Connect your PC to your TV and bring the Internet into your living room! PCTVCables.com

Frequently Asked Questions

If you don't see the answer to your question here, please email us.

  1. How do I enable my PC's external video output?

  2. When I click the "full screen" option on Hulu and other flash sites my TV goes blank

  3. I installed my HDMI cable but cannot hear any sound

  4. What is the difference between HD (high definition) video and SD (standard definition) video?

  5. How can I test my monitor resolution?

  6. How can I maximize my window size with Windows XP or Windows Vista?

  7. How can I make Windows Media Player full screen?

  8. My TV won't let me select "PC mode." It's "greyed out"

  9. While watching movies my screen goes blank. What's wrong?

  10. When I connect my TV my PC screen resolution changes and all of my desktop icons get rearranged!

  11. Which color audio jack do I plug into on my PC?

How do I enable my PC's external video output?

While your PC always has a primary display enabled when you start your computer, your secondary PC output jacks (VGA, S-Video) are not usually enabled. So each time you restart your PC, you will have to enable your external video output if you wish to connect your PC to your TV. It's easy once you learn how to do it.

When I click the "full screen" option on Hulu and other flash sites my TV screen goes blank

There is an incompatibility between Windows Vista and Flash 9. You can upgrade your Flash Player to version 10 to resolve this issue.

I installed my HDMI cable but cannot hear any sound.

Your video graphics properties controls the video but not the sound. HDMI sound is controlled from your sound card. Click START, CONTROL PANEL, SOUND, SPEECH AND AUDIO DEVICES to access your sound card properties. Refer to your computers documentation for assistance or email us with your computer make, model and operating system.

If your screen saver kicks in while you are watching a movie your audio properties may become disrupted. You may have to close and restart your browser to correct this problem. We recommend disabling your screen saver.

Here's some helpful resources for configuring your sound card:

Sound Cards: Frequently Asked Questions

Tips for fixing common sound problems

What is the difference between HD (high definition) video and SD (standard definition) video?

Older televisions have a resolution of 704 x 480 pixels (standard definition). These old tube TVs are hard to find today. Almost all televisions sold today are of the flat screen, high-definition (HDTV) LCD or plasma variety. High definition is 1280 x 720 pixels or 1920 x 1080 pixels (720p or 1080p). The second number (720 or 1080) refers to the number of pixels in the vertical dimension. Todays PCs all support high-definition video with 1024 x 768 resolution being the most popular .

Our HDMI and VGA cables support high definition and our S-Video cable supports standard definition. Here's a comparison:

Standard definition sample image

High definition sample image

Standard Definition

High Definition

These images are pictures of a 32" Samsung 720p HDTV. The image on the left is with an s-video cable and the image on the right is with a VGA cable.

How can I test my monitor resolution?

Here are some useful tools for checking your PC or TV screen resolution:

How can I maximize my window size with Windows XP or Windows Vista?

You can easily toggle your window full screen with the F11 key. Try it now. Press a second time to undo.

How can I make Windows Media Player full screen?

You can easily make Windows Media Player full screen by pressing <ALT> and <ENTER> at the same time.  Press <ESCAPE> to return.

My TV won't let me select "PC mode." It's "greyed out."

This is a common issue with Samsung televisions. Please see our blog entry "Solving the Samsung HDTV "PC input is greyed out" Problem". You can also watch our Solving the Samsung HDTV "PC Input is greyed out" Problem video.

While watching movies my screen goes blank. What's wrong?

Here's two things to check for:

  1. Make sure your screen saver is disabled (or set to an interval longer than your movie, such as 3 hours)
  2. Make sure your Power Management is not shutting off your screen. This is especially common on laptop computers. Here's instructions for an HP laptop with Windows Vista:

      3. 1. Click on Start.
      2. Select control panel.
      3. Click on Power options.
      4. At the selected power plan, click on change plan settings.
      5. At Turn off display under battery and plugged in options select the drop down menu and select Never for both.
      6. Click on Save settings.

When I connect my TV my PC screen resolution changes and all of my desktop icons get rearranged!

This is annoying and unfortunately Microsoft hasn't done anything about it. There is a free program that you can download called Icon Restore 1.0 to Save and Restore your desktop layout. It isn't perfect, but it works pretty well. Read the instructions carefully. Note that to save your desktop layout, the instructions say to click on the "Computer" or "My Computer" icon on your desktop. If you don't have this icon, go to Start and right-click on Computer or My Computer and look for the option to "show on desktop" or "create shortcut on desktop." This will create the needed icon. We have found that the restore process works pretty well, but sometimes there will still be a few icons out of place. Simply right-click on the Computer icon and Restore two or three times until all of the icons are back where they are supposed to be. Download Icon Restore 1.0.

Which color audio jack do I plug into on my PC?

The 3.5mm stereo audio plug on your VGA or S-Video cable goes into the LIME GREEN (headphone) jack on your PC.



Please email us with your questions. We respond to all inquiries within 48 hours.

PCTVCables.com Customer Support