Want to use PC monitor as TV, anyone used Viewsonic Nextvision N6? (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

Hi All,

I have a 19" Sony PC Monitor which is pretty darned good. In my new apartment my HT stuff is in the living room, but now because of more space I want to have a bedroom TV. I also want it to have component inputs for XBox, DVD and potential OTA HD receiver I may buy.

Rather than pay $500 for a 27" TV, I was looking at turning this Sony monitor into a near-HDTV by using this:

Viewsonic Nextvision N6 Video Processor

It has component, S-Video, RF and composite inputs, and scales them to your choice of resolution for monitor outputs. MSRP is $250 but online going rate is more like $200 shipped.

Anyone used this, or have any opinions? There aren't many reviews online for the product.

Thanks!

 

[Carlo_M]

Nobody's used this bad boy? Not even something similar (i.e. letting you use your PC monitor as a TV)?

 

[DaveLenhert]

Carlo-

Yes, I have and use the NextVision N6 with my projector to consolidate all of the video inputs to a single VGA cable. I would classify it as an "OK" product, the remote sucks (small & flat, but if you have a learning remote, teach it!), the interface is not user friendly, and its scaler/deinterlacer is only average. However, it does do its job and is reasonably priced. If you want to take mutiple inputs and interface it to a VGA monitor, then it works good. If you want to watch TV/HD on your monitor, then I would suggest looking at a PCI Tuner, perhaps something like the MyHD MDP-120 would be a better option. The MyHD has a huge following of users but it does have some problems with HyperTreading MBs. In addition, I believe (don't quote me on this) that there are inputs (s-video & component) on the MyHD that can be used and thus diplayed on your monitor.

-Dave

 

[Carlo_M]

That opens up a new can of worms, Dave. I was hoping to put off building another PC (my old one is woefully out of date) and this (Nextvision) was going to be a stopgap. If I am going with the MyHD I would need to upgrade my PC (which as I said I need to do anyway). I just don't want to spend that kind of money right now, and the N6 was nice at under $200.

What would you say were the main probs with the scaler (you refer to it as average)? What kind of artifacts did it introduce? which inputs did you use?

Thanks!

 

[Jack Briggs]

Carlo, I'm aware that you're aware that some HD-capable 27-inch direct-views are now hovering around the $600 range. Don't you think one of them might be a little more satisfying than even a really good computer monitor?

Your happiness is important to us.

 

[Carlo_M]

Thanks for the sentiment Jack!

I've seen one of the 27" (Advent at Best Buy) and it really did not look good. The 30" 16:9 by Samsung ($999) also did not look very good. Plus they are really heavy.

I'm actually hoping that Panasonic, Toshiba or Sony start making 27" HDs, because that actually is probably what I would go with, but that hasn't happened yet.

Actually, it has been a while since I hit their official sites, maybe I'll give it a look right now.

 

[DaveLenhert]

First, let me state that I have been using the nextvision with a front projector and projecting an 72" diagonal image (projecting on a wall, no screen yet). With this large of image the small things are now BIG things making minor image defects very obvious. Secondly, the Nextvision doesn't output my projectors Native resolution so it has to get scaled twice. The major artifacts I have noticed is combing and if you look at lines during a football game they appear as stair steps. Both of these are obvious while watching TV, when I watch a DVD (via the component outputs of my Denon DVD-1000 to the nextvision) the image is very soft and fuzzy as compared to my HTPC running directly to my projector. I have basically stopped using my DVD player in favor of my HTPC. But as I mentioned I'm projecting a rather large image and you will be using a 19" Monitor...HUGE difference. Let me try out the nextvision on my 17" monitor and report back tomorrow.....

-Dave

 

[Carlo_M]

Much appreciated Dave! I should imagine that a 72" screensize will reveal just about all the weaknesses of something like a Nextvision. If it's better on a small monitor, this may be the sub-$200 stopgap I'm looking for until good 27" HDs are made (no, Sony, Panny and Tosh aren't doing it yet, at least not that I could find while surfing their sites).

 

[DaveLenhert]

Carlo-

Okay, I have the Nextvision installed on my rather old (1997)ViewSonic 17PS, its a 17 inch monitor and it is slowly dying (out of focus, etc). I have to say my opinion of the unit has improved a bit, its "flaws" on the 72" monitor are much more visible then this little 17" monitor (duh). When channel surfing my monitor lock right onto the signal (a tad faster then my projector, but its quite fast in either case). When watching a DVD (LoTR:FOTR-EE naturally) the images looks okay. The image appears soft, but this is most likely due to my DVD player and monitor, (I don't use my DVD player on my Projector because the image is WAY to soft for my taste and the HTPC does an excellent job at displaying details). Overall, if I only had my PC monitor and I wanted to watch TV, DVDs, and X-box (or what ever) then this product would be okay. I'm typing this review on my notebook and watching the DVD on the monitor, kinda cool to be able to "watch" the movie out of the corner of my eye and do various things on the notebook, I kinda like it. Anyways, I hope this helped.... As soon as I upgrade my HTPC to something more modern, I'll install a MyHD card and sell the Nextvision. Its okay, but I have tons of STB on my rack and its cluttering things up. I like a nice clean setup.

Hope this helps...
-Dave

 

[Carlo_M]

Thanks for the update Dave!

Well it looks like this is the winner. As soon as the October paycheck is in, I'm going to buy one and see how it goes. I'll update this thread with my experiences once I've had a chance to put it through its paces.

I would use this primarily for TV and XBox as DVDs go through the main system, or if I want to watch it on a monitor, I'll use the PC.