Connect LCD monitor to Digital HD Cable box?

[edDV]

edDV
Thank you very much for your reply.
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Atsc-HDtv-Tuner-Receiver/dp/tech-data/B001IWOB36/ref=de_a_smtd
The above link is my kworld model: Model: KW-SA290-Q LE

I have tried it using VGA cable with my old 17" LCD with 1024 x 768 and it works. But this view sonic use VGA will see some green image and the resolution definitely is not 1920x1080 (the monitor shows the message).

Do you think any connector could let me use the component to hook on DVD-D in on the monitor and display the 1080i?

Although lacking specifics, this description hints 1280x720p is supported to the VGA connector. No other resolutions are listed. It also states 1920x1080i is only available on the analog component outputs.
http://www.buy.com/prod/kworld-digital-atsc-qam-tv-tuner-box-reveiver-vga-watch-digita...209849676.html

As I said above, computer monitors cannot display 1080i whether analog or digital. You need an LCD-TV for that. LCD-TV sets include a deinterlacer-scaler to convert 1080i into progressive screen resolution.

The box would have to output 1920x1080p to be viewable on a computer monitor. I looked at the model with DVI-D out and it showed support only for 1920x1080i for HDTV sets. There was no mention of 1080p for computer monitors.

[bad80]

Hi All,

Very sorry if this has been covered above, but I find myself getting confused reading through it; I have a Matsui MSTB926 Freeview set-top box and would like to connect it to a Panasonic TH p37wd7 LCD screen. Could someone please tell me how to go about it?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[edDV]

Your Panasonic TH-37PD25U/P is an EDTV not a computer monitor.
http://www99.epinions.com/specs/pr-Panasonic_TH-37PD25U_P_Flat_Panel_Television

I can't find specs that show the Matsui MSTB926 outputs.

[bad80]

Sorry, the sockets on the Matsui are:

TV antenna in,
TV antenna out,
and a scart lead socket.

Also, having double checked my Panasonic, it is a TH-37PWD7.

Thanks.

[edDV]

The TH-37PWD7 is a commercial EDTV monitor that has modular inputs. You need the TY-42TM6V analogue module and an SCART to S-Video + audio cable set. Composite can be used instead ot S-Video but will have less picture quality. Talk with a Matsui dealer to see if S-Video is supported.
http://www.wedgwoodav.com/Download.aspx?ProductRef=DTJQ51FC57A

[baedaebok]

I tried that but it didn't work with my Samsung LCD monitor. I'll try again.

BDB

[zyxme]

I tried that but it didn't work with my Samsung LCD monitor. I'll try again.

BDB

Haha, first of all, I make sure never to deal with Samsung. Their technology is usually inefficient and often lets me down. I bought 3 of ther TV's within the last 5 years. And its always a part thats irreplaceable or not factory produced. Also, its best to buy analog tuner. Using the tuner along with your dvr or cable box converts the signal into an image your monitor can understand. Using cable convertors and splitters dont work because the monitor does'nt understand the signal.

[baedaebok]

Who has gotten a TV & monitor in one? Does it do as job as the above set-up? I've seen them for around $350.

[edDV]

I have three. A Samsung 2333HD (1920x1080) and two 20" Vizio (1366x768 and 1920x1080).

The Vizios were priced below $200. The Samsung on sale for $220. I use the Samsung as a primary computer monitor and the Vizios as 2nd monitors.

All work as computer monitor or LCD-TV with ATSC/QAM tuner.

[apachemanz]

Hi,

I bought this Samsung B2230H monitor yesterday, comes with an HDMI and DVI port. I just have a doubt to clear, Beisde the HDMI port, there's an Audio Out in the monitor, what I assume is that the Audio Out works only if the HDMI port is connected, am I right? Does that Audio out port provide HDMI quality sound or just the normal one?

And suppose I connect my Set top box receiver to the HDMI port in the monitor, should I use the Audio out of the monitor to the Auxiliary Input in my Logitech Z323 speakers? Does it give a better quality sound than connecting composite out directly from the Set top box receiver into the speakers?

