[wakeride74]

Been a while since I've posted in this forum and if this is not the right place (mods) please feel free to redirect.

My wife is due with our second child in July and we are turning the office into the new baby's room. We have a Gateway desktop PC (tower + small monitor) and a macbook laptop. We still want to have a desktop solution but will not really have room for a mini office with a desk in our bedroom. I'm interested in finding out what all would be involved in creating a setup where we can buy a new TV for the bedroom that can be connected to both our regular cable channels as well as the desktop PC/internet. Something we can use a wireless keyboard with and be able to switch between the two.

The TV we have in there now is very old so I know that will need to be replaced but I'm not up for something too complicated so was hoping some folks here could give me some direction on what I would need to buy to make this happen. thx

 

[nealric]

It works fine, but it won't be too fun to work with text on such a setup. A lot of people do similar setups for home theater.

Ideally, you use a computer with an HDMI out. Hook it up and go. If not, it just depends on the inputs the TV has and the outputs the computer has. You want to use either DVI, or VGA at worst. Quality will be horrible from S-Video or RCA connectors.

 

[wakeride74]

Ah, so not as complicated as I thought. I would essentially need (which I need anyways) a new PC with HDMI out and would just have it connected to the TV like any other component with HDMI and then the cable box would connect to a second HDMI, dvd/bluray, etc.

 

[pdupiano]

It isn't very complicated since a lot of companies are moving towards that direction (tv and computer on a single box, like the recent vaio combo computers/tvs. But as nealric pointed out, it can be a bit of a strain working on such a big tv with a high resolution if you're far away from the screen. You can also look into getting a laptop that can stream onto your TV in case you want to use your tv to watch online shows or other media you have on your computer. If you go down the streaming data route, you would be able to easily read text and not have to worry about poorly coded websites and other screen issues.

 

[wakeride74]

This is for the bedroom so it would probably be around 32" screen. We use the 58" Pany palsma downstairs for all our normal tv and HT stuff.

 

[Lazerboy2000]

i've got a 19" Insignia LCD TV that I use for a computer monitor. Works great with just the VGA input and graphics are more than fine.

Very easy setup and saves me from having both a PC monitor and TV. I don't have a need for both at the same time so its perfect for me

 

[ford2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakeride74 /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is for the bedroom so it would probably be around 32" screen. We use the 58" Pany palsma downstairs for all our normal tv and HT stuff.

32" is an ideal size,but it must be full Hd (1920 x 1080).I use 32" as Monitors and would not contemplate going back to a smaller set.
Get a tv that will just scan/pixel map etc and make sure in the settings that you have sharpness set to 0 other wise the text etc will ghost/blur.
I use two Samsung A550's.

 

[Equus]

Yup, as long as you have the right connectors and video adapter, it's real easy. For instance, the latest batch of Radeon cards have HDMI outs that can also transport the sound info on that same cable, so it's a real easy solution.

EDIT - and btw, I use s-video to my 40" Sony and it's not that bad. Depends a lot on the resolution of whatever material you're using and what you're trying to do. Granted, I don't use my TV for a monitor, only usually to display videos and I prefer HD 720p or more source material.

 

[MisterMoJo]

You could also just buy any new computer w/ dvi out and use a dvi to hdmi cable to the tv. Picture should be good. Actually, alot of new videocards come with a dvi to hdmi adapter. I don't know if you even need a new computer, just a new videocard. Or you could use your old videocard if it has dvi out... just get the adapter.

also, the larger the screen resolution, the smaller the text will be. Yes, sharper, but still smaller.