whiteknightoz Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 Wondering if you can help me with a Set Top Box. I have a few LCD monitors laying around and was going to put them in the kids rooms hooked up to a Set top box and use them as cheap LCD tv's. The STB therefore needs to have a D-Sub or DVI output so i can plug an LCD monitor into it instead of a TV. (I gather this means I need to get a HD box as I cant imaging any SD boxes having these outputs) Also not sure if any units are capable of this or not but I would like to be able to plug a DVD player or PS2/XBox into the STB and have it output onto my LCD monitor also, kinda like a AV pass through. Willing to buy second hand if anyone has what I am after and wants to get rid of it.
johndee Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 There are some SD boxes with VGA out (Digicrystal has/had one). I am not sure how successful they are though. JB
Timmy Downawell Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 Not sure if you'll find an SD box with VGA output, but something like this might be useful. You could plug a SD box into one input and the XBOX into the other? http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-Digital-Video-C...1QQcmdZViewItem EDIT: JohnDee is right, Digicrystal SDT-2000LCD has "800x600 ( RGB LCD Port only)" http://www.digicrystal.com.au/2000Spec.asp
whiteknightoz Posted April 9, 2007 Author Posted April 9, 2007 I dont mind buying a High Def unit and would probably prefer it if its cheap enough as its only the kids watching it. Keep the models coming ! Anyone tried this and can add comments on the output quality?
dryfry Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 The Footy aka DGTEC HD stb are going cheap at several electrical shops
alanh Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 All, If you can get an STB with an HDMI output, you can get an adaptor to DVI, and you can also get adaptors between DVI and 15 pin D Sub plugs. AlanH
whamcs Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 Hi WhiteKnightoz, There are a couple of HD boxes that can output VGA and HDMI/DVI simultaneously. These include the Topfield TF-7000HD and Teac DV-B820. Both are excellent HD boxes. Where you may have an issue is that the output from these boxes will be 50Hz. A standard computer monitor takes 60Hz. You will need to check the specs on the monitors to see if they will accept a 50Hz signal. cheers, Stephen
andy59 Posted April 11, 2007 Posted April 11, 2007 I tried my Legend SD LPVR-C into a Viewsonic WS LCD via Component to VGA and it didn't work with the 50Hz signal. I am yet to try with a Legend HD STB via VGA to VGA which has a 800x 600 P setting in addition to 576P and 720P and 1080i @ 50Hz in VGA mode. The Legend Digital website FAQ for the LHD2/3 lists the frequencies and timings for their VGA output for connection to LCD monitors.
KernelPanic Posted April 11, 2007 Posted April 11, 2007 All,If you can get an STB with an HDMI output, you can get an adaptor to DVI, and you can also get adaptors between DVI and 15 pin D Sub plugs. AlanH You can not go from HDMI -> DVI and then to 15 pin D Sub.
mikemike Posted April 11, 2007 Posted April 11, 2007 What about this... http://www.avermedia.com/cgi-bin/products_...ox_d.asp?show=3 http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/index.php?re..._info.php?input[product_code]=AL-AVERTVDVB-T-STB7&input[category_id]=108 Cheers, Mike
I am Murphy Posted April 11, 2007 Posted April 11, 2007 Just over 90 days ago I purchased a new PC and it came with an LG 19" wide screen LCD monitor. The LG has 1 x DVI and 1 x VGA input. These scale to an internal native resolution of 1440 x 900 pixels. The VESA standard allows it to take a range of input signals. I experimented at the time with my Momitsu dvd player and TEAC 820 HD STB, using only the DVI connections. 1) TEAC stb. Technically, it worked. However, this wide screen panel is a 16:10 format screen, so the images were stretched vertically. Picture filled edge to edge. Visually, the picture quality was high, although stretched. I did not try a 4:3 LCD panel. 2) Momitsu dvd player. Technically, it worked. I remember adjusting the customisable DVI settings in the Momitsu to suit the LG panel and referred to a list of VESA timings at one stage. Since I was in "quick & dirty" mode I did not record exactly what settings I used. Display PQ & aspect ratio were acceptable if I wanted this as a permanent viewing combination. EDIT: Using a source with SD TV signals output from a DB15 connector (looks the same as PC monitor VGA input) to feed a computer display with DB15 connector for VGA input is a topic that has been discussed widely over the years. Google Search will produce a volume of hits. You may, or may not, be aware of the different vertical frequencies involved that cause incompatiblity, requiring the use of external (& usually, expensive) conversion / upscale / transcoder devices. Regards, RK
andy59 Posted April 23, 2007 Posted April 23, 2007 I finally got up the courage to try my Viewsonic 19 WS via DVI-D from my Legend LHD2 STB. Not sure about using 1080i I set the STB to 720P and fired things up. The monitor accepts the signal as 1280 x 720 so am not sure if that is what the STB is sending or the nearest resolution the monitor can handle. The monitor settings are H 38KHz, V 50Hz with pixel clock @62MHz. The display is perfect except for the vertical stretching due to it being a 16:10 ratio monitor(check the ch 10 logo for the circle). I don't find that a problem as all the chicks look nice and slim.
