Didn't realize this earlier... PC Video -> TV Video

[mattred]

I have a laptop that I'm going to use as the PC for my MAME machine. I didn't buy this laptop specifically for this purpose but I got a new one as a gift so this one became the "old one" (it's only 2 months old). I just realized today that this computer does NOT have an S-Video output. It has VGA and HDMI. However, the TV I was planning on using only has RCA/composite inputs (I can technically hook up S-Video as I have a box I had used with a DVD player that converts S-Video to RCA). Obviously with HDMI and VGA being digital vs RCA being analog, I assume it'll take a converter box, which I found are sort of expensive and cumbersome. But if thats what it comes down to, I'm sure it would be cheaper than some of the other options. So, has anyone encountered a problem similar to this before and what was the easiest/cheapest workaround?

[Honzo]

vga isn't digital, but don't quote me on that one 

[mattred]

Yeah I don't think VGA is digital actually, but had been reading about needing a certain, older kind of graphics card that had certain pins that supported something or other that you needed for it to work correctly. I mean, my card definitely has TV-Out but I really didnt want to be buying cable after cable to find a combination that works, so I was hoping someone else had encountered a similar situation.

[abzman2000]

vga is analog, but the absolute easiest method is a vga box, google/amazon "vga box" and you'll see, it converts vga to composite

[MonMotha]

These "VGA boxes" are more commonly known as "scan converters".  Many scan converters also output s-video, but if your TV only has composite, just use that.  S-Video combined back in to composite using those cheap cables looks even worse than real composite.

And yes, VGA is definitely analog RGB.  It's pretty much the same thing as normal arcade video except at higher resolution and with lower signal levels.  DVI/HDMI (really the same thing just with a different connector, and HDMI has audio hacked in) is digital.

[Ummon]

If I were Saint, I'd find some way to make it so that people have to visit the wiki pages - a little notification bubble instructing them of their duty - before being able to post to the forum.