Sending sound through the video card?

vechinsj · 03-02-2008, 07:29 AM

Hi, I'd like to hook my PC to my LCD TV, but I'll need to buy a long cable to do that (~35ft). My TV has both HDMI and a VGA input, but I don't know which one would be better to use. I'm looking at buying a DVI to HDMI cable, because HDMI carries both video and sound signals. My question is: is it possible to send sound through the video card, so that I wouldn't have to run separate sound wires? My motherboard and video card are under my system specs. Thanks for any advice.

vechinsj · 03-03-2008, 10:52 AM

Has anybody done this before? Should this question be posted in a different forum? Thanks.

dai · 03-03-2008, 11:33 AM

i will move you to home theatre they will have a better idea on the hook up

ebackhus · 03-03-2008, 03:37 PM

The HDMI connection may work better considering the distance you're working with.

If the video support audio out over HDMI then you'll be able to go with just the one cable. If not you'll also need to run an audio cable from the PC.

vechinsj · 03-05-2008, 05:43 AM

Thanks, ebackhus. But that's kind of my main question: Does my video card/motherboard support sending audio through the video card? If so, how does that work (do I need to do something to 'enable' it)? I'd like to be sure how to do this before I spend the money to buy the cable. Thanks!

ebackhus · 03-05-2008, 01:09 PM

I haven't seen any boards like yours that have HDMI so the answer would be no on that end. You can run a DVI to HDMI cable from it but will still need another cable for audio.

vechinsj · 03-06-2008, 05:47 AM

When you say "board," are you referring to the motherboard (ASUS P5L-MX) or the video card (PNY XLR8 8800GT)? Also, I found some more information which supports what you say (I can't send audio out of the video card through HDMI), but I'd like a final confirmation. I've learned that in the video card world, ATI and nVidia do things differently when it comes to sound in that ATI processes sound through the GPU, so sending sound through the video card is as simple as converting the DVI output to HDMI through a converter. For a nVidia card, you need to connect the S/PDIF out on the MB (or sound card) to the S/PDIF on the video card; and <I>only</I> if your video card supports this (has a S/PDIF in).

Through a search on newegg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500006 is the only 8800GT that says it outputs to HDMI (with audio); my video card does not show that sound is possible (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...k=pny%2b8800gt ).

To summarize, my MB has a S/PDIF out, but my video card does not have a S/PDIF in, forcing me to run a separate audio cable. Would you agree with this assessment?

ebackhus · 03-06-2008, 07:25 AM

You video card and motherboard both lack HDMI ports.

On video cards that have HDMI you often need to connect an audio cable from the computers sound output to and input jack on the video card in order to get audio over the HDMI port.

vechinsj · 03-06-2008, 11:14 AM

I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but what I've found is that you can use a DVI port from a video card to send a AV signal, which can then be converted to HDMI through an adapter. You still need to connect the sound from the MB/sound card to an input jack on nVidia video cards; most 88000GTs lack this input, so I am out of luck (I need to run a separate sound cable).

So, my next question is regarding the video cable I should use. You mention HDMI as being a good choice considering the distance, but I'm wondering what the limitations of VGA cable is? My TV has a PC-In (VGA), so using that input would keep a HDMI input free for future use. Would the quality degredation over 50ft be too severe? In the future I plan to transmit high-def signals from the PC to the TV from an over the air tuner; will VGA display that resolution adequately? If not, would running DVI cable that length, then using a DVI-to-VGA adapter at the TV be any different (better)?

Sorry for all of the questions. I'm new to this and just want to make sure before I spend the money (measure twice, cut once, right?). Thanks!

ebackhus · 03-06-2008, 12:42 PM

At home I have my girlfriend's PC connected to my HDTV using a DVI-to-HDMI cable for the video signal and a simple phono-to-RCA cable for stereo audio.

If you can run a VGA then I'd be careful. Unless you get a very high quality cable (read: expensive) you'll see some signal degredation and signal loss. On the same end, high quality HDMI cables of the length you need can also be quite pricy.

