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My little 20" TV in my dorm room is apparently giving up the ghost, so it looks like it's time to replace it. I'm stuck in dorms for the next couple of years, so I need to stick with a small set. Nevertheless, I'm not entirely thrilled by the quality of the 20" models out on the market right now.My question is this: is there some way I can affordably scale video to work with a VGA monitor? That way, it could even do double duty for me. Sources would be my Toshiba DVD player (SD-2200, S-VHS and component outputs) and an SVHS VCR. I've seen a number of really inexpensive scalers on the market, with tuners built in, but I sometimes wonder if they're going to be better than a consumer TV. (Has anyone used any of these with any success?) There seems to be nothing between those ~$150 models and models well over $1,000.
If it would be helpful, I do have an old computer sitting around that I could use for this -- it's a Pentium II. Are there any S-VHS or component input cards available for less than, say, $200-300 that might do a good job of scaling up to 1280x1024 (or something close)? Or are there standalone scalers available that I just haven't found yet?
Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it.
Follow Ups:
When I worked at a local HT dealer, we tried the I-scan scaler and a 14" monitor, just for a laugh- and to prove to a customer how good a computer monitor could look!
We set the DVD player (a first gen Toshiba) to 16:9 and then 'squeezed' the video settings on the monitor using a THX optimode anamorphic pattern (get that circle round , there!!!) and ran a scene from Fifth Element (what else?).The image astounded even us jaded Seleco dealer employees! Seeing this crisp an image on a 'computer monitor' was VERY intriging. While it isn't in the league of true HD (you can see the vertical pixels on some fast moving scences, the monitors aren't THAT good!), it was worth the cost of admission (the I-Scan at the time was under $800 US).
Check it out, see if the height setting on your particular monitor will squeeze enough to get that THX optimode (or even Video Essentials) anamorphic (16:9) pattern right, and have a ball! Excellent personal HT, IMHO!!!
BTW, I do that up here in the studio when the wife HAS TO watch 'millionare'!
Good luck,
Dman
There is a video scaler available that plugs in between your computer and you monitor. When you turn it on, it controls the screen and displays whatever source you select that is plugged into it. When you turn it off, you get your computer screen back. There are no internal boards or software to load.
It has a composite, S-Video and audio inputs with a built in tuner. I have one in my demo room and it looks very good on a monitor. I have tried it on Hi-def crt and lcd projectors and it doesn't do as good a job as the IScan chip, so I wouldn't recommend for large venues. But it works great on the computer. It also has audio mini-jacks for plugging in your PC speakers. It has a remote with volume control too.
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