Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with TV and computer

Select a TV for our conference room

namith — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:04:16 -0800

Help me select a TV (to be used as a computer monitor) for our conference room. We've got a small conference room at the office. I'm considering buying a used LCD (or plasma?) TV to use as a computer monitor for meetings. I need a little guidance in choosing the right specs. Size: We don't have too much wall space, so I'm thinking a 36" class would work. We will be sitting no more than 6 to 8 feet from the screen.

Input: The TV will likely hook up to an older 2GHz Intel MacBook. I assume most TV made within the past 3 or 4 years have standard inputs for computers (VGA and/or DVI). Should I be looking for something specific in terms of inputs?

Resolution: My biggest unknown is using the TV as a computer monitor. We are generally going to be looking at web stuff using a browser. I obviously want clear text and images. I don't know anything about how TV resolution compares to computer resolution. Most of the websites we'll be visiting are designed to be about 950 pixels wide, I guess to fit properly in 1024px monitor resolutions. For the TV, I want the browser window to roughly fit the screen -- not a very small window and likewise nothing that requires horizontal scrolling. So I guess the questions is, what resolution should I be looking for in selecting a model?

Refresh rate: I assume this is not too important in my case. I understand refresh rate to be important for sports (i.e. rapid changing graphics). We won't be doing any gaming in the conference room.

Type: Plasma vs. LCD?

Brand: Once I figure out what I need, I'll be scouring Craiglist for something that fits the specs you recommend. I know there are 'throw away' brands such as Vizio and Polaroid. In visiting people's homes, I see Sony Bravia and Samsung. Any input on brands would be helpful as well. Honestly I don't expect to use this for a 'lifetime.' I'm just trying to get a few years of reliable service. Keep in mind, that it won't get the usage that a typical TV gets. Maybe a few hours a week at most.

Anything else?

Thanks for your input and guidance. Any details that can help me make a decision are much appreciated.

Foreign TV channels via computer?

fantasticninety — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:48:26 -0800

Is there a way to watch foreign television stations on your computer or via High Definition antenna? I'd like to find a way to watch French TV stations. I was thinking that there might be a way with a TV converter to my iMac and some sort of HD antenna.

I know that there are a few free channels that you can stream online but in general the quality is not very good.

Any ideas here? I'm looking for a solution that would not cost 100 dollars a month by renting a satellite.

Thanks!

Cheap computer to run Spore?

raygan — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:23:12 -0800

What's the cheapest reliable computer I can buy that will play Spore? Challenge: I want to use my 32" HDTV (with VGA) as a monitor. My girlfriend bought Spore and we were both excited to play it, but it won't play on either of our laptops. (She has a newish HP of some kind running Vista and I have a MacBook) Neither of us has a desktop right now. I'm looking for an inexpensive desktop that would be capable of running the game, but it's been a long time since I've bought any computer that wasn't a Mac and I would like some recommendations. Budget is the main controlling factor. CHEAPER THE BETTER! I don't need the game to look great, I just want it to run.
I don't have a spare monitor, but my 32", 720p HDTV has a VGA input and I'm hoping to use that. Would the game be playable on such a monitor? How about routine web-browsing and so on?
My plan has been to get something that could sit under my TV and occasionally double as a video-player and second computer, so quiet would be nice.
Links to Newegg or similar appreciated.
Thanks!

Video From an Old Computer to a T.V.

mahoganyslide — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:28:18 -0800

How do I go about channeling video from a computer with just a VGA output to a T.V. that only takes component and composite inputs? I have a ton of downloaded video content that I'd like to be able to watch on my T.V. However, the videos are on a relatively old computer that only has a VGA output. I recently had the bright idea to go out and buy a VGA to component cable and only later did I discover (thanks to askmetafilter) that the computer must have T.V.-out capability (which, of course, it does not).

After a little more combing through previous askmetafilter posts, I've now arrived at two options: a converter or a new video card. But, which would be a better option?