Just out of curiousity... What are you planning on doing?

vechinsj · 03-06-2008, 01:33 PM

The plan started off as just to get AV from the PC to the TV so I can do certain tasks while sitting in the living room (organize photos, maybe play some games on a nice big screen, etc). Then after thinking (and after buying the video card), I'd like to 'future-proof' the setup in case I ever get around to buying a TV tuner card for the PC so I could set the PC up as a DVR...saving and outputting in HDTV (1080i resolution with surround sound) would be ideal. My ultimate dream list would then be to buy a Blue-Ray disc player so I could watch movies in 1080p resolution; but this is not at all likely with my current time and cost restraints.

Regarding your setup...you must have the audio signal going to a separate source than the video? I'm guessing if I set my TV to one of the HDMI inputs, it will be expecting audio from that input as well? I have a separate receiver that I can run audio to, so I should be OK; I'll just have to remember to turn my TV to "PC" and my receiver to whatever input I run the audio to.

Would there be signal degredation using a DVI cable, if I didn't use a DVI-to-VGA adapter until right at the TV? Or doesn't it matter where the signal is converted (at the source vs. the receiving end)? Consequently, are you saying there should be little to no degredation using a DVI-to-HDMI cable?

One more question (sorry!) - Would I be much better off going with 35' as opposed to 50' in terms of degredation? I only need around that where I'm at now, but we plan on selling our house and moving this summer, so I'd like to have a few extra feet.

ebackhus · 03-07-2008, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vechinsj

The plan started off as just to get AV from the PC to the TV so I can do certain tasks while sitting in the living room (organize photos, maybe play some games on a nice big screen, etc). Then after thinking (and after buying the video card), I'd like to 'future-proof' the setup in case I ever get around to buying a TV tuner card for the PC so I could set the PC up as a DVR...saving and outputting in HDTV (1080i resolution with surround sound) would be ideal. My ultimate dream list would then be to buy a Blue-Ray disc player so I could watch movies in 1080p resolution; but this is not at all likely with my current time and cost restraints.
I'd like to make a beefier setup in my home as well but costs are the prohibiting factor...

Regarding your setup...you must have the audio signal going to a separate source than the video? I'm guessing if I set my TV to one of the HDMI inputs, it will be expecting audio from that input as well? I have a separate receiver that I can run audio to, so I should be OK; I'll just have to remember to turn my TV to "PC" and my receiver to whatever input I run the audio to.
Right now the PC is just sitting on the floor next to the TV stand. It's a rather unsightly setup, really. Since I have both the audio AND video running right to the TV I only need to turn on the TV. If I wanted to I could route audio to my receiver for better sound but lack the cables for that setup.

Would there be signal degredation using a DVI cable, if I didn't use a DVI-to-VGA adapter until right at the TV? Or doesn't it matter where the signal is converted (at the source vs. the receiving end)? Consequently, are you saying there should be little to no degredation using a DVI-to-HDMI cable?
If the TV has a digital input and the PC has a digital output then you'll want to preserve that. Converting the digital signal to analog and then back to digital can cause some loss in image quality. Using a DVI-to-HDMI will cause no loss in quality.

One more question (sorry!) - Would I be much better off going with 35' as opposed to 50' in terms of degredation? I only need around that where I'm at now, but we plan on selling our house and moving this summer, so I'd like to have a few extra feet.
Go with the shortest cable you possibly can. Like I said before, if you're planning on a long run you'll want a quality cable to preserve the signal. Even short cords that are of high quality can be expensive. AVOID MONSTER. Check your local suppliers and also take a trip over to www.milestek.com for more options.

vechinsj · 03-07-2008, 08:47 AM

Thanks for all of your help, and for the link. I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point; it's between running a VGA cable or a DVI-to-HDMI cable. It'll ultimately depend on my budget and whether I have a need to keep the HDMI input for another device.

Thanks again.

ebackhus · 03-07-2008, 01:45 PM

I had a REALLY good reply in this text box but it got erased. I'll try to come back on tonight and give you some more info.

Ultimately you'll want to run a DVI or HDMI cable between the devices.

