TV instead of monitor - possible?

[bad_back]

Hi,

I have a spare Compaq Deskpro EN 1Ghz PIII PCI that I would like to use downstairs to connect to the TV. I do not wish to have a monitor connected. I would like to use it as a 'standard' PC plus be able to view DVD's, downloaded TV episodes and to emulate a Video recorder. Is this possible and what hardware would I need?

I was originally going to use it for output only using a spare Radion 7000 but it's AGP so no good I have to get a Graphics card with TVout anyway so thought I may as well cover all possible options


Thanks,
bad_back

[Nelson37]

Is it possible? yes. Will you go blind trying to read PC text on a TV? Also yes.

You can use large fonts, S-video out, and a good quality TV to alleviate some of these problems. But not all.

Many games and educational programs use embedded graphics for text and these can be extremely difficult to read.

[yalborap]

All you need is S-video input on your tv and a card with tv-out. But I'd reccomend keeping a moniter handy for text-based things.

[bad_back]

Thanks for the quick replies and yes I understand the text blindness I'm not too fussed about that as it will primarily be used for video.

Is there a PCI card I can use that will do everything for me; capture, playback and standard PC stuff. I was thinking along the lines of the ATI AIW. I do not want to spend too much since the PC only cost £90. It has graphics all ready via motherboard so am really looking for a capture/tvout card. Are there such devices available. The ones I've seen like Pinnacle/Hauppauge seem to rely on monitor support.

Yours confused,
bad_back

[Suntan]

As long as you use a HTPC front end, like myHTPC or meedio or Xlobby (or mythTV if you go Linux) then you will be fine. Just keep the font sizes big enough. I use myHTPC as my front end and it works just fine through the TV-out. For setup/configuration changes you could do those remotely from another computer if they are networked together. Google for "Tight VNC".

-Suntan

[bad_back]

Thanks Suntan,

The Meedio system looks good, I may try that once i've sorted out the hardware.