[MPlayer-users] Offtopic -- G400 TV-Out on a single output G400

[D Richard Felker III]

On Wed, Oct 01, 2003 at 04:05:41PM -0400, Greg Stark wrote:
> [Automatic answer: RTFM (read DOCS, FAQ), also read DOCS/bugreports.html]
> 
> I have this G400 video card that only has a single svga connector. 
> 
> Matrox sells a svga->tvout cable intended to be used with the second svga
> connector on the dual screen G400s.
> 
> If I plug that into my single svga connector will I get TV-Out? Or does only
> the second svga connector have the tv-out chipset connected?

AFAIK the tv-out should work with just one connector, but you won't be
able to use the monitor and tvout at the same time.

BTW there's no need to buy the cable either. If you (or any friends)
have a soldering iron, you can make the cable for less than $5 worth
of parts from an electronics shop (Cellph^H^H^H^H^H^HRadio Shack or
equivalent), using the pinouts on Matrox's website. IIRC the composite
video pin is the one right next to the ground, probably pin #10.

> They also sell an add-on to add the second svga connector and it includes the
> cable, but it costs almost as much as a whole new G400 so it hardly makes
> sense. And if I'm getting a new AGP card I'll probably shell out for a better
> 3D card like an ATI or else go cheapo with a Savage or something.

Well Matrox will work much better if you intend to watch movies rather
than play the 0.1% of 3d games that get ported to Linux. But I agree
buying the add-on is silly.

> I'm really annoyed because I like Matrox cards, and Matrox is actually just a
> couple miles from here, but they just can't seem to compete.

What do you expect when they come out with a new 3d card that's slower
than the competition, twice as expensive, and doesn't have publicly
available specs?? :((

G400 is still quite nice though.

Rich