PC Hookup with KDF-WE655

[DOORZ]

Has anyone hooked up a PC to this TV?

I am in the market for a HDTV, and have more or less decided to purchase this TV over the Panasonic PT43LC14 due to the fact that I thought the Sony had a better picture over the Pansonic in looking at these 2 sets side by side.

It would be nice to be able to hook a PC up to either one of these TV's, and I am wondering if someone has hooked a PC up to the Sony. The Panasonic has a RGB connection, so that will obviously work, but from what i read about Sony's 610 with the DVI input, you could NOT hook a PC up to this connection, and it even say's so in the manual.

In looking at the 655 manual, it doesn't say anything about hooking a PC up. I know the 655 had a HDMI input, which idealy would be best used for a HDTV input, but since my cable company doesn't have a box that utilizes this output and I don't have a DVD player with this type of out, I figure I could use it for PC input. I know they make DVI to HDMI converters or cables, so not sure if that will work.


I would like to know if anyone has hooked a PC up to this TV, and how they went about doing it

[talon1189]

Sony does not want you to be able to use the Play Station 2 on their large screen TV's :nono2: Damn them.............LOL!

[AnthonyF]

I just got this TV. It looks great. I have never hooked up a pc, but I found a web site with some info on it. http://ruel.net/pc/tv.tuner.converter.htm. The GrandTec PC-to-Video Cable should work fine. The TV has 3 spots for s video.

Best

[57U]

S-video from a PC on an HDTV often looks pretty crappy....

[DOORZ]

I realize that a S-Video hookup is pretty bad, which is why I am looking for a much better alternative.

[AnthonyF]

I don't know much about the hookups. I thought I saw that the s video was better when using a VCR. Is that true? Is it just the PC that gives it a junky picture?

[oman321]

Try one of these sites,


www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog_name=CTLG& category_name=CTLG_003_010_001_000&product_id=93... - 99k

www.ramelectronics.net/html/PC-TV_video_adapter.html - 33k

If not do a google search for "component video adapter" should find what your looking for. Expect to spend about $150.00 to $200.00. Good luck.

[scottfdesign]

I just bought this set a couple of weeks ago (and LOVE it by the way!) and have successfully hooked up my Apple PowerBook through the HDMI input with a DVI to HDMI cable I bought at CableWholesale.com (MUCH cheaper then buying one at the "Big Box" stores) The set shows up as "SONY TV" in my monitor control panel, and it gives me two resolution options that correspond with 720p and 1080i (don't remember the exact numbers cause I'm not hooked up right now, but the 720p one is closer to 735 or so, due to the higher native resolution of the display.) There is still a litte overscan, even with the overscan setting on -1, so menus and taskbars get cut off a little. So I'm guessing if you have a fairly recent video card (PC or Mac) with a DVI out, it should work fine.

[dzzza]

Has anyone hooked up a PC to this TV?

I would like to know if anyone has hooked a PC up to this TV, and how they went about doing it

The best way to hook your PC to the WE655 is via component video cables. This being said, your PC needs a video card that supports this output. I have an All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro video card from ATI. This video card has two VGA outputs and you can get a VGA to component video adapter from ATI for $40. So one is connected to your PC monitor, the other connected (with the adapter) to your WE655. Component video connection supports all current HD formats (720p, 1080i), and using the latest Catalyst drivers from ATI, you can even create your own custom resolution. In my experience, there was a bit of overscanning when setting my resolution to 1280 x 720 (720p), so I was able to tweak the resolution to fit my WE655 exactly. The picture quality of this connection is breathtaking! Highly recommended...

