PC S-VID OUT TO AVIC-Z1??

**Sponsor**

by **kr4m17** on Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:46 am

Has anyone tried a pc svideo out to the avic z1? If so how did it work out? I was thinking about doing the old keyboard/mouse combo in the dash. Then I can store additional music, movies, etc on the computer and access it at my leisure. If there are prior posts on this I appologize. I have not mastered the search functionallity on this site yet. I seem to get TONS of results for each search I do. Anyway, if there are posts please just point me in their direction. Thank you!

Jeff

by **vijaja** on Mon Dec 11, 2006 7:01 am

I see no problem in that. You'll need an s-video to RCA converter. Connect the video and audio to the RCA-in on the back of the Z1. Then on the Z1, just choose the A/V input and you'll see your comp screen. Your resolution may be a bit funky and will need to be tweaked, however this shouldn't be too big of an issue.

by **kaoskube** on Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:36 pm

kr4m17 wrote:Has anyone tried a pc svideo out to the avic z1? If so how did it work out? I was thinking about doing the old keyboard/mouse combo in the dash. Then I can store additional music, movies, etc on the computer and access it at my leisure. If there are prior posts on this I appologize. I have not mastered the search functionallity on this site yet. I seem to get TONS of results for each search I do. Anyway, if there are posts please just point me in their direction. Thank you!

Jeff

did you try to hook up your pc yet? I am curious about how it looks on the AVIC's screen as well, as this was an idea that I had as well.
Please let me know how it goes, if you decied to hook it up.

by **ducatiboy** on Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:46 pm

I know PC to RCA out was always an issue with me. I have only tried hooking PC's to TV's and they were always iffy quality at best. I wasn't happy till my latest TV has DVI in and that finally looked ok. I suppose on such a small screen it might not matter, but I would like to hear how this experiment goes.

by **kaoskube** on Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:55 pm

the size of the screen and the resolution is what makes me think it will look too bad to use. At one point I had a 6 inch screen in my vehicle and hooked up a cpu to it and it looked really bad, but then again it was a cheap screen. I have had the same issue when hooking my computer up to a tv.

by **ducatiboy** on Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:02 pm

I think it's because the output of a computer is VGA, while it's not that far off from RCA (or Svideo) it's far enough that you can't just splice wires together from one connector to another. The other problem is that the signal an RCA input would need can be created on whatever video card, but most video card makers don't spend a lot of money or energy getting that to look the best (no one uses these RCA or SVideo outputs on video cards). Some look ok and some need to be tweaked to look good.

The other thing is most RCA inputs are interlaced and the PC's video was not designed to be interlaced. If you get an output from a PC to an RCA input (TV) and look at your desktop and fonts, they will look bad. But if you play a DVD on the same hook up it will look a lot better. Either because of the interlaced/progressive differences or just due to what the image was made for.

Anyone who has made a media center pc and tried hooking it up to an older TV will know what I'm talking about. PC's and the stock windows interface was not meant for viewing through an RCA input to a TV.

If you get it hooked up and looking ok, post some pics and what you used. It's a cool project.

by **vijaja** on Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:19 pm

http://www.mp3car.com/

It will look fine as long as you have a decent video card. What you want to do is essentially create a car-puter and use the AVIC as the monitor. Done many times and never a problem with the screens. There is actually custom software people have created to use that gives a awesome front-end however I'm not sure how the avic could send signals back to the pc (software is meant for touch-screen displays).

by **kaoskube** on Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:49 pm

vijaja wrote:http://www.mp3car.com/

It will look fine as long as you have a decent video card. What you want to do is essentially create a car-puter and use the AVIC as the monitor. Done many times and never a problem with the screens. There is actually custom software people have created to use that gives a awesome front-end however I'm not sure how the avic could send signals back to the pc (software is meant for touch-screen displays).

Hmm. I have always had trouble connecting my video card to a tv. I am a gamer so I have always had a high quality video card in my machine. Funny, that website was my "alternate choice" to the z1. Still, I remain curious as to how good a computer would look on that z1's screen. I may give it a go this weekend when I install my z1. I have a laptop with svideo out.
I belive you are correct when you speak of the touch screen. a solution that I am think of is using a gyro mouse ( drawing a blank right now for the name of the company that makes them) that you can move the mouse pointer by moving the mouse in the air, instead of on a desk.

by **ducatiboy** on Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:10 pm

I have spent a lot of time on MP3CAR (that was my alternative to the Z1 as well) and the problem is that most of the screens they use are VGA, not RCA. If you have VGA out on the computer to VGA in on the car screen, it will look just fine.

See what they usually use:
http://store.mp3car.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=21

All VGA inputs. A computer has VGA outputs, then it looks great.

