8500GT HDTV cable - what do I need?

I'm planning to connect my 8500GT to the HDTV I have sat next to it, but
I'm not sure what connectors I need. The cable that came with it has
what looks like an S-Video connection, and then three composite-like
connections which are red, blue and green, So what do I need to connect
it to either the composite or HDMI input on the TV? I tried a red,
white and yellow composite lead but Windows crashed when i plugged it
into the TV.

TIA

Cuzman wrote:

I'm planning to connect my 8500GT to the HDTV I have sat next to it, but
I'm not sure what connectors I need. The cable that came with it has
what looks like an S-Video connection, and then three composite-like
connections which are red, blue and green, So what do I need to connect
it to either the composite or HDMI input on the TV? I tried a red,
white and yellow composite lead but Windows crashed when i plugged it
into the TV.

TIA

A video card with R, G, B colored cable, is intended for "component" input
on the TV set. The TV set will label them as "component" and use similarly colored
connectors. All three signals will be 75 ohm impedance, and require
coax cables for transmission.

The one in the center here, is "component video", with three 75 ohm outputs.
http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggIma...130-287-05.jpg

When the TV set has yellow, white, red, that is "composite", "left audio",
and "right audio". "composite" is a single video signal, 75 ohms impedance.
The audio signals don't require controlled impedance, although you can
still use coax if you want. Only the "composite" signal places a 75 ohm
load on the connected cable (which is what the video card will try to
detect). The audio inputs on the TV set would be line level (1 volt peak to
peak perhaps), and have an input impedance of 10,000 ohms (a light load -
higher equals lighter).

The thing missing from the above picture, is an S-video to composite adapter.
To make the "yellow signal", an adapter takes the four electrical signals of
S-video (luminance, chrominance, ground, ground) and makes the necessary
composite signal (composite, ground). A small capacitor connects Y and C
together, to make the composite signal, and that is what is hiding
inside the adapter.

This one is $7, but I've seen stores charge up to $50 for one of these!
The DIN connector on one end, has four pins for S-video, and the RCA female
on the other end, is the composite signal. You still need an RCA male to male
cable, for final connection to the TV. The second item says "video cable",
which means it is a 75 ohm one.

http://www.startech.com/Product/Item...SVID2COMP&c=CA
http://www.startech.com/Product/Item...CAVIDHQ12&c=CA

To connect via HDMI, you can get DVI to HDMI adapters. HDMI includes the
ability to carry audio, but not all video cards will be prepared to do that.
I've seen some "transition" video cards, where the video card has an SPDIF
input, so you can connect the SPDIF from the computer audio, to SPDIF in
on the video card. The video card then combines the SPDIF signal digitally,
with the DVI signal, and sends the result out on DVI/HDMI. The TV set may
have an option, to accept the picture over HDMI, and accept sound from
one of the L-audio/R-audio inputs. So there are some potential options
there.

http://www.startech.com/Product/Item...MIDVIMM10&c=CA

For audio, the computer might typically use a 1/8" stereo output jack
(green, on the sound card). You can get an adapter, to convert that
to RCA format. You'll notice, because there are audio signals on the
cable leading to the RCA jacks (thin looking), they are not coaxial
cables, don't have a 75 ohm characteristic impedance, and that is
fine for audio. (The trick with RCA cables, is sorting the ones that
are rated for video, from the ones that are only suited for audio.)

1/8" to stereo RCA (red/white) adapter
http://www.startech.com/Product/Item...=MU6MMRCA&c=CA

The TV manual will mention resolution options, and depending on which
input you're using, the video card has to be set up to properly drive
the input in question.

Generally, for questions like this, I like to know the model of the TV,
so I can pick the right options. Hope you can make some sense of the
rambling above.

Paul