Purchasing a new flat screen television set could be costly to the extent that your budget may not handle; however, if you have an old computer monitor, a reasonable one time investment is required to convert it into a full fledged television set. The computer monitor need not be old, a new monitor in use can as well be converted into a television set while its still attached and used on your computer. Another option for converting your computer monitor into a TV is through a TV tuner card; however, in this case, the CPU will still be used to access your favorite TV channels.

Whether you have an LCD or CRT monitor, converting to a TV takes few simple steps; the only difference in carrying out this steps on LCD and CRT comes on available options. CRT computer monitors have many available options to convert into a television set than an LCD monitor, one major example is using a TV motherboard; today, TV motherboards compatible with CRT monitors are readily available than LCDs considering the age of technology. LCD is a more recent technology which use liquid crystals to filter light making an image, on the other hand, CRT monitors which stands for cathode ray tube have been in existence for a while.

Steps to convert your computer monitor into a TV;

  • Consider the available internal and external TV tuner which can be used on a computer system. Major components to look for include; HD, DVI, Component video, stereo, s-video, surround sound and other relevant features. Internal TV tuner card must be compatible with your computer’s expansion slots.
  • Incase your computer monitor has coaxial input , RCA input, or S- video input a regular TV tuner should work just fine. These components can be found at the back of your monitor; in many cases they are usually clearly marked to distinguish from each other. If you’re your computer monitor lacks these components, other available options include;
  1. TV tuner cards compatible to VGA cable of your computer
  2. TV motherboard to replace monitor motherboard
  3. Internal/External TV tuner cards attachable on expansion slots or USB ports of your computer

  • Connect your TV tuner card depending on supported connection method i.e. S-video or VGA cable.
  • Connect TV tuner audio output to computer speakers input or connect external speakers in the same manner.
  • Install a TV tuner antenna to have a better reception of available free to air channels.
  • Scan and store available television channels
  • Hybrid TV tuner cards are the best; however, a little costly than digital and analog tuners due to their ability to receive both digital and analog signals.