Monitor as TV

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aosborn

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Sep 22, 2003
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I am setting up my PC in my bedroom and have limited space. Just one small desk. I have an awesome 5 year old 13" tv but need to get rid of it for the monitor. I'm thinking of a 19" flat screen CRT KDS monitor. I have the 17" version of it and I love it.
Since I have to get rid of the tv i want to use my monitor as my tv, and monitor for gaming and such. So i want to hook basic cable tv to it and my PS2 for gaming.
I heard of a couple recommendations for tv tuner cards, including the Compro Videomate TV Gold Plus which i found for $64.
I dont care about recording tv or vcr or dvds or anything. Just want the tv to look good on the monitor, and a remote is needed but most have those.
I have an old ATI TV Wonder VE, i think thats what its called, but when i hooked up the PS2 to it it looked like crap. Is this because of the tuner card, video card (at the time it was an old GeForce2TI), or monitor which at the time was a crappy old 15" HP. also could it be because of the coax connection i used? dont know what else i could use.
hope you all can help.
 
Remote is unneeded when used with many newer cable boxes, which offer sound level control (if you change channels and volume on the cable box, why do you need a remote for your PC?). In fact, a TV-Tuner isn't even needed, because the cable box will also have video/audio out!

People used to connect video cameras to PC's, using TV-In. Really, that's all you need. I used to see video input cards without tuners on the market, for such purposes. Most were based on TV-tuner cards, but with the tuner eliminated to reduce cost (and end price).

So look around, all you need is a video input card.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>
 
I have no cable box. I have basic basic cable. A coax cables comes into our house from the cities cable, located outside. No digital cable or anything like that way out here. So I will need a tuner because I need coax into the computer. And a remote because there is no hardware besides a peice of crappy coax cable.
 
Specs on my computer:
2.8Ghz P4-HT (800fsb)
Asus P4P800 Deluxe
1GB DDR400, dual channel (800Mhz).
GeForce FX5600 Ultra (256MB)
80GB SATA Seagate 7200 HDD
Asus CD-RW
Asus DVD
Raidmax Scorpio 868 case
Fans, lights, the usual.
 
Actually Crashman, those volume controls don't control the cable box, they just control the volume on the TV, like most universal remotes do. They don't actually change the signal running through the line-out on the cable box. In that case, a remote would be nice. Besides, the man said he doesn't have a cable box, just simple cable.

The reason it looked like crap before is because of your crappy video card. If you have GF4 or a Radeon 7500 or better, then the image will look far better. Actually, ATI is better for TV decoding than nVidia, in my experience, same goes for TV-out.

Use the ATI TV Wonder VE, and plug your PS/2 and coax line into the line in on the card and away you go. Just don't expect spectacular image quality. TVs are made for watching TV, and computers are made for computer-rendered images. So, don't expect the world, but it will look good, don't worry. I have an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro AIW, and the TV tuner on it rules.

Oh, and BTW, a remote is always a nice touch, no matter what anyone says. ATI's remote rules. You can even control the mouse with it.

umheint0's phat setup --> <A HREF="http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~umheint0/system.html" target="_new">http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~umheint0/system.html</A><--
 
My friend's box DOES have it's own volume control, with it's own On Screen Display. I turned up his TV all the way one time and couldn't hardly hear it, then I figured out the box had its own line level controller, and I turned that up.

His box is digital.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>
 
I use the <A HREF="http://www.viewsonic.com/products/video_box_vb50hrtv.htm" target="_new">Viewsonic VB50HRTV TV tuner box</A>. It's basically, a cable box but for VGA monitors. It sits between your computer and your monitor meaning it has passthru video and audio. You use the same monitor and speakers for PC and for TV.

When you are watching television it works just like an ordinary set. You don't even have to turn on the computer.

When you are in PC mode the CRT works as normal with no video degredation.

Great TV picture. Very sharp (much better than my All-in-Wonder). DVD playback (via standalone player to S-Video input) is only OK. The VB50HRTV is sensitive to Macrovision encoded movies. It reacts with a slight (but still annoying) dimming and brightening pumping. I don't have a game console.

The VB50HRTV has a few other problems but it's great for basic television viewing. Which is all I'm recommend it for.

The VB50HRTV (presumably because of the problems) has been succeeded by the Viewsonic <A HREF="http://www.viewsonic.com/products/video_box_nextvisionn4.htm" target="_new">N4</A>, <A HREF="http://www.viewsonic.com/products/video_box_nextvisionn5.htm" target="_new">N5</A>, and <A HREF="http://www.viewsonic.com/products/video_box_nextvisionn6.htm" target="_new">N6</A> (the last being an HDTV Ready model).

I haven't seen these products in action but if the picture is as good or better than that of the VB50HRTV then I think they are worth a look.

They don't have the functionality of VIVO cards. They just provide great TV viewing.

[addition]
By the way, I saw some really impressive screen captures using the Compro (sp?) TV card you mentioned. The video card was the Australian version (PAL I think) and higher resolution than NTSC but the pictures were exception screen captures.

I would like to see the North American version.

