7-Pin and 9-Pin HDTV Component Out Fixes, I Hope

[blckman]

Hello gang. I'm still here and reading your wonderful problems and fixes. So, I have an 9800GT, 512Mb Nvidia videocard. So, one day a couple of months ago when I attatched my 7-pin dongle to the video-card to my Toshiba 51H83 the screen would look a tad bit snowy and the color was purely black and white. I gave up for a while and just couldn't find the fix to this problem.

Fast forward to today. Two nights ago I tried it again and no fix. I tried everything in the book. Using the Nvidia control panel to change settings, changing the resolution, running the tv detection in the Nvidia control panel as well. I mean, just nothing worked. Then, I noted that I keep dongles from other video cards I had in the past. Note: Please try to keep extra gear here and there because you never know when you're going to need them.

I had this dongle laying around from another videocard:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

I was using this 7-pin one that fitted perfectly and came with the 9800GT:

http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2550138


The advantage I had with the 9-pin one from monoprice.com is that it also had the S-Video and audio out all on the same dongle. Love this feature. Now, I put the 9-pin dongle in and noticed that there are nine full pins versus the ATI 7-pin. The problem here is it's an voltage/contact issue with the videocard pertaining to the extra two pins(7 + 2). Strange how the extra two pins some how gets the colors and display right. In fact, I popped in all of the Harry Potter HD-DVD's I have. I popped in I Am Legend Blu-Ray, The Dark Knight Blu-Ray. And boy-oh-boy, my problem was so fixed. In fact guys, you know how we say the black lines are our friends? Well, black lines on my television be gone. This is a 1080i rear projection set and only has component and one DVI input. If I tried the 7-pin connector at first I would get a more panoramic wide-screen picture. Once I put in the 9-pin dongle everything went to full screen. Even if the HD-DVD or Blu-Ray had a particular aspect ratio.

In summary, using the 9-pin dongle versus the 7-pin dongle can solve some of your issues in a hurry. I've read on MSI, Asus, EVGA, ATI, PNY, Leadtek, and some other videocard manufacturers forums about how many people are having problems with the 7-pin dongles to their perspective HDTV sets. My problem is solved and hopefully I have helped just a few of you with this growning problem so many PC users are having.


Note: Monoprice.com is rated right now one of the best places to get any type of cable for cheap. I've even visited the place to pick up a 25 foot component cable. Yes, I do reside near the place in Southern California. I don't lose any quality when I use a 25-foot HDMI to DVI cable as well. One last thing, Street Fighter IV on the PC in 1080i looks beautiful. Peace.....