I would also like to know if I can connect the Optical Out from my receiver to the Auxiliary In (Red and White ports) in my speaker? I mean, do we get such a cable so as to convert Optical out to composite auxiliary in?

Thanks a lot for the help.

[edDV]

Hi,

I bought this Samsung B2230H monitor yesterday, comes with an HDMI and DVI port. I just have a doubt to clear, Beisde the HDMI port, there's an Audio Out in the monitor, what I assume is that the Audio Out works only if the HDMI port is connected, am I right? Does that Audio out port provide HDMI quality sound or just the normal one?

And suppose I connect my Set top box receiver to the HDMI port in the monitor, should I use the Audio out of the monitor to the Auxiliary Input in my Logitech Z323 speakers? Does it give a better quality sound than connecting composite out directly from the Set top box receiver into the speakers?

I would also like to know if I can connect the Optical Out from my receiver to the Auxiliary In (Red and White ports) in my speaker? I mean, do we get such a cable so as to convert Optical out to composite auxiliary in?

Thanks a lot for the help.

The B2230H is a computer monitor that lacks a tuner, analog inputs or sophisticated scalers. It is native 1920x1080 but may lack deinterlace capability. The specs aren't clear so far.

Signal Input

Video Signal - Analog RGB, DVI
Sync. Signal - Separate H/V, Composite, SOG
Connector - DVI-I, HDMI, Audio Out

To me this flags no deinterlace capability. It does have HDCP for 24p Blu-Ray.

Will it work from a 1080i cable/sat box input? I fear not because they don't say it will.
http://www.samsung.com/hk_en/consumer/computer-peripherals/monitors/consumer/LS22PUHKF...type=30-series

It should do something with a 1280x720p/59.94 or 720x480p/59.94 input. Maybe a 1080p/59.94 input.


Bottom line: Make sure the specs allow 480i/1080i input and better if it accepts composite, S-Video and analog component. ATSC/DVB tuners are nice too. All three of my cheapos have ATSC/QAM tuners.

[gll99]

I'm using an Explorer 4250HD (480i,480p,720p,1080i) cable box with a cheap VisionQuest 24" monitor 16:10 (1920x1200) (I actually bought 2). This dvi / vga 24" hdcp compliant monitor was $200 at Staples. The setup is cable box hdmi out via hdmi cable to hdmi-dvi plug which is connected on the monitors dvi terminal. The plug is a simple passive hdmi-dvi female to male connector and cost $8. There are no issues playing the signal since the cable box handles the conversion I have no idea if it is sending a 1080i, 480P or a 720p signal through to the monitor. The cable box clearly shows that it's receiving 1080i but who knows what it's outputting . When I check the monitor's menu it just says it is set to 1920x1080 at 60hz and the hd picture fills the screen and looks pretty darn good.

I suspect that it's sending out the full 1920x1080 signal because I also have a device on the vga connector of the monitor. It's an older non-HD Avermedia external tv tuner box which takes various analog signals as input, ie... composite, svideo and vga and outputs 1280x1024 on it's vga-out port. When I switch the monitor's input selection to vga and then access the menu it tells me that the monitor is set to 1280x1024 @60HZ. When I switch back to the dvi connector it shows that it is set to 1920x1080 @ 60HZ.

I can access the service menus of the cable box so I could see if it can be set to send out just 720p to see what happens on the monitor. I know I can limit the output resolution on the Component connector but I somehow doubt it would work with HDMI. I'm very busy this week but I'll check it some time.

[apachemanz]

The B2230H is a computer monitor that lacks a tuner, analog inputs or sophisticated scalers. It is native 1920x1080 but may lack deinterlace capability. The specs aren't clear so far.

