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Turn Your Monitor Into an HDTV

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the stupid-television-tricks dept.

orangerobot writes "ViewSonic has released an interesting new box that turns any VGA monitor into an HDTV video display with support for standards up to 1080i. At $399 it's a little on the pricey side, but according to the review from EnvyNews, the unit performs pretty well." Like the review, I can't figure out what the target market for this is, but it's still a cool device.

19 of 277 comments (clear)

  1. Use with a projector? by slimsam1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Could you potentially use this device with a projector? Might make a great (much cheaper) alternative to a giant HDTV.

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    1. Re:Use with a projector? by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Uh, it's not needed. Most LCD and DLP projectors made in the last five years automatically take 1080i, 720p, 480p in component format, as well as a lot of computer resolutions. Just about all projectors now sold accept it HD scan rates.

      The only caveat is that it would be scaled to the display's native resolution. My projector only has the standard 15 pin D-subs but I can input RGB or YUV color spaces.

  2. What a Waste by Sack · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yeah that's exactly what I want...a 19" HDTV. If I'm spending $400 on a TV (not including tuner) then it damn well isn't going to be 19". Take that $400, and the cost of the tuner, and you're well on your way to a real HDTV that would actually provide some quality entertainment. That said, it is cool of course that this can be done. Synopsis - cool, yes; worthwile, hell no!

    1. Re:What a Waste by Babbster · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Having just purchased one of the cheapest HDTVs possible, you're just dead wrong. I paid $700 for a 27" direct-view HDTV (a Samsung) and I will still have to buy an HDTV tumor that will run me between $300 (for a PC HDTV tuner card) and $800 (for one of the nicer HDTV set-top boxes with satellite HDTV capability and all the outputs including DVI). If I had gone with something like the Viewsonic deal, I would have paid $300 less for the display and with a $500 set-top box I would have only been $100 over the cost of my (again, cheap) HDTV.

      At the VERY least, this box gives you the ability to connect your Xbox or Gamecube to your monitor and get the true 480p signals (for most Xbox games and many Gamecube games), and I'm sure there are gamers out there who would like to get that capability for $400 instead of spending $700 or more on an HDTV.

      Now, all that being said, if you just want to use your computer monitor to watch HDTV, I recommend checking out the myHD card which you can put right into your current box (assuming it's over 400MHz) and start watching HDTV right off the bat. That card is running at $300 (as low as $250). Note that the following isn't an ad for this particular retailer (you can google and see if there are more - it's the cheapest I've found), but you can find this card at Digital Connection. It even has S-video and composite inputs with scaling to several resolutions allowing you to connect other sources. Frankly, it's a much better deal than the Viewsonic.

  3. Re:Hmm by The+Clockwork+Troll · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The best CRT-based consumer HDTV's are far less sophisticated than the best consumer monitors.

    Consider that the best purpose-built HDTV's can only display 720 lines of video non-interlaced and 1080 lines interlaced, and even then only at a refresh rate of 60Hz.

    What's on your desktop is a far better display device, it's just smaller, and mostly what you're paying for with HDTV's is size.

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  4. what?? by updog · · Score: 4, Interesting
    That headline is very misleading. This box does not turn your TV or monitor into an HDTV as it implies. Look at the input and output capability:

    TV/Video input compatibility
    480i, 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i

    RGB output capability
    640x480, 800x600, 852x480, 1024x768, 1280x720, 1280s768, 1280x1024

    Clearly, This takes up to a 1080i HD input and displays up to 1280x1024.

  5. Re:Uhm, do the math... by ergo98 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Obviously this product isn't intending to supplant living room HDTV sets, but rather is a niche product for a niche purpose. Your contention that a 19" monitor is "too small" to show the differences between HDTV and NTSC seems flawed: You seem to presume that someone would put their 19" monitor in the middle of their living room and sit 12 feet away, rather than the more likely "guy sitting at his home office/computer desk watching HDTV". At close proximity there most certainly would be a difference between the two.

    Of course I don't see why this product is getting attention, given that Hauppauge has had something similar for a while now.

  6. $50 by Suppafly · · Score: 2, Interesting

    These will be great when they cost $50 or so. Until then, it is more of a novelty, I can't really see anyone wanting to cough up the money for one of these. Use with a projector seems like a decent idea, but even then, most projectors don't support the same aspect ratios. You can by a hdtv that is bigger than your monitor (unless you have a huge monitor) for less than you can by this converter.

  7. No, unit sucks for theater use according to review by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I had the same thought - I really want to get a projector that works well with computers and A/V input like HDTV.

    First of all, I was thinking that since it had a tuner built in it could process over the air HDTV signals. Nope! The article claimed it was silly to think so, but the that would have been a great feature.

    But that's not even that bad, you can still buy a tuner... no, thing thing that did it for me was darkening of scenes, and much much worse a "slight blue think on all output that could not be removed". If the colors are off, what's the point of putting this in a home theater?

    Also, it seemed to have problems using higher HDTV resolutions when running Dragon's Lair 3-D on the XBox.