whiteknightoz Posted April 23, 2007 Author Posted April 23, 2007 Thats good news.. So if the monitor wasnt widescreen image would have been perfect?
tomohawk Posted April 23, 2007 Posted April 23, 2007 Tried plugging my Sansui HD receiver into the VGA PolyView LCD I've got. Said out of range on every mode HD I selected. Gave a max vertical res of 1024. The box must have either refused to output anything lower than 1080, but more likely, the LCD couldn't handle the 50Hz signal.
StevoMetalKING Posted April 23, 2007 Posted April 23, 2007 Hi i purchased the lst-6100p set top box from lg my dad got the exact same model when we tuned the stations in on his it picked up the electronic guides for 9 10 and 7 and brisbane 9 i live right near my dad and i tuned my stations in and i didnt get those channels but everything else came up.I had a tv friend of mine wh knows all about this stuff tell me the signal will drop out because of follage and etc but im wanting to know the reason why im not gettin those other channels is it because something is in the way of the signal or have i set the box up wrong please help thanx
whiteknightoz Posted April 23, 2007 Author Posted April 23, 2007 Tried plugging my Sansui HD receiver into the VGA PolyView LCD I've got. Said out of range on every mode HD I selected. Gave a max vertical res of 1024. The box must have either refused to output anything lower than 1080, but more likely, the LCD couldn't handle the 50Hz signal. I have two DVD players both with D-Sub connections, One plays fine on the LCD monitors while the other says out of range on every monitor I tried (5), guess its the same scenario. Now only if the DVD Player had inputs so I could plug the XBox in my problems would be solved...
Mining Man Posted April 24, 2007 Posted April 24, 2007 Wondering if you can help me with a Set Top Box. I have a few LCD monitors laying around and was going to put them in the kids rooms hooked up to a Set top box and use them as cheap LCD tv's.~ Just wondering... these monitors have in-built speakers?
andy59 Posted April 24, 2007 Posted April 24, 2007 Thats good news.. So if the monitor wasnt widescreen image would have been perfect? Something I forgot to try with mine was setting letterbox mode on the STB. I suspect that may have fixed the aspect ratio problem, giving black bars top and bottom with the 16:10 panel, rather than using fullscreen which is how it was set for the plasma. And yes, for the other poster, my Viewsonic has stereo speakers. With just the STB or PVR(better still) and the monitor you have one nice compact setup.
whiteknightoz Posted April 24, 2007 Author Posted April 24, 2007 some of the monitors have speakers whilst others dont but I was going to use some elcheapo PC speakers if I went this way.
Simo123 Posted April 30, 2007 Posted April 30, 2007 http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/p...;l=en&s=dhs ok the monitor here dell 22" looks alright and has a number of resolutions and refresh rates so if I got a HD stb with dvi and vga hopefully something should work?
Simo123 Posted April 30, 2007 Posted April 30, 2007 also I am looking at buying a legend HD STB LHD2 here are the refresh rate details (vga) VGA 576P - Hor(hz) 50, Ver(KHZ) 30.8 VGA 800x600P - Hor(hz) 50, Ver(KHZ) 32.1 VGA 720P - Hor(hz) 50, Ver(KHZ) 38.5 VGA 1080i - Hor(hz) 50, Ver(KHZ) 57.8 so one or another should work
whiteknightoz Posted May 21, 2007 Author Posted May 21, 2007 Simo, Howd it go with the Legend STB? How much was it ?
Harry1503559513 Posted May 28, 2007 Posted May 28, 2007 I do not think that PC monitors go low enough on refresh rate to be able to handle the Set Top box output which is 50 Hz vertical. Most monitors start at around 60Hz.
andy59 Posted May 30, 2007 Posted May 30, 2007 My Viewsonic VA1922 WS works and I finally found a spec in the manual that says it covers 50-85HZ.
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