From Computer to HDTV - Help Please (1 Viewer)

[Bill Schultz]

I have a Mits 55 HDTV as part of my home theater and I would like to hook up one of my computers to it.

I visited my local CompUSA but the sales folk could only point to the area where "scan converters" are sold. They couldn't help by recommending a product (no knowledge in this area) and they couldn't address the HDTV questions that I wanted to ask. So, can you help with the following:

1. Do you get a good enough picture to do word processing, spreadsheets, etc. (I guess I'm asking if this is worthwhile, or not)?

2. If it's worthwhile, can you recommend the product(s) that I would need. Besides the scan converter, I guess I need a remote keyboard and mouse. Anything else?

3. The scan converters at CompUSA were Averkey 300 Gold and Focus View TV Gold $179.99 for either product. Both say they are 1600X1280 capable (is that good? Is there better?.

4. The verbiage on the product boxes didn't say anything about HDTV. Do I need a special product? Do I get a better picture with HDTV than with a regular TV? Are there other aspects re: HDTV that I need to know about.

Thanks for any help that you can give me.

Bill Schultz

 

[Matt Stryker]

4. The verbiage on the product boxes didn't say anything about HDTV. Do I need a special product? Do I get a better picture with HDTV than with a regular TV? Are there other aspects re: HDTV that I need to know about.

Most people recommend this transcoder to go from VGA-out to component: http://www.digitalconnection.com/hometheater/9a60.htm
or this one:
http://www.digitalconnection.com/hom...er/kdvtca2.htm
You will get a better picture with HDTV than an normal set, but it will not be as sharp or clear as a PC monitor due to the size and quality of the CRT in the HDTV you are using.
Bill, check the site I have listed in my sig (its a local Atlanta HT club); maybe someone has a VGA-to-component device they can loan/demo to you to see if you'll be able to use it for your application. I have an HTPC, but my projector uses a VGA input, not component.

 

[Don Beverly]

My own personal experience with this synario was with both direct analog and hd ready large screen and I couldn't find a way to get the detail needed go text work. 600 x 800 was my best resolution on the hd set and although readable, not comparable to non interlaced computer monitors.

If you could find out what Microsoft uses for WEB tv and can duplicate it, then no problem. Text is very clear, especially done with s video input on any tv.

Perhaps the newer video cards have solved this problem, mine is an older all in one card from ATI.

Try the AVS forum for further input.

 

[Allan Jayne]

Any computer with regular VGA will feed regular (not super) VGA to any progressive scan NTSC TV. Using just a cable the colors won't be quite right but the picture detail will all be there subject to the resolution of the TV. If neither the PC nor the TV have a manually selectable choice of Y/Pb/Pr versus RGB and the two don't match, a colorspace converter will get the colors right.
>>>If you could find out what Microsoft uses for WEB tv and can duplicate it, then no problem. Text is very clear, especially done with s video input on any tv.
Via the S-video input, you are getting a 480i signal. If the TV really has 480 TVL @ 4:3 (640 max pixels across) horizontal resolution it will display web TV with excellent results with component and quite good results with S-video.
Because none of the other standard PC resolutions (600p, 768p, 1024p, and 768i does exist) match any of the other video/HDTV resolutions (1280 x 720 non-interlaced, 1920 x 1080 interlaced) you will need a scan converter (will cause scaling artifacts) or a more sophisticated PC video card with the HDTV resolutions (no scaling artifacts) to use any of them.
Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[Jorge M]

I think what Allan is trying to say is that if you use a breakout cable (i.e. VGA to RGB), connect to your display's RGB inputs (if available), and set your computer's resolution to 640 x 480, you should be able to get a picture (albeit not a very sharp one) without the need for an expensive converter.

Don,

WebTV is a different animal. Its resolution is 544 x 372, and on top of that their browser increases the size of the text on the webpage to make it more readable (like setting your browser to "text size->largest" under the View menu).