S-Video or VGA?

D

da5176

New Member
I was in Best Buy today looking at video cards. In talking with a sales person he told me that a s-video cable would give a better picture than a VGA cable to a HDTV. I always was told that s-video is not capable of a very good picture. Which would give a better picture of the 2? I'm getting a video card with 2 monitor outputs to use my computer with a HDTV as well as a 17" monitor. The run to the TV is about 30'. I have had it hooked up by way of a VGA amplified splitter 1 going to the TV, the other to the monitor. The picture was not bad at all on the TV, but the picture on the computer monitor had a few imperfections, like darkened edges and lack of sharpness. Some light text would be very hard to read. So.... I now want a video card to use both the TV and the computer monitor. He also told me that the power needs of the cards are not that important unless you get a really high end one. Meaning I have a 300W max output PS and a card requiring 400W would not cause any problems run by this 300W PS. Is this true, or do I need a card that has a minimum power need of 300W and no more without replacing the PS, which I really don't want to do. Any input would be appreciated.
 
well, a VGA, DVI, or HDMI signal wont even TRAVEL 30'

so your options are looking limited

is it really necessary to hook your computer up to the tv while it's that far away?

Your only options for moving a signal that far are coaxial-based cables such as composite, and component. VGA, DVI, and HDMI all use standard stranded pair wires, which will never get the signal that far without serious degradation.
 
heyman421 said:
well, a VGA, DVI, or HDMI signal wont even TRAVEL 30'

is it really necessary to hook your computer up to the tv while it's that far away?
Click to expand...

The signal by itself maybe not. I have a signal amplifier the gets the VGA signal over a 30" VGA cable to my TV just fine. As far as hooking up the TV, yes, the TV is on one side of the room while the computer is on the other. Moving things around is not an option. I would like to sit in my recliner with my wireless mouse and keyboard and surf the net on a 60" bigscreen
 
Last edited:
heyman421 said:
well, a VGA, DVI, or HDMI signal wont even TRAVEL 30'

so your options are looking limited

is it really necessary to hook your computer up to the tv while it's that far away?

Your only options for moving a signal that far are coaxial-based cables such as composite, and component. VGA, DVI, and HDMI all use standard stranded pair wires, which will never get the signal that far without serious degradation.
Click to expand...

I have a 35 ft DVI-to-HDMI cable running from my computer to my 42'' HDTV. I'm running at 1080p resolution.
 
So which gives the best picture, VGA or S-Video? And do you have to give a video card that recommends a 350W PS 350W or will a 300W PS do just fine?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top