tv on my computer?

[malform]

This is about my journey to finding the most entertaining entertainment system. I have not been able to find any forums about this kind of thing, and thought maybe some of you guys on here have had similar experiences.

I got the bright idea about 2 years ago that I wanted to take my tv, vcr, dvd and stereo and merge them together with my pc. I got an 80 gig hard drive loaded it up with mp3s and videos, and then started down a long road of trying to figure out how to merge the two video aspects of the satellite receiver and the computer.

First thought was converting the computer graphics to display on the tv. There are tons of scan converters that will do this, and they are pretty cheap. If you have never done this, save your money. A tv cannot display computer graphics well at all. So the next effort was to display the television channels on a computer monitor.

I started with a converter/tuner from GE. It worked well on my 15” monitor. I then upgraded to a 20” monitor (free from work!) and it was ok. Then I found a great deal on a 36” monitor! And the converter sucked. Like it didn’t produce enough color, which made images look weird. Then I got a converter/tuner made by Viewsonic, it is the converter I currently use. It works well but it seems like there is still room for improvement. I am currently searching for an even better converter.

I found this today:
www.ramelectronics.net/html/video-vga-vis-3000.html

It looks very promising. It even has a picture in picture option so that you can work on the computer and watch tv at the same time. I think my girl friend would appreciate that a lot.

So… Has anyone else tried to mesh their computer and television? If so, how did you do it, what would you suggest doing different? I hear ya, “buy a plasma or lcd”, I cant, Im cheap, compounded by poor.

[anton]

ATI Radeon 9x00 All-In-Wonder video card. I think mine is the 9600. Also set up with 2 x 250 GB HDD for all of my needs.

I watch & record all the time on my 19in monitor. It comes with a remote and can work as a pvr, time-shifting, video capture from external.

You can do picture-in-picture or a cool effect is to set the video to "background" and your entire monitor screen is filled with dithered video that you can work/surf over.

And it works pretty well with the current games that are out there too.

A buddy of mine set up a networked linux server, rips all his CDs and DVDs (that he owns - he's legit) and has that connected to a LCD projector for ~8ft of movie, TV and gaming goodness.

Playing Robotron via MAME on a screen the size of a wall was never so much fun!

[malform]

See, now thats just awesome!

Ive thought long and hard about buying a projector. The dang things cost too much. Like $1200 new, and $400 a pop if you blow a bulb. I have also looked into building my own projector. I bought membership into this club thing where they give you instructions and give you access to a forum where other have already built their projectors. I guess you can build one for $200 or less, depending how fruggle you are about buying your parts. But I dont know, Im afraid to spend the time and money and get not so good results.

[bountyhunter]

revision3.com/systm/mythtv/'This might help a bit.

[bobafett]

i've got you all beat. i have an rca 52" hdtv with hdi connection a radeon all-in-wonder with some modification ala tivo (wink) and bam, my tv is 1080i capable and i've got a 52" monitor.
great thing is it's also a media center and i can surf the net with a direct network link.
now all i need is an xbox 360 with a live gold subscription and i can kick multiplayer butt in beautiful
hd clarity. okay, so i'ts not "LCD clear", but it's 52 inches, widescreen!

[anton]

Which website is that? For $200, I'd give it a try and let you know how it works out. My soldering skills are a bit rusty, though....

malform said:

See, now thats just awesome!

Ive thought long and hard about buying a projector. The dang things cost too much. Like $1200 new, and $400 a pop if you blow a bulb. I have also looked into building my own projector. I bought membership into this club thing where they give you instructions and give you access to a forum where other have already built their projectors. I guess you can build one for $200 or less, depending how fruggle you are about buying your parts. But I dont know, Im afraid to spend the time and money and get not so good results.

[Lonestar]

You might find this site useful for infromation about home theatre computer setups.

www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=11

[malform]

anton said:

Which website is that? For $200, I'd give it a try and let you know how it works out. My soldering skills are a bit rusty, though....

Ooops, I seem to have lost track of this thread a tad bit. This is where I bought into a membership to build my own lcd projector. They give you a nice set of instructions, and there is plenty of tech support. Im just too much of a chicken to give it a try.

lumenlab.com/

bobafett said:

i've got you all beat. i have an rca 52" hdtv with hdi connection a radeon all-in-wonder with some modification ala tivo (wink) and bam, my tv is 1080i capable and i've got a 52" monitor.
great thing is it's also a media center and i can surf the net with a direct network link.
now all i need is an xbox 360 with a live gold subscription and i can kick multiplayer butt in beautiful
hd clarity. okay, so i'ts not "LCD clear", but it's 52 inches, widescreen!

Man that sounds like a sweet set up. Ive been building slowly and cheaply though. Dont want to drop a couple grand just on my tv setup.

[bobafett]

well, i kinda have an "in" as i'm the asst. installation manager at circuit city.
with my discount and plenty of experts as a resource of knowledge on the subject i've set up a pretty neat system without spend more than two grand.

[Ben Kenobi]

My tv is 27" and I have a DVD player and a Gamecube. Oh ya, the neighbors are swarming to my house to see this awesome setup lol.

[bobafett]

hey, before my "grand system" i was playing on a 25" color CONSOLE.
for you yunguns that don't know, a console tv was a tv inside a large "wood like" cabinet that sat on the floor. the only good thing about it was it had s-video connections and stereo speakers.