[domaind]

I'm new here, but have something to share. I just built an HTPC that utilizes a ATI X800pro v-card. I am connecting it to a Sony KDF55WF655 and having great difficulty. I first utilized a cheap ($29) DVI to HDMI cable from Tigerdirect and was not able to even get a picture! Don't skimp on a cable! buy a good qualtiy one (the 2nd one was $129). I instantly got a picture. Now I'm having trouble setting an optimal resolution. I'm stuck with around 800x600. I installed the demo of Powerstrip and haven't fine-tuned it. I'm in need of:
1. A Powerstrip setting for this TV with which somebody has had some success in optimizing a picture that make you go "Whoa!" If you can send me a screenshot of your Powerstrip settings that would be awesome! (lofts@tampabay.rr.com)

OR

2. Confirmation that I can use an ATI DVI to Component adapter like DZZZA did (ATI and other sites like http://www.svideo.com/hdtvaiwr8500.html don't confirm that the adapter works on the latest cards).

Thanks anyone and everyone!

[dzzza]

domaind

Which version of the X800 card do you have? Is this the All-in-Wonder version, or the standard Radeon? Which ever the case, you should be able to get a component video output dongle from ATI. Check out this link:

http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=21

They have 7 and 9 pin HDTV output cables. Your manual should be able to tell you which one you need. I believe these are for the non-AIW version.

This one is for the AIW X800

http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2603774

[domaind]

Dzzza,
I do not have the AIW version, just standard Radeon. It came with an svideo to component dongle. Those 7 and 9 pin connectors on the vcard are svideo, right? It's my understanding that that's an analog signal as is vga. The only digital out of the card is the DVI, right? I wanted to go straight from digital to digital so i didn't degrade the signal.

I already tried an svideo cable out of the card to svideo in on the TV and it looked horrible (couldn't even read text on screen). I wanted to go from DVI out to component in on the TV, but I was looking for someone to tell me it worked before I dropped another $40+ into it.

I guess I may need to just try it. Any other sugggestions? Thanks.

[dzzza]

That component video dongle is NOT svideo to component, although they look similar. It's just ATI's output connection for the dongle. This is an analog signal (component video is analog) and yes, the only digital out from that card is DVI.

Going from DVI to component video is converting digital to analog, and ATI makes an adapter for this, however, I don't believe that it is made for your video card. That's why they give you the component video dongle.

If you really want to stick with a digital connection, your only option is to get a DVI to HDMI adapter. I don't have experience with this so I can't really say if it works well or not. Probably pretty pricey.

Yes, if you connect via svideo it's gonna look like crap. I experienced the same thing before I went out and bought the VGA to component video adapter for my AIW 9600 Pro. My signal looks absolutely amazing.

But this is your best option (using the component video dongle). Buy yourself a nice set of component video cables and try it out. I guarantee it'll look good. The dongle isn't called the HDTV output cable for nothing.

[grayvader]

Using a DVI to HDMI cable is the easiset way to go. I got a short 6' one that works fine -- paid like $15 for it on ebay. (I use an old Radeon 9000 All-in-Wonder)
The PC boot screen will likely not work, but the latest Catalyst drivers work fine in 1280x720 mode. I did have to tweak the TV's service menu options to correct for overscan, but all is perfect now. I suggest anyone visit www.avsforum.com and look through the RPTV and Home Theater PC forum sections. All the information you could possibly want is there.

[dzzza]

I did have to tweak the TV's service menu options to correct for overscan, but all is perfect now.

domaind

do yourself a favor...don't mess with the TV's service menu, try component video cables. The DVI out isn't specifically meant to be used with TV's, although it can be used, and as stated, you may have to tweak the overscan in the service menu. The component video dongle that your video card came with is meant for this sort of thing. That's why it's called an HDTV output dongle. Any overscan issues are dealt with by using the latest Catalyst drivers (there is a check box for optimal resolution that corrects all overscanning). I would be hesitant to make any changes in your TV's service menu, if you don't know what you're doing.

grayvader, i don't mean to undercut your suggestion...i just think component is the way to go with this specific video card.

[domaind]

I'm an idiot (and an architect). Thank you Dzzza. I see now that the dongle has 7 pins (svideo only 4 pins). I plugged an svideo in it and hooked it to the svideo on the tv. No wonder it looked like @#$!. I think i'll try the ATI to component setup. Thanks for the input grayvader, but I already tried DVI to HDMI and had a lot of resolution setting problems. I'm off to get another set of component cables and I'll let you all know how it turns out. Thanks again everyone.