TV for computer monitor?

[Rick Potter]

I have an old PC with windows XP. It is a top of the line Dell from about 15 years ago, and the monitor quit working. I have replaced it with a new computer, but wonder if it would be good in the shop to play my WW back issue DVD's , and woodworking DVD videos.

I also have a 32" flat screen TV that I would like to replace.

Can I use the TV as the monitor for my old PC?

[Rich Riddle]

I have an old PC with windows XP. It is a top of the line Dell from about 15 years ago, and the monitor quit working. I have replaced it with a new computer, but wonder if it would be good in the shop to play my WW back issue DVD's , and woodworking DVD videos.

I also have a 32" flat screen TV that I would like to replace.

Can I use the TV as the monitor for my old PC?
Rick,

I now people who have done just that but it depends upon the "plug holes" on the backside of the television. What do you have there? Take a picture for us.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have a 42 inch one that I use for my CNC

[Pat Barry]

Rick, I now people who have done just that but it depends upon the "plug holes" on the backside of the television.Thanks Rich, I too am getting tired of all the technical jargon - USB, HDMI, RCA, RG58, blah, blah, blah.

[Rich Riddle]

Thanks Rich, I too am getting tired of all the technical jargon - USB, HDMI, RCA, RG58, blah, blah, blah.
Pat,

"Plug holes" is about as technical as my little pea brain can comprehend....

[Malcolm McLeod]

Pat,

"Plug holes" is about as technical as my little pea brain can comprehend....

Unfortunately, I suspect a google-ing of "plug holes" will give you a lot of hits that will NOT be for cables between the monitor and PC or tuner. ;) (I'd probably just learn a few of the key acronyms.)

[Jerome Stanek]

for a computer that age I would say a VGA plug

[Myk Rian]

for a computer that age I would say a VGA plug
Not on TVs.
If the video card has composite or HDMI output, it's easy.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Not on TVs.
If the video card has composite or HDMI output, it's easy.

...Some TVs do have VGA & DVI inputs (traditional PC graphic connections).

[Stephen Tashiro]

There's also the question of how to get sound to work.

[Alan Caro]

Rick Potter,

I've not had TV cable for more than 10 years as part of my general advertising avoidance plan and instead use a 2007 Dell Dimension E520 (new XP, now Windows 7) and a 32" flat screen- the third TV set I've owned.

If the computer has a graphics card, it will probably have a VGA and/or DVI connector. Look around on the TV. A 32" flat screen is likely to have VGA and may even have a "PC" connection labeled. But, HDMI is a higher resolution, so the thing to do is to identify the computer end plug and buy an adapter cable that will convert it from DVI to HDMI.

The HDMI plugs into one of probably two or three HDMI inputs on the TV. Make a note of the HDMI number used so you can select it on the remote.

You run the DVD's or CD's in the computer DVD player.

The computer will have a built-in sound system. There will a little pale green plug on the rear panel which is the connection to speakers. It's called a "3.5mm stereo minijack" and it sends both left and right channels. You need to look again at the TV and see what the audio inputs are like. It may have a pair of RCA jacks, which are the bigger red and white ones. So at Best Buy or Radio Shack-where-ever you buy the Video adapter cable, you 'll need a Stereo minijack to dual (L & R) male RCA, making a kind of Y-shaped cable, single tiny minijack to the two larger red and white RCA. This is all very common and they'll know - or should.

When you plug in for the sound, the volume will be controlled on the TV remote. The stop and go of the DVD/s will use the computer mouse and I suspect will controlling Windows Media Player that comes with XP.

If your home has WiFi and the computer has a WiFI adapter, you might be able to connect to the Internet and stream YouTube.

It reads as fussier than it is. The key is really only having the two correct cables.

Alan Caro

[Jerome Stanek]

Not on TVs.
If the video card has composite or HDMI output, it's easy.

Mine has them I have 3 flat screens and they all have VGA. I do a lot of trade shows and we use tvs for monitors all the time hooked up to laptops
m

[Curt Harms]

It seems like the key would be what kind of outputs the PC has. Quite a few flat panel TVs have a 15 pin VGA port and a 15 yr. old PC would likely have one of those. I'm not sure about DVI and I'd be a little surprised if it has HDMI unless it has an aftermarket video card. If the cables connect, I wonder if the video system would be capable of the resolution to fill and look decent on a 32" TV. 1024X768 ain't likely to cut it. You might be able to retrofit a more capable video card - I did that with a 1999ish HP. Bought an old Nvidia card off Ebay for around $5 but is it worth the fooling around?

