Can I connect a digital converter box to my LCD monitor?

Question

My regular TV is really small, so I need to be able to watch my digital television on my LCD monitor.

Answer 1

Sure, you could...if someone makes a converter that has the proper 15-pin D-SUB connection...AND if it sends out a signal that's compatible with that monitor.

Beleive it or not..a lot of computer monitors don't like a pure HD signal...just like HDTV's can't handle a monitor signal..so there would have to be some signal conversion. The actual answer to your question depends on if a converter box that does that exists..i'm not sure if they do.

Answer 2

Well, I have a DVI connector on my monitor, and if you set your  unit up with a DVI to HDMI connection, it should work fine as long as the resolution is 720p or 480p....I can't guarantee your 1080 output from your digital converter box will work, because MOST LCD monitors aren't true 1080 displays....

They make them, but they sure are costly....

Answer 3

Yes but that's probably not the way you want to do it.

What most people do is put an ATSC tuner in their computer. These come as both PCI cards and USB attachments. That way you can watch HDTV on your monitor, and if your computer is new enough you can use it as a DVR to record TV shows.

Assuming your monitor has a VGA connector, there are tuner boxes that were designed to convert monitors to analog TVs. These should be pretty cheap used. Just connect your converter to the tuner box and plug the special tuner box  into the monitor.

None of the cheap coupon type converters will have VGA outputs (the government specs don't allow them) but you can find stand alone ATSC tuners with VGA outputs. Not cheap though.