TV as a monitor

[mcvcpa]

Anyone know if it is possible (without great cost or effort) to hook up a TV to a PC and use the TV as a monitor?

 

[Yoda]

Probably yes, I'm no expert, but consider a bad resolution, TV's were made to watch at distance.

Bob

 

[Fohat]

mvcpa,

It's possible and not that expensive - you need A video card with TVout capability and cables (preferably S-Video) to connect the video card to the TV.
Due to the lower TV resolution, I prefer to do the opposite - watch TV on my PC. ATI-All-in-Wonder videocard can actually do both - it has TVout and built in TV tunner.

Fohat

 

[vikana]

If you want to use the TV as a monitor you will need a video card with TV Out feature. Both ATI AllInwonder and NVidea are good choices. ATI has long been the leader in TVOut, however,

Cards like the ATI AllInWonder also come with TV Tuner, so that you can route all your TV signals through your PC and effectively use you PC as TV tuner, digital TV recorder (like Tivo) and monitor.

That being said, the resolution on a TV is very poor (worse that 640x480) and not all color components are in full resolution. consider getting an inexpensive monitor in stead.