Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with TV and PC

Wirelessly broadcast PC screen to multiple TVs?

neksys — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:25:46 -0800

The easiest way to do this is to tell you what I need: I want someone to be able to work on a laptop and be able to broadcast the video information on the screen wirelessly to more than 1 TV. My question is - how? Basically what I'm hoping to set up is a laptop/tablet PC with images that a person could manipulate. I want those manipulations to show up on a number of televisions. I do not need audio.

Its easy enough to do wired - there is an S-Video or HDMI out on plenty of laptops these days, so its no problem to split and run cables across a room to each television.

I need, though, a wireless solution. I have googled and found a number of these kinds of solutions but the quality appears questionable on some. The big thing is expandability - I want to broadcast the video signal to a handful of displays. Ideally the solution would be one broadcasting unit and the ability to purchase individual receivers.

Anyone have any experience with this that could give me any guidance? I should mention I'm in Canada - some devices that are available in the US or overseas are not approved for use here.

Desktop to tv

dstopps — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:56:54 -0800

I want to view my desktops screen on my TV. Using my desktop, and laptop connected to my tv. I want to be able to watch movies i play on my desktops bluray drive on my TV which has my laptop plugged into it. I would much rather go over my home network than stream to the web. I am pretty good at maintaining and working on individual computers but am lost when it comes to network stuff.

Replace my ReplayTV with a PC Card

prodevel — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 18:17:40 -0800

I would like to buy a card/box to connect post-cable-box (like tivo) to connect to my computer and record whatever is playing on channel 3? I currently have a ReplayTV which is able to record from channel 3. I pay 13/mo for this and need to replace it with my computer's new 1 TB HD, etc. I have the means to download tv schedules myself as well as change the channel on my Comcast set-top box to coincide with my programming I want to record. What I don't have the means to do is to record from the cable box to my computer (w/out DVArchive.)

I have a Radeon 3850 card with a DVI-HDMI adapter so I can watch stuff on my 42" LCDTV.

I'm having trouble picking out which card or external box can read every channel I pay for and have my computer capture it.

I'd rather not use MCE as I'm on XP and would prefer GBPVR or some such.

I've a simple Motorola cable box sans cable-card.

Thanks in advance.

Trying to get PC/TV AND PVR functionality to merge onto my 42" lcd

prodevel — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:08:14 -0800

Is there a PC tuner card that can read from my Comcast digi-set-top box that I can control w/a wifi/bluetooth remote from 20-30 ft.? So after getting a graphics card with an hdmi adapter and a 30' cable to my living room, bluetooth keyboard, I'm in heaven - hulu.com 1 second, ReplayTV (Tivo type box) the next. The ATI DVI card and HDMI adapter somehow carry the sound... Well.

So now I want to replace my ReplayTV that I pay $13/mo for with a pctv card that will accept bluetooth/wifi remote signals from the living room. I'd like to use either SageTV or GBPVR for the software, but I'm somewhat open.

Also, If anyone has experience with a mouse that'll do 20/30 ft. reliably, that'd be awesome.

Thanks in advance.

PC: TV. TV: PC.

still_wears_a_hat — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:45:17 -0800

I'd like to connect an older PC to my TV, just to watch online videos through the TV, not do any detailed PC work or reading. Preferably without buying a new video card for the PC. I thought it would be simple, but the more I read, the more confused I get. The short version is: what's the simplest way to connect a PC with this video card to this TV. The slight longer version is: I'm thinking that something like this or this probably won't work, just because they have warnings about my display system needing to support TV-OUT. I'm not sure it doesn't, but can't find any indication that it does. But if one of those will work, I'd much rather use it than add another box.

I'm hoping that something like this will, but I'd like to be a little more certain before I buy and mess with one.

The TV's HD, but I don't need or expect very good quality for the PC output. I'd just like a way to have more media than Comcast gives me.

Thanks for any advice.

How do I hook up a homebrew HTPC to an analog TV?

Ponsonby Britt — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:51:29 -0800

How do I hook up a homebrew HTPC to an analog TV? I've got a 6-year-old analog TV which, aside from coax, only offers RCA connections (two sets). In hopes of creating a quasi-TiVo, I took a 5-year-old HP unning Windows and added a wireless-G adapter (for my home network) and a Hauppauge PVR-350 tuner. Add in GB-PVR software, and it's working great on my monitor - which I do not want in my living room permanently.