Vab10 · 03-25-2008, 09:54 AM

Well you are right that HDMI carries both Audio and Video, but not when used as a DVI to HDMI, that only delivers video. So if your video card doesn't have hdmi then you are only gonna get video, you would need to go through the audio card for the sound.... But hdmi to hdmi would do audio and video.....

kingofthegrill · 05-08-2008, 09:10 PM

I am not sure but i dont think all video cards with hdmi will also carry audio. Regardless it is best to just run DVI to HDMI so its better quality and if you lose some quality over the 35' its ok. Cables from monoprice.com are really cheap and great quality. As for audio you mentioned you have a seperate reciever, how about you run 3.5mm to RCA audio. This is exactly how i am running audio and video to my home theatre set up. (well i will be, as for now i am using s-video, i jsut bought a 8600though)

03-02-2008, 07:29 AM	#1 (permalink)
vechinsj Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 35 OS: XP My System	Sending sound through the video card? Hi, I'd like to hook my PC to my LCD TV, but I'll need to buy a long cable to do that (~35ft). My TV has both HDMI and a VGA input, but I don't know which one would be better to use. I'm looking at buying a DVI to HDMI cable, because HDMI carries both video and sound signals. My question is: is it possible to send sound through the video card, so that I wouldn't have to run separate sound wires? My motherboard and video card are under my system specs. Thanks for any advice.

03-03-2008, 10:52 AM	#2 (permalink)
vechinsj Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 35 OS: XP My System	Re: Sending sound through the video card? Has anybody done this before? Should this question be posted in a different forum? Thanks.

03-03-2008, 11:33 AM	#3 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 39,458 OS: vista 32x ultimate retail	Re: Sending sound through the video card? i will move you to home theatre they will have a better idea on the hook up __________________

03-03-2008, 03:37 PM	#4 (permalink)
ebackhus Asst. Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 12,378 OS: WinXP Pro SP2b My System Blog Entries: 16	Re: Sending sound through the video card? The HDMI connection may work better considering the distance you're working with. If the video support audio out over HDMI then you'll be able to go with just the one cable. If not you'll also need to run an audio cable from the PC. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

03-05-2008, 05:43 AM	#5 (permalink)
vechinsj Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 35 OS: XP My System	Re: Sending sound through the video card? Thanks, ebackhus. But that's kind of my main question: Does my video card/motherboard support sending audio through the video card? If so, how does that work (do I need to do something to 'enable' it)? I'd like to be sure how to do this before I spend the money to buy the cable. Thanks!

03-05-2008, 01:09 PM	#6 (permalink)
ebackhus Asst. Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 12,378 OS: WinXP Pro SP2b My System Blog Entries: 16	Re: Sending sound through the video card? I haven't seen any boards like yours that have HDMI so the answer would be no on that end. You can run a DVI to HDMI cable from it but will still need another cable for audio. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

03-06-2008, 05:47 AM	#7 (permalink)
vechinsj Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 35 OS: XP My System	Re: Sending sound through the video card? When you say "board," are you referring to the motherboard (ASUS P5L-MX) or the video card (PNY XLR8 8800GT)? Also, I found some more information which supports what you say (I can't send audio out of the video card through HDMI), but I'd like a final confirmation. I've learned that in the video card world, ATI and nVidia do things differently when it comes to sound in that ATI processes sound through the GPU, so sending sound through the video card is as simple as converting the DVI output to HDMI through a converter. For a nVidia card, you need to connect the S/PDIF out on the MB (or sound card) to the S/PDIF on the video card; and <I>only</I> if your video card supports this (has a S/PDIF in). Through a search on newegg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500006 is the only 8800GT that says it outputs to HDMI (with audio); my video card does not show that sound is possible (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...k=pny%2b8800gt ). To summarize, my MB has a S/PDIF out, but my video card does not have a S/PDIF in, forcing me to run a separate audio cable. Would you agree with this assessment?

03-06-2008, 07:25 AM	#8 (permalink)
ebackhus Asst. Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 12,378 OS: WinXP Pro SP2b My System Blog Entries: 16	Re: Sending sound through the video card? You video card and motherboard both lack HDMI ports. On video cards that have HDMI you often need to connect an audio cable from the computers sound output to and input jack on the video card in order to get audio over the HDMI port. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

03-06-2008, 11:14 AM	#9 (permalink)
vechinsj Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 35 OS: XP My System	Re: Sending sound through the video card? I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but what I've found is that you can use a DVI port from a video card to send a AV signal, which can then be converted to HDMI through an adapter. You still need to connect the sound from the MB/sound card to an input jack on nVidia video cards; most 88000GTs lack this input, so I am out of luck (I need to run a separate sound cable). So, my next question is regarding the video cable I should use. You mention HDMI as being a good choice considering the distance, but I'm wondering what the limitations of VGA cable is? My TV has a PC-In (VGA), so using that input would keep a HDMI input free for future use. Would the quality degredation over 50ft be too severe? In the future I plan to transmit high-def signals from the PC to the TV from an over the air tuner; will VGA display that resolution adequately? If not, would running DVI cable that length, then using a DVI-to-VGA adapter at the TV be any different (better)? Sorry for all of the questions. I'm new to this and just want to make sure before I spend the money (measure twice, cut once, right?). Thanks!

