Connection questions - Component/VGA/DVI

[PhenomeNhan]

I have a couple of devices I wanted to hook up to my 19" monitor. The monitor has both a VGA and DVI input.

I want to hook up the following devices to the monitor so I can access music menus only:

1. WDTV
2. Universal DVD player

Both have Component video outputs, so I was thinking of connecting component outs on both devices, running them through a component video switching box. Then going out rom the component video switching box, will be a third set of component video cable.

My question is, is there an adapter (or possibly a cable) that converts component video to VGA (or DVI).

If there is such an adapter for each (component to VGA and DVI), then I can skip the option above and just get 2 cables/adapters and hook the WDTV and U-DVD up to the monitor directly and skip the component video switching device.

I remember trying to find a VGA to component cable a long time ago when HDTVs first appear. They have a VGA to RGB-HV cable, which I have used with success, but the only way to do VGA to Component is to use a transcoder box. I'm wondering how far things have progressed these days?

Monoprice has this DVI-I to component adapter, but it seems to have been made for ATI video cards only.

Any options with this setup?

[dweekie]

I have a component to vga adapter. It is a hit or miss with lcd monitors. Does your universal dvd player have hdmi? Hdmi to dvi seems like a better pathway since the WDTV would have hdmi.

[dvenardos]

My memory is a little fuzzy on this but I don't think you can be sure it will work either way. As I recall the DVD-I input on the monitor may not be compatible with the DVD-D output that you would get with an HDMI to DVI converter. As dweekie alluded to, the VGA output on a computer has an extra wire compared to RGB for synch or refresh (I don't remember) and your lcd may not be able to handle it, by the same token I believe the DVI-D versus DVI-I may have a similar issue.

You can use VGA to RGB adapter on a projector because the projector doesn't need the extra signal and only uses the RGB.

[PhenomeNhan]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Dweekie, I responded to your PM before reading yor post here. The hdmi to dvi cable works fine for my monitor. The DVD player does not have hdmi out, hence my dilemma. It would probably be more cost effective as well as a simpler solution if I were to loom for a used oppo univ player and share the one hdmi to dvi cable between the oppo and wdtv (no need for an hdmi switcher since manual switching would not be difficult).

[PhenomeNhan]

If all fails, I can just keep my current Univ DVD player and spend $50+ for this product:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10114&cs_id=1011406&p_id=5971&seq=1&format=2#description

But it seems kind of a waste to spend $50 to prolong an outdated device :(

[Tigerkn]

Audio and Video in every room (restroom???), a computer room, a demo room and a main room with the monster LS6....... How many AV room does a Man needs? :D

[PhenomeNhan]

Audio and Video in every room (restroom???), a computer room, a demo room and a main room with the monster LS6....... How many AV room does a Man needs? :D

I'm doing this so I can feel like I'm using my whole house. What's the point of buying a house and never using some parts of it :)

[Tigerkn]

Very good point. I will start buying more AV gears for my un-use rooms as well. I will shop here, I heard that they have very good service and discount :).

[woofersus]

I'm doing this so I can feel like I'm using my whole house. What's the point of buying a house and never using some parts of it :)

I wish I had a spare, unused room. I've got unused gear boxed up and making my house feel even smaller. I need to have stuff to demo, but I can only listen to so many speakers at once. :dizzy:

[PhenomeNhan]

I wish I had a spare, unused room. I've got unused gear boxed up and making my house feel even smaller. I need to have stuff to demo, but I can only listen to so many speakers at once. :dizzy:

Maybe you can build a speaker shelf in the garage or one of the closets and move all the boxes to the attic :) Got any Zen speakers in the house yet?

[woofersus]

Maybe you can build a speaker shelf in the garage or one of the closets and move all the boxes to the attic :) Got any Zen speakers in the house yet?

Heh, no garage, no attic. It's a 1500 square foot house. Fortunately, there is a dry basement under it (although in no position to be finished - it has stone walls with dirt exposed along the top in places) where I can put stuff in boxes on some pallets I put in the corner. It's safe there, but still in a a pile of heavy boxes I tend to want to avoid lugging up and down the stairs. The stuff I want to be able to access quickly sits in the upstairs office taking up floor space. (that's where I have my 2-channel setup)

It's not so bad. We don't need a ton of space with just the two of us, and we have 1 spare bedroom along with an office. It's just that the rooms are small, so having any "extra" audio stuff around gets intrusive quickly.

No AZ speakers in house yet. I'm too poor. (and what money I had is in Onix gear ATM) My plan is to sell my RS450's and RSC100mkII to replace with Adagio's and an Adagio Jr. center as soon as I can afford to do so, but that's a fairly hefty step up in price - even with dealer pricing - and resale values on the rocket stuff is in the crapper. I'll eventually replace the ELT525t's with Adagio Jr's as surrounds, but first things first. Not sure if I want to go with the figured red to keep the general theme the same or if I want to mix it up with something really different like the Walnut or Mappa Burl.

Now if some of these fine folks would buy some stuff to fuel my addict...er...business.... :poke:

[Stereodude]

People buy houses without basements in the midwest?

[PhenomeNhan]

Heh, no garage, no attic. It's a 1500 square foot house. Fortunately, there is a dry basement under it (although in no position to be finished - it has stone walls with dirt exposed along the top in places) where I can put stuff in boxes on some pallets I put in the corner. It's safe there, but still in a a pile of heavy boxes I tend to want to avoid lugging up and down the stairs. The stuff I want to be able to access quickly sits in the upstairs office taking up floor space. (that's where I have my 2-channel setup)

It's not so bad. We don't need a ton of space with just the two of us, and we have 1 spare bedroom along with an office. It's just that the rooms are small, so having any "extra" audio stuff around gets intrusive quickly.

No AZ speakers in house yet. I'm too poor. (and what money I had is in Onix gear ATM) My plan is to sell my RS450's and RSC100mkII to replace with Adagio's and an Adagio Jr. center as soon as I can afford to do so, but that's a fairly hefty step up in price - even with dealer pricing - and resale values on the rocket stuff is in the crapper. I'll eventually replace the ELT525t's with Adagio Jr's as surrounds, but first things first. Not sure if I want to go with the figured red to keep the general theme the same or if I want to mix it up with something really different like the Walnut or Mappa Burl.

Now if some of these fine folks would buy some stuff to fuel my addict...er...business.... :poke:

Time for you to build an elevator to move stuff in and out of the basement :D

At the time, it was difficult to sell my 550s at the price I let them go at. However, looking back now, I made out quite nicely.

I'm sure the different veneers will do nicely with your room. You're pretty good with the computer, so I'm sure you can take a picture of the room an overlay some speakers in there to see how they would match/complement :)

I wish I could get some of those AZs, buddy. But my $ is invested in Onix products right now :)

[woofersus]

People buy houses without basements in the midwest?

I wouldn't recommend it, but yeah. As a kid I lived in a ranch house on a concrete slab with no basement for a few years. Whatever money was saved on the basement, my parents used building a large shed in the backyard to store things in.

For that matter, the house i live in now - built in 1910 - had only a crawlspace under it originally. I don't know when it was dug out, but they didn't dig the whole thing out. The original foundation ends and is followed by about 3 feet of dirt, then a 4 foot ledge with concrete poured on top and a block wall around the inside. There's no way to finish it without significant excavation even though it's perfectly dry.

A garage proves to be a crappy thing to do without in the winter, but remote start systems make it bearable.

[dvenardos]

I so wish we had basements here in Southern California. :violin 1: