Hooking up a TV to your computer

[2PacMan]

Is there a tutuorial somewhere that explains exactly how to hook up and use a TV for your computer monitor?  At first i was going to use a computer monitor for MAME, now i want to use a TV instead.

[Stingray]

Get a video card with S-Video or composite out.

-S

[2PacMan]

And that's all i need and i'll be set?  No special software or wiring?  Do alot of people use TVs for MAME?  Is the resolution OK??  I know probably arcade monitors would be the best, but is a TV ok as well.  I need about a 19'' screen, and i don't want to pay a ton of money for a 19'' monitor, plus it's too big for my cab, it sticks out the back.

[ahofle]

Yep, just make sure your TV has an S-Video input.  Some of the cheaper ones only have composite.  I have a 24" TV in my cab and I am very happy with it.

[maxxonline]

Yeah I plan to go this direction as well with a 27" TV in my cab.

[unclet]

Love my 27" TV in my cabinet.   Arcade games are not suppose to be crystal lcear anyway, so in my opinion (if you not getting an actual arcade monitor), then a TV is better than computer monitor.  Plus you can still watch TV on it as well..... just connect your cable from your wall to it and your ready

[ahofle]

Another benefit of a TV is the emulation or direct connection of consoles (which were made to run on TVs).

[markrvp]

For my computer at home I just put in a Radeon 9200SE from CompUSA.

[Veinman]

I've read that Radeons tend to have better TV-OUT than GeForces. Any experienced opinions in that regard?

I have personally witnessed S-Video out from my Radeon 9800PRO256, and it looked great.

I have also heard that some Midway games (MK, Rampage, etc) can cut off part of the image when viewed on a TV. I am not sure about that one.

[KenToad]

Get a video card with S-Video or composite out.

-S

What if you have onboard video .... i.e. no video card slot and therefore only a standard monitor out?  Are there any decent adaptors to convert from a standard monitor port to TV?

Thanks in Advance,
KenToad

[Hoagie_one]

here is some

[KenToad]

Whoa, thanks Hoagie.  I guess it probably would have been smarter just to do the search myself.  Sometimes I get lazy like that.

*Edit* Any thoughts on quality differences, or do all those products function pretty much the same?  And are they different/worse than an S-video adaptor to A/V cables.  I already have an S-video convertor for the labtop--not good for fine print, but fine for gaming and watching decent quality vids.

Cheers,
KenToad

[coasternuts]

I have a Radeon9250 PCI only.  I hooked it up to a 19" TV using a S-video to composite converter and was not happy with the results.  The window was angled off by like 2-4 degrees.  The software itself supports rotating the image but only in increments of 90.   I could compress the image, but then it looked too small for vertical games.

With that, fuzzy text, and the immense weight of the machine using a 24-27" TV, I decided to go with the PC monitor.  At least I can play Half-Life in full glory standing up( I sit down all day in my day job ).

[NJDevils2006]

You can use a KeyDigital VGA to Component Video adapter if your TV will accept such a connection.  I use my PC on a 57 inch Hitachi TV and it looks pretty good. 

I work in the Audio/Video field, and have found that KeyDigital converters seem to work out the best (IMO).  We use them everyday.