What do i need?

[berg uk]

hi ppl,
i have just got a new pc in my bedroom and i want to know what i need to be able to view my pc through my tv,like if i want to watch a film for example but not have to sit at my pc and just watch it on the tv from the pc.
guessing i will need to buy some thing so any ideas how much an what card ect is best?
Also i would like to be able to view the tv on the pc if that is possible and record tv and xbox/ps2 ect onto my HDD.
Do i need something different for that and if so how much am i looking at?
thanks in advance guys.

[redwudz]

It would depend somewhat on what inputs your TV has. If it has S-Video, that works fairly well for viewing video from a computer to a TV. Then you would just need a video card with S-video output. This may require running a long S-video cable, depending on the distance. Hopefully not too long. There are also boxes that can transmit from your PC to your TV.

For capturing TV on the computer or for viewing, just some sort of capture card with a TV tuner on board.

There are a lot of options, both cost wise and technology wise. Hard wired would be the simplest and most inexpensive.

But others may give you some better info.

And welcome to our forums.

[steveryan]

If you don't want to play games on your pc then something like a ATI 9600 All In Wonder would be fine, it's quite simple to rig it up to a TV and they go for peanuts on eBay. If you do play games then you have at least 2 choices -
1, a decent graphics card and a seperate tv card.
2, one of the latest ATI AIW cards.

[berg uk]

ok thanks for the welcome,
my tv only has SCART out,but my tv an pc are only like 2m apart so thats a plus.
So to just capture the picture from my tv i need a card with tv tuner?
I don't want somthing cheap and nasty but at the same time i don't want to go over the top lol.
I am more of a console gamer than pc so nothing highly demanding game wise but some low demand games would be nice.
Also i have a bit of a problem,when i got this pc the on bord sound was broken so i have had a seperate sound card fitted and now i have no pci slots left,but if you can get a graphics card that will do the video stuff aswell then i could just replace my old graphics card right??
Also my graphics card has dvi output,is there a way to hook that upto my tv??
thanks for the help.

[Bjs]

Considering the audio issue , then a possible setup :

Vga output - only valid for a short time , but this device means you dont need to get vga with tv out .

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-Digital-Video-Converter-VGA-PC-to-AV-TV-PAL-NTSC-H2_W0QQite...QQcmdZViewItem

Audio fix

http://www.usbgear.com/computer_cable_details.cfm?sku=USBG-SV5&cats=121&catid=136%2C121

Video recording can then be either pci or usb2 ... quality from

http://www.aver.com/mpd/product.html

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I bought the first item for the ability to record to dvd later the work I carry out in pure dose as a teaching aid for newbies on how to fix there pc's and save money ... stop being ripped off .

The second item ... I bought the 7.1 unit for the notebook , works well , though you need to be carefull with these device's as they can be easily damaged .

The last ... I own the external usb2 unit , along with the dvd ezymaker gold unit ... both work well , never an issue even after clean reinstall of os ... the usb2 unit provides far better crystal quality in picture and a belkin powered hub acts as a powered interface between the unit and the pc as it draws 1 amp , which is something you need to be aware of when it comes to plugging in usb devices .

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As for the suggested ati vga unit ... forget them ... it's going to be history soon ... check out reports from current users in the link to the left "capture cards" ... you get a feel for what you looking for from the reports left by owners .

If you really want to play pc games (which will only fill the pc with junk) ... then I would point you towards nvidia rather than ati .

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With the above equiepment , either way , you can record from cameras , dvd's , vhs , xbox , ps2 , tv , and view pure dos , linux , windows , games , bios , all manner of video clips no matter what format they are in , on your tv .

The whole pizza , with all the extra's for free .

All up I got the lot in ebay for (usb2 avertv) $120.00 + (vga device) $60.00 + (7.1 usb sound) $26.00 = $206.00au (postage total was $28.00 for reg) .