    To be fair, the unit was not meant for home theater - it was meant to provide a very simple solution for letting you see TV and video signals on you desktop computer. It does that OK (though even then the blue tint would annoy me).

    Better to waitfor HDTV projectors to come down in price... sigh.

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    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  8. Re:Makes sense by captaineo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    When filmed content is broadcast in HD, does the MPEG stream actually take advantage of the "repeat field" flags to encode only 24 frames per second, like DVDs do? Or are the extra fields simply "burned in" to a regular 60 field per second MPEG stream?

    One complication with these "inverse telecine" systems is that the field ordering might not be consistent between cuts. It will be consistent for a movie that is edited at 24fps and then telecine'd all at once, but lots of things are now shot on film, telecine'd shot-by-shot (with 3:2 pulldown), and THEN edited in a 60 field environment. So any cut is liable to break the 3:2 field ordering. (the video editors I have spoken to about this problem seem not to care, if they even understand the issue at all...)

  9. Re:Why not just buy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    They both suck ass in terms of app and driver support.
    Get the MyHD card instead.

  10. Almost seems pointless.... by dfj225 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The website for the device mentions watching TV and DVD on your monitor with this device. That seems illogical for 2 reasons. First, DVD only has 480 lines of resolution, not 1080 so you are really not getting anything more out of your DVD with this device. Second, you still need a HDTV decoder for the HDTV signal. These boxes run about $1000 right now. I don't think anyone is willing to pay that much money just to watch HDTV on their monitor. Chances are, if they are going to spend that kind of money on TV, they must be serious about things and will most likely go for a HDTV ready projection screen and the HDTV decoder box.

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  11. Re:Hmm by at_kernel_99 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I would imagine that simply buying a HDTV would, in the end, be cheaper. HDTVs are just really big monitors IIRC. That's not to say this isn't cool, I just imagine it would be more economical to buy an HDTV and use it as your monitor :D

    Maybe I'm the guy that's missing something, but the cheapest HDTVs I saw at best buy are above $1300 US. Meanwhile, I bought a used 19" monitor a month ago for $55. If I must have HDTV, $455 seems cheap.

  12. I've got an InFocus XGA projector for home theater by mfh · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've got an InFocus LP330 XGA DLP projector that does VGA up to 1024x768 and S-Video, composite (NTSC and PAL).

    I've been looking for something that will support higher resolutions in the future. But for now, the image quality from a panasonic DVD audio/video player is good enough for me. I live in a 2bd apartment, and project my image onto a bare wall. At night, with dolby digital surround, it's just like being in a theater. With a good pair of headphones on, it's a private screening room.

    It's rated at only 650 ANSI lumens (newer projectors have up to 2000!!) so at night it's perfect but during the day it's not terribly bright. Getting a projection screen will help immensely, I don't have one because of my living situation right now.

    Getting a high-res converter box (with HDTV, progressive, whatever) to transfer converted XGA signals to this projector would be awesome.

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
  13. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    i'm totally confused by this product.

    if you already have a monitor...you probably have a pc hooked up to it as well.

    buy a $150 WinTV-D pci card)...hook up a $15 antennae and you are now watching HDTV on your monitor.

  14. In Australia, try this box instead by funwithstuff · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This old review at Dan's Data talks about a similar tuner/decoder that outputs VGA signals, but you'll need a monitor that can handle the output. None of this namby-pamby downscaling, but full-fat 1080i HDTV. When someone's transmitting something worth watching, that is. And right about now, it's not looking very interesting.

    Anyway, the review's fun, with plenty of acronyms, pics of back-panel ports, and serial port update instructions. Enjoy.

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  15. What this will come down to... by ndnet · · Score: 2, Interesting

    With the advent of HDTV, with truly decent resolution, everything that needs a screen will go to one box.

    Think about it. The Dreamcast had the ability, with a simple box, to output VGA. TV tuners make cable/antenna TV on your PC viable. On the other hand, WebTV and Tivo have interfaces that would benefit from HDTV resolution.

    What we really need is a ETHERNET-STYLE Video bus. Choose a device (no matter what room), choose a screen, and go.

  16. Huh? by Overzeetop · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Most multi-sync monitors will already sync to HDTV. My 5 year old, 15", $99 KDS monitor will sync to 720p just fine. It takes a bit of fiddling to get the aspect ratio correct (vertical size against the lower stop), but I get a 16:9 picture and it looks pretty darned good. It just requires a cable to feed the component signal to the rgb lines of the HD15 input connector.

    The advantage to this box is that it will transcode component to RGBHV, as well as tune NTSC and allow source switching via remote. Not something I'd pay $400 for. Of course, I did turn my "free" 15" Dell LCD into a TV with their less expensive NTSC unit (~$80) so I could have a TV in my bookcase.

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  17. This box is not an HD Tuner by chafey · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I accidently bought the prior version (NV5) because I thought it would was an HD tuner. This is not the case, it only tunes NTSC signals which means it is simply upconverting the low res standard definition signal to whatever the output resolution is. I really can't think of any reason to buy this thing.