Inputs to Flat Screen Tvs on Mariner??

[regent traveller]

Are there any inputs on the new flat screen TVs to connect a laptop computer? Such as a VGA or Video connector?

 

Thanks,

 

Sailing in two weeks on the Mariner

 

RT

[dfb]

RT, We are on Mariner now. The Hotel Director says that the new TVs and on demand video system will be installed from March 4-24. So, you will have th same old TVs that we have now. Ours has audio and video RCA jacks on the front.

 

Debbie

[cruiseej]

We were recently on Voyager, where the new TVs are already installed. If Mariner is getting identical TVs, there are no inputs on the front -- which surprised me since so many people have computers and/or cameras to hook up. The TVs actually do have a full range of input jacks, but they're on the bottom of the flat panel. You have to slide the TV forward, get down on the ground, and look up to identify the jacks. I wanted to connect my computer to look at pictures I had downloaded from my camera. I have a video output from my Mac with composite video (RCA jack) and S-video, and the TV had both inputs. But I was unable to get the S-video to work; it seems Regent has the TVs locked down to prevent a user from selecting an alternate input port like the S-video port. My only option was to pull the DVD cable out of the composite video port and plug my computer into that port -- and that worked. But it was disappointing that the higher-quality S-video port was disabled.

 

I found it very surprising that the new TVs don't make it easy for people to plug in their electronic devices, even though they're technically capable of it. Maybe Regent is afraid opening up the TVs would result in more tech support questions they'd have to field. Anyway, if you have a composite video out from your computer or camera, and you don't mind poking your head under the TV panel to pull & plug in cables, you can use it.

 

-- Eric

[Donaldm]

When I was on the Mariner last October, I figured out the following and wrote up instructions for myself. (The new system may be entirely different)

 

TO ATTACH VIDEO/DIGITAL CAMERAS TO CABIN TVs (Westinghouse)

 

1. Switch the TV to DVD by pressing the small button second up from the bottom right of the remote. (See instructions in the cabin TV guide.)

2. Turn off the DVD player with the left hand button on the unit. The remote control button on/off button is not sufficient.

3. To have color, switch your camera to PAL (otherwise it is black and white).

4. Plug your camera into your cable.

5. Plug the yellow video plug on your cable into the Video input on the front of the TV.

6. Plug the red or white audio cable from the camera into the Audio input on the TV.

7. Playback your video/pictures.

[hvsteve1]

Interesting. They must have got the sets in Europe as they are using PAL as opposed to the NTSC in North America. That's going to create all sorts of issues for users trying to hook up equpment and not aware of the difference. Of course if they are not using high def, the PAL is going to look better with more resolution. Clever. As for inputs on the back, I was on Voyager just after the sets were installed. Looking at the back of the set, I got the inpression a lot of the input space was used up by the additional hookups that may have been used for the interactive TV. I may be wrong, but they could be using the computer connections to get and send information as the tvs are probably not interactive, themselves. At home those functions are usually performed by the set top box the cable company provides. As this is a closed system, maybe they just have compute connections running to the suites. The commands from the remote control do not go to the tv but to a receiver on the wall.

[cruiseej]

hvsteve1, I think you may be confusing the two generations of TVs discussed in this thread. Donaldm's comments refer to the old TV's on the Mariner -- not the new digital system already on Voyager and being installed now/soon on Mariner. His procedure is definitely not what you'd do to hook up to the new TVs, which I described just above. I think the video system was connected to the TV's with a DVI connector. But there were still regular RCA jacks for audio and composite video (which Regent uses for the DVD player) and S-video, which I couldn't get to work.