DVI to Component adapter
Our SW-4041 is an adapter that will let you output from a compatible video card to use your TV as a monitor.
While the adapter itself has an ATI chipset, it does work with both ATI and NVidia cards. ATI’s website has posted a list of the compatible chipsets
Radeon® 9800 series
Radeon® 9700 series
Radeon® 9600 series
Radeon® 9500 series
All-in-Wonder® Radeon® 8500DV (64MB)
All-in-Wonder® Radeon® 8500 (128MB)
Nvidia unfortunately does not have a comprehensive list, however it seems that the graphics processors that support the PureVideo encoder also support RGB component over DVI-I.
With cards that use ATI or NVidia chipsets, you might still want to check with the specific board manufacturers to see if it is fully supported. Even if the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) supports it, it is in the end up to the board manufacturer to build it into the port.
May 26th, 2006 at 8:38 am
Hi Mark,
I bought a SW-4041 adapter to convert the DVI on my nVidia 5200FX to component input for my Panasonic rear projection TV for use with Media Center. So far no luck!
When the PC boots, the POST screens are severely distorted - scrolling, broken up, etc. By the time it gets to the XP splash screen it is less distorted but is still twisted with color shifts and is slowly scrolling. Once it gets in to Windows and MCE, it becomes severely distorted again.
I have been banging my head against this for a couple of weeks. I have been through the nVidia troubleshooting advice and Panasonic’s with no success. The S-Video works fine, except the picture quality is degraded and I seem unable to get a 16:9 aspect ratio through it.
Any suggestions appreciated. Thx
Mark
May 26th, 2006 at 11:56 am
I did some double checking with our resident video card Guru, and I think it might be the card itself. While the 5200 is a solid video card, I don’t think that it supports the adapter.
The nVidia 6 series I think, started supporting DirectX 9 and worked with the PureVideo encoder.
S-video will not be high quality, and can’t run in the widescreen aspect ratio, it only really supports the 4:3 or NTSC video format.
Since you are getting some signal through the adapter, you can still try different settings with the dip switches on the adapter, and different available resolutions and timings on the computer’s display properties, but again I don’t believe that the 5 series cards fully support the adatper, so if you can’t get it working, you can send it back for a refund.
May 30th, 2006 at 10:12 am
Mark,
Appreciate the info. Is there an alternative adapter? I see some with a built in component cable or are they fundamentally the same technology? The 5200 does support DirectX 9.0c but not PureVideo.
I did monkey around with various combinations of the DIPs, but to no avail.
I am on the road right now. When I get home I’ll look in to a different card but if that is cost prohibative, may return the adapter.
Many thanks, Mark
May 31st, 2006 at 12:08 pm
Other similar adatpers will work essentially the same. Most of our other solutions are just passive, without a chip or dip switches…so they rely soley on the input to try to ‘fit’ a TV.
The only option that would be better would be an adapter like the SW-4280 that does active signal translation. (Since that part is designed for VGA you would also need a DVI to VGA cable)