I've come across two converters, this and this. However, these are just slightly above my budget and an older but capable video card appears to be a more economic choice.

My only other problem? I do not know how to install hardware on a desktop. After a search for cheap cards on newegg (here), I am at a loss as to which configuration will work with my specific computer. Would it be all too difficult to install the video card if I find some handy instructions online?

So, the gist of my question is: what is the better choice? Will the more expensive converter provide reliable/better video, or will the cheaper video card be the better alternative? Or have I got my options all wrong, and if so, are there any other options I'm not thinking of? I basically would like to strike an ideal balance between cost, video quality, and ease of use.

Hivemind, please come to my rescue!

How to use a 32" CRT as a computer monitor?

Ziggy Zaga — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:43:13 -0800

I want to be able to use my 32" television as a secondary computer monitor for games/movies. There are many tutorials for doing this on the internet but I'm having a heck of a time actually getting this to work. What am I doing wrong? Computer is relatively new, runs Windows XP SP2 and has an nVidia 7300 GS card with a VGA, DVI and 4-pin S-Video port. Newest video drivers (as of today) are installed.

Television is an unknown model Philips/Magnavox CRT monstrosity with several rows of composite ports and two (pretty sure, but not 100%) 4-pin S-Video ports. If I knew the model I could locate the manual or specifications but neither Philips nor Magnavox seem to have these CRT television sets listed on their sites anymore.

I went to the store and bought a 12' 4-pin S-Video cable. Hooked one end up to the video card, other end to the television. Messed around with the settings and configurators in the nVidia control panel.

I'm getting a signal on the TV, but unfortunately it is about as clear as watching scrambled porn. It's constantly fuzzy and doesn't display anything coherent. I know it's getting a signal from the computer since I can make out certain things depending on what's on my monitor ("hey, that looks like a nipple!") but it is absolutely unusable.

I am assuming that something, either the resolution, bit depth, or frequency is incorrect but the nVidia control panel does not make it easy to change any of these things. I'm pretty sure at one point I did find somewhere I could change the resolution but the lowest it would go is 800x600 and didn't seem to have any effect on the display.

If it matters, the control panel keeps referring to my TV as being an HDTV. It is not an HDTV.

Any suggestions? All the computer hardware I find seems to facilitate watching TV on your computer monitor, not the other way around. Furthermore I could not find any useful adapters or anything at Fry's; I couldn't even find a VGA-to-composite converter (yes, I was getting that desperate).

If you need any more information about the setup then please ask; I'd really like to be able to accomplish this task.

Thanks

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!

What's the best way to connect a computer to a tv for video playback, gaming and general usage from a sofa...

tomw — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:58:40 -0800

What's the best way to connect a computer to a tv for video playback, gaming and general usage from a sofa... I haven't purchased the tv yet but it's likely to be a "32 Panasonic LCD tv obviously with HDMI in. PC has a vga and digital out.

I'm sure this has been asked before, but is it possible for someone who has actually done this to let me know if its workable? I'm hoping to eliminate the need for a console by being able to play stuff like Call of Duty 4 etc on a pc through the tv.

TV Tuner Cards Are Mindboggling

Rallon — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:59:21 -0800

So, my TV just died and I'm wondering whether a TV-tuner card in the PC isn't the way to go to replace it... I'm a college student and was using a pretty old TV-VHS combo which decided to eat a tape and kill itself, it's very definitely dead as a doornail now. I'm looking around at replacement options, but everything seems awfully expensive for what is, ultimately, a smaller screen with a lower resolution than my shiny LCD monitor on my PC.

I wonder, thus, whether it wouldn't be a good idea to get a TV tuner card for the PC and just watch/record my TV on the PC. I'm very technology and computer competent, but my quick survey of the options has left me pretty baffled. Especially since I know all TV is supposed to move to digital pretty soon, it seems like cards only talk about analog-in? To put it simply, I have no idea what all of the stats on tuner cards are and just want one that I can throw in the PC, connect to the coax cable coming out of the wall, and watch TV on the PC. If I can record it too, all the better, but if not...no worse than a normal TV, right?

