ATI component adapters?

[amheck]

Hi gang,

I have a 9800Pro that I want to hook up to my HTPC. I currently have it hooked up by S-Video and the picture does not look that good. I've been looking at component adapters and they seem to sell generic ones that are made specifically for the 9800 series card. I have an adpater with my x800xl that has a S-video connection at one end, and then component out of the other.

2 questions:

1. Will my x800xl adapter work with the 9800 pro?
2. If its S-video out of the card, how do you get component resolution out of that connection? I notice a lot of the new cards (2600xt's and 38xx's) also have the same S-video to component adapter.

Thanks!
Aaron

 

[jeoyjojojrshabadoo]

I don't have an answer to this, but have always been curious as well.
What are the resolution limitations on s-video?
Can it output 1080i? 720p?
Hopefully, this will be seen as a bump, as it is not intended as a hijack.

 

[JBT]

The out put of which you speak is a 7 pin S-video It can out put HD resolutions. 1080i, 720p, and possibly even 1080p with Component output.

4 pin S-Video only does 480i/576i (NSTC/PAL). and plugs into devices like DVD players, VCR's, SD TV's.

Very informative >>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-Video

The output on your video card has 7 pins like in this pic http://www.tigerdirect.com/ima...tails/faqvideocard.gif and again can out put HD resolutions.

As long as the pin outs fit there should be no reason the adapters won't work on diffrent cards.

Most devices that have an actual S-Video connection phyisicaly plug into them are only going to display 480i. If a video card has an adapter from your s-video output to convert to Component then it will display in HD resolutions.

 

[taltamir]

The HD out on a video card is not s-video... S-video is crap. Component on the other hand is arguably better then DVI.

Connect a component splitter to the HD out jack and then plug that in to your TV, it is THE BEST way to plug an HDTV to a computer.

That being said. I have an 9800 Pro sitting on the floor right next to me (i was gonna sell it) and it has S-video, not HD out. Those "HD component dongles" are for the higher end models that replace the S-video with HDout, HD out LOOKS like S video but has way more pins and you CANNOT plug an S-video connector to it. (the pins don't match)

 

[amheck]

Thanks everyone. That makes total sense. I never thought to look at the number of pins, was just looking at the shape of the hole.

I'll have to check out what my x800xl came with and see if its the 4-pin or not. I'm curious now. I know the DVI to component adapters that I'm finding are listed as only working on the 8500, 9500, 9600, 9700, and 9800 series cards, so I guess there is some different.

I'm hoping to upgrade that system soon anyway, so hoping I won't have to deal with this 9800 Pro for too long.

On a side note, does anyone know what the DIP switches are for on the ATI component adapters? The one at monoprice.com has them, but they've been OOS for a while. I'm prretty sure the OEM ATI one has them, too, but those are like $30. I found one at a store call Abacus24-7, but it doesn't have the DIP switches. Just curious what those are used for.

Appreciate the info!

 

[hans007]

its likely that the 9800 and below do not have the 7 pin jacks... which is probably why they made the component to dvi adapters...


i think there are also vga analog to component adapters out there also as component is supposed to be very similar to analog RGB>

 

[themisfit610]

It is, but VGA is RGB, and Component is YUV, so a conversion is implicit. However, this conversion isn't THAT hard - provided you have some hardware to do it.

~MiSfit

 

[taltamir]

DVI has both digital AND analog output on it... So you can use a convertor... but is it to COMPONENT or COMPOSITE! Composite is lower quality then S-video. Component is higher quality...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvi

Quality levels:
1. DVI & Component
2. VGA
3. S-Video
4. Composite


and even if it is component, does it actually allow full 1080p over component or is it limited to a lower resolution (Since you could transfer a non HD signal over component if you wanted to)