Tv As Pc Monitor...splitter/joiner? The cheap and easy way

[Jonnyabc 0]

I do not own any high-powered PC or fancy TV 'cause I'm still using and satisfied with a CRT (hey, that rhymes!). Second, I am a computer major, so I love to find new ways to use technology. Third, I know this is possible because I have seen it in action at my college (they use some software and/or hardware package made by Symon to split the screen between a looped PowerPoint and CNN news).

So what do I want to do and why? Someday I hope to purchase a nice desktop PC as well as a new HDTV (no huge expensive one that's worth more than a PC). The idea I have is simple...why purchase a fairly expensive PC monitor if I can use my TV for the same function? One of my friends uses an HDTV exclusively as his computer monitor.

The complication evolves watching television while working on the PC at the same time. I'm one who likes to do both every so often, and I don't want to waste extra money to buy and run two monitors. What if instead I can split it (when I want to)?

Now it becomes more technical. I either have to purchase software and a TV tuner for my PC and run my television THROUGH my computer (ugh), or I can find a piece of hardware that will act like a splitter (or "joiner" in this case) from two inputs (and it would be nice if it would be able to recognize input and have a remote). I'd be willing to spend money if it still saves me some of the cost for the PC monitor.

Thanks!

[Tramposch 1]

New TVs have things like this built in, I belive its called PiP technology, picture in picture.I think most new tvs should have this default, but you should check software list.

[k_nitin_r 8]

Hi!@johnnyabcIf what you want to do is hook up your PC to your TV, all you need to do is run a cable from the VGA/HDMI/DVI/AV port of your computer to the television. Now, it is perfectly understandable for most people to not have matching port types on their computer and their television sets, so there are converters available. You can convert an AV signal into an RF signal, or vice-versa, with a simple cable-like converter since they are both analog signals. You can convert an HDMI signal into a DVI signal, or vice-versa, with another simple cable-like converter since they are both digital signals. However, if you do want to have something that converts between analog or digital, or converts between different modulation types (frequency modulation, phase modulation, and amplitude modulation for those of you who are physics freaks and electronic geeks), you would need to buy a device that processes the signal from the input source and converts it into the standard of the output source. These converters typically cost much more than a cable (even the cables are priced more than they should).There is a lot of conversion between different standards that modern television sets perform so if you have a television that supports all of the different standard interfaces, you don't really need to buy a converter. If you do not have a television that takes in the kind of interface you need, you can get devices that range from simple devices that cost about $70 to really complex devices that cost over $800, in which case you might be better off justing buying a new television consider how cheap the plasma and LCD television sell for these days.If what you would like to do is display the picture from multiple input sources simultaneously, the feature is described as Picture-in-Picture, commonly represented with the PiP acronym as Tramposh has suggested in his reply to the thread. The higher end converters as well as higher end televisions provide this as a feature, and is analogous to multi-tasking in Windows/Linux/Mac OS where you have one window displaying the interface for one application while another window displays the interface for another application (or better yet, VLC player playing one movie, while the Windows Media Player plays another one). The PiP feature is supported different by different television sets - some televisions limit you to viewing one other channel while displaying the primary selected channel in the background (think of it as an image viewer displaying a picture while you have another one as your desktop wallpaper). Other televisions let you watch multiple inputs (more than two) simultaneously. There are others still, such as televisions from Samsung, that have the feature enabled on some television models but others that have a very minimal price difference do not have the feature (in fact, the television menu even provides the PiP as a menu item but reports that the feature is not enabled).If you get a TV tuner card (or a high-end graphics card that can perform a similar function), you might as well get one of those because you can create digital recordings, using your computer as a PVR, and can do different stuff with different software without having to rely on the television to provide you with the needed features.

[rvalkass 5]

An Tramposch has said, most new TVs and computer monitors (that are any good) feature Picture In Picture (abbreviated to PiP). That allows you to have one input take up the whole of the screen (your PC's output) and one input gets overlaid on top of that, often in one corner, taking up around a quarter of the screen.

 

 

Check before you buy though, as some TVs only let you use certain combinations of inputs for PiP, and in a certain order. Make sure that you can set the TV signal to be the smaller image, and a PC input to be the larger 'background' image.

 

The alternative is to make use of a website such as TVCatchup and play the TV through your browser. You can place that window on your PC wherever you want, and move it around easier than you can with PiP if it starts getting in the way. Depending on the speed of your PC and Internet connection, however, this may not be an option.

[Jonnyabc 0]

PiP...thanks guys! I knew it surely had to exist, but I could not find for the life of me what it was called. This will help me considerably in a few years from now when I earn enough money to upgrade some of my equipment.