Using TV as a computer monitor?

judygarland

Hi there, I've seen this in someones house and Im wondering how I link my PC to my TV so that whatever appears on my monitor will appear on my screen?

I quite often watch channel 4OD but its rubbish on a 15inch screen!

thanks in anticipation of some highly intelligent being answering my plea!

cheers

Blacksheep1979

if you have dvi out then get an hdmi to dvi connector and a sound cable or if the TV takes vga in then use that (plus sound cable) or use s-vhs from comp to TV (those are in descending order of quality)

D.K.

I've never heard of that being done unless your TV is made so that it can also be used as a monitor but my intelligence is not too high so...

judygarland

Blacksheep1979 wrote: »

if you have dvi out then get an hdmi to dvi connector and a sound cable or if the TV takes vga in then use that (plus sound cable) or use s-vhs from comp to TV (those are in descending order of quality)

Thanks for that. The TV I saw set up like that was a rather nice large flat screen which was quite new. My TV is about 4 years old and is a sony so fingers crossed.

Blacksheep1979

if it's a crt then you're likely to have to use s-video (which is ok on crt sd video stuff) but if it is a crt don't hold your hopes up as to be able to use it a decent monitor as the resoloution is going to be a lot lower than with your friends tv.

Obviously the s-video soloution relies on your gfx card having an s-video out, failing that you can get a scan converter thing for the vga out which will convert to s-video (not sure off hand where to get one ebay?) should be no more than £20

judygarland

Just an update. I have spoken to the computer shop that supplied my PC and they reckon all I need is an SVID lead which goes from my TV out on my graphics card and into the TV via scart lead. Does this sound about right?

dan2002

hi son has his desktop connected to a 40in samsumg tv and uses this for his moniter,he just got a new graphics card and tv has a connection for the moniter cable not very hard and saves on having 2 screens in the 1 room

Blacksheep1979

the s-vid to scart will only work if the scart socket is s-vid enabled - not all are

bigfishman

do you have an s video input on your tv? if so just buy a s video lead and its all sorted.. It will be fine for watchin films and stuff on the pc but dont expect to use the pc properly as the resolution will be poor and you wont be able to do much without alot of effort with your eyes.

stan747

what kind of output do you have on the graphics card? some use svideo but some have composite out, like a phono plug, or vga-s-video convertors are pretty cheap on fleabay. you can get a scart convertor that plugs into your tv and with take either but you will need a seperate audio lead for the sound as well, possibly a jackplug splitter if you have speakers on your pc.

shopping list:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RGB-Scart-to-3-RCA-AV-M-to-F-S-video-Adapter-Converter_W0QQitemZ230210580296QQihZ013QQcategoryZ96942QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-5mm-STEREO-JACK-PLUG-TO-2-x-PHONO-RCA-PLUGS-5m_W0QQitemZ140196636862QQihZ004QQcategoryZ116850QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VGA-to-S-Video-RCA-Composite-Adapter-Cable-for-PC-TV_W0QQitemZ170183876571QQihZ007QQcategoryZ61395QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CLEAROUT-SVHS-S-VIDEO-extention-lead-cable-2M_W0QQitemZ260201180401QQihZ016QQcategoryZ32837QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

judygarland

Thanks for all your help.

The connection on the sound card is 9 pin mini we think it is a Mini-DIN 9(there is a stamp "s" next to it). On the back of the TV there is a connection that says modem and it also a 9 pin. On the front of the TV is an S VID connection (4 pin). The graphics on my PC is MSI MS-Starforce Ge Force 6600.

This is driving me bananas. I've googled 9 pin and im even more confused. Any help would be greaytly appreciated.

Cheers