Using HD TV as a monitor

[Corky1953]

Awhile back, can't recall now which Windows it was, either Vista or XP, I was able to switch from my desktop monitor to my HD TV and change the settings on the TV screen resolution to the native 1920 × 1080 from mt HP monitor's 1680X1050. All I needed to do was first set the monitor to 1024x768 which works on both screens. This is the method explained in my TV owner's manual. At some point Windows stopped cooperating, ie. the optimal settings were not available when switching to the TV.

Meanwhile I had been playing with dual booting Linux Ubuntu with Windows beginning with Ubuntu 9.04. I discovered that with NVIDIA controls added to Ubuntu I could once again obtain the proper settings for the TV. Everything was working just fine until Ubuntu upgrade did away with this aspect. For awhile I was using Xubuntu 12.04 which still had that ability but at some point it too stopped giving me the proper option. Windows 8 gave me partial relief in that the NVIDIA controls offer a usable setting that works, albeit not a perfect 1600x1024. So I remain stuck at this point with a less than perfect solution.

I understand there is some way of setting up a dual monitor situation which might solve this dilemma or might not. I am told there are also other alternatives such as some intervening box of one sort or another one being a Blue Ray DVD player that offers a Netflix app but first of all I have a perfectly good DVD player I'm not willing to replace so I'm looking for a cheaper solution that some one can, more or less, guarantee will work. At some point I might like to drop out of the high price DTV/cable business entirely but am currently dissuaded by the fact I would need an expensive roof top antenna to pickup the local channels otherwise I could make due with torrent downloads and some service like Hulu. What I see coming is an end to satellite dishes and cable but we're not quite there yet plus my HD TV lacks features that newer models have. It is connected to my modem but this offers only limited interaction with the internet.

Bottom line is if it wasn't for my wife I would drop DTV tomorrow. Every network show I watch is available free through the internet except local news and special channels like MSNBC and CNN which I could care less about losing. Question, have any readers of this any suggestions?

[bannination]

Never had that problem, I take it you're running the latest nvidia drivers for your video card right?

The default drivers that come with Windows 8... or windows whatever are sometimes lacking in specialized features.

[Corky1953]

Never had that problem, I take it you're running the latest nvidia drivers for your video card right?

The default drivers that come with Windows 8... or windows whatever are sometimes lacking in specialized features.

I have updated all my drivers.

[Leo Lyons]

but am currently dissuaded by the fact I would need an expensive roof top antenna to pickup the local channels

I use a 42" JVC flatscreen for my monitor, and I have no problems with resolution or pixel doober-hickeys; but then I am not a real video buff, so
that is not an issue with me.

You can buy an outdoor HDTV antenna at Walmart for $40 and you don't even have to put it on the roof; mine is mounted on one of my deck supports;
works great.

HDTV Antenna


Hope this helps.

[O Really]

Define "works great."
I bought that antenna for my RV because the built-in seemed weak. That one's not any better. Where, in general, are you and what stations do you get on it?

[Corky1953]

but am currently dissuaded by the fact I would need an expensive roof top antenna to pickup the local channels

I use a 42" JVC flatscreen for my monitor, and I have no problems with resolution or pixel doober-hickeys; but then I am not a real video buff, so
that is not an issue with me.

You can buy an outdoor HDTV antenna at Walmart for $40 and you don't even have to put it on the roof; mine is mounted on one of my deck supports;
works great.

HDTV Antenna


Hope this helps.

There's a mapping system that will tell you how far you are from the nearest tower. Some network channels are too far away requiring a medium or large directional antenna. http://www.antennaweb.org/default.aspx

[Mr.B]

I've been using a 32" flatscreen for my monitor; using the RGB input, until today. I ordered a VGA to HDMI converter from Amazon ($18.99) and connected my PC to my 65" Vizio using an HDMI input. After making the necessary resolution changes....boy howdy!

[JTA]

Let me tell you about the time I went full on nerd.

It was late, probably about 1AM. I had just finished a spending a jolly good evening with favorite mistress(es), miss bud light, and was feeling rather fantastic. Ready to chew some bubble gum and kick ass, I glanced over at my TV. I knew right then what had to be done. It was time to fight the enemies of America and protect freedom from the terrorists.

I had a 42 inch flat screen TV that had a VGA input, so I took my PC and connected it to the TV. I went and grabbed a shelf off of my book shelf, grabbed a rocking chair, placed the shelf across the arm rests of the rocking chair. This gave me a perfect spot to place my mouse and key board. I cranked up the volume, fired up Battlefield 2 and went to town shooting freedom at the enemies of America. My then fiancee came out woke up, saw me, asked me what in the hell I was doing, and started making fun of me.

That was a good night.

[Mr.B]

"My then fiancee came out woke up, saw me, asked me what in the hell I was doing, and started making fun of me."

Wuzzat when you snapped the photo you're using for your avatar?

