hook up to television screens in bar??

[salford1986]

hello

I have recently taken up residency in a bar that does karaoke on Tuesdays.

I did my first gig on Tuesday just gone and I just took my monitor and played my karaoke through my monitor like I usually do. The barmen asked me if I wanted to hook up to the televisions in the bar, They have a socket on the wall that says its a s-video and all that was there was a yellow female circualar hole (which looks like a phono)

will it just be simple enough to by a vga to yellow s video cable and away I go or is it different because I go from a vga from my pc?

is the yellow lead for the video itself and the white one for the sound?

thanks
chris

[salford1986]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PC-Laptop-VGA-TV-Converter-Adapter-For-DVD-DVR-15Pin-to-AV-RCA-S-Video-Composite-/151029404436?pt=UK_Computing_Sound_Vision_Video_Ca bles_Adapters&hash=item232a0dd314

or do I have to buy something like this??

[DazzyD]

S-Video is not the yellow cable. S-Video is the "DIN" style socket with the pins in that is next to the yellow socket on the device you have linked to. Here's some info on S-Video:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-Video

I've had problems with S-Video in the past in that the first cable I bought I could only get a b/w picture on the monitor. Apparently, there were different cables and you need a specific one. I bought the correct cable but didn't use it for too long before I found the Keylite device and switched to a/v phono after that.

I use this device to connect to the yellow a/v (phono) socket and I've never had any problems:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/pc-to-tv-convertor-35258

I've just noticed the price on this one which makes it half of the price I paid for mine (being £49.99 at the time). However, I do think, even at £50, it's well worth the money as it's simple plug'n'play and does everything that it's supposed to do.

EDIT:

I've been calling the yellow socket a/v phono but we all know I really mean "composite video" ;)

:zip:

[salford1986]

The socket in the wall has only the female yellow hole only so what you say I need to buy, could I get away with buying a vga lead with the male yellow thing on the end?

[DazzyD]

The socket in the wall has only the female yellow hole only so what you say I need to buy, could I get away with buying a vga lead with the male yellow thing on the end?

The VGA output of your computer is not compatible with the UK PAL TV system that we use here so you need a converter to convert the VGA signal in to a composite PAL signal that the TV can decode. I've seen these adaptor leads that you're on about before but I've heard that they're not terribly reliable. The KeyLite device I linked to is one that I can guarantee works a treat and is the only converter that I've never had any problems with (I've tried about four devices and have had varying results with them all). With the Keylite device all you need is a spare USB socket (the device connects to your VGA-Out socket and also a USB socket) and an extension phono cable. I paid about £3 for a 5m a/v extension cable that I could split in half, connect together and make a single 10m cable which I've used lots of times now very successfully. Also, at £3, if they break (they're not very heavy cables) it's cheap enough to keep a spare and replace any broken ones.

I'm not saying don't try for cheaper cables if you think they'd suit your requirements (and actually work!). But I'd rather pay £25 for a device which is tried and tested as well as very easy to use. There are others on here who've recommended other devices in the past - maybe do a search?

[salford1986]

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/kworld-kw-sa235-usb-pc-to-tv-convertor-1024x768-plug-and-play

How's that one I think it's about 27 quid

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/kworld-kw-sa235-usb-pc-to-tv-convertor-1024x768-plug-and-play

How's that one I think it's about 27 quid

Why not buy the one Dazzy recommended? I used to use one years ago and they work well.

[Excalibur]

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/kworld-kw-sa235-usb-pc-to-tv-convertor-1024x768-plug-and-play

How's that one I think it's about 27 quid


Why not buy the one Dazzy recommended? I used to use one years ago and they work well.

Especially since now they're on special offer at Craplins, they're only £25, giving a saving of nearly 7.5% over the Scan one. :thumbs_up:

[DazzyD]

Especially since now they're on special offer at Craplins, they're only £25, giving a saving of nearly 7.5% over the Scan one. :thumbs_up:

My local store has 3 in stock. I'm so tempted to get another spare before the week is out!

EDIT:

Forgot to mention a good point of the Keylite. Not only does it send a signal to a big screen, it also still sends the VGA signal to your monitor at the same time so that the singers still have their own smaller monitor to look at while the graphics are duplicated on the big screen. So, the graphics are displayed in 3 places at the same time (providing you are using suitable software such as VDJ) - your computer/laptop for you, the monitor for the singer and the big screen for everyone else.