help w/ streaming video from PC to HDTV

I have a Compaq Presario SR1520NX desktop and I have connected it to a 42' HP MediaSmart HDTV through a VGA connection. It works great. I can access the internet with out any problems, watch movies via my PC onto my HDTV and also watch Youtube videos. The problem I am having is that I can not watch streaming video. Anytime I try to watch a tv show from abc, fox or cwtv, it will not play. I have audio but the video comes through as colored lines across the screen. Can someone please tell me what I need to adjust to get streaming video to play correctly?

Thanks,
TJ

I'm afraid that is a pretty "minimal" computer to use for streaming a/v. The built-in graphics card is pretty wimpy and only has 128Mb of graphic memory.

Only thing I can recommend (other than a newer computer) is make sure your WinXP if fully patched up, as well as Flash and Java to the latest versions. You might add more system memory if it still has only 512Mb of RAM. But all this may still have no effect on the very vanilla video support built onto the motherboard.

A suggestion to consider... with the holidays coming, I just purchased a pair of Dell Studio 15 (1555) notebooks for my adult childern - they both want to stream video (Netflix and Hulu) to their flat screen TV's. I hooked one up to a Vizio 32" LCD TV with an HDMI cable (it's supported on the Studio line) and it JUST WORKED ! No tweaking, no driver issues, no HDMI mis-match - just worked. The network web sites worked fine and Hulu worked extremely well.

You can get excellent pricing on these notebooks by shopping the "Dell Outlet" for refurbished (can not tell from new) equipment and watching this Twitter feed for 10% to 15% off coupons.

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventorySearch?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh click on the blue "Price" column heading to sort by price.

http://twitter.com/DellOutlet nothing listed today 11/6/09, but I bet their will be an offering next week.

I'm not pumping Dell, we just use them at work and have had excellent results with the Dell Outlet.

I agree that my computer is old and outdated, obviously not initially designed for it's current desired use. I have discovered that I can watch tv shoes on hulu. I am not sure the difference in the software compatibility between hulu and tv network websites but I just can not get them to work. Thankfully, hulu will work for most of my shows. Since this option is working, I find it difficult to justify replacing a PC that is doing it's job no matter the age. Thanks for your information, I am sure there is truth to your advice.

m_vanmeter;958501

I'm afraid that is a pretty "minimal" computer to use for streaming a/v. The built-in graphics card is pretty wimpy and only has 128Mb of graphic memory.

Only thing I can recommend (other than a newer computer) is make sure your WinXP if fully patched up, as well as Flash and Java to the latest versions. You might add more system memory if it still has only 512Mb of RAM. But all this may still have no effect on the very vanilla video support built onto the motherboard.

A suggestion to consider... with the holidays coming, I just purchased a pair of Dell Studio 15 (1555) notebooks for my adult childern - they both want to stream video (Netflix and Hulu) to their flat screen TV's. I hooked one up to a Vizio 32" LCD TV with an HDMI cable (it's supported on the Studio line) and it JUST WORKED ! No tweaking, no driver issues, no HDMI mis-match - just worked. The network web sites worked fine and Hulu worked extremely well.

You can get excellent pricing on these notebooks by shopping the "Dell Outlet" for refurbished (can not tell from new) equipment and watching this Twitter feed for 10% to 15% off coupons.

nothing listed today 11/6/09, but I bet their will be an offering next week.

I'm not pumping Dell, we just use them at work and have had excellent results with the Dell Outlet.[/QUOTE]