Use a monitor with the pandora?

[mclien]

I found no hardware question, so I post here.


I understand that the video out of the pandora is s-video and composide. So I want to buy a new monitor for my desktop PC soon, I asked mysef if there is any way to get the pandora connected to it (when I finally get it). These days Monitors seam to have no s-video inputs, but DVI,HDMI,displayport and vga (while the last gets mor rarely). Is there any adaptor to one of the common inputs of monitors that will do the trick?

 

[WizardStan]

Not for cheap. There are USB video adapters that people have used to get a better resolution for use on monitors but those aren't cheap either.


What are you hoping to accomplish? You may be better off buying a flat screen TV instead of a monitor.

 

[mclien]

The main idea was to spare a Desktop PC. For normal usage the pandora is powerfull enough to substitude my standard PC (mailing, surfing etc).


Would be nice to have my "normal" Desktop PC in my pocket. But if the trick somehow wouldn't work I can just use the Monitor with another PC.


So I have a video projector for watching TV since a couple of years, another TV screen would be some sort of redundancy.


EDIT:


And there aren't Adapters from s-video to hdmi?

 

[skeezix]

You can get various-to-HDMI or DVI adapters, but they tend to be expensive; TVBs and Monitors are the same panels these days, the extar cost for a TV is due to the receiver and adapter and all that built in .. if you can find a deal on a 1080p TV, then it'd double as a perfectly fine monitor as well, but with all the extra inputs.. question is, is a TV cheaper than an adapter, etc. Heck, you can get a monitor with multiple HDMI inputs, and if your TV is ocming in via satellite or xbox or the like, you really don't need the extra bits.. so often, for TV viewing, you shoudl buy a monitor anyway, since they're cheaper..


.. such a mess out there these days, when cars and dishwashers have computers in them, etc.. everything blending together


I saw a 26" LCD TV the other day here in Toronto for $189 not even on sale, with HDMI, DVI, VGA, Compoosite amnd svideo and cable inputs. Like _damn_.


jeff

 

[mclien]

Perhaps I should watch out for TV with the HDMI, DVI, VGA, Compoosite and svideo, which has a brokern TV-receiver


And yes I don't have the need of a TV receiver in the display since ... about 15 years (since I run linux-vdr). So the question is at least what ist cheaper: Monitor plus Adapter or TV with useless receiver... (perhaps the last one).


..so, yeah basicly a mess...


BTW: why has the pandora a s-video output instead of a dvi/hdmi/or ever vga? (ok, dvi and hdmi weren't out when openpandora started, but vga?)

 

[kuru]

Camping/car TVs often come with s-video and/or composite. Might want to look for a used one though, as everything that goes with motor homes or car tuning is at least twice the price of what it's actually worth.

BTW: why has the pandora a s-video output instead of a dvi/hdmi/or ever vga? (ok, dvi and hdmi weren't out when openpandora started, but vga?)

Have you looked at the size of a VGA port compared to the Pandora? And the SOC doesn't feature it AFAIK.

 

[WizardStan]

So you want a "desktop" that you can just pick up and take with you? That's a tricky one. Come back in a few years and the Pandora 2 will probably be your perfect device. In the meantime, if this is what you really want, a cheap TV is probably the best bet.


Alternatively you can experiment with some of the low power ARM computers. The BeagleBoard-xm costs about the same as an svideo->hdmi adapter ($150), is more powerful than the Pandora, and will actually give you full desktop resolutions through a DVI/HDMI port in a package about the same size as the Pandora (minus built in screen and keyboard). I have an older revision BeagleBoard which I frequently use for simple tasks like chatting and email. There are many other such computers coming out that you can investigate too.

 

[SNESFAN]

Is there any "upscaling" devices out there that will convert s video or composite to vga/dvi?


I know it might be expensive but i sort of want the same thing. A new flat panel would do the same thing, but i already have a decent 24 inch monitor for my desktop, hoping not to buy another display if i dont have to

 

[TrashyMG]

^yeah tons, but like people said you can buy another TV for the price of them.

 

[frefol]

I bought a S-video/composite to vga adapter for about 35 USD. It is the VTimage VT-521. I just tried it with the TV out cable I just built and it works good enough. I will have to test if my cable or the cheap adapter makes the image a little fuzzy.

 

[SNESFAN]

I bought a S-video/composite to vga adapter for about 35 USD. It is the VTimage VT-521. I just tried it with the TV out cable I just built and it works good enough. I will have to test if my cable or the cheap adapter makes the image a little fuzzy.

Thats not that bad, link?

 

[Agrajag]

I bought an unbranded s-video to hdmi converter for £49 last month to connect old consoles to my new TV. Just looked on Amazon and found there's a Cablesson model for only £30, reduced from £101.

 

[frefol]

I bought a S-video/composite to vga adapter for about 35 USD. It is the VTimage VT-521. I just tried it with the TV out cable I just built and it works good enough. I will have to test if my cable or the cheap adapter makes the image a little fuzzy.

Thats not that bad, link?

I can't remember exactly where I bought it but here is an ebay auction for the same thing for around the same price.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&item=320714989219&nma=true&rt=nc&si=kTbsKlJGGo7uTLBD%252FDZvXk8u4zg%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc


I also found it on DealExtreme for $37.70

 

[SNESFAN]

little more pricey, but I think I found what I was looking for


http://www.amazon.com/Koolertron-YPbPr-Video-Converter-Upconverter/dp/B006LWRX2O


look good?

 

[frefol]

That looks better than the one I bought. I only got the VTimage thing because I needed the VGA output.

 

[WizardStan]

Oh yeah, svideo->vga adapters (and vice versa) are pretty cheap now, I hadn't thought of that. Was too caught up in the HDMI adapters. From the look of things even those are coming down. I'd still be careful about any that claim to upscale for under $100 though, odds are your TV/monitor has a better upconverter, at least that was the situation last year. Things could have changed since then.

 

[hitbyambulance]

here in the US, i can go to the craigslist.org listing for my city at any time and find many people giving old CRT TVs away - a 13" TV with RCA inputs as a Pandora monitor would be funny to have (maybe it could even have an integrated VCR/DVD player?).

 

[Trezker]

Time to make a Pandora dock?

 

[Wootson]

Why would you want to go crazy with all those converters when you can just hook up a Philips S-line, 54,6 cm (21,5"), USB-monitor (221S3UCB)? It has power and video via one single USB cable, and with the right drivers it should work out of the box. It costs about 175 euro.

 

[mclien]

Time to make a Pandora dock?

Perhaps... I could do the case part (including prototype parts from shapways or alike). If somebody is willing to design the ciruit and the PBC, I've very short way to make some prototype boards (my wife works in a company, which builds PCBs in minor to small series)