I'd planned to use the TV outs on the Hauppauge card, only to discover that they only really work with the accompanying software (or an older version of GB-PVR that doesn't do much else). And even then, it only shows THAT program, not the desktop or menus you'd need to actually open said program. It doesn't appear adding a new video card is an option (there's no AGP slot and I think the tuner & wireless cards took care of the expansion slots).

I'm really NOT a techie, so I'm out of my element here. Since this is sort of a tinkering/hobby-type thing, I'm trying to keep costs fairly low (ie, don't want to have to spend as much on it as I'd spend on a new TV that'd work right out of the box.) I'm pretty sure this is a hardware issue, but software suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Is this the right time to buy a HDTV?

Vindaloo — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 10:52:03 -0800

Is this the right time to buy a HDTV? My current television is a 27” Panasonic CRT that I bought in 1997. In 2002 the sound and picture started interfering with one another and I paid $200 to have it repaired; and it has worked very well up until recently when the same symptoms as before are occurring (mainly a large buzzing noise on some channels, and/or a slightly degraded picture on others). So now I am faced with the choice of either repairing my old TV or buying a new one. The advantage of keeping the old TV is that I get to hold on to my money, but a new TV will allow me to hook up my PC to it and watch downloaded videos on a big screen, plus the added advantage of high def hockey!

After some research (including here and on avsforum) I have settled between two models should I choose to purchase: a Sony KDL40V2500 or a Sharp Aquos LC42D64U. Both models have excellent reviews, both are 42”, they both looked excellent at the showroom, and both are on sale for $1500 CAD at Future Shop. However, before I buy I have a few questions and concerns which I was hoping some knowledgeable mefites could help me with.

First: is this a good time to buy a HDTV? During the post-christmas period most stores have ongoing sales ending soon, so prices are theoretically good. However with the advent of new models and so on, will prices go down or up? Suppose I wait 2 months, would I be able to get a better deal?

Second: the salesman (who seemed to know what he was talking about, based on my limited knowledge) recommended that with the TV I also buy a special interference free power bar (roughly $160) and for my PC hookup he recommended some outrageously priced DVI to HDMI cables (roughly $200 for the 20 ft or so I would need). Are these extra expenses really worthwhile?

Third: I am worried about the quality of non-HD content on my new TV. In my experience most HDTVs pixelate quite a bit with analog content, are there settings which exist that would reduce or eliminate this problem?

Fourth: does anyone own one of the TVs I mentioned? If so, I’d like to hear your comments.

plasma as secondary pc monitor

nyu2 — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:28:52 -0800

Is there a relatively affordable way to connect my computer to both a monitor and plasma screen, having the ability to switch between the two seemlessly? Does the technology exist to do this wirelessly and how much does it cost comparatively? also, can I stream movies on my computer to the plasma tv as well as surf the internet using a wireless keyboard?

thanks for the help

How to stream video from a PC to a TV?

WinnipegDragon — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:52:26 -0800

What is the simplest and least expensive way to stream MP3s and video in various formats to a standard TV? Considerably I have a standard Windows XP Pro box with a pair of 320GB HDDs that I use for video editing and basic digital recording, specifically NFL games. I am a hardcore Lions' fan. Pity me.

Until now, this is the process I have for getting these games replayed on my TV:

I have been manually editing the 4hr+ long video sessions that I record with my Hauppage PVR-250 card. This gives me a really nice quality MPEG-2 video, but they often run 8 to 10 GBs or more. Using an inline MPEG editor, I cut out halftime and the commercials and get them down to about 5GBs or so. Then I run them through a DVD creation package to convert the MPGs to VOBs and throw on a menu. Then I run the whole DVD through DVD Shrink to get them down to 4.7GB to be burned on DVD-R.

This is a rather long process and it ties up my system while all the conversion and shrinking happens. In order to cut back on the time, I've purchased a DivX capable DVD player, but the conversion to DivX is less-than optimal quality and very time consuming. I also purchased a Dual Layer burner, but I still find I end up editing out the commercials if I want to keep the quality high, so it doesn't save much time.

So, I'd like advice on building or buying a simple media centre that I can throw on my stereo shelf and stream video and music from my PC in various formats. Most software packages like MythTV, BeyondTV and SageTV seem to be more interested in the PVR functionality, and most simple hardware solutions, like the D-Link DSM-320 have software or compatability problems.

Can this be done inexpensively or should I just bite the bullet, move the PVR-250 to a new box and build a full PVR system?

SCART input to PC

lemonfridge — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 04:05:24 -0800

I have a Freeview box with SCART output that I want to watch on my PC. It doesnt have any kind of video input yet, but thats where you lovely people come in. Almost a year ago my TV blew up while I was studying my degree. As as was so busy I thought it was a good thing - one less distraction. I graduated 7 months ago and havent missed it. I dumped the TV, sold my HiFi and DVD player, but now I have a Freeview box doing nothing.

