RCA to VGA workaround

[Moose Jr.]

Okay, here's the deal. I want to hook up a console system to my pc monitor, but a converter is necessary to get from the RCA output of a console to the VGA input of a monitor. The only problem is that it costs about 50-100 bucks, even used. I'm a cheapo at heart, so I was thinking maybe I could get around this by buying an inexpensive PCI All-In-Wonder card like this...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2776804943&category=40158

...and then using it in conjunction with my current card. "Routing" the signal, so to speak, like so:

RCA > AIW > R9700 > Monitor

I'm also wondering if I could output the tv tuner part through my primary card as well, as in:

Cable > AIW > R9700 > Monitor

I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to video. Am I hopelessly deluded, or would this actually work? Please point out any problems.

Thanks!

 

[mesman00]

does the all in wonder support video-in? if it does, it will work. however, my old geforce ti 4200 (before i was robbed) support video-in, but the quality isn't the same as it would be if you hooked your console straight up to the monitor (not as good), and i couldn't watch it in full screen. these things may have been program restraints, but i never found another program to use other than the one that was shipped with the card.

 

[Tagrineth]

The frame rate is also usually pretty crap for fullscreen 640x480.

 

[Eagle]

OK, you have the right idea but the All-in-wonder is a video card with TV-In and TV-Out. You can get better quality from a Video capture card with your Radeon. Get a Hauppage capture card (with or without a TV tuner is up to you but if they have to tack on a TV tuner it usually lowers the quality) and that will do you just fine. Plus you can use if for tons of other things like (maybe TV), Transfering Home Video's to Video CD or DVD etc etc.

Granted this solution may not be much cheaper. For cheaper cards with lesser quality you could go with a different brand. Phoebe Micro sells the TVMaster Series which is what I have, its not bad but its not the best thing in the world either.

 

[jollyrancher]

Yeah, I agree that one of those video capture/tv cards is a better investment for a home desktop computer... the VGA converters are best for laptops when you need to do a business presentation or something.

 

[sheik124]

im an analog and digital video capping maniac and i know that even if you're using Svideo, you're gonna get fuzz with tv in, look at liksang.com for a console specific VGA converter, you'll prolly save loads
EDIT: loads is not spelled kaids (spelling edit)

 

[Moose Jr.]

Thanks for all the replies. To be frank, my main reason to do this was just to see what a console game would look like on a monitor, and to have a tv in my room. From your replies I can surmise that it probably would just be better for me to buy a new tv and plunk it on my desk next to my monitor Maybe my next upgrade will be to an AIW card. Tell me, do the current Radeon 9700 and 9800 AIW cards have decent picture quality for both the tv tuner and vid-in?

 

[Eagle]

Thanks for all the replies. To be frank, my main reason to do this was just to see what a console game would look like on a monitor, and to have a tv in my room. From your replies I can surmise that it probably would just be better for me to buy a new tv and plunk it on my desk next to my monitor Maybe my next upgrade will be to an AIW card. Tell me, do the current Radeon 9700 and 9800 AIW cards have decent picture quality for both the tv tuner and vid-in?

Oh I dont know about that, a 13 inch TV costs much more than a good capture card and most peoples monitors are 15+ inch screens. For TV if you use DScaler, the picture looks fine to me.

 

[zAlbee]

Thanks for all the replies. To be frank, my main reason to do this was just to see what a console game would look like on a monitor, and to have a tv in my room. From your replies I can surmise that it probably would just be better for me to buy a new tv and plunk it on my desk next to my monitor Maybe my next upgrade will be to an AIW card. Tell me, do the current Radeon 9700 and 9800 AIW cards have decent picture quality for both the tv tuner and vid-in?

Yes. I have a Radeon 8500 AIW and its fucking amazing. I used it to watch hockey games and play my friend's xbox (shut up, project gotham was wicked). Quality was excellent IMO, even with RCA plugs (he didn't have an S-video cable), and far better than on a TV, so he ended up just leaving the xbox in my room. It goes fullscreen, or window resized any way you want, does alphablending from 0% - 100% transparency, or you can even have the video substitute for your desktop wallpaper, so your icons etc. show on top of it. It's like having a dynamic desktop, it's awesome.

It never switches your resolution, so you WILL get good refresh rates (i use 1024x768 @ 85Hz, but only because my 17" is small). There's also absolutely no lag, since its all hardware. Hell, once i halted my system with Ctrl+Alt+Del (this is back during my win98 days, which actually paused your processes when you did that) and it kept playing. It seems like all the software program (CPU) is required to do is put up a gray square on your screen, and then the AIW takes it from there, replacing all the pixels of that shade with the TV/RCA/Svideo input. I discovered this when I tried taking a screenshot of the thing, and was surprised to see my Photoshop image still playing the television program. Man that was freaky.

So to answer your question, the Radeon 8500 AIW beats the pants off most TVs, and I expect Radeon 9800 AIWs to be just as good, if not better.

Edit: btw, i've never tried any of those VGA converter suggestions, so I can't say if quality is better with that (probably). i just wanted to give another opinion on the relatively negative reviews of TV-in cards from Moose and Tag.