Need Help: displaying laptop resolution converted to 1080p on lcdtv

**narukthul** · October 4th, 2009, 23:52

Hi I have a scarlet ~40" LG lcdtv 1080p and I want to display what I'm doing on my lenovo T61 laptop on my tv. I have been able to do this with a regular old VGA cable however the highest resolution I can display it in is 1280x1024 because my laptop cannot itself display 1920x1080, which is the next higher up resolution accepted by my tv.

From my research I have found items such as the Mega-Cool: Review: XCM 1080p Mega Cool VGA Box - DCEmu Forums:: The Homebrew & Gaming Network :: and the VGA to hdtv component video converter:http://www.allaboutadapters.com/pcvgtohdcovi.html :: that say they can convert your laptop resolution output to a 1080p input displayed on your tv. First, does this work hooking a laptop up to a tv display. Second, does the input resolution matter (will it be lower quality output on the tv if I use a lower input resolution on my laptop)? Third, does the quality of the VGA cable hookups for it or other types of cables have an impact on the quality of the output display (what is the ideal cable to use)? Fourth, is the converter necessary at all? When I googled VGA cables some were called 1080p VGA cables. Does that mean they convert the signal to 1080 automatically or that that is the best possible output that the cable can provide?

Here is a picture of the back panel hookups for my tv:

I see that there are additional hookups besides VGA. would any of these others be compatible with my laptop and its hookups (like a splitter cable with vga one end and component on the other...etc.)?

Here is a picture of the side panel hookups for my tv:

Here is a picture of the hookups for my Lenovo T61 XP laptop:

So in summary:

Is the Mega-Cool or the VGA to hdtv component video converter what I need to display my laptop output on my tv and convert the input signal to 1080p?
What cables do I need (do i have the right hookups on my laptop and tv [and what is the best and most reasonable cable in terms of quality and price])?

Thank You in advance for you help. Any and all input is appreciated. Sorry for the lengthy post I just wanted to make sure I put in all the needed info.

P.S. I'm not trying to force my laptop to display 1080p on my laptop screen I know that isn't possible. I'm trying to convert the output resolution signal to a 1080p input resolution signal when it is displayed on my tv!

***BlueCrab*** · October 5th, 2009, 02:37

1) Nothing is going to get you a real 1080p picture from your laptop if it can't display that resolution, period. You may be able to upscale some other resolution to 1080p, but your laptop will still be running in some lower resolution.

2) You'll need to hook a 1/8th inch (3.5 mm) cable from your laptop's audio out/headphone jack to the Audio (RGB/DVI) jack on your TV.

3) Pretty much any cables will do what you need. No real need to get pricey cables. You can probably get the Audio cable from Wal Mart or some other similar retailer for about $5-$10 (and from the sound of it you already have a VGA cable that works).

**narukthul** · October 5th, 2009, 03:20

1) so will the mega-cool upscale my laptop output to a 1080 input on the lcdtv? I knew it wouldn't force the laptop to display 1080 itself. I just thought the signal would be rewritten to a 1080 format for the lcdtv is that right?

2) thank you that is very helpful!

3) just what i wanted to hear!!

***BlueCrab*** · October 5th, 2009, 04:05

I have no idea if that particular product will upscale things the way you want to or not, but if you can display the 1280x1024 picture on your TV just fine, why bother? There's really no point, and you'll probably notice a degradation of the signal from many of these products if the TV can display the native resolution fine.

**rokobungi** · October 5th, 2009, 05:17

some laptops you may have to go into the bios and up the amount of shared video memory in order to display higher resolutions. I've had a laptop that when set to 128 mb wouldn't display 1080p but bumped to 256 mb it would. also you may have to turn the laptop portion of the display off or run the 1080p via an extended desktop (extended desktop will probably need even more shared memory)

**narukthul** · October 5th, 2009, 13:55

Originally Posted by rokobungi

some laptops you may have to go into the bios and up the amount of shared video memory in order to display higher resolutions. I've had a laptop that when set to 128 mb wouldn't display 1080p but bumped to 256 mb it would. also you may have to turn the laptop portion of the display off or run the 1080p via an extended desktop (extended desktop will probably need even more shared memory)

Cool! So your saying even though my laptops max display resolution is currently 1680x1050 it can be bumped up to 1920x1080 through that method? Could you please explain what exactly I need to do in the bios to achieve this? Thanks!

Also, BlueCrab

I guess I didn't describe what I was looking for correctly. When you change the resolution on your laptop it alters the number of pixels contained on the screen right? so 1680x1050 has more room to display content than 1280x1024 right? I don't care so much about 1080p as I do about having more room to display whatever I'm doing. I was hoping to get 1920x1080 pixels so I have a better chance of displaying the wholes of pictures and movies w/o changing the scale/zoom of the movie/picture causing distortion. Is that possible or am I grasping at straws? The description of the features for the VGA to hdtv component video converter and the Mega-Cool seem to imply that they convert the resolution from w/e you start with, say 1280x1024, to a higher resolution like 1920x1080 (thus giving you more screen space).

***BlueCrab*** · October 5th, 2009, 15:31

You will not get more pixel space by using one of those converters, period. All that those upconverters will do is to scale the image coming from your computer. So, you'll get more "real" space, but the same effective pixel count, and things will likely look stretched/distorted.

Also, note that not every computer/graphics chipset combo will allow you to make any modifications like the other poster has suggested. Its quite possible yours will, but at the same time, its quite possible it won't.

**narukthul** · October 6th, 2009, 14:56

Originally Posted by BlueCrab

Also, note that not every computer/graphics chipset combo will allow you to make any modifications like the other poster has suggested. Its quite possible yours will, but at the same time, its quite possible it won't.

you wouldn't know how to do that would you?

***BlueCrab*** · October 6th, 2009, 17:29

No idea on the matter for the laptop you have (its not an issue with my laptop: it actually has a discrete bank of RAM for the Video Card, no shared memory crap).

***quzar*** · October 6th, 2009, 22:04

Look at the user manual for your TV. My LG allows for a large range of resolutions via the VGA port. You should be able to do some of them on your laptop.

You will get much better image if you just output 720p (1280x720 or 768) than if you run through an upscaler. If you have problems with the output resolution 'invalid format' or such, check that the outputted frequency is correct. I thought I was going insane until I noticed that my computer kept on trying to output the signal at 85Hz.