How can I connect its SCART output to my PC so that I can watch Windowed TV while working, or maybe record stuff as well? Ive tried USB and PCI DVB tuners but they've all been slow and nasty to use. It's a great Sony Freeview box that I don't want to go to waste.

tv tuner?

EvilKenji — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 13:55:09 -0800

Watching Tv on the PC, tv tuner choices? I have an ATI All-in-wonder card that i use for watching tv. However i've done some research and discovered the newer ATI cards use a tv tuner that has poorer performance compared with the older ATI cards. As a result, i am considering the purchase of a seperate tv tuner card.

What are some PCI tv tuners available that have good performance (running an AMD sempron 3400+). HDTV is not necessary. I am primarily looking for good performance, and unbulky software. Another secondary concern is that I have dual monitors, and the ATI tv tuner for some reason wont allow tv to display on the secondary monitor.

Multiple channels of TV on one screen?

GriffX — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 08:00:15 -0800

How can I get four different television channels playing on a large plasma or LCD display at once? I'm guessing that cable inputs would need to go to a PC, and then piped to the TV through DVI, but beyond that (hardware, software) I am a little stumped. Anyone have any suggestions?

I'll be your mirror... or not.

insomnia_lj — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 00:35:00 -0800

I've got a Windows Media Center edition PC hooked up to my television using an S-video cable so that I can play DIVX files, and I'm getting my wallpaper showing up on the television... and nothing else. The main monitor still shows all my apps, however. What gives?! It seems to be treating the television as a second monitor, rather than mirroring exactly what's on my PC desktop, and I don't have any obvious way of either changing this, or of running and controlling my video playing software on this second display. Any advice?! I'm using a ATI Radeon X800 to do this, btw.

Advice wanted on TV video server.

insomnia_lj — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 20:48:46 -0800

I have an old Intel Celeron 501MHz PC sitting around collecting dust. I'm wondering whether it would be suitable as a video server for my television, assuming I upgrade it with WiFi and a TV card. I don't have/want cable, so I don't necessarily need TiVo-like capabilities, but it would be nice to have something that could access my WiFi network, grab my downloads (mostly fansubbed anime, foriegn shows, etc.), and play them on the home theatre system. Is it worthwhile to use such a system for this purpose? Is there a more elegant solution that I'm overlooking that doesn't involve burning a ton of DVDs?

Hooking up my Nvidia video card to my TV

freudianslipper — Tue, 25 Jan 2005 22:13:13 -0800

PC video to TV filter! I've got the Nvidia GeForce MX 440 graphics card that has an s-video out. I recently acquired a nice 28" television set and would love to have this play my downloaded videos. I hooked up the s-video out from my pc to my s-video in onto my TV and that's as far as I get.

I am trying my best to follow this link but get stuck when it says to click on "nView Display Mode" because I don't have that option. Even with the updated drivers.

any help is much appreciated!

Why do my PC and TV images simultaneously wobble?

ArmyOfKittens — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 04:48:01 -0800

Strange picture wobble: we have a PC monitor and a television in the same room, and sometimes their pictures wobble in unison. [more inside] The wobble is not severe but it is noticeable: it is as if every other frame is slightly horizonally displaced. It is most pronounced in the bottom-right corner of each screen, where the degree of wobble can be up to a millimetre on the television. There is a greater degree of wobble when the television is running at 60hz (NTSC) than at 50hz (PAL). The wobble seems more severe on the monitor, which usually runs at 75hz. The television and the monitor are about 2 metres apart. They always wobble together, and the wobble usually persists for about 5 minutes.

I’m convinced it’s something atmospheric, and have been confidently using the wobble to predict impending storms. These storms usually fail to materialise, and my Google skills have failed me, so I have turned to Metafilter to ask: Why do our screens wobble? We live in North-West England, and on the fifth floor, if that helps.

What application do you use to record TV on your PC?

sebas — Mon, 12 Jul 2004 05:34:24 -0800

What application do you use to record TV on your pc? (More Inside) I bought a new pc over the weekend and now I am the proud owner of a Pinnacle PCTV card, cable tv, hundreds of Gb free hard disk space and a tv close to my pc. The pc came with something called Pinnacle Media Center, which does not work too well.

What I would like to have is an application that allows me to schedule recordings and play back of course. What is your favourite program? (Currently running Windows XP, but have no problems with switching to Linux for this.)