Signal Input

Video Signal - Analog RGB, DVI
Sync. Signal - Separate H/V, Composite, SOG
Connector - DVI-I, HDMI, Audio Out

It's a pity I didn't buy a monitor with a built-in TV Tuner, I'd thought the HDMI port on this monitor would suffice for connecting it to a Digital Satellite receiver. I had second thoughts for this Samsung 2333HD, but it was around 65$ more, which I couldn't shell out, so ended up with this one.
Anyway, is there any other way around, besides the TV Tuner Card option, I don't want that software kinda TV. What if I get a set top box which outputs 1080p, like progressive scan, will it work with my monitor. I guess that since the set top box consists of a TV Tuner, so it just has to output it to any monitor, is that enough to put TV on my monitor. Aw..Jeez! These video signals, inputs, connectors, adapters.... is so confusing....Help me !!

[edDV]

The main issue for connecting a computer monitor via DVI or HDMI is HDCP support. HDMI is supposed to be HDCP compliant but DVI-D can be either. None of my older computer monitors support HDCP. When I hook them to my Motorola HD cable box, the screen goes blue with the message NOT HDCP COMPLIANT.

If your monitor has HDCP support, it will probably work with progressive inputs. My Motorola cable box does not have 1080p out, only 1080i, 720p, 480i, 480p.

So in your case, set the sat receiver to 1080i and see if it works for your monitor. If not use 1280x720p.

[gothamcity]

I am resurrecting a very old thread, but Keyosuke, I have the exact setup as you do, using an Acer X223W LCD
monitor and trying to watch TV by connecting my Set Box Box to it via an HDMI to DVI-D connector.
However, I AM getting Video for a second and then the entire screen flashes with snow for 3-4 seconds, then the video comes on back for a second and this keeps happening for eternity, I am wondering
if you've come across this situation and\or whether you did anything special with the settings on your STB
to get this working.

Thanks, Gotham

The answer to your OR is that my monitor supports HDCP, and the point I was making is that it is some cheap ACER garbage edition I got on super low discount that exudes an ora of "I will break immediately after the 1 month warrantee", and yet it still supports HDCP. Hence, the real point is that monitors these days tend to support it, or my motorola box which is probably the exact same one you have (I'd love to compare hardware if it makes you feel better) doesn't send data over the HDMI cable with HDCP. I've read the documentation on my particular model and the model it's derived from and it's definately capable of HDCP, and that means my cheap monitor is handling the HDCP just fine, thank you. And that means my point that people should at least give it a try on their monitors since it's not a rare and costly feature these days, is a valid point. I hope I've cleared up what I was trying to say with my first post and I hope you see the point now.

Why did I make this point? Because I was lead to believe that the odds of my monitor supporting HDCP were very bad odds. The masses of posts on the internet about this topic lead me to waste my time believing that and I wanted to make sure anyone reading this post sees that it isn't necessarily rare to have HDCP support and that people in general might want to try an HDMI to DVI adapter since it just might be a great solution.

Thanks

[edDV]

It seems the cable box is attempting to get the monitor to respond with an HDCP handshake.

[gothamcity]

keyosuke :

I called Verizon and they mentioned that it could be my adapter, Do you remember what make, brand (M to F or F to M ) HDMI->DVI adapter you used to get this working ?

[keyosuke]

I'll try to answer the question you PMd me about which adapter I used:

I don't know how much help this will be, but I tried this with two boxes. The one used by verizon in the Bergen County Area all those years ago whose name I no longer know worked fine. The one used by Time Warner Cable which I switched to a few days after my last post didn't work at all. Something about unsupported mode. I think that was caused by the box trying to feed my monitor a different display mode than the prior box was trying to feed it, and there was no way to change the display mode setting for the hdmi port on that box, so I gave up and went back to using my HD Homerun with my PC. That answers which box.

The HDMI/DVI adapter came with the ATI 8500 DV, which was ATI's most video editing intense card. It came with so many ports it required a massive dongle, and cost a ton, but later was the first card in the series to lose driver support, due to being rare. That angered me to no end. I don't recommend getting the same adapter I have, due to the difficulty. I've bought 4 other ATI cards over the years so I might be mistake and it could have come with any of the others, but I doubt it.

