nb88 Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 I'm thinking of buying a 19" widescreen TFT monitor for my PC so i want to watch TV on it. I've got ntl digital with scart so i need this to be able to plug into my monitor.So basically, whats the best way to do this?I've been looking around and found VGA boxes - around £30 on ebay from hong kong.like this one: http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/webstore/produc...gic_3_vga_box_+But i havent managed to find any with scart inputs...and my ntl cable is fixed (it hasnt got 3 wires going into a scart, its all fixed together). Maybe i could just use a different scart cable like the ones on Xboxes with the 3 wires and then connect to a VGA box.Anyway...do TV cards also have these inputs, with the output coming from the monitor? How much are they? Can anyone recommend one? I'm looking to get the best value possible.Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomturd Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 You could get one of these to plug into the end of the scart lead coming out of the NTL box -http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Female-21-Pin-Scart-...1QQcmdZViewItemAnd one of these to plug into that -http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gold-Plated-SCART-AD...1QQcmdZViewItemWhich you could then plug into that VGA converter... or into a TV/Graphics card with Svideo in. Although I dont know much about that... that should get you started anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nb88 Posted December 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 Cheers tom. I've also just found this:http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5m-cable-SCART-to-3-...bayphotohostingwhich would let me connect straight to a VGA box, not sure about TV cards though.Do TV cards allow you to watch TV in a window, while doing other things? Or does it take the whole monitor?And are they good quality? (usually) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nb88 Posted December 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 Just been talking to my mate and he suggested using the aerial output from the ntl box and gettin a tv card - then i can switch channels from the PC. Sounds good to me .Anyone wanna recommend a good tv card and do they need a decent gfx card or anything? ive got a pretty average 1.6ghz with geforce 2 mx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nb88 Posted December 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 Gonna buy this i thinkhttp://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...oduct_uid=10917Looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeza Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 Someone i know has one of those tv cards, he seems to like it!Go for it , also its not excessively expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 As long as you have a decent aerial they are awsome. Not great without though, but I guess that's the same for any TV card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nb88 Posted December 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 As long as you have a decent aerial they are awsome. Not great without though, but I guess that's the same for any TV card.I'm using my digital TV box so no problems there The capture doesnt seem too good on the one i ordered but im not that bothered really, aslong as i can watch it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extreme_biker0 Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 (edited) Just been talking to my mate and he suggested using the aerial output from the ntl box and gettin a tv card - then i can switch channels from the PC. Sounds good to me .I don't see how you would be able to switch channels using the tv? You will still need to tell the ntl box what channel to display using your remote... because it's not like all the different channels are being transmitted down the wire at different frequencies... I don't think there is a way to tell it to change channel through the aerial either.But it is still the best way. Edited December 28, 2005 by Extreme_biker0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nb88 Posted December 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 I don't see how you would be able to switch channels using the tv? You will still need to tell the ntl box what channel to display using your remote... because it's not like all the different channels are being transmitted down the wire at different frequencies... I don't think there is a way to tell it to change channel through the aerial either.But it is still the best way.Thats what i thought aswell, but apparently it works . I'll check it out when i get the card and post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 I don't think you will be able to watch all the NTL channels, maybe the one the NTL box is switched to though. But you should be able to watch all the normal channels (1 to 5) just using that cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nb88 Posted December 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Well i just set it up connected to my ntl box (theres an option to choose Cable or Broadcast when its scanning, i chose cable obviously). Its really bad quality and its only found my normal (1-5) channels...I think i need a composite cable and use have on my tv card if theres an option. It works with CVR/PS2 or anything so that should defo work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 I wouldn't put it on cable, because by the sounds of it, it's not plugged in via the cable, just by a standard aerial lead, which happens to come from the NTL box. Try it on "broadcast" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nb88 Posted December 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 (edited) Wait a sec....does 1 composite cable carry audio and video? Theres only 1 composite port in the tv card (yellow), i thought they usually have 3 - 2 audio, 1 video ill try broadcast quickly aswell Edited December 29, 2005 by Nozmeister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 i don't really know. Does your card have a cable that goes from the TV card to the line-input on your sounds card? Because you could get the audio separately going straight into the sound card if it is like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nb88 Posted December 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 (edited) i don't really know. Does your card have a cable that goes from the TV card to the line-input on your sounds card? Because you could get the audio separately going straight into the sound card if it is like that.Yeah i do the ntl box only has scart, tv card has composite. so im guessing 3 phono -> scart cable and then put the 2 audio phonos in the sound card with video in the tv card.oh and using broadcast was the same as cable - just get the terrestrial tv channels in very bad quality Edited December 29, 2005 by Nozmeister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nb88 Posted December 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 (edited) just been looking at the manual and i THINK theres audio line in, and video line in composite ports. so if i get the scart -> composite/s-video tomturd said earlier, i just need 2 composite cables, 1 video, 1 audio to connect to the tv card. all this just so i can get rid of my telly ive got my radio/sound on TV working much better now, i put it in the mic input on the sound card by mistake . the TV capture is suprisingly good.FOUND IT! My ntl box was switched to channel 1 when i scanned the first time, so i thought it was the terrestrial like the others, switched it to sky one and kablamo CHEERS TOMM Edited December 29, 2005 by Nozmeister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 When i plug my gamecube into my tv card i plug the yellow straght into the svideo on the card then use an adaptor to plug the red and white plugs into the line in jack on the card Adaptor like so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nb88 Posted December 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Cheers tom ive been looking at those and bought a single jack -> phono for my camcorder which has 2 phonos, i may buy a double for my ntl box.Do you think composite would be higher quality than using the coax? If not i wont bother. Its pretty good quality but theres horizontal lines that show when its quite bright and its a bit fuzzy at some points, on full screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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