Can I use a standard TV (s-video or RCA inputs) as a PC monitor? What do I need to buy?

Answer 1

Its as simple as it sounds so long as you have the proper devices on your computer - if you don't I'll give you a few ideas.

If your computer or laptop has an S-Video output, then all you need to do is connect that to the Television as far as getting the signal to the television. But you don't stop there, you need to adjust the resolution on your computer down to a fairly low setting, if not its absolute lowest setting. You can do this by right clicking on your desktop and going into the properties menu. Click on settings and you will see a scrolling bar, take it all the way down to 800x600 and then click apply. You may also need to change the option to allow for 2 displays under the same settings menu. This way you can get a display on your computer monitor and your TV.

For sound, all you need is an RCA to mini cable (headphone jack at one end, RCA cables at the other. Connect this from the speaker output on the computer to the audio jacks that go with your S-Video connection.

If your computer doesn't have an S-Video output you can purchase a new video card that gives that option, or buy an external device that connects via USB that will give you the same options (just go to CompUSA or Best Buy and tell them what you are trying to do).

Its very easy, once you have the right equipment, I do this on a regular basis for small group presentations.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Yes, you can use a standard TV as a PC monitor, but you wouldn't want to. You are going to be highly disappointed in the quality. The native resolution of a standard TV is 640x480. Unless you are happy with this resolution, I wouldn't even try. The pixels are so large on a standard TV, that is why text will be blurry and nothing will be clear.

Of course, if you happened to have an LCD or plasma tv, then it will look just like a computer monitor because those tv's are high resolution.

If you want to connect to a standard tv, you can connect through s-video or composite RCA, depending on what your TV and video card supports. If your video card is 2-3 years old, most likely it has a s-video or composite video out port. Then, you just need a cable and you can enable the port through your display settings in Windows. If your computer doesn't have it, then you either buy a new video card or a TV-to-PC converter. The TV-to-PC converter use to be $200, but I believe you can find them for under $100 now. I recommend the brand Avermedia. High quality tv-to-pc converter.

Answer 3

yes, all you need is a tv input output card on your comp and the cables to go from the comp to the tv.

Answer 4

for true THX quality, and surround sound, i would try the logitech z-5500 5.1 setup, a 500watt system, and its a good buy