciated, thanks
    The only way a VGA to HDMI cable can possibly work is if the graphics card in your netbook has the ability to feed digital signals out of the VGA socket instead of the normal analogue. Not many such machines I have seen have this capability.

    You will probably need a box to convert the VGA format to HDMI format. Always assuming of course that your telly does not have VGA on the back.
  • Nigel GoodwinNigel Goodwin Posts: 58,423
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    Yes, she will need an converter, which is fairly expensive - the silly leads are useless and highly misleading.

    But as Chris said, most TV's also have VGA connections for just such a purpose - post the make and model.
  • gomezzgomezz Posts: 44,610
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    And note that a separate audio connection will be needed for sound. TV sets with a VGA input normally have an associated audio input socket which can be connected to the headphone socket of the tablet.
  • kate36kate36 Posts: 13,715
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    Yes, she will need an converter, which is fairly expensive - the silly leads are useless and highly misleading.

    But as Chris said, most TV's also have VGA connections for just such a purpose - post the make and model.

    thanks all, i will see if tv has vga, as you say im sure it will but will it stream a decent quality picture? i want to stream lovefilm instant to tv
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    kate36 wrote: »
    thanks all, i will see if tv has vga, as you say im sure it will but will it stream a decent quality picture? i want to stream lovefilm instant to tv
    VGA is perfectly capable of delivering very high quality images at full HD resolution if required.

    Unless that is you use a cheap and nasty cable over a very long run. But with good quality cable on up to 5m runs it is unlikely you would see much difference between HDMI and VGA. The quality of the stream is more likely to limit the picture quality than the connection to the telly.
  • c4rvc4rv Posts: 29,585
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    not used it myself but seems to be pretty good reviews on amazon,

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cable-Mountain-Plated-integrated-Stereo/dp/B003B23C0E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393798900&sr=8-1

    note, might be a bit tricky if your headphone socket is on the opposite side of VGA connector.
  • kate36kate36 Posts: 13,715
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    chrisjr wrote: »
    VGA is perfectly capable of delivering very high quality images at full HD resolution if required.

    Unless that is you use a cheap and nasty cable over a very long run. But with good quality cable on up to 5m runs it is unlikely you would see much difference between HDMI and VGA. The quality of the stream is more likely to limit the picture quality than the connection to the telly.

    thanks for that; i've just checked tv in bedroom, that doesn't have a VGA slot just two HDMI slots and it has s-video and audio slots and Pb ? py? slots not sure what they are!
    will check the tv in the lounge tomorrow; that is the main one i want to hook up with really

    thanks again :)
  • grahamlthompsongrahamlthompson Posts: 18,486
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    Not being in anyway judgemental, I have a PC with a dual output graphic card connected to two identical monitors. One is connected digitally via a DVI connection, the other is by a analogue VGA connection.

    The PC can output an image to both monitors.

    Using Photoshop to display the same image at the same zoom resolution I defy anyone to tell which monitor has the digital connection and which has the analogue one.

    HDMI output has one capability the analogue one does not, its sod all to do with quality, rather more to do with copyright anti copying protection.

    A digital output can be protected with HDCP (High Definition Copy Protection), the same quality output by XVGA cannot.

    It's a myth that digital is capable of higher quality output than analogue, the real truth is that digital can get very close to analogue using lossy compression like mpeg2/AVCH264 using a very small amount of the carrier bandwidth using much less than a analogue channel would require.

    Digital TV uses a clever way of reducing the amount of video data by essentially discarding some video information that may be able to recover most of the information later. How much is lost depends on the resources allocated to the video capability.

    The process uses industry standard compression standards, SD channels use the same system as used on DVD-Video discs (mpeg2). Advances in the way digital content can be compressed means that HD channels use the more efficient H264/AVC compression codec, which means that HD video is now possible using similar bandwidth to that used for the best SD channels of just a few years ago,


    Digital offers many advantages over PAL analogue, it is capable of transmitting many channels in the same bandwidth as used by one . As in all things the more content you add to the analogue carrier, the worse the picture gets, as it's a compromise..

