Digital to VGA

garrycann78

Has anyone managed to use a standard LCD PC monitor as a TV using an external TV Tuner or by some other means. No PC is involved here, just 1 output from a sat receiver and then input to the monitor. The audio in will be separate to this.

shinobi

garrycann78 wrote: »

Has anyone managed to use a standard LCD PC monitor as a TV using an external TV Tuner or by some other means. No PC is involved here, just 1 output from a sat receiver and then input to the monitor. The audio in will be separate to this.

I'm currently doing this with a Philips 22' LCD screen, though screen has got an HDMI connection on it which is connected to combo STB. Not sure if that answers your question or what your specifically looking for?

One of these may be of some use.

watty

Unless the screen does 50Hz, the quality is rubbish due to having to "frame rate convert"

Also all PC screens are usually Progressive (long ago you had some with 1024 x 768 interlaced 30fps 60Hz), most are only 60Hz, 75Hz, 85Hz etc, unsuitable for TV (USA TV uses 30fps 60Hz and plain VGA is a progressive version of USA NTSC).

I have a DELL CRT running at 1920x1080p 50fps 50Hz via VGA. PC LCDs are usually less flexible and often really only do one refresh rate and resolution, thus making a pig's ear of European/Irish/UK TV which is all 576 visible line interlaced 25fps 50Hz or 1080 line interlaced 25fps 50Hz apart from a few German channels enraging folk by running lower resolution HD 1280 x 720p 50fps / 50Hz.

All other Broadcast HD is 1920 x1080i (25fps 50Hz) or 1440 x1080i (25fps 50Hz)

SD is various horizontal resolutions and always finally 576i (25fps 50Hz) vertically.

So your Graphics card/CPU needs to de-interlace the TV signal also.

You need a DTT(DVB-T) or Sat (DVB-S2) tuner directly connected. USB stick for DTT and PCI or PCIe internal Card for Sat or DTT. Analogue tuners on PCs are really really poor.

See http://www.techtir.ie/reviews/mobidtv-dual-usb-dtt
http://www.techtir.ie/node/1003625
and http://www.techtir.ie/howto/hdmi-via-cat5-cable

also http://www.mpeg4ireland.com/saorview-dtt-on-a-pc

garrycann78

watty wrote: »

Unless the screen does 50Hz, the quality is rubbish due to having to "frame rate convert"

Also all PC screens are usually Progressive (long ago you had some with 1024 x 768 interlaced 30fps 60Hz), most are only 60Hz, 75Hz, 85Hz etc, unsuitable for TV (USA TV uses 30fps 60Hz and plain VGA is a progressive version of USA NTSC).

I have a DELL CRT running at 1920x1080p 50fps 50Hz via VGA. PC LCDs are usually less flexible and often really only do one refresh rate and resolution, thus making a pig's ear of European/Irish/UK TV which is all 576 visible line interlaced 25fps 50Hz or 1080 line interlaced 25fps 50Hz apart from a few German channels enraging folk by running lower resolution HD 1280 x 720p 50fps / 50Hz.

All other Broadcast HD is 1920 x1080i (25fps 50Hz) or 1440 x1080i (25fps 50Hz)

SD is various horizontal resolutions and always finally 576i (25fps 50Hz) vertically.

So your Graphics card/CPU needs to de-interlace the TV signal also.

You need a DTT(DVB-T) or Sat (DVB-S2) tuner directly connected. USB stick for DTT and PCI or PCIe internal Card for Sat or DTT. Analogue tuners on PCs are really really poor.

See http://www.techtir.ie/reviews/mobidtv-dual-usb-dtt
http://www.techtir.ie/node/1003625
and http://www.techtir.ie/howto/hdmi-via-cat5-cable

also http://www.mpeg4ireland.com/saorview-dtt-on-a-pc

The screen does 50mhz

garrycann78

shinobi wrote: »

I'm currently doing this with a Philips 22' LCD screen, though screen has got an HDMI connection on it which is connected to combo STB. Not sure if that answers your question or what your specifically looking for?

One of these may be of some use.

There's no HDMI, just VGA

shinobi

garrycann78 wrote: »

There's no HDMI, just VGA

The cable I was referring to would connect to the sat receiver via HDMI & the VGA end to the monitor.
What output interfaces do you have on the Sat receiver? (DVI/HDMI/Scart/RGB)

watty

You need a box to connect HDMI to VGA. A good one costs as much as a Cheap HDTV with digital tuner and HDMI

HDMI is 3 serial data, clock, signalling and VGA is RGB analogue only, very similar to SCART but faster. Not possible to interface just with a cable.

A cable can connect HDMI to DVI, but the DVI monitor has to support Digital and ideally HDCP, or some signals will not work.

DVI graphics cards can output Analogue for VGA and HDMI like Digital on separate pins.