Watch TV on LCD - which is the better method?

[ravenvii]

I want to watch TV on my LCD. Which method is the better of the two?

Get a TV-to-VGA conversion unit like this:

http://www.startech.com/ststore/ItemDetail.cfm?ProductID=COMP2VGATV&mt=Z

OR

Get a tuner that goes though the computer, like an eyeTV or Studio TVR

Which method is the best?

 

[mkrishnan]

Do you want to do anything besides watch TV on the LCD? Is it important to you to do both computer and TV at the same time? Does your LCD support PIP using multiple inputs? If you do not want to do "extra" things, such as recording content, and you either don't need/want to do both at the same time, or your LCD supports PIP, I think you are going to get better quality, and less chance of stutter / skip, if you use the direct converter. Also it has the advantage (this is going to sound odd) that when you pipe a VGA signal at a low res into an LCD monitor, its method of producing the low-res image is less blocky, at least to my eyes, than the all digital method you'd get on the computer card.

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

Raven, I'm planning on doing the same thing. I'd like to utilize the PIP and PBP on my Dell monitor. I think the solution that I will be going for, at least in the short term, is just to plug a VCR into it, and run the cable through that. I don't understand why a standalone TV tuner, like the one you linked to, would be so expensive, when you could easily get VCR for $30 US. I'd much rather have the sleek, sexy tuner, but a VCR will do just fine for the amount I plan on using the thing.

Just a possible solution...

 

[ravenvii]

Well, for one, a VCR doesn't have a VGA output

The LCD is a Dell 1905FPV, it doesn't have PIP or PBP. Recording and a TV schedule is cool to have, but the TV schedule thing can be done by Dashboard. That leaves recording, but that's a $100 difference (for a eyeTV 200). Worth it? Dunno... And if that StarTech thing provides better picture than a eyeTV, I'm going to get it, since it has the added bonus of having a component/S-Video input, and I want to play my consoles on my LCD as well.

Thanks guys!

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

Oops! Sorry 'bout that. *feels like an idiot*

 

[James Philp]

If you ever want to use your monitor for Gaming (Console), don't get the eyeTV or anything like this, as there is a considerable delay between the inputs and the display.
I'd look on some kind of scart>DVI adaptor, and then buy a cheap surround mixer thingy that switched between multiple scart inputs to one scart output (and will also decode to surround sound etc)