Use your TV as a Computer Monitor, Learn How

Imagine... using your TV as a Computer Monitor, whether you want to use your TV for browsing, watching your favourite Saas Bahu serial, hahha....... even watching your movie stored in Hard disk. The thought has certainly crossed the minds of many of us. Using your old television set to good use as a secondary, or even primary, monitor for your computer. Here's how we can change .......

But why?

First of all it will save money and the other benefit it also save lots of space. More and more people are interested in connecting their TV to their computer. High speed internet connections and fast computers are becoming more normal now days, people are downloading large files from the Internet such as movie or video or you can say songs. But that 15/17 inch monitor that came with the computer just doesn’t fit your requirement. At a fraction of second, you thought how I can connect my TV to the computer, so that I can watch this movie in much bigger screen, enjoy the recorded TV dramas etc…... Watching movies isn't the only reason why you may be interested in connecting your PC to your TV. You may want to show elaborate slide shows of your digital images or view home videos. PC to TV converters are also great for running a company presentation from your computer or laptop on a TV.

Why not?

Although TV's are usually bigger, they aren't necessarily better than a monitor. Even high definition TV's don't support resolutions available on some 15" computer monitors, and even if they did, what might look good, crisp and clean on a 17" or 19" monitor, might not look good stretched across 52 inches.

How?

With the advent and ever-growing popularity of LCD displays, the CRT display has seen its day. Despite its superior color consistency and higher resolution within a given area, CRT monitors are quickly giving way to the generally lower power consumption and vastly smaller footprint of the LCD. Similarly, consumer-level television is in the process of being affected by the very same trend; as prices continue to drop, the combination of LCD screens and high definition television (HDTV) is becoming an increasingly viable alternative to its older, bulkier counterparts.

Although the price of CRT monitors have dropped in recent years, to purchase one comparable to the size of an average consumer TV set would be quite expensive. So naturally, thoughts of using larger and comparatively less expensive television sets for computing purposes quickly emerge. And there are a number of methods that will allow you to make the connection. Many computers have incorporated composite (RCA) or S-Video (TV-Out) output that will either mirror or, better yet, extend your desktop beyond the monitor. For desktop systems, there are numerous AGP video cards available that offer a variety of video outputs. For example, ATI's Radeon video card includes composite, s-video, and component video connections for analog signals.

One way to connect you computer to the TV (when using a TV as your display) is to get video card with TV-out. There are cards with composite (yellow RCA), S-video, and component (red, green and blue RCA) outputs for standard and component high definition TV's. If your TV has a digital HD input (DVI or HDMI), you can connect a DVI video card directly to the digital input. You can also get a PC to TV converter. These are perfect when you don't want to upgrade your video card (especially with laptops, small multimedia PC's or integrated graphics). The PC to TV converter connects the VGA out on your computer to composite, S-video, component or even high definition component. You can also use a wireless PC to TV converter if your computer is in another room or far from your TV.

Remember that running the video out of your computer will only send the video signal and not audio. If you're playing anything with audio, you would still have to use your computer's speakers if you don't send the audio to the TV along with the video. Fortunately, it's not hard to get the audio to your TV. Computer audio is usually outputted to a 1/8" (3.5mm) jack common on headphones and computer speakers. You can simply run a 1/8" (3.5mm) to the RCA audio on your TV (a common audio interface on TV’s). If you don’t have a spare headphone or speaker jack on the computer, or if you want a high quality surround sound, you can add a sound card to your computer.

Of course, it all depends on what inputs your television can accept. If it has multiple input ports, remember that there is a hierarchy in terms of signal quality among the three typical types of connections, which, from lowest to highest, is composite, S-Video, then component video. So opt for the highest quality connection supported by both devices. Many older or more basic televisions may only have a coaxial cable connection. In this case, there are video cards with coax outputs and scan converters that will pass the signal through a coaxial cable directly to your television. Oh, and remember that you'll also need to connect your sound card's LINE-OUT connector to the TV for sound.

The tricky part may be finding the right cables to go from the computer to the TV, since there are several types of RCA (1 or multi-port) and S-Video (4-pin and 7-pin) connectors. One product I found, the Pro S-Video to 3 RCA cable allows you to connect your desktop or laptop computer's S-Video to your TV. These adapters are compatible with both S-video 4-pin and 7-pin receptacles and also connect your PC's stereo audio output to the TV.

Perhaps the greatest constraint is the relatively low resolution of standard, tube-based televisions. Because good old-fashioned analog television sets generally cannot display resolutions greater than 640x480. That was barely adequate for a 14-inch monitor ten years ago, so just imagine how it might look on a 32-inch TV screen. Have you ever tried to read those fuzzy disclaimers at the end of a TV commercial? Viewing your computer's video signal through a CRT television will not yield the detail and clarity that you would normally expect, although for games and video playback it can produce acceptable results.

Don't give up on the idea of connecting your computer to a big screen TV just yet... there is a better alternative.

HDTV to The Rescue

With the growing popularity of high-definition television, users are presented with a more tantalizing alternative, one where quality and versatility need not be sacrificed. Even the lower echelons of HD televisions offer a multitude of both analog and digital video input connections. And many come equipped with VGA and DVI inputs, allowing for direct connections to your computer's video output. Video card manufacturers have quickly responded to the demand for HD by including dual DVI outputs to support more than one display, as well as HDMI connections for uncompressed digital video and audio transmission.

The only conceivable drawback to using HDTV is obviously the cost. Used exclusively as a computer monitor, it is difficult to justify such a daunting expense. But if you've already got a large HDTV and you can't wait to see what a Windows or Mac display looks like on a 50-inch screen, go for it!

Procedure?

Turn off your computer and position it within easy reach of your television. Disconnect the monitor, but leave the mouse and keyboard connected.

Connect the appropriate video cable from your computer's video port to your television.

Turn on your television and set it to the input that matches the video port connected to your computer. You might need to refer to your television's user's guide for instructions on how to do this.

Turn on your computer.

You should see Windows displayed on your television.