turning my tv into my computer monitor

[EZE2469]

Was just wondering the cheapest way to turn my tv into my computer screen.

[Capmaster]

Do a google search for composite video converter. They make adapters that will take the VGA output from your PC and modulate it into a composite signal that you can connect to the TV RCA composite inputs

[ZippyP.]

edit: got it backwards. Use the video out on your PC, if it doesn't have it then change your video card.

[EZE2469]

i'll check out the converter, but are there any basic tv tuners out there, with rca ports and s-video ports, nothing to fancy, just straight up connection

[Alan69]

i'll check out the converter, but are there any basic tv tuners out there, with rca ports and s-video ports, nothing to fancy, just straight up connection

No, there aren't. It is not a basic thing going from computer to TV as you're thinking because the pictures look similar, so there is no simple tuner for your TV for it.

Get a video card that can already output to the TV, it will be less hassle than dealing with a converter. A $50 or so older ATI All in Wonder card will do it well and have a seperate TV out so you can have both monitor and TV running at once. Probably other cards nearly as good and less on them, but they'll probably cost about as much as an older AIW anyway..

Alan

[BrainStorm69]

Any video card with video out will allow you to use a TV as a monitor. But realize that the resolution on a TV is much worse than a computer monitor (i.e., the picture will not look nearly as good)

[gcutler]

Exactly!

Anyone I've known who tried that gave up and went out and got a Cheapo monitor and had a better time (unless you are planning on doing something like training and need the output to goto a big Conference room TV or something like that.)

[Marvingj]

You can get a video converter off of Ebay for about Twenty Bucks.

[thecoalman]

Any video card with video out will allow you to use a TV as a monitor. But realize that the resolution on a TV is much worse than a computer monitor (i.e., the picture will not look nearly as good)

Just elaborate a little more on this if your going to use it as your sole display you might as well forget it. Normal text is nearly unreadable, your eyes will be screaming murder. If you go the video card out way your going to spend as much or more than the cost of a monitor. CRT's are cheap.

[ZAPPER]

I ain't no expert. (my standard disclaimer) But it might depend on just what you want to do with this TV screen turned PC monitor. I have an ATI AIW 7500 top of the line about $250-$300 when it first came out. But I think that I have seen them for about $50 somewhere now. The card is supposed to let you do several differnt things including put out to two of three differnt monitors at one time. You can basicaly clone the main PC screen with an exact copy of the main screen showing on the second screen. Or you can create one large desktop between two screens. The first is good if like you were giving a presentation to a group and you were working your PC kind of like how a old professor worked an overhead projector. You do whatever you do right in front of your work station and the audience sees it on the big screen. This is really only good if the material is set up to be displayed on a TV screen though. Because there are big differences between TV screen resolutions and PC monitor resolutions and plain old PC text looks bad on a tv screen and gets worse with size. PC monitor pixiels are square I think and TV pixels are rectangles.

The best use of the dual output from this card I think, is splitting your desktop. Not all programs let you do this though. You can arrange your two screens side by side or over and under and pick which one is the primary. Using this set up you can open say a document and drag it to the other screen and then open another and keep it on the main screen. By moving the mouse towards the second screen it jumps over to that screen and you can work back and forth. I don't use this for text though because the TV screen looks bad with text. I have used this with a CAD program for keeping my drawing area on one screen and my print preview on the other, but with to much distance between the physical arrangements of the screens it gets old.

Now for the VERY BEST use of a dual output card it is of course video editing(or so I am told, I don't have the CPU or good enough programs to get it quite right.) What you would do is use a TV screen as the preview screen being that in most cases this will be the final use of your video anyways. It lets you make all your picture tweeks on a screen that is going to be closer to the average Tv screen. Depending on the program you keep your time line and other files and stuff on the PC screen and view the video on the TV.

As for ATI. People either hate it or love it. I have heard and believe that it is the best hardware for the buck. State of the art and cutting edge. But it can be for some (myself included) the most aggravating, buggy, piss me off to no end ******* software ever written!!! But it will do more than anything else out there when it wants to! Or you are good enough to make it do what it can!

OK back to the original post.If you want your TV to be a general PC monitor for everyday task, give it up. PC monitors are cheap, and I have seen dozens in dumpsters behind office buildings on more than one occasion.
If you want your TV hooked to your PC as an extra feature get a dual head video card or install an extra card with whatever adapters that you need.(but be advised this is a whole new rant for me)