Component Video troubles

[rock]

I'm thinking about purchasing a slightly used HTPC. The seller had been using it with a GeForce card and DVI to HDMI for his 60" DLP. However, while my Onkyo supports HDMI, my TV is Component HD only. So he swapped out the GF for an ATI 9800 pro with VGA/DVI/Component dongle. We hooked it up at his house to a 1st-gen component-in Toshiba (not HD), but things didn't really work. So I took it home and plugged it into my set with similar results.

If you're not familiar, here's the dongle thing

The Catalyst driver and regular display properties recognize the second output OK. I can stretch the desktop on there and adjust resolution/refresh and all. However, the screen looks kind-of black and white, with a tinge of blue. I've confirmed the cables are hooked in the right order (even swapping the bottom two creates the same problem). All the drivers are current and everything seems OK, but the picture is just fuzzy and colorless. This doesn't look like an overscan or resolution issue, but something more fundamental.

One more thing I tried was to set the TV as primary and disable the VGA monitor I also had hooked up. This was after reading somewhere it's not design to run both. But this just ended me up with no picture on either. *sigh*

Anyone have experience with ATI cards with this Component Dongle thing? The ATI support site hasn't been much help since it's all under AMD now.

[rock]

Well, after more reading, it does appear to be a refresh rate issue. I've got Powerstrip installed now, but still not making much headway. There's all this stuff about "running 480p resolutions at 540p timings" that's still a little over my head.

Would really appreciate any pointers if anybody has any!

[CaTaLyST]

I'd suggest an ATi X1000 series card or a 6000+ Geforce card. Both have better and enhanced support for HDTV resolutions. I also used a 9800 pro in my HDTV, and it had terrible ghosting through DVI, so I had to resort to VGA, which really gave up some clarity and sharpness.

If you have a friend with a newer card, try it out. It might help, it might not.