Design: 2 monitors/HDTVs/graphics Cards

[RhoTu]

Hello All,

Could use a little help designing a system to be used in my home.

Goal: In our kitchen, I would like to be able to have two screens that could either display:
1. the same content simultaneously
2. one with computer info and the other media from cable or blu-ray.

1080p quality capable for both.

My wife will want to be able to display recipes from files or web while daughter watches television or does homework. I'll be in the basement doing my own thing!

HDTV's or monitors (32 inch max)?
2 graphics cards or dual card?

hard switched or software?

Ideas?

TIA

 

[Billb2]

And who's going to be doing the switching from TV to recipes to movies, and from what computer and where will that computer be located?

Wife <hollers down basement stairs> "Hey honey, I need the recipe for the ..fill in the blank.. and ...fill in the blank.. wants to watch ...fill in the plank....

Perhaps if you answer those questions the folly of what you propose will be apparent.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: Billb2
And who's going to be doing the switching from TV to recipes to movies, and from what computer and where will that computer be located?

Wife <hollers down basement stairs> "Hey honey, I need the recipe for the ..fill in the blank.. and ...fill in the blank.. wants to watch ...fill in the plank....

Perhaps if you answer those questions the folly of what you propose will be apparent.

The idea isn't quite that bad when you just look at the functionality requirements a bit more and ignore the OPs idea to throw it all into one PC. You could do something with MythTV or GB-PVR and have a shared back-end server (for centralized media /TV access) with separate client PCs in the two locations. Not sure about Myth, but GB-PVR allows you to do in-GUI web browsing.

Trying to stuff it all onto one PC for cost reasons isn't going to work, however.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Yikes. Just build two really cheap HTPCs.

What you want sounds like a really BAD idea.

 

[RhoTu]

Maybe the folly of what I want was asking for an opinion here.

I'm sure my post wasn't as clear as necessary but I currently have in my office a single computer with a video card with two ports and am able to display a cable TV input on one monitor with a media window full screen and continue to work on the other monitor. It's just not all 1080p at this time. I don't think I am really asking for that much more.

The computer, keyboard and mouse will be in the kitchen where my wide doesn't have to holler anywhere and my daughter will be there at the desk/counter working on here homework as well. Sometimes during dinner we like to watch a program and sometimes my wife or I are cookiing and would like to watch as well but can't see the screen. Hence the question.

two computers with two keyboards and mice seems overkill.

 

[elconejito]

Any decent video card will output 1080p. It isn't that intensive for a GPU. A low power ATI 4350 will be just fine. The trick, is that those cards will only come with one HDMI. Many come with dual DVI's though, so if the TV/monitor supports DVI, then you should be OK.

A TV tuner should be <$100 and support NTSC and/or ATSC/Clear QAM. That will let you watch the digital, unencrypted TV channels. If you want to watch HBO in HD you'll need something like the the Hauppaugge HD-PVR, but I think thats about $200.

If either your wife or daughter are savvy enough to switch outputs from extended desktop to cloned, then you should be just fine. It will otherwise be just a regular PC.

 

[aE0n]

I may have missed something, but I don't see where he says he needs the media(cable, blueray) to be coming from the computer. The computer can have 2 outputs, 1 to each TV.
The the blueray/cable can go straight to the HDTV like normal.

This will make things simple for switching between sources at the TV and not require any tuners.

With this setup, you will only need a graphics card with 2 DVI outputs at miniumum with 2 DVI-HDMI converters.

 

[mindwreck]

TV at 1080p that fine, but why do you want to get a separate Tv tuner for that when you can just get a HDTV. blu-ray can come from the computer but no need to have a separate tuner when the TV itself can handle that. When the daughter needs to do hwk, it will be used as a monitor. most HDTVs nowadays have dvi/vga/hdmi inputs.

do the recipes really need to be at 1080p? I don't see the point in recipes at 1080p res but whatever. 2nd HDTV and another DVI or hdmi cable, done.

important thing is a video card with dual DVIs or dvi and HDMI outputs. Then you teach them how to change the dual screen settings and all is well.

 

[RhoTu]

Thank you all for your suggestions. Just to clarify, there are currently no HDTVs, cards or moniors. This is a design question. We have a cable feed that currently can only be changed by the converter, not by a tuner. I will buy another computer just for this space. The questions are:

1 should we use flat screen monitors or hdtv's for display(one will hang on a wall).
2 would dual cards or a dual port card be better. I can split the cable feed but it will be the same station.

Thanks

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: RhoTu
Thank you all for your suggestions. Just to clarify, there are currently no HDTVs, cards or moniors. This is a design question. We have a cable feed that currently can only be changed by the converter, not by a tuner. I will buy another computer just for this space. The questions are:

1 should we use flat screen monitors or hdtv's for display(one will hang on a wall).
2 would dual cards or a dual port card be better. I can split the cable feed but it will be the same station.

Thanks

1 Card

I would probably go with 2 monitors because they are usually cheaper than a comparable TV

 

[elconejito]

At bigger sizes wouldnt a TV be cheaper? The larger LCD monitors usually have very high-res, which jacks up the cost. Like a 30" monitor is at 2500x1600 and is probly over a grand. Whereas a cheapo LCD TV at 30" is still displaying only 1080p and it's maybe 400 bucks.

Agree with the 1 card with dual outputs.

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: elconejito
At bigger sizes wouldnt a TV be cheaper? The larger LCD monitors usually have very high-res, which jacks up the cost. Like a 30" monitor is at 2500x1600 and is probly over a grand. Whereas a cheapo LCD TV at 30" is still displaying only 1080p and it's maybe 400 bucks.

Agree with the 1 card with dual outputs.

Yes if he looks to larger end (32"+) TV will be cheaper

If he looks to lower end 24" Monitor will be cheaper