    Look at crap picture quality of Channel 5 on a satellite box if you have one, and compare it to mainstream channel like BBC1. Now look at most pop channels, unlike the BBC which uses 720 x 576 pixels for SD content backed up by a sensible bitrate, and compare the quality (many are just 544 x 576 pixels)

    A new compression codec (H265) now offers 4 times the resolution of the current Full-HD (1920 x 1080) pixels at much less than 4 times the broadcast requirements for full HD.


    http://www.eoshd.com/content/11534/new-h-265-codec-test-prores-4444-quality-1-file-size
  • Nigel GoodwinNigel Goodwin Posts: 58,423
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    Not being in anyway judgemental, I have a PC with a dual output graphic card connected to two identical monitors. One is connected digitally via a DVI connection, the other is by a analogue VGA connection.

    The PC can output an image to both monitors.

    Using Photoshop to display the same image at the same zoom resolution I defy anyone to tell which monitor has the digital connection and which has the analogue one.

    Just as I've always said, VGA is just as good as HDMI (I use VGA on my home computer even though both computer and monitor also have HDMI - no reason to change it).

    Likewise, for SD signals RGB SCART is just as good as HDMI as well - both greatly exceed the signals requirements.
  • scruffpotscruffpot Posts: 4,570
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  • Nigel GoodwinNigel Goodwin Posts: 58,423
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    scruffpot wrote: »

    They don't appear to mention HDCP compatibility?.

    And again, try mentioning your TV's make and model number.
  • scruffpotscruffpot Posts: 4,570
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    HDCP compatibility?.

    .

    whats that then nigel?
  • kate36kate36 Posts: 13,715
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    Just as I've always said, VGA is just as good as HDMI (I use VGA on my home computer even though both computer and monitor also have HDMI - no reason to change it).

    Likewise, for SD signals RGB SCART is just as good as HDMI as well - both greatly exceed the signals requirements.

    neither tv has VGA connection:(
    i think both tvs have RGB connections, but can i use these in connection wtih vga on netbook?

    totally confused now, i may just as well buy a low priced tablet with hdmi slot!:(
  • emptyboxemptybox Posts: 13,917
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    kate36 wrote: »
    neither tv has VGA connection:(
    i think both tvs have RGB connections, but can i use these in connection wtih vga on netbook?

    totally confused now, i may just as well buy a low priced tablet with hdmi slot!:(

    If you give us the make and model of your TV, we might be able to see online what connections it has. :)
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    kate36 wrote: »
    neither tv has VGA connection:(
    i think both tvs have RGB connections, but can i use these in connection wtih vga on netbook?

    totally confused now, i may just as well buy a low priced tablet with hdmi slot!:(
    Anything other than a proper VGA input on the telly is likely to involve faffing about with converter boxes of one sort or another to get satisfactory results.

    If by RGB you mean three phono sockets coloured Red Green and Blue labelled Y, Pr and Pb then these are Component video. Which is not the same as RGB which is usually available on SCART connections.

    VGA to SCART leads exist but it is a bit of a lottery whether they actually work in my experience.
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    scruffpot wrote: »
    whats that then nigel?
    HDCP is a content protection system. It's purpose is to prevent copying of copyright protected material.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-bandwidth_Digital_Content_Protection
  • scruffpotscruffpot Posts: 4,570
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    chrisjr wrote: »
    HDCP is a content protection system. It's purpose is to prevent copying of copyright protected material.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-bandwidth_Digital_Content_Protection

    thanks nigel
  • Nigel GoodwinNigel Goodwin Posts: 58,423
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    chrisjr wrote: »
    VGA to SCART leads exist but it is a bit of a lottery whether they actually work in my experience.

