nVidia GEForce MX 440

[dchurch24]

Hi, I have this card (MX440) in my setup (P4 Dual Core, 512meg, Nova-T), and looking at the TV-Out on the back there is a small (s-video sized) socket, but it isn't s-video, and everyone who has seen it has no idea what it is.

Can anyone help, and would this card (and relevent whatever-it-is to scart converter (old tv)) provide sufficient for the output for gbpvr?

[ricklous]

a random shot in the dark...

is it any of these?

the abit one at the top has a s-video style socket on the back but with more pinholes than a standard s-video.
If yours is like that then it could be the same sort of thing as is on the Video out of the PVR 350. the 350 has a adapter which you plug into a socket like that when you are using the video out and it gives you the video out, and also the audio too. so maybe thats what the extra pinholes are for on your card too?
:confused:

[dchurch24]

It's this one:

http://www.hothardware.com/reviews/image.../plate.htm

That's the exact model I think - the pin holes look identical, even with the little 'bit' out of the top.

I am considering using a Radeon 7000 (they are cheap) if I can't get this one out to the TV.

[ricklous]

i wouldnt pretend to be an expert but looks like a standard svideo port to me. what do you get out of it if you try plugging a svideo cable into it?

[dazzyb2k3]

There is no question that this is a 4 pin S Video socket. There are a couple of cards i've come across that use 7 pins but they're not very common). It's possible that you might have a 7 pin cable though. If this is the case then it obviously won't fit into a 4 pin socket and you'll need to buy a 4 pin S Video cable or an adaptor. A simple google search should turn up plenty of options.

Take a word of advise if you need to buy a new cable - pay the money and get a high quality one, it makes a big difference in the image quality! I found this out the hard way after struggling with ghosting, blockyness and pixelization for ages. I replaced my cheap S Video to Scart with a high quality gold plated shielded alternative and the picture is sharp as a pin!

good luck!

[dchurch24]

Ahh - that would be the problem then! I have a 7-pin s-video to scart convertor.

Having had no dealings with s-video in the past, I assumed that they were all 7-pin, and that the card had a 'funny' output on it due to being somewhat dated.

I did also try a borrowed nVidia 6200 (with a 7-pin out) but the TV signal was b&w. I believe this to be a problem with my outdated TV (a cheap Wharfdale badged TV that I bought about 5 years ago).

I shall try a 4-pin to 7-pin adapter and will heed your advice on getting a good quality one. I am a great believer in getting what you pay for (despite the old graphics card and old TV :-).

[edit]I've just checked my basket from the on-line shop that I bought the 7-pin to scart cable from and it was advertised as a 4-pin, so I think they have sent me the wrong cable, which, of course having no prior experience with s-video would not have noticed if not for you guys. I shall try to get them to re-send the correct one.

Thanks very much for the replies.

[dazzyb2k3]

Glad to help. The B&W issue can be caused by a couple of things. Some older TV's don't operate correctly when accepting a S Video input (either via Composite or Scart) - I had an old Sony like this. But before you ditch the telly there are a couple of things to check first. Try the TV out settings in the video drivers, as if you have it set to the wrong PAL region then it will only display B&W. I also noticed that if I have the TV out setting specifically selected as S Video I get B&W but if set to Auto Select then everything is fine!

If it does turn out to be the telly then it's possible to buy an adaptor which will correct the issue and give you a colour picture. I bought one from the states which worked like a treat with the old Sony (until the TV eventually gave up the ghost completely).

Here is a link http://www.svideo.com/svideoscart.html

On the other hand, it would be a great excuse to buy a shiny new LCD or Plasma

[dchurch24]

Hi, thanks again. The region is set to PAL-I (I played around with this, as it was the first thing I thought it might be). I then bought one of the adapters that you kindly linked to, and it was still B&W, and I also set the output settings to Auto Select - still B&W.
My neighbour also made me up an s-video to scart cable to test that it wasn't my cable not carrying the colour signal for some reason (these were all 7-pin as well, so I have yet to try the MX4 through this TV), and it was still B&W on my TV.

On his TV however, from his Radeon card, it was colour. So we know it wasn't the cable ;-)

I'm thinking that if not the TV, then the borrowed PCI nVidia 6200 is duff. It has been a lot of trouble (mostly in the PC that I borrowed it from).

Is that likely do you think? Or is it more likely to be the TV (despite the convertor)? I also tried it through my Video Recorder's scart connection and then on to the TV via Co-ax, and still the output was B&W. Again, the video recorder is quite old too (about 4-5 years) and was a cheap one at the time - didn't think I'd be using it much in the years to come with the advent of DVD's etc... picking up at a fast rate at the time of purchase, so I bought a cheapy - could this video have the same problem as the TV as regards to the s-video colour signal?

Sorry for the barrage of questions.

It has me stumped.

[dazzyb2k3]

I think it's extremely unlikely to be the card. Unfortunately the only way to confirm this is to try your setup with another TV. I also tried the video trick (and every other composite/Svideo/Scart adaptor combination you can think of!) when I was having this problem and it didn't work for me either.

I'd be fairly certain that it's the TV. For some reason, the older TV's really struggle. I know the colour adaptors don't work in every case but it did the trick for me.

Here's another possible fix although I never tried it myself:

http://camp0s.altervista.org/sVideo/how_to.htm

Best idea would be to try another TV if possible.

[dchurch24]

Hi, thanks again for the reply.

I've emailed my neighbour and asked him if I can take it to his to test on his tv (which clearly accepts s-video in colour).

If not, I'll get another TV. It's about time we upgraded anyway, and this is the perfect excuse to do so ;-)

I am quite tempted to go with that link you sent me though (but then I am a gadget freak - I really like things like that!), just to see if I can do it ;-)

Thanks again - you've really been a big help.