Hdmi To Vga Conversion

[B9force]

I have a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-Ray disc player, which has HDMI output.

I want to connect it to my cheapo Magnavox MLCD26 LCD TV (1366x768).

The TV has both a VGA input and a DVI input. I would prefer to use the VGA input, as the DVI input is already occupied by my Home Theatre PC.

The description for this inexpensive product states as follows:

* Double adapter to convert the signal from HDMI output into a VGA signal

* Final ends HDMI Male to VGA Female (Two Adapters)

* ideal for converting HDMI signal to VGA signal for monitors, lcd devices, projectors

* Digital into analogue convertion, can't be used to convert analogue into digital ie VGA to HDMI

Would this (combined with a standard VGA cable) work for what I am trying to do?

I would have thought not... because (I thought) HDMI is digital, VGA is analog, and thus it is impossible to convert one to the other unless you use a (relatively) expensive device like the HDfury converter.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I guess the other option would be to connect my HTPC to the TV's VGA input instead, thereby freeing up the DVI input for the Blu-ray player (via an HDMI to DVI cable). Is there any/much benefit in using DVI for a HTPC, rather than VGA?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

B9force

Edited September 28, 2008 by B9force

[HTD]

I have a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-Ray disc player, which has HDMI output.

I want to connect it to my cheapo Magnavox MLCD26 LCD TV (1366x768).

The TV has both a VGA input and a DVI input. I would prefer to use the VGA input, as the DVI input is already occupied by my Home Theatre PC.

The description for this inexpensive product states as follows:

Would this (combined with a standard VGA cable) work for what I am trying to do?

I would have thought not... because (I thought) HDMI is digital, VGA is analog, and thus it is impossible to convert one to the other unless you use a (relatively) expensive device like the HDfury converter.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I guess the other option would be to connect my HTPC to the TV's VGA input instead, thereby freeing up the DVI input for the Blu-ray player (via an HDMI to DVI cable). Is there any/much benefit in using DVI for a HTPC, rather than VGA?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

B9force

Your right you can't convert digital on HDMI to analog VGA with an unpowered device like the converter you suggested.

What about a dvi splitter you can get them from around $20 and run them both in DVI.

If you just run them in either way your not going to miss out on any resolution because VGA can do 1366 x 768. So there is no "benefit" to using a DVI for a HTPC

Thats not to say you won't see a difference, I have so I would experiment. Try them both and see if you have a preference

for either on the DVI or the VGA.

Edited September 28, 2008 by HTD

[B9force]

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated.

Your right you can't convert digital on HDMI to analog VGA with an unpowered device like the converter you suggested.

So looks like those guys are engaging in a bit of false advertising then. Tsk tsk... they ought to know better

What about a dvi splitter you can get them from around $20 and run them both in DVI.

Thanks for the suggestion. However, I don't think that's really a viable option for me, as the HTPC tends to stay on 24/7. I guess I could just make a point of shutting the HTPC down whenever I'm using the Blu-ray player (although I'm not sure I could rely on the family to always remember to do the same).

If you just run them in either way your not going to miss out on any resolution because VGA can do 1366 x 768. So there is no "benefit" to using a DVI for a HTPC

Thats not to say you won't see a difference, I have so I would experiment. Try them both and see if you have a preference

for either on the DVI or the VGA.

Perhaps that's my best bet. Although I seem to recall some flickering problems the last time I tried VGA with this particular TV/vid-card combination. I suspect I'll need to play around with the custom resolution settings on the Nvidia control panel to see if I can get it right...

[curious1]

You could also use a $35 DVI switch Like This, or a combo HDMI-DVI switch Like This,

Either way you will also need an extra HDMI-DVI cable or adapter.

[deukp]

i use a dvi to vga adapter and a vga cable from laptop to tv and it works perfectly fine, though my native is 1024*768 and tv is 768p as well works out quite well watching videos through the tv rather then on the lappie screen

[jakes]

i use a dvi to vga adapter and a vga cable from laptop to tv and it works perfectly fine, though my native is 1024*768 and tv is 768p as well works out quite well watching videos through the tv rather then on the lappie screen

The DVI out port on a PC is a bit different from an HDMI output. Basically DVI on a video card carries both digital and analogue signals, which is why you can use an adapter to get VGA output into your TV (it's what's called DVI-I). This will not work with HDMI because it's digital only and would need to undergo a conversion process to change the signal to analogue VGA. The switch suggested is probably the cheapest and easiest way of achieving what the OP wants to do.

[B9force]

You could also use a $35 DVI switch Like This, or a combo HDMI-DVI switch Like This,

Either way you will also need an extra HDMI-DVI cable or adapter.

Thanks for that! The combo switch looks particularly nifty.

Shame it doesn't use optical for audio, rather than coaxial. Mind you... I may well be making uninformed assumptions that optical is better than coaxial for audio. Is it in fact better? (I seem to recall reading in my a/v receiver's manual that you can get a higher frequency/quality audio signal using optical... something like 96 kHz over optical versus 48 khz over coaxial. Though even if that is the case, perhaps my relatively untrained ear would not even recognise the difference!)

Thanks again.

Cheers.