Use Your TV as a Computer Monitor

Many a time I have looked over at my 32" television and
thought, why can't I just hook up my computer to that thing
and play my PC games on a huge screen? I figured it would
beat buying a huge monitor for a ton of cash, right?

Well I looked into it and it can be done but there are some
limitations that, in the end, might not make it worth your
while. I'll explain later in the article.

1. Identify your TV's input connections. Most TVs these days
have three basic types of inputs. You have your coaxial cable
input, the same as your cable box or satellite, an RCA
composite input (the yellow, red and white inputs) and an
S-video connector. Newer televisions might have Component
Video, DVI, VGA or HDMI inputs but the ones listed above are
more common.

2. Identify your computer's outputs. These days computer
manufacturers are adding TV compatible outputs on their
products so it's easy to hook it up quickly. The S-video
in particular seems to be popping up on more and more
computers. Mostly you will find the usual VGA output that
the regular monitor hooks up to. The newer multi media
computers of the near future will probably have all high
definition outputs that connect directly to your TV, but
for now we will deal with what most people have for both
computers and televisions.

3. Find the appropriate adapter for your connections. You may
need to get an adapter so you can hook up your computer to
the TV. These have a VGA adapter on one end and (usually)
a selection of hookups on the other (S-video, RCA composite
and Component). The good thing about these is that you can
take it from TV to TV and you'll be able to hook up to all of
them. I highly recommend a wireless adapter. It costs a bit
more but it's worth not having a big cable mess and not
keeping your computer near your TV.

4. Connect your computer to your TV. If you have a TV
compatible output on your computer, such as an S-video jack,
just take an S-video cable and connect it to your computer
and your TV. If you do not, then attach your VGA end of your
adapter to your computer and use the RCA, S-video or Component
Video cable to attach to your TV. After you've made all the
connections, make sure you are on the correct TV video input.
Press the input button on your TV or remote until you see your
computer's signal.

Now, here is where you might get a little disappointed.
Your TV's usual video signal is called NTSC (PAL if you live
in Europe). This signal is different than the one generated
by your computer. Computers use signals measured by pixels:
320x200, 320x240, 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024 or
1600x1200. Most TV's can only get about 500 lines of
resolution, in computers this is like 500 vertical pixels.
The video amplifiers in televisions cannot handle higher
resolutions either. So when you factor these things together
you are left with a maximum resolution of 640x480.

This is not the worst thing in the world because you can play
games and watch video in lower resolutions no problem.
It's just that you will never get close to the resolution
your computer monitor will give you. Beware of some adapters
that claim to give you more than 640x480, they just reduce
the quality of the original television signal to compensate.

You can get an adapter for an HDTV that will give you higher
resolutions but you need an HDTV and an adapter that costs
usually 2-3 times more than your standard adapter. Any way
you choose, it is not hard to use your TV as a computer
monitor if you follow the few steps above.