To use your TV with X, there are several relevant X configuration options.

Option "TVType"  "NTSC"  (or "PAL" ,"NTSC-J", "1080I", "480P","576P","720P")

Description of TVType

NTSC - (National Televison System Committee) is the analog television system used in most of the Americas, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the philippines, Burma and some Pacific island nations and territories.

PAL - (Phase Alternating Line) is used in most European countries, China mainland, India, North Korea, Argentina, Brazil and some Pacific island nations.

1080I - high definition television (HDTV) video mode. The I stands for interlaced. The term usually assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a horizontal resolution of 1920 pixels and a frame resolution of 1920x1080.

480P - 480P does not qualify as HDTV, and it is considered Enhanced-definition televison(EDTV). The P stands for progressive scan or non-interlaced. The 480 denotes a vertical resolution of 480 vertically scanning lines, usually with a horizontal resolution of 640 pixels and 4:3 aspect ratio or a horizontal resolution of 854 pixels and 16:9 aspect ratio.

576P - Enhanced-definition televison(EDTV) video mode. The P stands for progressive scan or non-interlaced, the 576 stands for a vertical resolution of 576 lines, usually with a horizontal resolution of 720 or 704 pixels.

720P - HDTV video mode. TheP stands for progressive scan or non-interlaced. The term usually assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a horizontal resolution of 1280 pixels and a frame resolution of 1280x720.

Thus there is a map table for mode and supported TV standards.

Mode	Supported TV standard
640x480	NTSC, PAL, 480P, 576P, 720P, 1080I
800x600	NTSC, PAL, 480P, 576P, 720P, 1080I
1024x768	NTSC, PAL, 480P, 576P, 720P, 1080I
720x480	NTSC, 480P, 720P, 1080I
720x576	PAL, 576P, 720P, 1080I
1280x720	720P
1920x1080	1080I

Other modes are illegal.

 

Option "TVOutput"  "YCbCr" (or "S-Video","Composite","RGB","YPbPr","SC","RGBSC","YCbCrSC","YPbPrSC") 

Description of TVOutput

TVOutput	Description	Supported TV standard
S-Video	Force S-Video output format	NTSC, PAL
Composite	Force Composite output format
SC	Support composite or S-video output format
RGB	Force RGB output format	NTSC, PAL ; 480P, 576P, 720P, 1080I
YCbCr	Force YPbPr output format
YPbPr
RGBSC	Support RGB, composite or S-video output format
YCbCrSC	Support YPbPr, composite or S-video output format
YPbPrSC

HDTV only supports RGB and YPbPr (YCbCr) output signals.

 

Internal TV/HDTV configuration

For internal TV/HDTV, you need to confirm the TV/HDTV is configured to be the active display device. Sepcify the TVType and TVOutput. For example,

Section "Device"
        Driver   "via"
        VendorName  "VIA Tech"
        BoardName   "via"
        Identifier  "Device0"
        Option	"ActiveDevice" "TV"
        Option	"TVType"	"PAL"
        Option	"TVOutput"	"S-Video"
        Screen 0 
EndSection 

Internal TV/HDTV may occupy the DAC port of internal CRT. In this case, the combination of internal TV/HDTV and internal CRT is not supported.

External TV/HDTV configuration

For external TV/HDTV, besides configuring TV/HDTV to be the active display device, specifying the TVType and TVOutput, you may need to set the digital port which external TV/HDTV uses. The external TV/HDTV could be connected through external TV encoder, i.e. VT1625.

Generally, the default value of TVPort is DVP1. But if the TV/HDTV could not be enabled by the default setting, you can use the following option to set the digital port.

Option "TVPort" "DFP_HIGH" (or "DVP0", "DVP1")

For example,

Section "Device"
        Driver   "via"
        VendorName  "VIA Tech"
        BoardName   "via"
        Identifier  "Device0"
        Option "ActiveDevice" "TV"
        Option "TVPort" "DVP0"
        Option "TVType" "PAL"
        Option "TVOutput" "S-Video"
        Screen 0
EndSection 

Two TV/HDTVs configuration

To light two TV/HDTVs (internal + external), you need to confirm both the TV/HDTVs are configured to be the active display devices, and sepcify the TVType and TVOutput for each one. For example,

Section "Device"
        Driver "via"
        VendorName "VIA Tech"
        BoardName "via"
        Identifier "Device0"
        Option "ActiveDevice" "TV, TV2"
        Option "TVPort" "DVP0"
        Option "TVType" "PAL"
        Option "TVOutput" "S-Video"
        Option "TV2Type" "PAL"
        Option "TV2Output" "S-Video"
        Screen 0 
EndSection

In this case, TV represents external TV/HDTV, and TV2 represents internal TV/HDTV.