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About LinkBacksAnyone know which will give the best picture? My TV is 1080i but my PC can only output VGA. I'd like to get 1080i resolution. Hope this is the right area to post this, thank you.
Which is better for PC to TV: HDMI or VGA?
Anyone know which will give the best picture? My TV is 1080i but my PC can only output VGA. I'd like to get 1080i resolution. Hope this is the right area to post this, thank you.
Greetings UltimateOne welcome to the Forum
I don't think you're going to have much choice with that.
Given what Cable output your PC has, will limit the resolution.
Most TV's will display the highest resolution that is delivered to them,
limited to their Native Resolution.
So, VGA in, VGA out.
Have a good Day !
S.W.
Good Golf, good DTV and anything else that makes you HAPPY !
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My netbook only has the VGA output, but I can tell you that I'm very satisfied with the quality of the picture that is generated.
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You should bear in mind that, although your TV is capable of displaying 1080i, the resolutions available via its VGA port may not actually support that - my Toshiba 32WLT66 doesn't.Originally Posted by UltimateOne
It may be worth you investing in a HDMI-equipped video card for your PC or even changing your PC, if finances permit. I'm currently using an Asrock ION 330 NetBook PC (HDMI built-in) as a HTPC. It's a little slower than a desktop but the picture quality is really good - I didn't even try the VGA connector! Also, in the US, you can get a version with a Blu-Ray drive as standard.
Greetings MikeC welcome to the Forum
Thank you for that most informative post, I had forgotten that one could get a Card where the higher resolutions could be had.
Have a good Day !
S.W.
Good Golf, good DTV and anything else that makes you HAPPY !
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I have just OTA, but I also have a laptop hooked up to my flat screen through the VGA cable for tv, and I am happy with the results.
FWIW.......just bought a new laptop that has HDMI and VGA (no DVI). Also bought a 19" external monitor for $120 that had DVI and VGA (no HDMI). A monitor with HDMI would have been north of $200.
Although the VGA connection looked great, I wondered how much better a HDMI connection would be.
Within a few days, I returned the monitor because for $50/$60 more, I could buy a 19 HDTV with VGA and HDMI (and have a TV as well). Got a Samsung, 720P /1080i w/ 1368 x 768 native resolution.
Had to buy a HDMI cable too (not cheap).
Wound up returning the HDMI cable, because I could not see any difference between VGA and HDMI connection (keep in mind, that the laptop graphics controller was only 1368 x 768 capable).
Understood, that there are situations / applications where a HDMI connection would be beneficial.
Last edited by serndipity; 02-08-2010 at 02:11 PM.
I bought a cheap ($20) video card for my PC and it can output 1080i (or other settings) via HDMI and do sound as well. If you have a desktop PC and don't have a good video output for what you want, you may want to invest in a similar card. VGA (15 pin blue connector) can output a great resolution if you need it, it just depends on the video card output capability.
Do you know what card you have, or would you be able to put in a new one that can do what you want?
Just a cautionary note, check the allowed resolutions for your tv relative to output over VGA. My 3 yr old LG tv (720p) will only allow low resolutions via VGA but full high def over HDMI. Be careful not to overdrive your tv with too high of VGA resolutions, you may damage it.
BTW, Acer monitors are built by Samsung and come with a VGA, DVI, and HDMI cable. I just purchased a 24" Acer with 1920x1080 native resolution. My old Ati Radeon 9800 pro (video card) outputs a stunning high def picture from my HVR 1600 video capture card using an OTA source.
Last edited by IDRick; 02-09-2010 at 08:27 AM.
HDMI will definitely give you the best picture.
The best way to do it is eliminate the Analog signal completely. If you stick with VGA your computer is basically converting its digital signal into an analog signal...then the TV is converting it back to digital. Doing that you will get signal loss...there's no way you can avoid it. With some TVs this won't affect the picture quality...with others it will degrade it heavily.
It would be best to get a card that does HDMI directly as that will carry both the audio and video in the best quality possible. To the PC the TV essentially becomes a monitor so it will display a resolution as high as the TV will support.
My HTPC (Home Theater PC) uses a DVI connection with a stereo audio connection to my TV. I've noticed though that most TV's these days don't support a DVI connection...it's either VGA (they almost always call it the "PC connection", and don't specify whether that's VGA or DVI), HDMI, Component, or Composite. Getting a new TV with my tax return so with that I'm going to be doing all HDMI connections.
Last edited by thor79; 02-13-2010 at 03:23 PM.
Aaron62 (02-15-2010)
Another couple of issues with TV HDMI on my set-up (Toshiba 32WLT66 and Asrock ION 330):
1) The TV has to have the PC's HDMI port selected when the PC is started, or the PC doesn't see the HDMI connection.
2) The HDMI audio connection is unreliable so I have to use the analogue audio connection.
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