I'm wondering if this is possible: I don't have a DVD player on my pc but want the ability to play some of my DVDs through my TV's DVD player which has RCA jacks. Maybe I need a new video card that has RCA jacks?

You need a video card that has video-out. Your cheapest, and probably best, option is to buy a converter that'll take the VGA 15-pin in, and output what you're looking for. (RCA or S-Video). If you're at all capable of doing it, I'd suggest you use S-Video instead of RCA. It carries a much higher maximum resolution than RCA, and the difference will be noticable.

Let me make sure I understand...you want to watch DVD's on your computer using your home-theater-component-style DVD player?

I investigated the possibility of using my VCR to watch movies on my computer a couple of years ago, and I don't believe there is a hardware solution for this readily available on the market. The problem lies in the difference in signals used to generate the different images, and while encoders to take the VGA signal to PAL (or whatever--I had a brain fart, forgot the name of the signal) are common, I never found any video cards with an RCA-in jack. I DID come across DIY kits to go from PAL to VGA, but the signal quality was absolute crap. I suppose it might be possible to ad-hoc something together with Video-4-Linux, but I think you would probably find it cheaper, and A LOT less of a hassle to get a DVD-ROM and MultiMediaCard.

If you want to watch DVD's on your TV using your PC's DVD-ROM, that's a cinch--most MMCs have an RCA-out (at least mine does, I can't imagine why they all wouldn't), and if your soundcard doesn't have at least a mono-RCA-out, head to the Radio Shack and get yourself a stereo-headphone=>dual-RCA jack adaptor for 5 bucks (or if you can't find one, make your own--they're extremely simple)!

Edit:
Killerbob's right. And the difference between Svideo and RCA is noticable!

Best of luck!

My DVD player has S-video and RCA. I've never used S-video...is audio in this output also? Also, is the converter part of the video card, or do I need to buy a converter at Radio Shack?

Are you asking me or bob?

back up a sec. I didn't read that clearly....

If the DVD player has S-Video out, a lot of ATI cards have S-Video in. Some NVidia cards, too. Check what your card has, and if it's got S-Video in, then just go to Radio Shock and buy an S-Video cable.

S-Video, like RCA, does *not* carry audio. You'll also need an RCA-3.5mm patch cable to connect to your sound card.

If your video card doesn't have an RCA or S-Video input, it'd be cheaper to buy a DVD drive for your computer. Those're something like $60-80 US, and the software (Xine + libdvdcss) is free. A much cheaper and easier option than changing the video card with one that has the appropriate input, and it'll give you the ability to read data DVDs/games in the future, too.

With all due respect to Monty Python, PULL THE OTHER ONE! How long ago did this happen? I know I live under a rock, but to look right at what I was looking for and miss it completely is beyond sheltered, it's ludicrous! Embarassing, too, because I crawled all over ATI's website! Well, what are you gonna do...

Could I use MPlayer with the codecs to play DVDs?

All of the "Wonder" series ATI cards have an S-Video port, and all major ATI models have at least one "Wonder" version available. This includes the "TV-Wonder" (obvious) and the "All-In-Wonder" cards.

As for NVidia, again, it depends on the specific model, but just about every major model number has a version with S-Video in.


Yup. You probably already have most of the codecs installed in your Linux system, too, and just need to add libdvdcss. I can't give you specific help with MPlayer, however, because I use xine for DVDs.

sounds good. I like the possibility of reading data off a DVD though since most Linux distros have a DVD iso now. If I had a DVD data player inside my pc and use my CD burner to burn a DVD iso-would the DVD player be able to boot the DVD iso that was burned in a CDR?

You'd never be able to burn a DVD ISO to a CDR. CDRs have a maximum capacity of about 720mb (if you overburn), and DVD ISOs are a minimum of 3.2GB. You'd need a DVD burner for that to work.

If you're considering buying a DVD burner, skip buying a DVD drive. DVD burners can double as a DVD drive.

ok-looks like DVD players are around $20 now (clearance item). I don't wanna sink much into a 600 MHz pc.