Hi Folks, Once again picking the brains of the hardware-savvy amongst you!
A friend of mine has asked me about what to get for a flat-screen which can double as TV and computer display screen.
The size would need to be big enough to serve as a comfortable YV (so, I guess, at least 19/21 inch, probably larger).
The intention is to plug the TV aerial into the back and use it as the TV, or plug the computer in and use it as the display.
One computer is a not-too-recent laptop (no details held), but not very old. Dunno whether it has an S-video socket.
Two other computers are rather old desktops dating back some 10 years (and with a Win of the vintage of Win 98 as OS, though I'm not certain of the exact version). Almost certainly no S-video, probably only standard monitor socket on video card.
I'm clueless[*] about this sort of hardware question, so I'm asking for advice/comments!
I guess the real question is whether a standard monitor socket can be connnectied to a TV (for suitable choice of TV); with associated question of whether large screen size may not work well with the computer.
With thanks, Ted.
[*] Not completely -- I have succeeded in connecting a recentish laptop to a TV using an adaptor cable from Maplin's, with S-video (1 connector) plus audio (2 connectors plus adptor to stero plug-in for computer's line-out socket) at the computer end, and a SCART plug at the other end for the TV. But this may be irrelevant for the present question!
-------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) ted.harding@wlandres.net Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 28-Oct-10 Time: 19:22:59 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------
On 28 October 2010 19:23, Ted Harding ted.harding@wlandres.net wrote:
Hi Folks, Once again picking the brains of the hardware-savvy amongst you!
A friend of mine has asked me about what to get for a flat-screen which can double as TV and computer display screen.
If the computers have DVI or HDMI output then any new TV with HDMI input will be a good start. I strongly recommend taking the laptop to a TV store to try them out before buying one because some TV's do funny things to the picture which you wouldn't expect from a digital connection (e.g. crop and stretch).
I imagine all the computers have VGA sockets, but that tends to be a premium option on TVs. Still worth a try.
I have never been able to get S-video from a laptop work with a TV, so again try before you buy.
Good luck, Tim.
On 28/10/10 19:43, Tim Green wrote:
If the computers have DVI or HDMI output then any new TV with HDMI input will be a good start. I strongly recommend taking the laptop to a TV store to try them out before buying one because some TV's do funny things to the picture which you wouldn't expect from a digital connection (e.g. crop and stretch).
You need to sometimes put the input in a special (as it comes) mode so that the TV doesn't try any clever rescaling (a cropped image even when you have selected the native resolution is a sure sign you need to find this option)
Stick with "good" names and you should find this option...LG make very satisfactory sets at a reasonable price which I have used frequently with computer inputs with no problem.
I'd say the most important thing is to go for a 1080p set, particularly if considering something larger than 19" otherwise you are going to be dealing with rather large pixels that will make text look pretty poor.
I imagine all the computers have VGA sockets, but that tends to be a premium option on TVs. Still worth a try.
Not so much now...plenty of HD sets have them, in fact I would go as far as to say on anything 32" and up it is the norm
I have never been able to get S-video from a laptop work with a TV, so again try before you buy.
Forget s-video it simply isn't up to the job of providing an HD image, in fact it is pretty ropey even at SD. You need something with VGA inputs
On 28 October 2010 19:43, Tim Green timothy.j.green@gmail.com wrote:
If the computers have DVI or HDMI output then any new TV with HDMI input will be a good start. I strongly recommend taking the laptop to a TV store to try them out before buying one because some TV's do funny things to the picture which you wouldn't expect from a digital connection (e.g. crop and stretch).
I was using HDMI out from my Ubuntu media box to my TV, I found the colours were off (not massively but enough to ruin the experiance) so I use VGA, works just great [0]
[0] I did initially have some issues with screen tear, adding the following [1] to my xorg.conf sorted that out although I think since updating my nVidia drivers from 190.53 to 256.35 I don't need this any more but I haven't gotten round to taking it out. I believe there was an error in the drivers that causes the card to "over-refresh" faster than the agreed upon refresh rate in the nVidia utility, hence the screen tear.
[1]: Section "Extensions" Option "Composite" "Disable" EndSection
On 28 Oct 19:23, Ted Harding wrote:
Hi Folks, Once again picking the brains of the hardware-savvy amongst you!
A friend of mine has asked me about what to get for a flat-screen which can double as TV and computer display screen.
The size would need to be big enough to serve as a comfortable YV (so, I guess, at least 19/21 inch, probably larger).
I'd recommend something very similar to:
http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/9404087/LG-22-M227WD-HD-1080p...
It's a model up from the TV that I currently use as a monitor, does true 1080p (1920x1080) and has more inputs than you'd expect from a "small" tv. 2 HDMI, 2 Scart, 1 Component, 1 Composite, 1 DVI and 1 VGA.
Thanks,
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:29:52 +0100 From: iDunno@sommitrealweird.co.uk To: main@lists.alug.org.uk Subject: Re: [ALUG] TV & Computer display screen
On 28 Oct 19:23, Ted Harding wrote:
Hi Folks, Once again picking the brains of the hardware-savvy amongst you!
A friend of mine has asked me about what to get for a flat-screen which can double as TV and computer display screen.
The size would need to be big enough to serve as a comfortable YV (so, I guess, at least 19/21 inch, probably larger).
I'd recommend something very similar to:
http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/9404087/LG-22-M227WD-HD-1080p...
It's a model up from the TV that I currently use as a monitor, does true 1080p (1920x1080) and has more inputs than you'd expect from a "small" tv. 2 HDMI, 2 Scart, 1 Component, 1 Composite, 1 DVI and 1 VGA.
We have TV which have the VGA connections - this is the must have - the kids use the iPlayer or ITVs catchup on these. The boys use the PC with a wireless keyboard/mouse combo to sit further back from the 32 inch and use it fine. Remember that the VGA is only video, and the PC will need either speakers of a lead to connect to the TV for the sound.
More modern stuff with HDMI can use sound though this, so only need one lead.
HTH Keith
More modern stuff with HDMI can use sound though this, so only need one lead.
I can personally recommend the HDMI route, I have a Sapphire HD5770 GPU, which has 2 DVI-D, a DP and a HDMI connection on the back of it... I have set up my Media Player to use the "ATI High Definition Audio Device" as it's default sound device and all videos get played via the TV and anything else comes out of the computer speakers via the default on-board sound card..
Is much better than watching on the TV and the sound coming from your computer desk ;)
I will however make one statement against the idea, and that is to not use it as a monitor via HDMI.. I find it very difficult the read anything on my 42" TV.. the definition of lines etc, and font is pretty appalling on my TV, having said that it is an old Panasonic Viera.. but this still also occurs on my http://www.ebuyer.com/product/165288 standard computer monitor when I plug that in via HDMI also.. So am assuming this is just one of the downfalls of HDMI over DVI-D.
Hope this helps
Alex
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Alex Scotton -
Brett Parker -
James Bensley -
keithjamieson＠hotmail.co.uk -
ted.harding＠wlandres.net -
Tim Green -
Wayne Stallwood