I just recently bought a VCR, with the understanding that it would be a relatively simple matter to, instead of hooking it up to a TV (since I don’t own one), to hook it up to my computer monitor and speakers instead.
After visits to two different computer stores, this appears to not be the case. One told me there’s nothing that will do the trick, the other tried selling me a $200 TV card that will essentially just turn my computer into a TV. (For that price, I might as well just buy an actual TV.)
I need the straight dope. Is there a device that I can use to marry the VCR to my computer output devices? Or will I need to get a TV (or turn my computer into one) to enable my kid to watch “Celebrity Deathmatch: Barney vs. the Teletubbies”?
“Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.
The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.”
– Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective
If you still have an old CGA monitor (that’s the Apple II and original PC-era) with audio speaker, you’ll find your VCR works wonderfully with it. However, if you’re trying to hook a VCR into a modern (anything after about 1988) monitor, yes, you will need to get a card. I haven’t checked the prices on them, but you’re looking for a card that allows you to do video presentations on your PC.
But for all the hassle, you’d be better off waiting for the next big sale (President’s Day?) and spending $99 or $119 at your local appliance store for a 13" color TV. It will probably even have a remote.
I’m not sure what the intent is, cmkeller, but I remember seeing in an electronics store a small TV with a built-in VCR that wasn’t too expensive (maybe in the $200-$300 range.) A friend of mine also has one (a slightly bigger model) in a separate room, and the TV isn’t attached to an antenna; it’s only used for videotape replay.
Do what I do: buy a second-hand Amiga monitor for about fifty bucks from a garage sale or co-worker and connect its composite-video input (the RCA jack) to the VCR’s video output. Set the slide-switch on the front of the monitor to display “composite [analog] video” rather than “digital” or “separated” analog video input.
PC monitors are a whole different story… Most of them have much higher resolution than analog TV, and completely different scanning rates and resolution, so connecting composite-video is difficult.
Using an Amiga monitor works because Amiga monitors are among the few that can display North American NTSC video without need of fancy accessories. The Amiga could also handle European PAL video; I am not certain whether a different model of monitor was required. This is because the video-output of the Amiga itself, like the Commodore-64 before it, was designed around the video standard of television.
I’ve seen other so-called ‘multimedia’ monitors that are designed to accept television video as well as various flavours of non-Amiga computer video, but I’m not sure how common they are. The two markets have been very separate.
The Amiga monitor also provides a damn good pre-HDTV analog video picture. It also has a speaker, but I run my VCR’s sound through my stereo.
Well, the intent is pretty much what it sounds like: I don’t want a TV in my house, but I do want myself and my family to be able to watch videos. We already have a video output device (i.e., the computer monitor) and an audio output device (the computer’s speakers). I figured that there’s probably a device that will allow me to connect one to the other. Of course, if said device is more expensive than a TV, I’ll just bite the bullet and buy the darned TV. However, I figured I’d give this board a try before I did so.
I have a video in card for my computer, and that works fine for me. I bought it (an obscure OEM thing) on ebay for $15, but new in a store TV Tuner cards run kind of expensive. You can get one for less than $80 easy, but you could also get an external device like Snappy or Connectix Quick Clip for pretty cheap.
If what you want is a TV to play movies on but you don’t want it to pick up TV broadcasting, you should buy a TV and just not hook it up to anything but the vcr. Without being connected to roof mounted antenna or cable tv, it won’t pick up anything on its own, except maybe a very static-y reception of an extremely strong signal.
An actual TV would give you a much bigger viewing size, so I would go to the nearest pawn shop and pick up a crummy used one. If you are set on watching on the monitor, I would go to ebay and search for “video capture”. You can probably turn up a card for $20 or less but it probably won’t be the easiest thing in the world to get it working.
Hope this helps.
I don’t think I understand why you don’t want a TV in your house. If it is because you don’t want the TV programming to be available, then I agree with awldune, just don’t hook up an antenna. A TV card in your pc will receive TV programming which would be the same as having a TV. You can buy a cheap TV at a pawn shop and not have your pc tied up while the kid is watching a video.
