PC Monitor/TV's

[AiponGkooja]

I guess what I want to know is, is there a way to watch TV on ANY PC monitor, or do you need one of those expensive, low resolution monitor/TV's? I was just about to get a 7800gtx and a new monitor for my computer, but with college coming up again I thought I might like to combine my computer monitor and television into one, to save space. If would definitely be better if I didn't have to get a combination monitor, as they are more expensive and don't have the resolution I would like to have to make use of the 7800gtx.

Thanks,
Aip

 

[JBT]

Just grab a TV tuner with a regular monitor and you should be all set. Might think about getting an HD tuner but they do cost a bit more.

 

[AiponGkooja]

So if I got a new 2001fp to go with the 7800gtx (1600x1200 should be great), I can also run TV through it with a card? and if so...what is the point of the monitor/TV's??

 

[AiponGkooja]

Ok, just read some more things. Do I just need any card with VIVO and I can run cable TV through my computer monitor? Or can someone just point me somewhere that explains it well please?

 

[Excelsior]

No...you need an addon card with a TV tuner, OR something like an ATI AIW card. Then you hook up cable to the card.

 

[vegetation]

You can also buy external tuner vga boxes, which will output a vga tv signal to your monitor without the need for your PC to be on.

 

[AiponGkooja]

So something like This with a new 7800gtx and a 2001fp will work?

 

[Excelsior]

More like this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815100127

 

[AiponGkooja]

Ok, thank you very much

 

[AiponGkooja]

Hmmm, that one looks kind of cheap though... What is considered a good resolution for television screens? That one only does 720x576?

Edit: I also just noticed that the past 5 reviews for it aren't very good, haha

 

[couchfire]

 

[couchfire]

Leadtek TV2000XP RM PCI Interface Tuner Card with Remote Control http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122221

 

[kylebisme]

Why do you recomend that card? I got the expert version and gave up as I couldn't find any good software to work with it.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: AiponGkooja
Hmmm, that one looks kind of cheap though... What is considered a good resolution for television screens? That one only does 720x576?

Edit: I also just noticed that the past 5 reviews for it aren't very good, haha

Uh...increasing the resolution of analog TV isn't going to help. Do you want to get an HD card?

You could.

 

[AiponGkooja]

Thought I'd just bump this thread instead of making a new one.

Does anyone that has experience with these cards know of one that gives a quality picture? I realize it's based on the quality of the signal, but will any of these tv tuners (cards or external) all give the quality that a regular TV would have?

Edit: Also, I have decided against LCD and will be getting This instead. Costs less for better resolution and will probably last quite a long time so I feel it's worth it.

 

[duragezic]

Originally posted by: AiponGkooja
Thought I'd just bump this thread instead of making a new one.

Does anyone that has experience with these cards know of one that gives a quality picture? I realize it's based on the quality of the signal, but will any of these tv tuners (cards or external) all give the quality that a regular TV would have?

Edit: Also, I have decided against LCD and will be getting This instead. Costs less for better resolution and will probably last quite a long time so I feel it's worth it.

I couldn't ever imagine spending $420 + shipping on a huge 21" CRT. I have a 19" 900NF that I paid less than that for 5 years ago (it rocks but is only worth $100 now), and it is trinitron, that Viewsonic appears shadow mask. I just paid $381 for a 2005FPW and it is amazing. If you are set on a huge bulky CRT, a quality 19" is under $100 so 21" can't be much more. I definitely want to look into a simple converter like is posted here, although I wish something could convert coax TV cable to composite, so I could do my DVI computer alongside a TV signal (the picture-by-picture doesn't do VGA and DVI at the same time).


AFAIK, regular TV is 640x480. So no matter what tuner card you have, it is only as good as 640x480. HDTV is better resolution of course. I figured if half of my 2005FPW screen was TV, it wouldn't look too too bad.

 

[AiponGkooja]

Yeah, I have a question about that HDTV too. Just for an example, the xfx 7800gtx says it has VIVO + HDTV...what does that mean if you can't use it to watch TV by itself?


Edit: Also, the huge CRT is because I want something that is capable of doing unnecessarily ridiculous high resolutions so I can see what my 7800gtx is capable of (when I get one) :-D

Edit2: I guess This one would do just as well...refurb is fine right? and takes $60 off, hehe

 

[Continuity28]

My favorite solution is getting a nice monitor like the Dell Ultrasharp 2405w, which has DVI, VGA, Component (HD compliant) YCrCb, S-Video, Composite inputs that supports picture in picture.

1920x1200 PC resolution and native resolution of whatever your other sources are.

 

[AiponGkooja]

My threads always get messed up because I ask too many different questions at once...sucks being a noob.

Could anyone just answer these, or tell me where I can go to find answers?

1. What is VIVO and HDTV on an actual video card good for?

2. Is there any difference in display quality of different TV Tuners or are they all limited by the quality of the signal coming in?

3. I will have "standard cable TV" at school, so what do I need to go with a decent CRT and a 7800gtx so I can watch it on my monitor? Just that basic card that was mentioned earlier? A lot of these things seem to have good and bad reviews. I don't really care about all the fancy stuff; I just want something so that I can watch TV and not have it look like total @$$.

Thanks again,
Aip

 

[Peter]

1. Video input is needed if you have video signal sources you want to display on your computer monitor - VCR, game consoles, analog cameras, output from satellite/cable boxes.
1b. Video output is needed to display computer contents on an actual TV, or to record onto analog VCR tape.

2. TV tuner cards are, above all, limited by the incoming signal quality. USB TV tuners do hardware MPEG2 compression before the image even enters the computer, so you are limited to the algorithms used inside them. PCI TV tuners can transmit uncompressed (for direct viewing, or for advanced postprocessing), but on the other hand are more subject to interference problems inside the computer - power supply ripple, high frequency signal interference, etc.

 

[AiponGkooja]

Ok, that helps a lot, thank you very much. And I'm guessing the answer to number 2 means that there are some cards that are better at keeping the interference out and so would have a better quality picture?

The HDTV on a video card just means that you can display your computer contents on an HDTV then?

And would still like an answer to #3...with suggestions on which ones people have had good luck with please.

Thanks,
Aip

 

[HDTVdesignteam]

In answer to question #3. Yes, the Nextvision processor will feed your monitor. However, if you ever plan on importing video into your pc, it will not do that. This is a SD (standard definition) only switcher/processor. It may also inhibit some high end game playing by passing your VGA or DVI through the switch.
I can make suggestions for HD/SD Cable/OTA tuner cards if you are interested.
George

 

[AiponGkooja]

Would it be better to just get an external TV Tuner then? And just turn off my computer when I want to watch TV?

 

[Fox5]

The Viewsonic Nextvision N6 is what I have, it accepts RF input, composite, svideo, component, and vga, TV looks pretty good with it on my LCD, and it does support HD resolutions over component. The picture in picture option works like crap for me though, I have to lower my PC's resolution for it to come out uncorrupted.

 

[AiponGkooja]

Still looking for more consumer reviews on different TV tuners please. If it helps I am looking at 100-200 for price range and have changed my choice of monitor to this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16824001166