03-06-2008, 12:42 PM	#10 (permalink)
ebackhus Asst. Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 12,378 OS: WinXP Pro SP2b My System Blog Entries: 16	Re: Sending sound through the video card? At home I have my girlfriend's PC connected to my HDTV using a DVI-to-HDMI cable for the video signal and a simple phono-to-RCA cable for stereo audio. If you can run a VGA then I'd be careful. Unless you get a very high quality cable (read: expensive) you'll see some signal degredation and signal loss. On the same end, high quality HDMI cables of the length you need can also be quite pricy. Just out of curiousity... What are you planning on doing? __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

03-06-2008, 01:33 PM	#11 (permalink)
vechinsj Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 35 OS: XP My System	Re: Sending sound through the video card? The plan started off as just to get AV from the PC to the TV so I can do certain tasks while sitting in the living room (organize photos, maybe play some games on a nice big screen, etc). Then after thinking (and after buying the video card), I'd like to 'future-proof' the setup in case I ever get around to buying a TV tuner card for the PC so I could set the PC up as a DVR...saving and outputting in HDTV (1080i resolution with surround sound) would be ideal. My ultimate dream list would then be to buy a Blue-Ray disc player so I could watch movies in 1080p resolution; but this is not at all likely with my current time and cost restraints. Regarding your setup...you must have the audio signal going to a separate source than the video? I'm guessing if I set my TV to one of the HDMI inputs, it will be expecting audio from that input as well? I have a separate receiver that I can run audio to, so I should be OK; I'll just have to remember to turn my TV to "PC" and my receiver to whatever input I run the audio to. Would there be signal degredation using a DVI cable, if I didn't use a DVI-to-VGA adapter until right at the TV? Or doesn't it matter where the signal is converted (at the source vs. the receiving end)? Consequently, are you saying there should be little to no degredation using a DVI-to-HDMI cable? One more question (sorry!) - Would I be much better off going with 35' as opposed to 50' in terms of degredation? I only need around that where I'm at now, but we plan on selling our house and moving this summer, so I'd like to have a few extra feet.

03-07-2008, 08:47 AM	#13 (permalink)
vechinsj Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 35 OS: XP My System	Re: Sending sound through the video card? Thanks for all of your help, and for the link. I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point; it's between running a VGA cable or a DVI-to-HDMI cable. It'll ultimately depend on my budget and whether I have a need to keep the HDMI input for another device. Thanks again.

03-07-2008, 01:45 PM	#14 (permalink)
ebackhus Asst. Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 12,378 OS: WinXP Pro SP2b My System Blog Entries: 16	Re: Sending sound through the video card? I had a REALLY good reply in this text box but it got erased. I'll try to come back on tonight and give you some more info. Ultimately you'll want to run a DVI or HDMI cable between the devices. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

03-25-2008, 09:54 AM	#15 (permalink)
Vab10 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 52 OS: Windows XP Pro SP2, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Ultimate	Re: Sending sound through the video card? Well you are right that HDMI carries both Audio and Video, but not when used as a DVI to HDMI, that only delivers video. So if your video card doesn't have hdmi then you are only gonna get video, you would need to go through the audio card for the sound.... But hdmi to hdmi would do audio and video..... Last edited by Vab10 : 03-25-2008 at 09:55 AM.

05-08-2008, 09:10 PM	#16 (permalink)
kingofthegrill Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 29 OS: Windows XP Pro	Re: Sending sound through the video card? I am not sure but i dont think all video cards with hdmi will also carry audio. Regardless it is best to just run DVI to HDMI so its better quality and if you lose some quality over the 35' its ok. Cables from monoprice.com are really cheap and great quality. As for audio you mentioned you have a seperate reciever, how about you run 3.5mm to RCA audio. This is exactly how i am running audio and video to my home theatre set up. (well i will be, as for now i am using s-video, i jsut bought a 8600though)