Game Console thru TV Tuner card?

[hsfnewbie]

Hi,

I've been doing quite a bit of research around the web and Anandtech, but I need some more feedback.

I would like to be able to watch TV and play my Gamecube on the monitor. What I was planning to do was to get the Asus or Leadtek tv tuner, and plug in the S-vid from my Gamecube into it. However, I heard the quality is sub-par compared to a TV. Can anyone please confirm and give me some more insight on how to do this and if decent quality is possible via a tv tuner card? I was looking at VGA boxes, but I am also not certain of their quality either.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Confused]

A TV Tuner card doesn't look as good as a TV does.


This is because a PC monitor is, on average, at least 1024x768 pixels, and is progressive scan (draws lines from top to bottom). A TV, is 768x576 for PAL, or 640x480 for NTSC, and is interlaced (draws all odd lines, then all even lines). So, the PC monitor is much "crisper" than a TV for stuff like text etc, but when it comes to playing consoles or watching TV through a Tuner card, it isn't, because the TV is "designed" (as such) to work on the lower resolution, and the interlaced screen.


It is by no means unplayable, however the visual quality isn't quite as good as a TV.

VGA boxes, however, is the total opposite!!! I used my TV Tuner card for my Dreamcast, then was able to get a VGA box for it, and the difference was night and day. It was much crisper than it had ever been on a TV tuner card, and it was also much better than even my TV was!!


I recommend that you get a VGA box if you can, I'm pretty sure you won't regret it



Confused

 

[sojumk]

Originally posted by: Confused
A TV Tuner card doesn't look as good as a TV does.


This is because a PC monitor is, on average, at least 1024x768 pixels, and is progressive scan (draws lines from top to bottom). A TV, is 768x576 for PAL, or 640x480 for NTSC, and is interlaced (draws all odd lines, then all even lines). So, the PC monitor is much "crisper" than a TV for stuff like text etc, but when it comes to playing consoles or watching TV through a Tuner card, it isn't, because the TV is "designed" (as such) to work on the lower resolution, and the interlaced screen.


It is by no means unplayable, however the visual quality isn't quite as good as a TV.

VGA boxes, however, is the total opposite!!! I used my TV Tuner card for my Dreamcast, then was able to get a VGA box for it, and the difference was night and day. It was much crisper than it had ever been on a TV tuner card, and it was also much better than even my TV was!!


I recommend that you get a VGA box if you can, I'm pretty sure you won't regret it



Confused

where can i get a VGA box for PS2?

 

[oLLie]

I have a VGA box for the Dreamcast and like the other guy said, it's SO CRISP and beautiful. It goes like this: VGA Box > TV > TV tuner.

The thing is... I heard that PS2's don't output RGB natively so the difference between TV and VGA box may not be as dramatic as with Dreamcast. Instead of taking the RGB and passing it to the monitor like with the Dreamcast, the PS2 VGA box just takes the signal and converts it to RGB.

This is all just what I heard tho, so YMMV hehe. My suggestion would still be to go the VGA box route.