Lastly, the monitor was and is the AcerAL2216W. Works awesome with JUST the right adapter and JUST the right set top box. Still, last time I checked, most cable companies and their equiptment support the hdmi port only about as well as they support their terrible firewire port, which all digital cable box users have the right to ask for, legally. So if this doesn't work for you and you feel like another goofy PC project that will likely lead nowhere, call up the TV Content Provider and tell them that you are entitled to a firewire port, legally, and they;ll give you a different box, which you can then download drivers for and pull in video on your PC, which you then push out to the monitor of your choice. I had BAD experiences with this, but it worked. And the final and best solution, in my opinion, is to get an HD Homerun and use it to recieve over the air HD broadcast TV on your PC, and then any PC in your house can watch HD TV, as long as the antenna is set up right and you don't live in the woods. All of these suggestions make you leave a PC on, but they might make you feel better when the cable companies and manufacturers of the world have frustrated you.

I am resurrecting a very old thread, but Keyosuke, I have the exact setup as you do, using an Acer X223W LCD
monitor and trying to watch TV by connecting my Set Box Box to it via an HDMI to DVI-D connector.
However, I AM getting Video for a second and then the entire screen flashes with snow for 3-4 seconds, then the video comes on back for a second and this keeps happening for eternity, I am wondering
if you've come across this situation and\or whether you did anything special with the settings on your STB
to get this working.

Thanks, Gotham

The answer to your OR is that my monitor supports HDCP, and the point I was making is that it is some cheap ACER garbage edition I got on super low discount that exudes an ora of "I will break immediately after the 1 month warrantee", and yet it still supports HDCP. Hence, the real point is that monitors these days tend to support it, or my motorola box which is probably the exact same one you have (I'd love to compare hardware if it makes you feel better) doesn't send data over the HDMI cable with HDCP. I've read the documentation on my particular model and the model it's derived from and it's definately capable of HDCP, and that means my cheap monitor is handling the HDCP just fine, thank you. And that means my point that people should at least give it a try on their monitors since it's not a rare and costly feature these days, is a valid point. I hope I've cleared up what I was trying to say with my first post and I hope you see the point now.

Why did I make this point? Because I was lead to believe that the odds of my monitor supporting HDCP were very bad odds. The masses of posts on the internet about this topic lead me to waste my time believing that and I wanted to make sure anyone reading this post sees that it isn't necessarily rare to have HDCP support and that people in general might want to try an HDMI to DVI adapter since it just might be a great solution.

Update: The adapter accepted a male HDMI cable end on one side, and plugged into the female DVI port on the monitor. So Female HDMI to female DVI.

Thanks

[gothamcity]

Thanks Keyosuke for your detailed insight. There is indeed a firewire port on the STB and maybe I will try the PC route but
I am still hopeful a simple HDMI to DVI should work given I have a Verizon box and an Acer Monitor, just what you had ...
I will hit up Radioshack and best Buy hoping someone else has been there to make this work. I will report my findings
after day 4 of my quest !

[edDV]

Thanks Keyosuke for your detailed insight. There is indeed a firewire port on the STB and maybe I will try the PC route but
I am still hopeful a simple HDMI to DVI should work given I have a Verizon box and an Acer Monitor, just what you had ...
I will hit up Radioshack and best Buy hoping someone else has been there to make this work. I will report my findings
after day 4 of my quest !

What is the model number of that Verizon set top box box?

You must set the box to 720p or 480p out and the monitor must support HDCP.

[gothamcity]

My Verizon STB model is Motorola qip7100, and my Acer X223W also supports HDCP.
Yes I tried all possible resolutions and the scret menu from the STB (pressing power->select->menu
in quick succession). It seems that it might be a handshaking problem. i am thinking
of other options like component to DVI (it has been argued this won't work), component to VGA
or even composite or S-video to VGA for an analog signal.. and of course the firewire through the PC as
Keyosuke suggests.

I might just go out and buy the Panasonic Viera Plasma HDTV as prices seem to have gone down...

Thanks Keyosuke for your detailed insight. There is indeed a firewire port on the STB and maybe I will try the PC route but
I am still hopeful a simple HDMI to DVI should work given I have a Verizon box and an Acer Monitor, just what you had ...
I will hit up Radioshack and best Buy hoping someone else has been there to make this work. I will report my findings
after day 4 of my quest !