    Not a 'lottery' as all, they don't work - end of story :D

    SCART and VGA are completely incompatible - the (mostly useless) leads are for connecting RGB SCART output from a games console to the SCART socket on a TV - where the games console uses the VGA style socket for outputting SCART signals.

    It's no use whatsoever for anything to do with VGA.
  • gomezzgomezz Posts: 44,610
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    I used to use a VGA to Composite converter box. Awful sub-VCR results though.
  • kate36kate36 Posts: 13,715
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    thanks all, i will post exact details of make and model asap :D
  • Nigel GoodwinNigel Goodwin Posts: 58,423
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    oilman wrote: »

    It's not an 'adaptor', it's just a USB video card - unlikely to be of any use unless you can source and install suitable drivers on the netbook.
  • oilmanoilman Posts: 4,529
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    It's not an 'adaptor', it's just a USB video card - unlikely to be of any use unless you can source and install suitable drivers on the netbook.

    Text from website below says it has the drivers except for Windows 8.1?
    So as far as I can see, this would work, unless they are lying?
    Opinion?



    - Compatible with Window XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Window 8.0(only), Apple Mac OS* X operating systems, Snow Leopard 10.6.8, Lion 10.7.2, and 10.8.0.
    CAN NOT Support Windows 8.1 , because factory has no 8.1 driver at the moment !

    Applications:
    - Multi-task more effectively without overlapping windows.
    - Compare two documents simultaneously across two screens.
    - View/display financial charts/data on multi screens at the same time for financial analysis.
    - Edit/type on one screens while surfing the Internet information or viewing referene material on the other.
    - Multi-screen presentations/exhibitions in bussiness conference or trade show.
    - Working on one monitor while displaying movies for your family on the other.
    - View videos on one screen and review on the other.
    - Get additional perspectives for game playing.

    How to USE?
    1. Install the correct driver for your computer's system,the driver is in the Mini CD.
    2. Plug the item into computer's USB and 3.5mm audio port directly, use a HDMI cable to connect it to the TV.
    3. Restart the computer,then set the output in screen resolution. All done.
  • grahamlthompsongrahamlthompson Posts: 18,486
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    oilman wrote: »
    Text from website below says it has the drivers except for Windows 8.1?
    So as far as I can see, this would work, unless they are lying?
    Opinion?



    - Compatible with Window XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Window 8.0(only), Apple Mac OS* X operating systems, Snow Leopard 10.6.8, Lion 10.7.2, and 10.8.0.
    CAN NOT Support Windows 8.1 , because factory has no 8.1 driver at the moment !

    Applications:
    - Multi-task more effectively without overlapping windows.
    - Compare two documents simultaneously across two screens.
    - View/display financial charts/data on multi screens at the same time for financial analysis.
    - Edit/type on one screens while surfing the Internet information or viewing referene material on the other.
    - Multi-screen presentations/exhibitions in bussiness conference or trade show.
    - Working on one monitor while displaying movies for your family on the other.
    - View videos on one screen and review on the other.
    - Get additional perspectives for game playing.

    How to USE?
    1. Install the correct driver for your computer's system,the driver is in the Mini CD.
    2. Plug the item into computer's USB and 3.5mm audio port directly, use a HDMI cable to connect it to the TV.
    3. Restart the computer,then set the output in screen resolution. All done.

    Can't see any reason other than the computer not having enough processing power to handle HD content why it would not.

    Doubt it would work very well on my Atom processor Win 7 starter netbook for example.
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    oilman wrote: »
    Text from website below says it has the drivers except for Windows 8.1?
    So as far as I can see, this would work, unless they are lying?
    Opinion?
    The OP has a Netbook. The drivers for this device come on a CD. The only fly in the ointment (assuming the machine is man enough for the job) is does the Netbook have an optical drive to load the drivers from the CD?

    If it doesn't then that might cause some hassle if the drivers cannot be downloaded from the interweb or the OP does not have another machine with a CD drive to copy the files onto a USB stick to transfer over to the Netbook.
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