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The tv is a Sharp Aquos 26". The computer is a Compaq with integrated Intel graphics.

Can I do this?

I've tried hooking up the VGA cable directly to the VGA input, but all I get is a message on the screen: Signal is not compatible with this input.

I don't understand why that would be; it's a VGA input, and I'm connecting a VGA cable to it. The television supports HDTV and has two HDMI inputs, in addition to the regular RCA connectors and the VGA input.

The problem isn't that the signal isn't electrically compatible. It's that your feeding the display the wrong resolution. It's going to want a specific resolution, that could probably either be found in the manual, or using Google.

Beowulf wrote:The problem isn't that the signal isn't electrically compatible. It's that your feeding the display the wrong resolution. It's going to want a specific resolution, that could probably either be found in the manual, or using Google.

A very specific res? Most monitors can show a few different resolutions, as far as I can recall. Is that different with TVs?

Yeah, check your manual to find the panel's native resolution. Anything over it (and in some cases, anything not in the same ratio) won't display properly. For instance, my TV can do ~1300x~1000, but won't do 720p (a lower resolution) without some encouragement.


EDIT - your problem is that non-HD TVs often have very poor resolution: I've seen panels that can't do over 1024x768, and yet are 36". It's more likely the panel being fussy about what ratios and resolutions it likes, though, as I described above. Check the manual.

Phantasee wrote:

Beowulf wrote:The problem isn't that the signal isn't electrically compatible. It's that your feeding the display the wrong resolution. It's going to want a specific resolution, that could probably either be found in the manual, or using Google.

A very specific res? Most monitors can show a few different resolutions, as far as I can recall. Is that different with TVs?

Yeah. They can afford to be picky, so they are. It's probably something like 1366x768, but I'm not sure.

Check the refresh rate you're trying to feed the panel.

I forget the name of it, but I found some little program a while back that let you screw around with custom resolutions and stuff when connecting to a TV; if you can't get it to display on all the various resolution settings you have available by default, you can use this little thing to pump out the exact resolution you desire. When I get home from work I'll look for it.

Well, it works. It's pretty difficult to read off of it, though. Even after fiddling with the Cleartype Tuner Power Toy, we only made the text to be passable.

The max res is 1336x768 or so, but the native res is 1024 and something.

It was pretty snazzy, we watched an episode of Battlestar Galactica on it, looks like the copies I downloaded earlier in the season were pretty good. Not up to even digital cable's standards, but pretty decent.

The tv is an HDTV, Stark. I did RTFM though, found the resolutions.

Thanks for the help folks.

InnocentBystander wrote:I forget the name of it, but I found some little program a while back that let you screw around with custom resolutions and stuff when connecting to a TV; if you can't get it to display on all the various resolution settings you have available by default, you can use this little thing to pump out the exact resolution you desire. When I get home from work I'll look for it.

PowerStrip?

If you're going to use it for media, find an app that's designed for use at several meters. Using standard desktops on TVs is a pain in the ass, thus things like Media Center and stuff.

phongn wrote:

InnocentBystander wrote:I forget the name of it, but I found some little program a while back that let you screw around with custom resolutions and stuff when connecting to a TV; if you can't get it to display on all the various resolution settings you have available by default, you can use this little thing to pump out the exact resolution you desire. When I get home from work I'll look for it.

PowerStrip?

Yes.