Computer as TV!?!?

vitaminc · Post by **vitaminc** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:09 am

I am trying to consolidate all the entertainment devices in my room to share my Dell 24" monitor and Logitech 5.1 surround sound speaker set. It's obviously very easy to hook up my computer to that. But how about my Wii and Xbox360? Are there any way to do so? I would imagine it require some sort of receiver... Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bobfantastic · Post by **Bobfantastic** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:21 am

It would have been better to start with a proper TV, but it should be possible nonetheless. What connectors does the Dell have? You can get VGA leads for the 360 easily enough, should run you about Â£15. The Wii may need some extras; I'm thinking the component breakout leads, into a Component to S-Video adapter (free with newer GPUs), and then plugged into whatever has space for it (either the Dell or a vivo port on your GPU). But this is only if there are multiple inputs to the Dell...

Sound should be easy enough to sort out- if I'm right in thinking, all you would need is something with optical SPDIF i/o (or a toslink converter if you've only got component SPDIF, ~Â£25) for the 360, to pretend that you're listening to a minidisc player, and pretty much anything with a line in for the Wii. You can shunt the phono leads from the Wii through a converter to a 3.5mm stereo jack, and basically tell the PC that it's a microphone.

Hope this helps.

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:32 am

As far as a reciever, it might be possible if you could find a receiver that does component/VGA/DVI/HDMI switching (remove the connections you don't need).

You can easily do the first match of computer to monitor (obviously) and you could easily do the last two to a receiver. But the monitor likely only has a VGA/DVI input, which most receivers do not handle. The easiest way to do it would be to have a monitor that has both a connection for your computer and then inputs for the consoles/receiver (either using the receiver to switch between consoles or have discrete inputs for each console) and let the receiver handle all sound.

However, there really is no EASY way for your computer to function as a receiver (audio/video switcher) for those components. Even if you did manage to get the video to be displayed on the screen through your computer, the quality would most likely be crap due to the bad connection type you'd have to use (composite/s-video) and the audio would most likely end up being out of sync due to it's additional processing.

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:48 am

I'm pretty sure those larger Dell LCDs have all the typical TV inputs, i.e. s-video, component, HDMI, etc.

EDIT: Here are the inputs. Guess I was wrong on the HDMI.

* Digital video standard
* Digital Visual Interface (DVI)

* Analog video signal
* RGB, S-Video, Component video, Composite video

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:07 pm

Don't know what 5.1 system you have but my 5500 can easily be connected to 3-4 sources so that isn't a problem

The Internal · Post by **The Internal** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 1:54 pm

I've owned a Dell 24" for about a year now. I find the component connectors to only have a decent image. Not sure if it's the monitor or the fact that the display is so high rez verses the content being sent to it from the Dreamcast and PS2.

butters · Post by **butters** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 8:54 pm

This is the reason I've been considering the 37" Westinghouse 1080p HDTV. At $999USD, it's cheaper than any of the 30" LCD monitors by a good margin, plus it has 2 DVIs, 2 components, 1 HDMI, and the SD stuff. The problem is that the dot pitch is pretty high, so it might not be good for working with text (and I'm a developer, so that's important to me). And it's too big if you sit 2-3 feet away like a normal monitor. You need to be about 4 feet away (at least) for comfortable viewing.

Why haven't they come out with 27-32" 1080p HDTVs? These would sell like hotcakes as combination displays.