[Jim Becker]

You can do that, although TVs that are not designed to be used as computer monitors will have limited screen resolution. (pixels) Things will be easiest if both the computer and the TV support HDMI input, although you can also use various other methods of connections to the "plug holes". :D

[Matt Meiser]

I think all of our TVs have VGA ports. Even if it doesn't, you can buy inexpensive this-to-that converters for just about any combination.

My mom has a TV as her monitor. There are two drawbacks--the TV will shut itself off after a period of no source signal when the computer shuts off the display and this is not configurable. She has to turn it on when she wakes the computer. The other is that the remote from the TV in the same room and the remote for the TV-turned-computer monitor are compatible and its really easy to inadvertently control both even though they are 90 degrees and probably 20' from each other.

[Steve Peterson]

Most modern TVs have reasonable resolution that would be OK for a computer monitor. It should be good if it is at least 1920 by 1080 resolution, but might be a bit grainy if it is 1280 by 720 resolution. It is fairly cheap to buy a new 24" monitor. A TV of the same size would be a little bit more expensive because it needs a few additional tuners.

Steve

[Rick Potter]

I looked at the TV and the PC tonight.

The PC is a Dell..Windows XP Media Center Edition, dated 2005. It has 5 USB ports, 2 phone ports, one port that looks like a big phone port, computer plugs that are for the speakers and one other, one antenna plug parked CATV, RCA jacks for audio and video, and one that says S Video. It has the pale green audio plug.

The TV has RCA jacks for audio and video, HDMI, USB, PC in that is special shape, and a whole variety of RCA jacks.

Since they both have HDMI, as well as USB, does this mean I just need an HDMI cable, or a USB cable? Do I also need to hook up the pale green one on the PC with the adaptor to the RCA jacks on the TV?

Thanks,
Rick

PS: Not overly worried about super definition, no movies, just YouTube, and the how-to videos. I guess the pages of the Woodsmith mag. DVD's would need the clearest pic. I am just trying to make the old computer work in the shop.

[Jerome Stanek]

If the computer has hdmi and the tv has hdmi that would work other wise use the pc from the video card and the rca plugs for the sound

[Mark Blatter]

Sort of ironic. I am reading this thread on a TV that is hooked to a computer. It has how I have done it for about six or seven years. I carried a lap-top for many years when traveling for work with a VGA to something, but don't recall what that allowed me to use it on almost every TV I came across. It worked fine for those years. I had to carry an extra RCA to RCA for sound though. Watched many a movie sitting in a hotel room in places like Casper, WY with that set up.

[Jim Becker]

Since they both have HDMI, as well as USB, does this mean I just need an HDMI cable, or a USB cable?

Use an HDMI cable and be done with it. Best resolution available and simple. Be sure you tell the TV that the HDMI input is the one you want selected.

[Curt Harms]

The fact that it's a media center edition machine is a plus. Sounds like it should work. The big telephone jack looking thing is most likely an RJ45/Ethernet network port. If there are red, blue & green RCA jacks, they may be component video. They are capable of displaying HD video as is HDMI but on some older TVs I've had better luck with component video than with HDMI. Component video (https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=320) requires separate audio cable so there are a total of 5 cables, 3 of which can be pretty thick. HDMI is one cable for both video and audio.

[Wade Lippman]

We always use USB

[Jerome Stanek]

[QUOTE=Wade Lippman;2609986]We always use USB[/QUOTE

Do you use a USB adaptor on my laptop I always use HDMI but my desktop doesn't have that so I use VGA

[Wade Lippman]

[QUOTE=Wade Lippman;2609986]We always use USB[/QUOTE

Do you use a USB adaptor on my laptop I always use HDMI but my desktop doesn't have that so I use VGA

Our 32" has no computer inputs except USB. I think all tv and computer have USB or micro USB.

[Rick Potter]

Thank you folks, I very much appreciate all your effort and comments.

Sounds like it is doable, even for a 74 YO computer idiot.

I will give it a try.

Rick

By the way, I looked up the definition of 'luddite'. They were right, you know.