What is the model number of that Verizon set top box box?

You must set the box to 720p or 480p out and the monitor must support HDCP.

[edDV]

Even if HDMI->DVI-D worked, the picture would be suboptimal because computer monitors lack levels enhancement (good black level*). All the conversion options you list will degrade further.

Get an HDTV.


*If you adjust the monitor for a good TV black, it will suck for use as a computer monitor.

[keyosuke]

I would have killed back then to know how to get to that secret box menu. I wonder if there was some command on the Time Warner / Scientific Atlanta box we had back then that would have allowed me to get it in the right resolution. Definately keep on trucking until you're out of options... all the best hacks take time and effort, and the success feels great.

This : http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=ati+hdmi+dvi+adapter&hl=en&client=opera&hs=2N...ed=0CHgQ8wIwBQ

is my exact adapter. It's frustrating buying something that you don't know will help, but at least you know where to get it if you decide. This reminds me of last month's hack... I needed to get a file onto a PS2 memory card and before I was done I ended up wasting money on a USB printer port and all sorts of other nonsense that never helped me along the way, but now my PS2 boots off my rom directory in the other room, so it was well worthi it. Firewire was a big defeat for me, cause it was laggy with my box, as if the company that designed it knew it would be unwatchable and wanted it that way. I'm pretty sure that when the US Govt said thre must be a port and it must push TV signal... they didn't say "but it's OK if it's unwatchably choppy".

[edDV]

I would have killed back then to know how to get to that secret box menu. I wonder if there was some command on the Time Warner / Scientific Atlanta box we had back then that would have allowed me to get it in the right resolution.

Nothing secret about the resolution settings menu. You can download the manuals from Motorola or Scienticic Atlanta (Cisco).

Firewire was a big defeat for me, cause it was laggy with my box, as if the company that designed it knew it would be unwatchable and wanted it that way. I'm pretty sure that when the US Govt said thre must be a port and it must push TV signal... they didn't say "but it's OK if it's unwatchably choppy".

IEEE-1394 works great for recording or if you happen to have a D-VHS VCR which was the FCC target for IEEE-1394.

For watching on a computer, you need a a player that accepts live MPeg2-TS streams from the IEEE-1394 port like VLC.

[gothamcity]

Thanks again K,

I did not see that particular HIS adapter at Microcenter but it seems to be listed under videocards, I will try getting that tonight. Last night I tried a $38 'Monster' HDMI->DVI adapater I got from radioshack but same issue.. video for half a sec and then snow for 4 sec, I am not very hopeful at this point but will keep trying.

The guy at best Buy seems to think that DVI needs power of some sort which I doubt but did mention that there are converter boxes that can convert component to VGA if i were to go that route.

I would have killed back then to know how to get to that secret box menu. I wonder if there was some command on the Time Warner / Scientific Atlanta box we had back then that would have allowed me to get it in the right resolution. Definately keep on trucking until you're out of options... all the best hacks take time and effort, and the success feels great.

This : http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=ati+hdmi+dvi+adapter&hl=en&client=opera&hs=2N...ed=0CHgQ8wIwBQ

is my exact adapter. It's frustrating buying something that you don't know will help, but at least you know where to get it if you decide. This reminds me of last month's hack... I needed to get a file onto a PS2 memory card and before I was done I ended up wasting money on a USB printer port and all sorts of other nonsense that never helped me along the way, but now my PS2 boots off my rom directory in the other room, so it was well worthi it. Firewire was a big defeat for me, cause it was laggy with my box, as if the company that designed it knew it would be unwatchable and wanted it that way. I'm pretty sure that when the US Govt said thre must be a port and it must push TV signal... they didn't say "but it's OK if it's unwatchably choppy".