<b>56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!</b><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by phsstpok on 09/27/03 07:35 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 
Here is some quick info. A friend gave me his old ATI TV Wonder VE. I think that is the crappiest tuner card made by ATI and maybe anyone. I hooked it up to my old 700Mhz PC, GeForce2 Ti. Hooked up the PS2 to it as a test and it looked like crap. All blurry. The monitor is new and nice.
Then hooked the same tuner to my new computer with a GeForceFX5600 Ultra (256mb), 2.8Ghz CPU, 1GB dual channel DDR, and it looked the exact same. This is hooking it up with coax, the only thing i can see hooking it up with. put a dvd in the ps2 and it looked like crap, looks good on tv.
So im guessing it's either the tuner card or the coax connection, is there anythign else instead of coax to use? and would it look good enough to watch tv with the compro tv tuner card?
I was thinking about the viewsonic box. but i found it for 116 and the compro card is 64, so that sounds much better to me.
 
I've found the old ATI TV tuners (which I think include the TV Wonder VE) look best when desktop resolution is set to 640x480, 60hz refresh (NTSC television here). 60hz in any resolution improves things a lot (TV viewing but not anything else). 640x480 looks best.

Any other resolution with a higher refresh rate looks fuzzy.

Even at their best the older ATI TV tuners seem have poor video filtering. My old All-in-Wonder (the original) is the worst of the bunch in this regard, noise, herring-bone patterns, ghosting, underscan, hook, you name it.

I still use the AIW but it's more for TV in a window while browsing. Something I can't do with the outboard Viewsonic tuner.

[addition]
By the way, please post to let us know how you like the Compro.

<b>56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!</b><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by phsstpok on 09/28/03 12:55 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 
umheint0, I'm asking you b/c you have a 9700 card but if others can give guidance, I'd appreciate it.

Ok, I'm new to this TV on my computer ... but I have a ATI 9800 PRO video card. What other "thing(s)" do I need to be able to hook my cable into my system and watch cable on my computer?

Do I need another card to do this with or is there an adapter that will take the input to my 9800 card?

I have - it looks like an S-VIDEO input and a DVI input available. My CRT is in the VGA input. Also, I have a DVI-VGA converter in my 9800 Pro box plus I have a S-VIDEO cable, a Video cable(don't know what it's called?) and then some sort of S-VIDEO converter that has an S-VIDEO side and then the "video" input side.

So, how do I get the CABLE inputted in this card so I can watch cable tv on this thing?

Sorry - I know this is a NOOB question but I'm not getting it and I can't find where ATI shows how to do this on their site.

Thanks -ot

IC7-G 1.3| P4 2.8 800 | SLK900-U / 92mm Fan (AS3) | 2x512mb Corsair PC3500C2 | 2x120gb SG SATA RAID 0 | 2x120gb WD RAID 1 | CM ATC201B-SXT | 520W | Radeon 9800 Pro | Audigy2
 
You need a TV tuner card. ATI makes one, as do a few other companies. ATI's TV Wonder and Hauppauge are the best for quality and features. I'd go for ATI's because it comes with a really nice remote. Goto <A HREF="http://www.ati.com/products/multimedia.html" target="_new">http://www.ati.com/products/multimedia.html</A> and scroll to the bottom, where the TV wonders are listed, and choose one.

Hauppauge's site is <A HREF="http://www.hauppauge.com/html/selector.htm" target="_new">http://www.hauppauge.com/html/selector.htm</A>, and they have some great products. I had the WinTV Theatre. I got the 9700 AIW, so I gave it up. The advantage of the ATI tuner is that the remote is infinitely superior in every respect to the Hauppauge one.

umheint0's phat setup --> <A HREF="http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~umheint0/system.html" target="_new">http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~umheint0/system.html</A><--
 
Dang, I just had this idea that I didn't need anything else but once I started really studying it -- there had to be something else to it.

Thanks for the info ... I had looked at ATI's Wonder cards and will check out the others. I guess the ATI is best choice so I'll look there.

Appreciate it much dude!! -ot

IC7-G 1.3| P4 2.8 800 | SLK900-U / 92mm Fan (AS3) | 2x512mb Corsair PC3500C2 | 2x120gb SG SATA RAID 0 | 2x120gb WD RAID 1 | CM ATC201B-SXT | 520W | Radeon 9800 Pro | Audigy2
 
Someone wanted me to respond with how the Compro VideoMate Gold Plus tv tuner card was. I got it at newegg.com for $64 including shipping which i thought was a good price. It shipped to me in about 3 days and I love it. It installed easily enough and they had a lot more hookups on the back then i thought. It included FM radio, Coax, Audio Out, IR for remote, Svideo, and Composite video.
The first time i installed it it worked fine but when i restarted the drivers werent there. reinstalled it and after restarting same thing happened. It seems i had an IRQ conflict, 1394 Net Adapter was at IRQ 20. I dont use firewire, which is 1394, but i do have it onboard. But why is it a net adapter? it confused me but in network connections its bridged with my LAN.
Compro suggested the 4th PCI slot but since that didnt work i changed it back to the first and she has her own irq and works good. The video is much much better, with a 19" monitor i can be all the way back in my room and see fine. There is a bit of static but that is probably the coax line, audio works good, only bad part is that the remote doesnt work. but they said its probably not installed right so ill do it all over again later, i havent needed a remote yet. But for less than $65 i'd recommend it to anyone wanting a standard tuner card, and it has nice PVR functions as well.
 
Thanks for the update.

Sounds pretty nice. Hope you iron out the problems.

Until I finally make my PC quiet I still like having the outboard TV tuner which doesn't need my noisy PC running for TV viewing.

PVR would be nice. Maybe I'll get the Compro just for that function.

<b>56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!</b>
 
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