[JTA]

"My then fiancee came out woke up, saw me, asked me what in the hell I was doing, and started making fun of me."

Wuzzat when you snapped the photo you're using for your avatar?

I wish I was as handsome as Messiah Marcolin. Unfortunately, genetics has decided I will never be able to sport a sexy white-man-fro, and therefore will not be able to bewitch the ladies.

[rstrong]

Last week I looked into using a 4K TVs as a monitor. Not for gaming, but for working with lots of screen real estate. This is what I found:

Size

- A typical 24" monitor at 1080p has 92 dots per inch (DPI). You want 92DPI.

- With an oversized monitor - say, a 27" 1080p monitor - the DPI goes down and the pixels are too large and fuzzy.

- With an undersized monitor the DPI goes up, but now the characters on the screen are too small, so you have to lower the resolution in Windows. Which defeats the purpose of getting more information on the screen. Yes you can enlarge just the font size in Windows leaving other screen elements shrunk down, but it's not worth the inconsistencies that pop up.

- A 4K 48" display, at 3,840 x 2,160, has the same pixel density as a 24" 1080p display. This is THE correct size for 4K as a monitor.

- But no-one seems to make them that size. 50" is a little too big. 39" is too small.

- Most video cards that come standard with PCs don't support 4K resolutions anyway.

Refresh Rate

- That 4K TV with the 120Hz refresh rate, is only 120Hz at 1080p. At 4K resolution it's only 30Hz.

- This is slow enough for your mouse to be slow and laggy enough for imprecise movement and missing your click target.

- The reason for the 30Hz rate is the bandwidth of HDMI.

- HDMI 2.0 is fast enough. But it's a brand new standard. TVs with HDMI 2 may not be out yet. But very soon. Only a few high-end video cards (nVidia GTX 9xx) support it.

- A work-around is to use DisplayPort instead of HDMI. But you'll want DisplayPort 1.2 (common on new PCs now) or DisplayPort 1.3 (brand new standard.) You'll want to check the DisplayPort specs on both your video card and monitor.

Response time

- This sucks on most HDTVs anyway. You want less than a 20ms response time. Preferably much less. Many TVs are much higher.

The lower cost alternative.

- The BenQ 32" Widescreen LED Monitor (BL3200PT)

- This isn't a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) monitor. Instead it's 2560x1440.

- 32" at 2560x1440 is right in the sweet spot for DPI.

- Many if not most new video cards (or to be more precise, the video section in common Intel CPUs) supports 2560x1600 at 60 Hz. On DisplayPort only.

- 4ms Response Time

- Do not use the CAD/CAM mode in anything but CAD/CAM.

- The monitor is getting excellent reviews. They seem to be following other formerly discount brands now producing good quality stuff.

[Mr.B]

The reason I connected my PC to my 65" using an HDMI converter was that my TV did not have a VGA input. In reading the info you posted, I have not found any issues with clarity in picture or words...it's working beautifully. As I said, I did have to go into the Nvidia settings to change the resolution and picture size; also the setting I used offered a 75hz. refresh rate. (my TV is a1080p, 120hz.) My picture fills the screen nicely, although the print, though clear, is a tad small to read from my normal sitting position; so I used the zoom to zoom it up to 125%. I tried 150%, but then you can't see the edges of the display....

All said and done......it works beautifully! Because my printer is still in the bedroom, I will have to buy a wireless printer if my old Lexmark will ever die; it's like an EverReady battery...just keeps going and going and........

This is the converter I bought from Amazon.com :

HDE VGA w/ Audio to HDMI 1080p Converter Box w/ DC Adapter


(btw....I didn't even need the DC Adapter; it gets it's power through the VGA cable from the computer!)

[rstrong]

The reason I connected my PC to my 65" using an HDMI converter was that my TV did not have a VGA input. In reading the info you posted, I have not found any issues with clarity in picture or words...it's working beautifully.

Keep in mind that I'm talking about 4K TVs. 1080p is easy, since both computers and TVs - and HDMI and VGA - have been built to support it for the last decade.

[rstrong]

The lower cost alternative.

- The BenQ 32" Widescreen LED Monitor (BL3200PT)

- This isn't a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) monitor. Instead it's 2560x1440.

- 32" at 2560x1440 is right in the sweet spot for DPI.

- Many if not most new video cards (or to be more precise, the video section in common Intel CPUs) supports 2560x1600 at 60 Hz. On DisplayPort only.

- 4ms Response Time

- Do not use the CAD/CAM mode in anything but CAD/CAM.

- The monitor is getting excellent reviews. They seem to be following other formerly discount brands now producing good quality stuff.

Aaaaand I just picked one up. It's a thing of beauty.

[Mr.B]

"Aaaaand I just picked one up. It's a thing of beauty."

Sure makes a difference, don't it?

With my set-up, I can now watch streaming video services on my big screen from my PC, wifi TV, or wifi bluray player; each has different offerings.

A thing of beauty is an understatement!