Hardware for HTPC w/ Analog TV questions (1 Viewer)

[smilejack1]

I am building a HTPC (Win 7 Home x64, Gigabyte A75M-D2H mb w/ integrated video, AMD A6-3500 2.1Ghz CPU, 2 Ghz DDR which I will probably upgrade to 4) to use with an analog TV which supports Coax, Composite, S-Video, and Component (YPbPr) video.
I am currently outputting component video via the VGA port and this Kworld PC to TV VGA to Component video converter The picture is unsatisfactory. The overall quality is acceptable, but periodically, something I would describe as a wrinkle or a wave - that is, a horizontal line above and below which the picture is not aligned - moves from top to bottom on the screen. It does this regardless of the video source, including live and recorded TV (OTA broadcast, thru WMC via a Haupage tuner), Netflix in WMC, and Hulu Desktop.
I saw the same phenomenon when experimenting with the PC to TV device and my primary computer, which is considerably more powerful (3.1 Ghz Intel Core i5, Asus P8P67 mb, 8 Ghz DDR) so I suspect that this is caused by the PC to TV device, but I don't know this. Can anyone help me either troubleshoot my current setup or recommend different hardware to achieve better results? The Gigabyte mb supports DVI & HDMI as well as VGA, so these are options if a different converter is the answer. All input is greatly appreciated.

 

[mattCR]

Ok, first I have some good news and bad news.. first, the method you're using is generally overkill and will result in a not-so-good picture quality. Since you're using an ATI, it will immediately detect a VGA to Component dongle, and you'll be better off with that then an external converter. Look for ATI DVI-I to Component Adapter. Generally available everywhere about $10. ATI will autosense and use it.

 

[smilejack1]

Interesting. I had no idea DVI ports could output analog. If the worst of the bad news you refer to is that i have to spend $10 to solve my problem (actually, $7.52 on Amazon, including shipping), that's not very bad at all. Thanks for your help!