need help with computer issue

[reed1285]

so a while back I bought a small westinghouse 24" led tv to replace my old outdated pc's lcd monitor. I was also going to use it as a gaming tv. My plan was to hook the pc up on one hdmi, and my gaming console on the other hdmi. This way I would not have two monitors on my desk. The westinghouse is 1080p if that info is helpful. The problem I'm having is when its hooked up, the pc runs like crap half the time. On a couple instances I would be in the middle of something and the monitor would just turn off. The pc tower would still be on, but the monitor would go black and I could not get it to come back on. The tv has a vga plug, but I was really wanting to run it via hdmi. Is there some mundane setting somewhere I'm not changing to run hdmi? Am I overheating the video card? I know there are several computer gurus on here that can help me out. So what do you think?

[justinjr21]

I am a computer guy and have been in the business for 13+ years. I would first try a different HDMI cable and if that does not work then make sure that your driver is the latest one. Try that out and see if those ideas work.

[Ted S.]

How old is your computer? And what operating system?

Edited October 5, 2014 by Ted S.

[Sam1]

Few things going on there;

 

first, you're not going to "overheat" a video card by using dual monitors unless you're doing something graphically intensive like watching movies, playing games, editing movies etc.  Normal usages (surfing web, office apps etc.) don't put much of a strain on a video card, even old outdated or onboard cards.

 

My first guess for you would be to make sure the resolution and/or refresh rate is low enough for the TV to work.  A lot of monitors go far beyond what a TV can handle... but this is just a guess, it's sort of hard to tell you to look at one specific thing or another because we don't have all the info.

[reed1285]

How old is your computer? And what operating system?

it is probably 4 years old approximately. Windows 7.

 

Sam1.....how do I check the resolution and refresh rate issue? I will also try a different hdmi cable

[Sam1]

here's a guide:

 

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/256-screen-refresh-rate-display-settings.html

[Jonnin]

when I problem solve, I likes to try the lease expensive fixes first. 

 

Some things I might look at first would be drivers, as stated, and also settings to see if somehow the monitor is not going to sleep / power saver /something mode (you can test this by just turning it off and on, or if that is not responding, unplug it, wait like 1 min, plug it back in and power up.

 

Check for loose cables etc.

 

Also some computer dual monitor setups will shut down one monitor if you are doing something that is fullscreen dedicated.   I don't run duals much and but I have seen someone start a game for example and the second monitor goes black --- and there is a fix for this in the dual setup settings but its beyond what I know off the top of my head.

 

Even a movie won't tax a video card, to overheat one usually takes a game being 3-d rendered at a massive resolution (millions upon millions of pixels) at a high rate (60 times per second) while doing complex algorithms (lighting, fog/particles,  more).  You might heat up a 2-d only card with a movie, but it should not overheat unless the fan is out.   It is possible, though -- if the resolution total of both monitors is beyond the card's ability and the fan is out, it could heat but usually if they get that hot you lose BOTH screens, not just ONE.  ???  I dunno but it does not sound like heat to me. 

[reed1285]

I should have explained a little better. I'm not trying to run a dual monitor setup. I'm wanting to use the 24" led tv I bought for double duty. As a pc screen and my gaming tv. I had my pc hooked up to one hdmi slot on the tv, and my gaming system on the other hdmi slot on the tv. The problem was that, when hooked up via hdmi to the tv screen, the pc gave me issues. Screen/display issues, not performance issues. For example the screen would just go black sometimes. The pc would still be running, but there would be no display on the screen. It would not do this every time, but did it pretty often.

[justinjr21]

Ok,

On some TV's when you change inputs you turn off the other port it does not suspend it. This might cause issues because the video card would then think that it was disconnected and do all kinds of crazy things. I have a receiver with HDMI switching and I have a computer, xbox, and cable box all connected. Until I reloaded the drivers and reseated the cables a couple of times I had the same issues. It can also be a cheap cable. For the HDMI handshake to work properly all little wires have to work and be in good shape if not then it would cause a black screen or a no video message to be displayed. Any of these are suggestions just try easiest first and work from there.