HD TVs as a PC monitor

In the past most traditional CTR televisions were not compatible with a PC 'personal computer'. For the majority of the 80's and 90's computers used the 'Video Graphics Array' (VGA) display hardware which produced a resolution of 640×480 and above.

Created in the 1980's by IBM, VGA was a step forward in computer display technology, but was very incompatible with the normal broadcast technologies used by televisions (NTSC and PAL).

Therefore little effect was ever made to develop a widespread convertor for VGA to NTSC or PAL. VGA cable, you wont find many TVs with a VGA socket on the rear.

Only recently has compatibility between TVs and PC's become a possibility. As the analogue signal of most TV and PC displays becomes obsolete the next step forward has been digital.

- DVI

With the advent of HD ready TVs and dvd players, most of these appliances are fitted with either a DVI or HDMI socket, or both.

At the same time most PC video cards (the component PC monitors are plugged into) and monitors are coming fitted with DVI sockets. Therefore the previous incompatible analogue systems of VGA and NTSC and PAL are no longer an issue.

The new age of digital signals has ensured at last that PCs and TVs are incorporating compatible systems.

If your LCD/Plasma TV has a PC 'in' socket it's really just a matter of purchasing the correct cable and plugging it into your video card (PC). The 'plug and play' nature of Windows and digital systems will do the rest.

The only thing you may need to alter is the display settings in Windows. First click on 'Control Panel' on the Windows start menu, and here you can alter the resolution and vertical frequency Hz of your display,