TV as a monitor - how do I do it?

[bras0782]

I wanna be able to connect my PC to the tv in order to watch movies, etc from my PC on the bigger screen. How do I do this without buying a new graphics card?

Can I buy a PCI card which will allow this? Does it cost much?

I am clueless about this - I owned a 4MB ATI All In Wonder Pro video card a few years (still have it) but that's all I know about tv-out.

Thanks for the help.

[mynameis]

It wouldn't be very hard or expensive to find a video card that is better than the one you have that has TV Out, Why do you not want to buy a new video card? You could buy a scan converter that takes a VGA signal and converts it to a regular NTSC signal through RCA plugs or you could get what I have, a TV with VGA inputs.

[lessthanjake_666]

cheap gf3 ti200 will do just fine

[ewitte]

Originally posted by bras0782
I wanna be able to connect my PC to the tv in order to watch movies, etc from my PC on the bigger screen. How do I do this without buying a new graphics card?

Can I buy a PCI card which will allow this? Does it cost much?

I am clueless about this - I owned a 4MB ATI All In Wonder Pro video card a few years (still have it) but that's all I know about tv-out.

Thanks for the help.

As long as your only planning on watching movies. You will not be able to read anything. It sure is nice to just move it to a DVD RW disc, watch it on a real tv then erase it

Eric

[bras0782]

Originally posted by ewitte
As long as your only planning on watching movies. You will not be able to read anything. It sure is nice to just move it to a DVD RW disc, watch it on a real tv then erase it

Eric

Yeah, but I want to avoid the hassle of having to burn it to cd each time if possible.

Also, I don't want to change the vid card because this is for my other PC which already has a GF Ti4200, so I'd rather not change it. I was just wondering if I could get the result I require without buying a new vid card. I was hoping that maybe there is some kinda PCI card available which would do just what I want - kind of like a tv out for a rig that already has a video card.

If not, then I will consider getting a new vid card with a tv-out.

What do you guys think?

[kpxgq]

heres my setup

[russ_watters]

A card that ouputs video is called a "video card." Sorry to sound condescending, but that should be self-evident. And a video card that didn't output vga would be pointless, so what you really need is a regular video card with TV out.

The other option would be a vga->tv converter for about $100. A video card would be cheaper and as an added benefit, you can do dual monitors if you want.

[Isezumi]

yeah just in case it hasnt been said enough...

there isnt an easy cost effective work around for what you want to do...

TV tuner cards generally dont do VIVO, and the ones that do (that I know of) cost as much as cheapo MX that also does VIVO.

[bras0782]

VIVO - is that Video-In-Video-Out? Is that the same as TV-OUT?

Ok, so it seems like the solution I hoped for doesn't exist

Any suggestions then on a good video card with tv-out? The PC is used for playing games as well, but I don't want to spend loads on a brand new $500 card . Maybe a good card for a budget of around £100 (I guess that's $150).

It's a long shot, but is there any way I can add my old ATI All In Wonder Pro (PCI) to the PC and use that for only it's tv-out functionality whereas I would use the AGP vid card for normal use? I wouldn't mind having to reboot (disabling one card each time) between using the different cards.

Thanks

[Isezumi]

Originally posted by bras0782

It's a long shot, but is there any way I can add my old ATI All In Wonder Pro (PCI) to the PC and use that for only it's tv-out functionality whereas I would use the AGP vid card for normal use? I wouldn't mind having to reboot (disabling one card each time) between using the different cards.

Thanks

This is TOTALLY doable...

Probably the best way to go around this would be to install the card, hook up the monitor to it, boot to safe, install the drivers for it...boot to safe again disable, shut down, move back to your main and start up.

But I could be wrong.

[irwincur]

Not even worth your time unless you have a HDTV or an EDTV. You really need a progressive display to make it even minimally usable. But if you insist, don't get a GF3 or lesser card as the nVidia cards have problems processing interlaced resolutions. The gold standard for TV out, both composite, s-video, and HD is ATI. The good news, almost all of the ATI cards offer the same quality, so you could save some cash and get a cheap 32MB - 7000 for under $40.

[russ_watters]

Originally posted by bras0782
It's a long shot, but is there any way I can add my old ATI All In Wonder Pro (PCI) to the PC and use that for only it's tv-out functionality whereas I would use the AGP vid card for normal use? I wouldn't mind having to reboot (disabling one card each time) between using the different cards.

Thats exactly what you want to do except you do NOT need to disable one to use the other. The entire point here is to use both at the same time. If you've never tried multiple monitors, you don't know what you are missing. You can surf the net with one card on your monitor while the other card drives a movie on your tv.

[LordOPain]

Originally posted by bras0782
I wanna be able to connect my PC to the tv in order to watch movies, etc from my PC on the bigger screen. How do I do this without buying a new graphics card?

Can I buy a PCI card which will allow this? Does it cost much?

I am clueless about this - I owned a 4MB ATI All In Wonder Pro video card a few years (still have it) but that's all I know about tv-out.

Thanks for the help.

i picked up an hollywood (+) from sigma designs about 2 yrs ago to do that very thing.. its a hardware dvd decoder with s-video, composite(rca jack) and surround sound out

i can play movies and games at the same time with very little performance hit..(xp made the performance worse, 98se had no noticable hit)

http://www.sigmadesigns.com/products/xcard.htm
thats a newer version, ive been considering it lately.. it works with divX as well..

its not the only thing out there but for my needs it seems to be the best i can find for few $$..

i use a composite to coax converter and a s/pdif(mini-stereo) to an rca splitter those connect to an autosensing rf modulator (like 20$ at walmart)http://www.epinions.com/Philips_Magn...ories_PM61138#