PC to TV Screenshots
Not all PC to TV solutions are equal.
Our basic PC to TV converter is well suited to display pictures, video files, PowerPoint presentations etc., but it is not recommended for text based applications. Fine lines and small text will be blurred. In order for text to be easily legible, it is recommended that you use at least a 14 point font or higher.
One of the biggest limitations is the connection type. Composite or S-Video just will not support a very high resolution. If you want to use your TV for normal text based applications, like email, web browsing, spreadsheets etc, you will need a better video connection, like component, and probably need an HDTV. Standard TV’s will not support much better resolution than you can get out of the basic adapters.
An HDTV adapter will allow you to use text and pictures in much higher detail and clarity. Text will be clear down to 10 or even 8 point font (depending on the TV) HDTVs will still probably not be as clear as a monitor, and if you are using text, use a progressive resolution. (Interlaced text will appear to ’shake’) For example, if your TV supports 720p and 1080i set the resoltion close 1280 x 720 rather than the full possible resolution of 1920 x 1080.
In an effort to illustrate the differences, I used a couple of PC to TV solutions with our HDTV. This is not going to be great… I’m using a digital camera to take a picture of a TV. Everything will look better when you are sitting in front of it, but it serves to show a reference.
I used our popular, inexpensive PC to TV converter, our PC to HDTV converter, and a direct VGA connection. Straight VGA should be the best, because it does not require any signal modification or external conversion.
You can see from the table below (click for a hi-res image) that the pictures are all comperable. The PC to TV is not as bright, or as crisp as the HD and VGA solutions, but it is clear what the picture is.
The text on the other hand will show that there is a significant improvement from the standard PC to TV, and the PC to HDTV. The high quality adapter is legible down to 8 point font, and clear at 10. A significant improvement. VGA is better, but only slightly.
 |
 |
| SW-22050 Basic PC to TV, SW-4262 Basic PC to TV, and SW-20460 Basic PC to TV through S-Video | |
 |
 |
| SW-4280 PC to HDTV through Component (RGB) Video | |
 |
 |
| Straight VGA from PC to TV |
great article & shots. much appreciated!
Comment by evan213 — August 29, 2007 @ 9:20 am
Finally! A good explanation with pictoral backup of the quality difference of these converters! Many thanks for putting this together, very informative!
Comment by Brad — December 31, 2008 @ 8:39 pm
HDTV through Component (RGB) Video.
the above is listed as a connection. what is it and where would it go on the computer and the convert box to change pc signal to tv?
that you…
mark-arizona
Comment by Mark Severino — January 30, 2009 @ 9:23 pm
thanks…after 40 frustrating mins of looking i found your concise,understandable explanation that told this 50 yr old semi-luddite all i needed to know to buy and hook pc to tv so i can watch netflix instant stuff…thanks
Comment by calvin — February 11, 2009 @ 5:52 pm
I bought a cheap vga to component cable and all I got was a bunch of wavy lines. I work at an electronics store so I thought it was to go to be true without any sort of converter box. My graphics card has an s-video out on it so i used it on a normal tube tv and the text was very blurry. Now ill try a converter box from vga to component. Great job at showing what to expect. Thank you.
Comment by Tadd — February 17, 2009 @ 12:07 pm
Awesome! After reading this very helpful article I’m going to by your converter. If only all companies could be so straight forward with how their products work.
Comment by Justin — February 18, 2009 @ 11:47 pm
Thanks! Great article.
Comment by ken — February 21, 2009 @ 7:49 am
Great work, very helpful!
Vin
Comment by Vini — March 7, 2009 @ 7:57 pm
I just received the PC to TV converter SW-20460. Our projector cable from the computer is a coax about 110FT. long. This is a church projector application. The converter works, but we get a barely noticable transparant bar that slowly scrolls up the projector display. We are using the RCA output with a plug adaptor to go to the coax cable. The resolution has been switched from 800X600 to 1024X728, but the bar still exists. The refresh is 60HZ standard.
Comment by Charles Stark — March 11, 2009 @ 2:56 pm
thanks so much for this excellent post…when doing a search, the options are endless and unexplained.
Cheers!
Comment by Lwc2009 — March 15, 2009 @ 1:43 pm
Hi
I have a pc and a old t.v
I play netflick movies over my computer
and netflick has a program for $100
that will play their movies over the
t.v.
will your product do that?
Comment by jim johnson — April 16, 2009 @ 9:29 pm
This article didn’t mention PC(HDMI) to TV(HDMI) which should be much better than VGA to VGA.
Comment by John Li — May 1, 2009 @ 12:07 pm