The Z1 only has RCA input and will look as good as any computer hooked to an RCA input on just about any tv (just smaller). At least that's my assumption.

I'm not saying it can't be done. I did hook my media center pc to an RCA input on my TV. It looked OK for TV shows but really bad for the windows desktop.

The front ends that they have on MP3CAR generally use much larger fonts than windows and have access to many things, so it might look ok. I would like to hear how this comes out.

by **kaoskube** on Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:26 pm

Technically, I should be able to install one of those front ends on my laptop for testing purposes ( I'm not really inclined to install my laptop in my car.) using a gyration mouse ( had to google the company) as a remote to click on the frontend buttons. If no one gets to this point before I do, I will let you guys know how it goes probably this Saturday. I'll post screenshots as well so you guys can kinda see what it looks like on the z1 screen. If it does look good enough, I may put an old computer in my trunk just because i can. It seems a bit redundant, but on the plus side, I gain more storage for music and vidoes and a bit more functionality. ( Internet through pcmcia card from a cellular company?)

by **free_refil** on Tue Dec 12, 2006 1:17 am

This is a good idea. I've been pondering the setup myself. However, I knew that there was no way of using the existing touch screen to be able to interface with the PC. This, I believed, would negate using front end programs.. However, I feel that the Gyration mouse setup might be possible and not be too tacky. Also, a good alternative could be the Microsoft Media Center keyboard or similar small keyboard with mouse controls. Being an electronics technician, I also wondered if it would be possible to tap into the screens touch-screen data and convert it to use by PC Serial port or similar... However, I feel this type of research and construction would be more costly than just purchasing a true touchscreen unit and waving the AVIC from the system completely. Would it be worth it to hookup a PC via a composite cable? Would it yield a quality resolution high enough for Media Center 2005 would be more like my question? A simple Gyration Mouse would navigate Media Center 2005 well enough I'd imagine! And the AVIC would already have navigation and DVD playback, so a remotely installed CD-ROM would also not be needed as all I'd like a PC interface is DiVX playback of video via MCE and also MP3's in vast quantity!!!

by **kaoskube** on Tue Dec 12, 2006 1:45 am

MP'3 in mass quanity would be the benefit for me also, and having a computer for the sole use of mp3 and video playback would be relatively cheap considering you wouldn't need to buy a fancy touchscreen or an "eye pleasing" computer. You could literally mount it in the trunk, glove compartment..etc. Just have a cd rom for ripping cd's and a decent size HDD for storage or said mp3's and divx movies. I've recently seen 160gb HDD for right around 100 with tax, and I'm sure that you can find them larger and cheaper on the net. I am also interested in accessing the net from a car, simply because I am a geek. I see no "real" benefit to I-net access in a car except to simply say "I can google from my car!"

I have an old p.o.s. computer that I am going to try and connect to my z1 this weekend, if i can find the video card that I have with tv out.

A side note. Anyone ever used one of those Mobile Laptop Mounts in a car before? I was seriously considering this option at one point, and it keeps popping back into my head. Security/Inconvience is my main concern. (Taking the Laptop out of my car when I park some were for an extended amount of time and putting it.....in my trunk? HA I live in Texas. Melted laptops are not my idea of a good time.)

by **free_refil** on Sat Dec 16, 2006 1:37 pm

Hehe, working with a local here on hooking up a HDD to the N2/N3 unit's. Trying to get ahold of the Z1 schematics to compare to the N2/N3's schematics and find out where the differences are. He's the person who has been modding N2's to N3's for quite some time. We've discovered that there are in fact USB ports on the N2/N3 as well as IDE ports!

by **coasterlvr** on Sat Dec 16, 2006 7:58 pm

I had a carputer in my Scion XB for a little while. It was cool for a while, but I just don't think you can beat a purpose built car stereo piece like the Z1. So I now have that and can't even think about going back. Everything wasn't the easiest to use even with a nice touchscreen VGA monitor.

I have my music on my ipod and it probably is faster to use the carputer for that but still not the greatest. Video storage would definitely be better on the carputer, but I don't watch that much.

To give an opinion on your question, I think it will look bad without a VGA monitor. Anytime I have tried, it's always been blurry. Add that to a small monitor, and I don't think you'll like it.

JT

http://jtaudioacc.com

by **jgx** on Sat Dec 16, 2006 10:02 pm

I have a mac mini connected to my Z1. Even with all the text enlarged, you don't want to try to read anything on the screen. If I stare at it for a few minutes, I want to puke. It is the screen, not the computer. The mac mini's composite out is excellent. The only thing that I use it for is to play DivX videos, and it works great for that