There’s something called a “monitor” that some people at my church have. It’s basically a tv that can only be used with a vcr. It doesn’t pick up any channels it just receives signal from the vcr.
Is that something you’re looking for? I’m on my way home tonight and I can (maybe) find out where one buys this sort of item.
And maybe I am missing something here - but most VCR’s come with a built in tuner, right?
So you can set to different channels for taping…so no matter what you do to get a computer monitor to playback a VCR, you will end up with a “TV” set of sorts. (but, if you fail to set the channels on the VCR plug the VCR into a dead Cable outlet, then you’ll be all set (pun intended)).
Sounds like you are trying to avoid paying for a TV license or something - do you live in the UK?
Nope. NY, NY USA. I’m just one of those religious radical types who wants his children’s viewing to be extremely controlled…something which is much easier without a TV around, but of course, if it makes more sense in the end, we’ll get the TV and control it itself.
Maybe not a bad idea, but personally, the best parental control available is an actual parent. As there are two of us around, I’ll bet we’ll be able to manage.
As Powers106 has stated, almost all VCRs have tuners, so even if you do find a tuner-less monitor that can just display raw video, the VCR can be used to tune channels off the air.
You might be able to find a monitor with built-in VCR with no tuner- I think I’ve seen them at a library once, but they’re probably much more expensive due to low selling volume.
You could buy a TV and take it to a repair shop. They should be able to disconnect the antenna and cable inputs from the circuitry inside the TV, so it couldn’t be used for off-the-air reception (it must still have raw video inputs, though, to connect to the VCR). You’d have to do this to the VCR also. This solution is probably the cheapest if you want to make it impossible to receive TV signals. Later on you could take it back and have them hooked up again if you wanted. Make sure the TV has raw video inputs (RCA plugs), this is the only input you’d leave connected, for the VCR to plug into.
I vote with kunilou and sunspace. In actual fact, my vcr is connected directly to the monitor that I bought for my Apple IIe in 1985. The problem with newer technology is that it is designed for higher resolution, so the jacks and plugs are incompatible with vcr-quality pictures. Your monitor and computer are designed for a computer cable that has a half-dozen wires running through it, but the vcr just wants a lo-tech piece of antenna wire.
So the choices are:
– Look for a really old computer monitor that has old-style jack.
– Get a really cheap tv
Be aware that even if you had been able to connect the vcr to your current monitor, there is still that chance that the vcr might still pick up the tv signal from unusually strong tv stations. This would depend on a lot of factors, such as the local terrain, the current weather, and whether or not you are bothered by a slightly-to-very snowy picture.
One solution to that would be to override the vcr’s factory settings, so that when the vcr thinks it is showing you Channel 2, it is really picking up a different frequency, such as the nonexistent programming on Channel 8. Do the same for channels 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, et al, – except that some vcr’s might not allow you to manually control which frequency gets picked up.
Is it too late to return the vcr to where you bought it? I thought there are “Video Players” which have a screen built-in, and do nothing but play tapes.
Y’know, most TVs will let you block certain channels. If you block all the channels except 3, well, that should solve the problem. How old are the kids involved?
Obviously, you are a concerned and caring parent, and I can’t blame you for worrying. I would hope, especially with two parents keeping a watchful eye, you can monitor your children’s habits, and that your child would respect the rules that you lay down. There’s no technological substitute for good parenting, as you well know.
On the other hand, messing with A/V hardware is awfully fun. What you need is a light-meter, a pack of chewing gum, and a llama… No wait, that’s my little project…
Seems to me that, although the VCR does indeed have nearly all the same receiving components inside as the television, it still needs imput. If it is not hooked up to an antenna of some sort, be it cable or old-fashioned rabbit ears, you won’t get any stations. Unless, of course, your area has absolutely great reception (channel 2 is down the block, or something), your picture will not be worth watching. Actually, I have crystal-clear television, and it’s still not worth watching. Which may be your original point, I suppose…
Most of them have much higher resolution than analog TV, and completely different scanning rates and resolution, so connecting composite-video is difficult.