PC Won't connect to TV please help

cdak81254

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Hi, does a PC graphics card resolution need to match the TV resolution to connect? I have an old flat screen Teac LCD TV which I would like to use as a monitor with an old PC. The graphics card on the PC has max screen resolution of 1280 * 1024 @85 HZ. And the TV has resolution of 1366 * 768 @60hz. When I connect the PC to the TV using a VGA cable and select PC on the TV input it just shows 'no signal' on the TV screen. When I connect my PC to a monitor via VGA cable it works fine. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
 
It doesn't need to match the native resolution, but you do need to be feeding the TV a resolution that it knows what to do with.

Those may be listed in the TV's manual but if not then it'd just be a case of trying common ones like 800x600 and 640x480. 1280x720 would probably be the optimal second choice for the TV but I don't know if this 20+ year old PC would support it.

1280x1024 was fairly common and I'm surprised it doesn't support it though. Are you using the same cable to connect to the monitor, not just the same type of cable?
 
Thanks for your reply EndlessWaves.

I tried changing resolutions to your suggestions but TV still seems to not support that signal. Windows will begin to load and the windows logo will appear but eventually the screen goes blank and a 'not supported' appears. The OS will only complete loading in safe mode. When I then restart PC, it then returns to a blank 'not supported' screen.

Your probably right, I should just upgrade PC. Something from this millennium!
Thanks for your help.
 
Windows will begin to load and the windows logo will appear but eventually the screen goes blank and a 'not supported' appears. The OS will only complete loading in safe mode. When I then restart PC, it then returns to a blank 'not supported' screen.

Well that's a completely different problem than getting no signal and nothing else.

If it's working fine except when windows has loaded It sounds like the graphics card driver has the wrong output settings. You could uninstall that in safe mode and it should work once windows loads up normally.

You may want to check you can find a copy of the driver before you do that though. If it's an AMD, nVidia or Intel GPU it should be something you can reinstall easily enough but if it's something more obscure like Matrox or S3/Via then you may want to see if you can find out how you can change or reset the resolution instead of uninstalling it.
 
Well that's a completely different problem than getting no signal and nothing else.

If it's working fine except when windows has loaded It sounds like the graphics card driver has the wrong output settings. You could uninstall that in safe mode and it should work once windows loads up normally.

You may want to check you can find a copy of the driver before you do that though. If it's an AMD, nVidia or Intel GPU it should be something you can reinstall easily enough but if it's something more obscure like Matrox or S3/Via then you may want to see if you can find out how you can change or reset the resolution instead of uninstalling it.
Is it OK to to just disable the Intel G41 Express chipset do you think?
 
Is it OK to to just disable the Intel G41 Express chipset do you think?
Thats the motherboard chipset so probably not a good idea.

The Intel website download section has an automatic driver scanner, you could give that a try and see if it finds an appropriate updated display driver.

Something else you can try is if you have a second monitor hooked up to the PC, download custom resolution utility and run it.
  • select the VGA output connected to the TV.
  • under detailed resolutions click on add.
  • under timings select Automatic HDTV and input 1366x768 and Automatic PC 1360x768 (leave refresh rate as what it picks).
  • click ok then ok again to exit then run restart (for 32bit OS) to apply.
  • check GPU control panel and see if you can output to TV using either.

If the above fails try
  • under standard resolutions click on add.
  • select 1280x720 16:9 60Hz.
  • same deal run restart and see if that generates any output.
 
Thanks for your advice next010.

I failed to mention my PC runs Windows XP which unfortunately is not supported by the 'custom resolution utility application you suggested, because I think Windows XP does not support EDID overrides.

I should just get a secondhand/refurbished PC but I'm studying at the moment so it's either pay rent or get another PC.

If your opinion is it will never work with my existing PC hardware I will accept your advice.

Thanks again!
 
Thanks for your advice next010.

I failed to mention my PC runs Windows XP which unfortunately is not supported by the 'custom resolution utility application you suggested, because I think Windows XP does not support EDID overrides.

I should just get a secondhand/refurbished PC but I'm studying at the moment so it's either pay rent or get another PC.

If your opinion is it will never work with my existing PC hardware I will accept your advice.

Thanks again!

If your PC is very old a last resort option is use a Linux operating system instead.

Try Zorin Lite which is for PC's over 15 years old, use balena etcher to write it to USB and boot from USB and you can install the OS and try it in live mode, check in this mode it can see the TV.

If it works you can choose to install Zorin Lite, if all you use the PC for is writing and basic internet then linux software has you covered (web browsers & libreoffice) and its much safer to use than win xp which a large security risk these days.
 

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