I WANT STEPMANIA ON TV!!! ggrr

[DDRkrazy]

im buying a USB adapter for stepmania so i can play my giant library of songs, but i want to play it on tv with my big fat DDR Machine sized speakers. is there any type of adapter that converts PC to those standard Red, White and yellow inputs?, (exactly like a console)

i saw one, but it was 100 bucks! THATS BULL. i cant afford than, well i should say i dont want to afford that! i was hoping for something around the lines of 20-25 bucks or cheaper!
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[ChibiShin]

Well, I'm assuming you mean RCA style inputs...as for getting red, white and yellow from your video card, that won't happen. You can output from 'most' modern video cards using either composite or s-video. I usually use s-video for watching anime as it looks better on a television....as for the audio, you'll need to output from your soundcard to your tv. If you go to radioshack I'm sure you could find some kind of cable that would output using RCA connections to your tv/stereo, however you would have to use the line out on your soundcard, as opposed to the standard jacks for the pc speakers I believe. That's my best suggestion.

As for a cheap solution for video out, you probably won't find one for under 20-25USD.

[davidbrit2]

Scan converters rarely cost less than $100. That's how much mine cost, and it's a relatively low end converter. You might be able to find a cheap video card with composite or SVideo output, though. I haven't checked them lately.
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[DDRkrazy]

in the back of my laptop (the desired computer) there is what seems to be a composite or RCA output to TV, its the yellow one (video), i got the sound down, i used some cables around the house and hooked it to my stereo, but i tried pluging the output in the the TV and i cant get anything? anyone know how to work one of these?
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[Andreq]

Yep :^P

to use your TV OUT (this is the name) you must go in "display" property and in "parameter" (sry if its not the good word im on windows XP FR..)
now, press "advance" and you must have something like ATI prefererance or Nvidia preferance or whatever you want ut its like the name of your Video/TV Out Card. Then in that label you search for "TV OUT" (lol) and you must see an option that "activate it" (for my ATI card its a big blue button like a power button on a tv ) then... if its a TV out .. i gona work... but it can also be a TV IN....

P.S. you must upgrade your video card to the lastest driver
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[Phrekwenci]

This probably could have went in the DWI/SM/etc.. help thread.
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[Devil Warrior]

If you want a really cheap card with S-Video out, grab the Radeon 9000, Pro, Non-Pro, 64mb, 128mb, doesn't matter. Most all have the s-video, and DVI outs as well as your standard VGA output. I got someone a Radeon 9000 Pro 128mb version for $90 a few weeks ago, so thats how cheap the high end version is.

[AfRoNoVa2006]

just to note arent those cables called coaxial

[`pr0digy]

Make sure to put your television on channel 2/3/4/90/91/98 VIDEO1,2,3,4 etc...
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[AfRoNoVa2006]

hey theres this thing called TVator it hooks up your computer picture to your tv the picture isnt that good but its an idea

[byak]

You can get a decent (for SM) video card with TVout for cheap (under $50) new, even cheaper if you check your local alt...forsale usenet groups for people selling old hardware. Get something Radeon if you can. ATi has much better TVout than nVidia (they make geforces.) It is AWFUL to even say this, but in your case, where you probably aren't sure exactly what you want, get something with atleast 32MB of vram and S-vid out. 32 ram will pretty much ensure that it is relatively recent. You would not want anything less anyway. S-vid is what you're looking for.

With the vid card, you should get a s-vid to RCA converter. (Which will give you that nice yellow plug you speak of.) Svid is better, so use that if you can. Long svid cables a _really_ expensive though, just so you know. Like $2-3/ft once you go past about 10 feet. Long lengths of RCA are pretty cheap. (Note: if you don't get an svid/rca converter with your video card, you can get one at radio shack for $5.)

You can also get a 1/4" audio plug -> RCA converter at radioshack. This will give you your red and white RCA plugs which you can plug into a TV or whatever. I use a 20' headphone extension, then have the RCA converter on the end of that go right into the receiver. A 20' headphone extension is a lot cheaper than 20' of RCA, times two (red and white.) This converter is also less than $5 at the shack.

Summary:

$50 - Video card. (Atleast 32MB RAM, svideo out, ATi if possible)
$5 - s-video to RCA converter (Assuming your TV does not have svid inputs)
$5 - "headphone cable" to RCA converter
$15 - 20' headphone extension
$10 - a length of video cable (svid or RCA, either one should not be more than $10. Don't buy the super expensive brand, you don't need it)

So you're looking at $70-80.. still a sizable amount of money, but well worth it.

