Using a PC monitor for a TV monitor?!?

[Mahlennacht]

I recently read about this in the newspaper - the discussion was HDTV, and one person said you could use a much cheaper PC monitor to watch your DVDs if you really want to watch in hi-res but don't want to pay for an HDTV screen.

Was this person misinformed? I didn't think this was possible, just from looking at the connectors in the back - I was wondering if anyone here has been able to do it - if so, I'll research it further; but I didn't want to go through the motions if it simply wasn't possible in the first place.

[johnny]

Sure you can watch DVD's on your monitor, or isn't that what you're asking ? I watched two DVD's last night, it works perfect.

[Faceman]

I could watch TV, DVD and VCD on my PC. However I have it connected to my TV as it has a bigger screen. The quality is much better on my PC monitor tough.

[Zero Alpha]

I think what Mahlennacht is asking is, weather you can plug something like a DVD player directly into a monitor (without a pc). I think this is possible but would require a converter box, and i dont know how much they cost. i think Most people have worked out that with a DVD player on your pc you can watch dvd's on your monitor

[Edit] lookie here what i found http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/a...002806,00.html

[ 06-24-2003, 11:29 AM: Message edited by: Zero Alpha ]

[Thoran]

If you're trying to view DVD's at their native resolution (768x480 or something close to that) then your PC will do this quite nicely using your internal DVD-ROM, although image quality will suffer if you use a software decoder... you're better off with a good quality hardware solution I imagine. If you want to view HDTV broadcasts (at HDTV resolutions - 1080 is the top end I think) then you'll need hardware to decode the HDTV broadcast and get it into your PC.

IMO the optimum solution if you have the space is a 1024x768 LCD projector, a number of which are HDTV compatible. Then you can run your PC through the thing for mpg's and use your home DVD deck and stereo for top notch DVD quality.

[Mahlennacht]

My thanks for all the info and ideas [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

Basically, I was interested in using a regular 17" flatscreen CRT monitor as a poor-man's substitute for an HDTV screen. Actually this would have been a big step up in quality, as my current TV screen (due to space limitations) is a little 12" set - working great for over 15 years, too, but with the advent of DVD a sharper screen would be nice. I personally can't watch any screen larger than 17" - my eyes get tired. (Also, since 1999 I have NEVER watched movies in the theatre anymore; not only is the screen too big for me and too far away, I can see that very slow 24 FPS stutter continuously for the whole film, which also makes my eyes go blurry. It's GOT to be 30 FPS at least, otherwise I can't watch it. Plus I HATE watching in a crowd, I always watch videos alone. But I digress...)

The reason I don't use a DVD player in my PC itself is that I have one of those gaming PCs from 2001 with a *lot* of fans to keep the video card cool, and the noise level, though not very bothersome while playing a fast and loud game like Q3Arena, is significant enough to distract me during a film, especially one with quieter scenes. Oh well.

And yeah, Zero Alpha, that VGA converter is exactly along the lines of what I'm looking for, thanks! I don't want a PC involved in my movie watching at all, so this is something I'll look into, definitely!