can a pc monitor be used to play vcr tapes?

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Feb 8, 2007
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is there a cable adapter that would plug into the VGA jack on a monitor, that would convert this to RCA jack for old style video?
Thanks!
same Q for HDMI
 
Yes but its not quite that simple, you need a tv capture card installed in your pc, ou can then plug it directly into your vcr and copy movies across onto your pc. Capture cards are around 100 bucks for something that will do a half decent job
take 10 seconds to instal and your set. I use Winfast capture card ATM but have used 3-4 different brands over the years cant go past the hauppauge cards, all performed well though and all would have done the job your after, just make sure the capture card you chose has appropriate input connections on it.

Best of luck

KiM
 
There are also adapter/converters, but they can cost enough to consider a new flatscreen.

If your tapes are worth archiving, I'd follow AJ's advice and convert tape to digital. The tapes will soon be oxide dust and big drives are cheap.
 
I have one of these adapter that i can let go for very cheap, I dont use it anymore.

It make your PC monitor ( DB15 copnnector) able to receive S-Video or composite signal.

It's a small grey box with an AC adaptor.

Pm me
 
i haven't bought a pc or monitor yet. (still using 1998 analog webtv) so i was thinking if i buy a monitor, it has to work on analog and later someday i'd like to plug a pc into it.
i did see a few advertised with a composite video input, but they are probably large size...
thanks for the replies!
i'd liketo use it with a HDTV converter box too, not just the vcr.
webtv was so far ahead of the competition :lol:
i tried a pc at the library and the webtv works better still! (but the pc is much better than yrs ago)
 
Matt Gruber said:
i haven't bought a pc or monitor yet. (still using 1998 analog webtv) so i was thinking if i buy a monitor, it has to work on analog and later someday i'd like to plug a pc into it.
If I were you, I would just look for a small HDTV with inputs and control electronics for everything. TVs with VGA input are quite rare these days, but since you don't have a computer yet either, just make sure the one you get has digital video output (ie, pretty much any new desktop and most new laptops), so just get one with both digital and analog A/V inputs, which are still quite common.
 
you could download copies of the movies, as long as you own the originals it's legal :D
 
mud2005 said:
you could download copies of the movies, as long as you own the originals it's legal :D
Well...ish. Depends how you read certain laws. I'm sure the studios would argue differently, but you won't see me asking their opinion. :p
 
i returned 2 hdtv's due to crappy viewing angle. but, i see i will have to keep looking. LG makes good ones, my neighbor has a 19" with near 180 view.
 
Matt Gruber said:
LG makes good ones,
I have a mate who works in electrical store selling this sort of gear
he told me when i was looking for a new plasma to steer clear of LG, he told me LG products have the highest returns of any brand, they
look good but their quality is questionable. Checkout the Panasonic or Samsung LCD and Plasmas they have some nice units
for the price conscious buyer.

KiM
 
Personally if its a vcr tape worth keeping I would record to dvd then most pc's will play it and just use the dvd and save the tape as an archive and you can load dvd to hard drive for instant viewing
 
dingotookmybaby said:
Personally if its a vcr tape worth keeping I would record to dvd then most pc's will play it and just use the dvd and save the tape as an archive and you can load dvd to hard drive for instant viewing
i just record jay leno and then tape over it. i've saved a few shows, but the laughs get really old.
i've got some tapes from 30 yrs ago! i can't figure why i taped Phil Donahue in the 1st place. I'm taping over those too! Will a DVD last 30+ yrs? tapes sure do.
 
Matt Gruber said:
i've got some tapes from 30 yrs ago! i can't figure why i taped Phil Donahue in the 1st place. I'm taping over those too! Will a DVD last 30+ yrs? tapes sure do.
Nothing lasts forever. That's why digital is significant: you can copy to another piece of media without degradation.
 
Hi Tyler,
i agree, BUT
i have 7 remotes that took me a long time to learn.
so as long as it works, i am happy with it.
i just took back 2 hdtv's, not looking for more "excitement" a lot of the new stuff is junk
 
Need to have a freeking grocery cart to hold all of my remotes.
 
Regarding the composite (or S-video) to VGA adapter, there are probably lots of them available at very low cost nowadays, since many of them included the old analog TV tuners that now have no signal to pickup.

There are also many still made new with other features (including HDTV tuners or inputs, etc), but they're expensive. Some of the simpler ones are not too bad, like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707114 at $50 which does composite and S-video to VGA.

I have one by ViewSonic (Nextvision) that I saved when CompUSA shutdown, and I used to use it with my computer monitor to watch TV back when that was still possible without a digital converter and a perfect line-of-sight to the transmission tower. :( (without the LOS, most of the signals around here cut in and out with digital breakup and lost audio far too frequently to bother trying to watch anything)

But the VS adapter still works great to let me watch VHS stuff on the computer monitor (like all my old Xena tapes). ;)
 
amberwolf
thanks for the link!
right now, i'm considering a 7" TV at radioshack. With a small screen, i won't need my glasses.
it is $120. only drawback is no HDMI jack for a future pc, and that, is a BIG drawback.
 
Matt Gruber said:
With a small screen, i won't need my glasses.
Actually it's the other way around...unless you just mean that it will force you to have the screen really close in order to use it. The smaller a screen is, maintaining the same resolution, the smaller everything displayed on the screen is, usually making glasses more necessary, not less. Plus, there's a reason that 7" screen only has analog inputs...because the resolution is the same as an old TV (NTSC/480i/p), which would be almost useless for a PC.
 
i can read books fine no glasses.
so i hope to set the 7" screen at book distance, ~ 16 inches away.
i've been using an analog tv on the web since 1998, works fine, tho the print is larger. Webtv solved that in '97.
Will the 7" work? maybe not, but, it could. I've not seen a 7' tv in a store that was hooked up. It needs to be high resolution, i suspect.
Plan B is new glasses and use my 26" HDTV.
 
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