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Hooking Up an HD Box
I currently have a subscription to HDTV with my cable company and I have to use an HD Box in order to be able to watch digital HDTV on my TV.
Only problem is that I don't have an HDTV to watch HDTV. But I do have a Dell 30" Widescreen Flat Panel LCD monitor hooked up to my PC that has a native 2560x1600 pixel resolution. My HD Box has connections for DVI, Optical Audio Out, S-Video Out, and 2 1394 connectors. My monitor has connections for DVI, VGA, S-Video, Composite Video, and Component Video.
Would it be possible to hook up my HD Box to my PC so that I can watch HDTV on my monitor or do I need to purchase a HDTV PC Tuner first?
BTW, I have an Asus Striker Extreme nVidia nForce 680i SLI motherboard with 2 BFG Tech GeForce 8800 Ultra OC video cards in SLI.
729
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Posted December 14th, 2007 20:00
flavaone,
It looks like you have the W3000 LCD TV, not the 3007WFP monitor. is that correct? if yes, read through this. All it mentions using component from a cable box. You just need to try the DVI to DVI and see what happens.
DELL-Chris M (old account)
#IWork4Dell
729
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Posted December 14th, 2007 20:00
Hi there,
I might be able to help you out a bit.
Firstly, 'I do have a Dell 30" Widescreen Flat Panel LCD monitor'....'My monitor has connections for DVI, VGA, S-Video, Composite Video, and Component Video.'
What model is this? The 3007WFP only has a single DVI connection and just two preset display resolutions - 2560x1600 and 1280x800. It would probably display the output from your HD box at 1280x800. Not very satisfactory.
If you have a new 3008WFP, congratulations! You should be able to hook the HD box up via DVI. According to the report, this new model has better input scalability. You'll need to connect the audio output to some amplified speakers.
edit: beaten by one minute
Message Edited by gpro on 12-14-2007 04:33 PM729
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Posted December 14th, 2007 23:00
I have the Dell 3007WFP.Can't I just connect a digital audio optical cable from my HD Box to my Striker Extreme motherboard, a S-Video cable from my HD Box to my 8800 Ultra video card, or component video connectors from my HD Box to my monitor?729
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Posted December 15th, 2007 01:00
Sorry, I missed that you said Optical Audio Out. You could connect that to the M/B but the PC would need to be on of course.
The mini DIN-like connector on the 8800 is an output. According to these specs, S-Video has a maximum resolution of 720x480 (Standard Definition). If you use the component dongle you can output 1920x1080 but I'm not sure if that is interlaced or progressive scan.
The 3007WFP doesn't have component inputs ( see picture).729
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Posted December 24th, 2007 17:00
Okay, so I hooked up the HD Box to my monitor via the DVI cable and I can watch HDTV just fine, but with no audio.I just want to make sure, can I hook up a digital optical audio cable from my HD Box to my motherboard? If I do that, I know that I will have to leave the computer on to hear audio, but will I get the audio coming from my HD Box to my speakers?729
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Posted December 24th, 2007 21:00
What about a Digital Audio Coaxial Cable from the HD Box to the S/PDIF on my motherboard, will that work?Because at the moment I have the RCA cables hooked up from my HD Box to my 5.1 surround sound system subwoofer and I'm not really liking the audio quality at all. Also, I only hear sound coming out of the front left and right speakers and not the rears or center.
Message Edited by flavaone on 12-24-2007 05:54 PM729
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Posted December 24th, 2007 21:00
It looks like the optical connections on the motherboard are outputs only. The audio expansion card has analog inputs.274
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Posted December 27th, 2007 17:00
Okay, I just placed an order for an Abit IN9 32X-MAX motherboard. It has connections for S/PDIF Optical In and S/PDIF Optical Out on the I/O Panel. Will I be able to hook up an Optical Cable from the Optical Audio Out on my HD Box to the S/PDIF Optical In on the motherboard and get full 5.1 surround sound on my 5.1 sound system when I watch HDTV on my HD Box? Also, will connecting the DVI connector from my monitor to my HD Box produce better picture quality than connecting it through the Component Video connectors?
flavaone
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729
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Posted December 14th, 2007 15:00