Here are my PC's relevant stats, for what it's worth:
Athlon 3500+ Processor
2 GB Ram
ATI X850XT Video Card
2x80GB Hard drives about 1/2 full
1x 120GB hard drive not used for anything
Soundblaster Audigy 2 Gamer sound card

If I could manage to keep this under $100, that'd be nifty, but a little over might be tolerable. At the end of the day, is this something worthwhile to look into, or should I just go buy a cheap TV?

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

Using my TV as a monitor

Juicylicious — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 06:44:50 -0800

Can I use my TV as a monitor for my laptop while doing other work on the laptop? I have an S connector for my laptop. I would like to watch ITunes movies on my TV while doing email, etc. on my laptop. Is that possible?

UK DIY IPTV PDQ?

Nice Guy Mike — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 05:27:09 -0800

How can my parents get English TV in Italy? Now that my parents have retired, they're going to be spending more time dual-basing between Italy and the UK, probably a couple of months at a time in each place. They'd like the ability to watch english TV in Italy, and being the family's tech-head I've been tapped for potential solutions.

-------- Longish explanation, skip to bottom for actual questions ---------

The most obvious answer is British satellite TV, ideally via the Astra constellation - the problem is, they're too far south to get a signal without a huge dish (2.4m, according to this page), which is not feasible.

Next up is TV streaming using e.g. a Slingbox, streaming from my parent's home in the UK to Italy. Luckily, I own one that I use on my home LAN, and we were able to conduct a proper test at a friends' place there. The quality was OK, but only for a small window on the computer in question - ideally they'd like to watch on a full size TV.

Torrents are not an option, as the type of TV they'd want to watch will not be torrented (british TV, some soaps).

Due to the small upload bandwidth available, the best solution I can think of is to record in the UK with a DVR of some description, then download (after recordings, i.e. non-real time) from said DVR to my parent's computer in Italy. This would allow better quality than streaming, albeit with slower download times.

So, how to do it?

I figure the following components:
- Server machine with TV card, based in the UK and hooked to a UK TV source and the UK broadbanc connection
- Client machine, laptop with media centre software, taken to Italy and hooked to italian broadband connection, connected to TV
- Server software capable of being controlled via web interface

Ideal, but not required, would be the option of automated (e.g. overnight) downloads from the server to the client. My parents are somewhat technophobic but can do basic operations in Windows (e.g. go to website, click TV shows you want to download, leave the laptop on overnight, watch shows the next day via Media Centre).

--------- Questions: -----------

- Server software:
I'm looking for a recommendation for software running on a media PC (actually, a media server) that can:
- record from TV
- be controlled via a web-type interface (as opposed to VNC)
- can appropriately compress TV show files e.g. using XviD, H264, etc
- can be remotely administered (administration being a separate function to merely "using", ie setting recordings and aquiring TV shows)

- Client software
Windows MCE should provide the majority of user-side interaction, but an automated method of logging in to the above server and downloading e.g. all files in a selected folder structure would be useful.

- For those who have read the lengthy speil above, any comments on feasibility? Any better ideas would be welcome.

Sorry about the length, if any more details are required, please ask.

Is closed circuit HDTV a possibility?

nickerbocker — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 11:01:57 -0800

Is closed circuit HDTV a possibility? My company has had video upgrades in discussion for a little over a year now and we still haven't found a solution that we are satisfied with. We initially were going towards an all digital camera network run through GigaBitE and Cat6 cable. After looking over some configuration, I have not been all that impressed with the quality or the ease of use.

I have brought up that it is getting to the point that if we are looking at anything new that it should be HD compatible.

From my home use experience I can get HDTV signals through a simple RG59 coax cable that runs from my HDTV (w/ tuner) to my antenna on my roof. I've been very pleased with the quality that comes out of this and am now wondering if implementing something similar for our work camera network is feasible.

