flatscreen PC monitor to a TV?

MATH

I'm after a small flatscreen TV for my son's bedroom but they are a bit expensive. Remembered I have a 19" flat screen monitor in my garage and now wondering if I can use it as a TV. I'm thinking I could get a freeview box and connect it, probably using a scart-vga converter. I need a techie to tell me if my theory is flawed and/or an alternative way of turning the monitor into a TV, if indeed it's possible.
Many thanks

Painkiller

Have a read through this;

http://www.avforums.com/forums/freeview/928032-freeview-vga-output.html

It doesn't look like it can be done easily or inexpensively (you'll also need a solution for the audio).

almillar

If your son has a PC, already connected to a monitor, you'll want to buy a freeview USB stick to plug into the computer. This will allow him to have an excellent PVR. Those converters are generally expensive and not up to much, and even if your monitor does have speakers, they're probably cack.

CyBerman

A quick thought on the matter -

To my mind a PC monitor is designed to be viewed at a distance of a foot or so, whereas a TV is surely designed to be viewed at a much greater distance.
So unless the item is a specifically designed hybrid I'd have thought that there may be quality issues in using the one thing for the other purpose.

MATH

Thanks for your replies. It's a shame to have a screen in the garage doing nothing but this idea seems a no go.

KillerWatt

19" TV's with built in Freeview are less than £120 brand spanking new, and that is the price for branded examples (that's proper brand names, not the cheap chinese crap such as Technika that Tesco's sell).

By the time you have faffed about sorting out the audio side of things, you would be better off just buying a proper TV set IMO.

andy8442

VGA to Scart, lots available on Ebay, they're not that much either. Sound might be a problem though. Do you have a Stereo in the bedroom? The freview box probably has phono out so you could plug it into the aux-in of the stereo (if it has one).