How do I use my HDTV (crt) as a PC monitor?

Question

My TV is a http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/ArchivedTelevisions_2004/TXP2675WHXXAA.asp it has , svga, rca, s-video and a DVI-D inputs. My TV manual says it can not be used as a monitor. I understand that a computer crt monitor and a TV do not speak the same language (so to speak) My Computer does not have a video card. The graphics card is NVIDIA® GeForce®4™ MX graphics (1 AGP 8x slot available) I don't know if that information is needed. Does a video card convert the PC signals to work on a TV? Or do I also need some type of converter? Thanks

Answer 1

you don't need a converter, the only thing you use is a cable, a male-male SVGA, if your card is capable of working with 2 monitors at same time and yoy want to use it as a secondary, probably you are going to need a male DVI- to female VGS.

use it as your primary monitor is not a good idea, because even if you had a HDTV-plasma, the highest resolution that you can see is 1080i where almost any SVGA monitor can show more lines than that... therefore although you'd have a biger screen, it does not necessarily mean more resolution... normally you'd use your TV as a primary monitor if you are planning to use it as a DVD player (overkill) or if you want to use your PC as a DVR, for wich you need special software and hardware (more money).

I did the same thing and I believe it was too much trouble for what I got... in the end nothing I couldn't do with the TV by itself and a VCR...

Answer 2

http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce4mx.html

geforce4mx has:

Integrated TV Encoder – providing bestof-
class TV-out functionality up to
1024x768 resolutions.
• Integrated Video Processing Engine (VPE)
– allowing for the highest quality, fullframe
rate, and full-screen HDTV and DVD
playback.
AGP 8X SUPPORT
Now available with support for AGP 8X

The card is slightly old, a good DirectX 8 card. They sell for about $25.00. It seems to have VGA and S-Video outputs.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&kw=PNGF4MX4000&is=REG&Q=&O=productlist&sku=334430

You can connect it to your tv with an S-video cable. The audio is carried separately. Use the stereo outputs on the computer sound jacks to connect to the stereo input of the tv, they look like RCA plugs.

You should set the resolution in the computer video display to 1024x768 resolution at 60Htz. I read the tv manual and I didn't see anything about not using it as a monitor.

Answer 3

Yes you can, you can use the dvi-d output from your tv with your nvidia geforce 4 if it has an dvi port, if it doesnt' then you would have to but a geforce fx5200(they come with dvi-d port most of them). Connect the dvi cable from the vga card from your computer to the tv, windows should show the desktop, then set the resolution the tv can support like 1028x720 for example but that resolution is for 50' and on HDTVs.

Answer 4

I have a Toshiba laptop with S-Video Out. I just plug an S-Video cable from laptop to my Advent HDTV (also crt)'s S-Video In. The go to display properties on my laptop where I can set it up to be used as the main monitor for my laptop or I can use both monitors at once.