I have an old computer that I would like to re-purpose into a media center, which leads to the question. Is there some kind of PCI card that outputs a video signal to RCA to a television? I am aware that it might just be better to use HDMI, but the tv set doesn't have an HDMI jack.
Composite video can only display at NTSC/PAL resolution (around 640x480) with considerable quality loss. You can go up to 1024x768, but the image is so lossy at that point that nothing looks right.
Older video cards (Geforce 6 or Radeon 9xx0 and prior) have optional composite outputs on some cards. ATI also made an "All in Wonder" series with a TV tuner and composite/AV output.
The thing with these cards though is that almost all of them don't have drivers beyond Windows XP, so you'll have to use XP or earlier.
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=48&Description=&Type=&N=100007709&IsNodeId=1&IsPowerSearch=1&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&PropertyCodeValue=2328%3A14104[/url]
Very short list of new cards you could get. Or you can buy used:
[url]http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313.TR3.TRC1.A0.XAll+in+Wonder+radeon&_nkw=All+in+Wonder+radeon&_sacat=0&_from=R40[/url]
Just make sure you get the RCA block with the card or the card is useless.
It would be easier to find a card with an SVideo output on it and get a cheap converter.
I have done it and it looks like shit, so unless you're watching video on it, it's worthless.
Okay, so if what you guys are saying is true then I'm probably just going to ditch the idea. Thanks though.
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