I hope this fits here, but a question for people that use there TV as a PC monitor.

[Spellsong]

Since I will have the ability to converter my PC monitor to TV, I am wondering if emulation will be much better on there fullscreen? I mean by not having to use filters or any of that since its on a real screen. This guide got me the idea to do this.


http://www.nesplayer.com/technical/emu-to-tv.htm

[Jale]

Just get a card with S-Video or TV-Out port, a cable and set your emulation resolution to 640x480. Now you have two modes of display: Interlaced and Progressive. Either way, they'll work fine on a standard 4:3 (non plasma) TV, but to achieve the maximum sharpness, I suggest you to use the interlaced mode.

Consoles use Progressive mode.

[Spellsong]

I have to settle with a S-Video to composite converter since my TV does not have an S-out. My video card does. I am waiting for that to come in the mail. My TV is not one of those new gen ones. Only have one video and audio input. No S-Video, HD, or anything like that.

[Zach]

edit: nevermind

[Jale]

I have to settle with a S-Video to composite converter since my TV does not have an S-out. My video card does. I am waiting for that to come in the mail. My TV is not one of those new gen ones. Only have one video and audio input. No S-Video, HD, or anything like that.
That's the one you need. Make sure your driver is set to clone your monitor or extend it to your TV, but I see it more comfortable by cloning your display (same image for monitor and TV).

You can do this when you get that cable.

[Spellsong]

What is interesting is I found an option for 640x480 in my display setting. So I should be ready. Thanks. I would like to here experiences as well. Does it look as good as if it was from a console? No more tweaking the video to get a good picture? That sort of thing. I did use some Xbox emulators, but I rather use more updated ones that are on the PC only, and it feels more convenient playing it off my computer, and entering cheats are a breeze thanks to copy and paste for most emulators. Another thing is that I am tired of my computer screen getting darker when I go fullscreen. Its even worst with a video card than with integrated graphics. I can't even play Warcraft II anymore on my computer screen because of the annoying darkness. My TV should fix this, I hope.

[Jale]

Some computer games are not designed to be played on TV. Let's take fonts for instance. If they're too small, there won't be a problem with a monitor, but it'd look blurry on a TV.

[Spellsong]

Hmmm. Can you give me some examples of what games will have problems?

[Zach]

Real Time Strategy, RPG's, some Flight/Space Sims, Online Games.

ANY game which relies on text in a small font will suffer because it will likely be unreadable. You should be able to get by on most FPS games though.

As for emulation. All the classic systems should be fine.. Maybe even N64 and newer - I haven't tried those, just the classics

[Ryanfaescotland]

Have you got this going yet?

[Spellsong]

For about a month now. I am never going back to a PC monitor again. Games looks so much better on tv. I didn't realize how wrong emulation look on a PC comparing to a TV. I should have done this years ago! No more hassles, graphics filters or anything.

[Ryanfaescotland]

Cool think I'll give this a try since my laptop has what looks like TV out ports.

[Spellsong]

^You will not regret it.

[Ryanfaescotland]

This the right cable yeah? God I really am loving Maplin just now (http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=28795&criteria=s%20video%20cable&doy=4m7)

[Spellsong]

I don't know if that one will work or not. I used this one I linked to. The price is USD but I'm sure you can find one that is close to home. What I used was similar to a generic S-Video cable. Since my TV does not have an S-output, I had to use this...


http://tinyurl.com/2t6md2



Since you are using your (VCR?), you can just use a plain S-Video cable similar to the one on that website you showed me, but made for PC to TV crossover. You don't have to worry about quality of the desktop much on your TV since all you are going to do is play games. Be warned. Its not good for PC games.

BTW you can use the same thing. Ignore people when they say S-Video is better. But that only matters if you are going to use your TV as as a PC monitor.

[Ryanfaescotland]

You know what I never even thought about the fact you don't know about my computer or tv/video setup so how the hell should you be expected to know if it's the right cable or no?!? :o

It is I'm pretty sure I'll probably buy one soon. It'd be pretty cool to have a dedicated machine just for rom playing <<Goes off to check if the old pc in the cupboard has S-Video Out port>>

[Spellsong]

If not, then get a S-Video to RCA converter like I did.

[Ryanfaescotland]

Hmm the old comp doesn't have usb ports so ma controller wouldn't fit it. Plus I'm a bit short on sockets where the tv is :)

[Spellsong]

O. I see.

[Zach]

I have personally seen the difference between S-Video and RCA and let me tell you it is night and DAY. S-video is flat out better all around. You will never get your desktop looking great when using either unless you stick the desktop in 640x480 or something (you need component cables and an HDTV for higher resolutions, which I have and it is pretty nice) but in terms of overall picture quality, it is there. Especially on older TV's. It can mean the difference between unreadable and readable text at distance.

[Ryanfaescotland]

Really don't care about how the desktop looks on the TV just the emulated games (Snes, MD, PS1) and since they're made for normal TV I take it they'll look fine.

[Zach]

Yeah games will look fine.. The point of my post was to counter something said that simply wasn't accurate

[Spellsong]

I have personally seen the difference between S-Video and RCA and let me tell you it is night and DAY. S-video is flat out better all around. You will never get your desktop looking great when using either unless you stick the desktop in 640x480 or something (you need component cables and an HDTV for higher resolutions, which I have and it is pretty nice) but in terms of overall picture quality, it is there. Especially on older TV's. It can mean the difference between unreadable and readable text at distance.




Yeah games will look fine.. The point of my post was to counter something said that simply wasn't accurate



What that was my point. I guess I was not clear enough. I was talking about the emulator quality on a non S-video TV. We all know the text is not going to be great.

[Spellsong]

Can you get a picture or describe what is wrong?


No Colors
Fuzzy screen?
Rolling image?

[Ryanfaescotland]

Wouldn't waste your time Spellsong, I doubt she'll be back.

[Spellsong]

That was spam? I didn't recall it as....

[Zach]

Tacking on a URL in your sig to promote a site is considered spam, especially among folks who post a couple times and don't come back. It's nothing new and has happened over the years frequently

[gforce75]

As butters stated, enable interlaced mode because the pixels freshes themselves much better.

[Ryanfaescotland]

Finally went and got one and it is amazing! Ain't tried any games yet but watched a couple of downloaded tv shows and some YouTube and it is well* better. I use a laptop so you need to angle it right to get a proper picture which can be a pain for in bed** so use of the tv is great!

* was going to say infanittly better but not sure of the spelling and also read The Curious Incedent of The Dog in The Nighttime which made me think better of it since really it can't be infanitly better.

**No I'm not on about masturbating get your head out of the gutter.

[Spellsong]

I like how I can watch my DVDs on my computer, and I don't have to turn on the TV, and load up some DVD player (Xbox is a crap DVD player, and my I don't feel like turning on my PS2 all the time to play a DVD as well), and all that. I can even watch video files in fullscreen on TV, and at the same time, do what I usually do on the computer as if its just on TV. I love it.

[Spellsong]

Damn double post glitch!