My question is, are there any close circuit HDTV setups available on the market today? My vision is to be able to plug in each of our cameras into a encoder/modulator/broadcaster device that is able to set each camera on a digital channel in the VHS band and available to an HDTV tuner on this coax network.

This seems to have 3 big benefits that I can see right now:
1. Our existing camera hardware, even though not HD currently, can be used on this network. Over time we can upgrade cameras to produce true HD video to broadcast on this network.
2. Ease of use for the employees. Everyone knows how to flip through channels on their television and the end result would be a similar interface.
3. I'm assuming that the coax HDTV network can be daisy chained so that the cable goes to each encoder/modulator/broadcast box and out the other end. With the Cat6 network that we were looking at each camera had to have an individual wire going to a centralized gigabit switch. This would mean a lot of wires.

The only downside that I can see to setting things up this way is that the signals will be a one-way thing. W/ the Cat6 network we had the option of pan/tilt/zoom cameras that could be controlled from a monitoring station. This may not be possible with close circuit television.

Thoughts and ideas are really needed badly here. I would also like any links to equipment that has implemented what I have in mind. We may even need a consulting group to bring in on the project so that it is done "right."

Bonus question: what would be a good DVR that has HD tuner capabilities and where video files that are recorded with the DVR are accessible over a computer network? The video files need to be computer accessible as well, as in no nasty DRM on top of the files or a horribly proprietary format. We produce our own video here.

Thanks for all your input!

I want to watch videos that are shared on my home network on my TV

disaster77 — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 22:21:42 -0800

I want to watch videos that are shared on my home network on my TV So, I was about to buy an Apple TV, thinking it was perfect for what I want to do, but I don't have a widescreen TV (I have a 29" sd tube TV). So I'm looking for a similar device so I can watch videos shared on my home network on my TV. Support for various file types would be best, but .avi and .mpg are necessary. Must be wireless too. Does such a thing exist?

How to connect PC sound card to an LCD TV?

titans13 — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 05:42:55 -0800

I have a Gateway desktop with a standard sound card in it. The video is connected to a Vizio 42" LCD TV via VGA cable. We would like to connect the sound to the TV as well. There is no PC Audio input on the TV...just red and white RCA jacks. I looked for an adapter cable or sound card that had RCA jacks out, but got confused really quickly. All help is appreciated!

Recommendations for a TV Tuner Capture Card

antisocialiting — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 21:34:43 -0800

I am looking to buy a tv tuner capture card for my pc. I have a kind of old 1.8ghz P4 with 512mb of ram. first can anyone recommend a PCI card that has a remote and will do good capture on an old machine like mine? I would probably never be using the computer when its recording anything so It would have almost full use of cpu and ram. also the quality of the capture does not have to be dvd quality because I will probably just record the show, watch it once then delete it. If it records at vhs quality that's fine with me.
second do they make any agp or PCI video cards that can be used as a GPU and a video tuner\capture card. If so any recommendations on one that has remote.
last what software do you use or recommend, the freeware kind would be the best but if you know of or use one that beats the socks of all the rest please do tell
Thanks so much for any help you can give me

TV as Monitor?

chitlin — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 15:27:18 -0800

How do I use my TV as a monitor? I want to display my screen on a TV and have the audio come out through the TV speakers, too. What is the best way to go about doing this? I have a Sony VAIO laptop and it has a monitor out port.

Which tuner card for digital TV?

kc0dxh — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:49:10 -0800

Which standard to get when purchasing a digital TV tuner card? I'm looking to add a digital tuner card to my computer to receive dtv free air broadcasts. I like the Hauppauge PVR-150 that I have now. Which Hauppauge digital card will work with the broadcasts in central Iowa? What's the difference between DVB and DVB-T? Does "European" mean it is incompatable with DTV broadcasts in the US?

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.)