DDR + hard pad + 50" TV + 5.1 Surround Sound ==

edit: yuck, my posts here are always confusing and longwinded.

Cliffnotes:
Get ATi card for around $50 with svideo out. Try to get one used if you can.
Check to see if your TV has svideo inputs
If it does, get an svideo cable. If not, go to radio shack, get an svid->RCA converter. (Check first: your video card may have already come with one.)
Get a "headphones" extension @ radio shack
Get a "headphones" -> RCA converter @ RS (its 1/4" plug -> RCA.. you can tell if its the right thing by looking at it.)

Plug headphones extension into computer.
Plug headphone->RCA converter into the end of the extension.
Plug RCA plugs into your TV or receiver

Plug svid into computer; plug svid into SV
or
Plus svid->rca converter into computer; plug RCA cable in to converter, plug RCA cable into TV.



There. That should be a little easier to understand. Let me know if you have any questions. I'm doing this and it works great!

[Furiozo]

Too bad your video cards aren't l337 like mine.

I'm sporting a standard VGA out, an S-video out, and an RCA out. Not adaptors needed.

If only my sound card did the same
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[DDRkrazy]

i hope you all remember im using a laptop, i dont think its as easy as poppin cards on a PC, just open it up and slam it in there, i could do that if i had a pc, but im not allowed to upgrade this laptop its a work laptop, and im pissed because it could Fing blow an alienware of the shelf its so god damn powerfull (somewhere near 2.9ghz, 1gig ram, 100gig hard drive) and thats why i want play stepmania on it, because perfect speed, no lag or bumps and great graphics.

remember i have a video out as well, this is what i tried, pluged a standart rca wire from the out, to the input on my TV, tuned to the correct input channel and it was black, i also tried the others. i can get the laptop to do dual monitors but not a TV. tried doing what someone said earlier but im not using XP and sadly the display menu is muchos different,
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[`pr0digy]

[Andreq]

[DJPhunk_infinity]

All you gotta do is plug a video cable from your laptop's TV out and plug the other end into the appropriate spot on your TV. Since you have a video out on your laptop, I assume it's either A) S-Video or B) Yellow Composite Video Cable (aka RCA cable)

That's step 1, step 2 is making sure that the video out port is active or enabled. Usually it is enabled by default, but it might not be active. On some laptops with video outs you have to "switch" to that source (usually FN key + F4) or, go to your display properties and make sure it's on.

If these things aren't working, mess with your resolution. Remember that American TV's are NTSC standard - which means 640x480 resolution. Usually, the computer will still display on most TV's, but it will look like crap and possibly be a bit wavy unless set to this resolution. Further, make sure Stepmania is running at 640x480. Unlike other video games, you won't benefit a lot if you go with hardcore resolution.

So all that said and done, if it STILL doesn't work, check in the bios of the laptop or R.T.F.M. (Read the friggin manual)

Lastly, no need to buy expensive scan converters or TV out cards (which you can't cheaply obtain for a laptop). You can simply get a VGA to Composite cable (check at www.belkin.com or tiger direct) and only use the yellow end of the cable on your TV, as the audio will be coming from your sound card. Last I checked I saw the cables there (or possibly somewhere else) for about $18. If you decide to go this route, just search the web for VGA to composite cables.

Hope this helps, but don't get sidetracked and make it harder than it has to be. PM me if you have any questions.

Peace

[DJPhunk_infinity]

Just a side note. You really won't need to mess with a scan converter unless you think it still looks horrid at 640x480 resolution on your TV. I'm running it at 640x480 and it looks perfect. If you insist on having it at a higher resolution or want a wireless video sender from laptop to PC all while scan converting, then you could go that route, but it is expensive and you don't gain much by it.

[DDRkrazy]

http://www.svideo.com/mi.html

this wouldnt happen to work would it?
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All that is... ever.... ever was, will be... ever.. TWISTING, TURNING, THROUGH THE NEVER!

[Devil Warrior]

Well, if you're running Stepmania on an Apple, theres your problem right there....

Just buy a really cheap ATi card. The 64mb non-pro 9000s are as cheap as $50. Or you could buy a PCI All in Wonder VE even....

[Zep]

TV that would be kool
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