[edDV]

The HDMI to DVI-D adapter is just reconnecting pins. Monoprice sells the adapter for $6.53 or a DVI-D to HDMI cable starting at $2.64.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041906&p_id=...seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10231

Since you've tried the radio shack cable, the problem is the HDCP. Just get an HDTV. They start around $150up.

http://www.walmart.com/browse/TV-Video/TVs/_/N-96v3Z1yzp732?ic=48_0&ref=428799+4292594...tNavId=1060825
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vizio-19-LED-LCD-HDTV-Model-M190VA-/370474192036?pt=Televisions&ha...item5641fb8ca4

[gothamcity]

Thanks edDV,

I already have a small (15" ) HDTV ! My LCD monitor is 22", hence I was trying to make the best of the equipment I already have to get bigger and better without spending more money.


I do plan on getting a bigger 42" HDTV soon, the Panasonic models seem to be the best bang for the buck. But as keysuke
mentions the fun is in the hunt of making a hack work.

The HDMI to DVI-D adapter is just reconnecting pins. Monoprice sells the adapter for $6.53 or a DVI-D to HDMI cable starting at $2.64.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041906&p_id=...seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10231

Since you've tried the radio shack cable, the problem is the HDCP. Just get an HDTV. They start around $150up.

http://www.walmart.com/browse/TV-Video/TVs/_/N-96v3Z1yzp732?ic=48_0&ref=428799+4292594...tNavId=1060825
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vizio-19-LED-LCD-HDTV-Model-M190VA-/370474192036?pt=Televisions&ha...item5641fb8ca4

[edDV]

Your issue is with Acer who claims the X223W is HDCP compliant. Complain to them.

If you have an upscaling DVD player, you can also try feeding the HDMI out to the X223W at 720p or 1080p as a test.


PS: Other things you need to know about cable box to a 1680x1050 computer monitor such as the X223W.

1. The monitor is 16:10 aspect ratio rather than 16:9. People will look tall and skinny. If you adjust vertical size, the desktop will no longer be square pixel when you switch to the computer. Most computer monitors have one user preset. You need two.

2. 1680x1050 needs downscale from 1920x1080 or upscale from 1280x720/704x480. LCD computer monitors have poor scalers. They should be fed their native resolution.

3. Black level is going to be a major challenge and even if you get close, the blacks will be crushed when you switch to the computer. Similar problem to #1.

4. Audio will need a separate path. Computer monitors don't detect audio from HDMI.

[gothamcity]

Thanks edDV, yes it could be Acer, though in a dfferent forum someone mentions :


"Your Monitor is not responding to the HDCP handshake and as the specification requires stops sending video.
"Authentication prevents non-licensed devices from receiving content."
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-bandw···otection
There is nothing wrong with any of the Verizon equipment, its doing exactly what the MPAA wants it to do "


But yes I will definitely try hooking up my DVD player to the monitor to check (not sure if it has up-scaling capability) but is worth a try. I did go out yesterday and got the Keyosuke adapter but that does not work either. I actually do not like too much black level so that's not a big deal.. Yes I should have gone with 1920x1080 monitor but when I bought it last year, I just went with cheapest one and I was not planning on using it for TV. i also got a TV tuner card last night which I will hook up today.

Thanks all for your inputs.

Your issue is with Acer who claims the X223W is HDCP compliant. Complain to them.

If you have an upscaling DVD player, you can also try feeding the HDMI out to the X223W at 720p or 1080p as a test.


PS: Other things you need to know about cable box to a 1680x1050 computer monitor such as the X223W.

1. The monitor is 16:10 aspect ratio rather than 16:9. People will look tall and skinny. If you adjust vertical size, the desktop will no longer be square pixel when you switch to the computer. Most computer monitors have one user preset. You need two.

2. 1680x1050 needs downscale from 1920x1080 or upscale from 1280x720/704x480. LCD computer monitors have poor scalers. They should be fed their native resolution.

3. Black level is going to be a major challenge and even if you get close, the blacks will be crushed when you switch to the computer. Similar problem to #1.

4. Audio will need a separate path. Computer monitors don't detect audio from HDMI.

[edDV]

If the DVD player has HDMI out it probably upscales and it will have HDCP triggered when playing most commercial DVD discs. Home made discs may or may not work. Some DVD players always have HDCP active on the HDMI port.

There should be DVD player settings for 480p, 720p and maybe 1080p over HDMI.