|
The header says it all. About once a minute, there is a horizontal line that runs down the screen for a couple of seconds (and it does this using different computers and different OS' and different different video files and different video display sources, so it IS the device and not the VGA output source or display input). It hooked up easily, worked with minimal adjusting and tweaking and no drivers needed. However, I bought this to run full screen *video* from my laptop to a projector for large group presentation, and it needed to be more or less seamless. Granted, this probably won't bother most people, but as seamless/prefect video was exactly/only what I bought the device for, it really limited its usefulness to me. For the price it's okay and even worked quite well 98% of the time, but just be aware of this flaw in this device before buying if you're buying it to display / present video from your computer and care about this sort of thing.
Its like taking a 10 megapixel still photo, printing out a postage-stamp sized print on your ink-jet printer and then scanning it back in and then wondering why the quality is degraded.But if Standard Def is fine for you (as it is for me), and you understand the limitations, then this will work well. Works great for watching Hulu and other streaming video sources. I only rarely watch television, and I have not felt the urge yet to go out and spend hundreds or thousands on a super-duper 95 inch super ultra 1080i LED flat screen. Picture looks just like its from a cable box or dvd player.As someone else noted, you'll have to make sure to switch from PAL to NTSC if you're in North America (default is PAL). There are many better ways to do it with a hi-def tv than with a scan converter; scan converters are meant for old-style standard def tv's which have no other input options than composite or S-Video. If I wanted to, I could have probably fiddled with the "zoom" and positioning controls, but for what I wanted to use it for: watching streaming video (primarily old tv shows) off the web full-screen, that was unnecessary. Do not expect HD quality.To the person who gave this a bad review because they ran the composite output of this into a dvd recorder and tried to upscale it to 720p with an hdmi output: your doing it wrong.
The edge-to-edge effect with the tv cutting a bit off the edges is how we have watched tv for decades.I am running mine through a Philips HDD DVD recorder, simply because that was the device that had convenient A/V jacks on the front in my rack. Of course, the edge of the desktop was rolled off the edge of the screen on all four sides, but this is because of the nature of old-fashioned SD CRT televisions: they are actually designed to cut off some of the picture so that there is no "wasted" space. Probably it helps with some of the signal processing as well.It is important for buyers to have correct expectations with this device, however: you should not expect crisp PC-monitor-like graphics and easily readable text fonts. At 800x600 with a big enough tv, it might work reasonably well as an ok monitor for occasional things.
Works great right out of the box. If you want crisp, hi-def output on a hi-def tv that has hdmi, then why not just get a gadget that converts VGA directly to HDMI (they do exist, I believe), or get an HDMI output card on your computer. Many hi-dev tv's even have a VGA port, so you can just plug your PC into it directly (or a DVI port, which can be easily converted as well). Of course you are going to get bad results when you take a hi-res computer image, shrink it down to DVD or VHS-quality video, then try to magnify it through "upconverter" circuits. Likewise if you use an LCD with this device it will be the same because the composite and S-Video inputs on even an LCD tv are designed to accept and display a signal of CRT-tv quality. Don't expect to use your TV as a computer monitor with this device--its for displaying power-point slides, video and still photos. This is configured with dip switches.I did not have to deal with the problem of the settings having to be readjusted after every use (that WOULD be annoying), because I didn't really have to adjust anything. I bought this to show old tv reruns to my kids on demand, and it works great for that.
Your old-style CRT television is simply not capable of producing a high-res image and was never designed to display computer output. Sorry but that's just the nature of this beast. We just got done watching the third episode of the original 1960's Addams Family on my 32" Zenith CRT I bought for $25 at the Salvation Army, and it worked perfectly.Bottom line: if you don't require high-def, and you understand the limitations, this will work well. If you want PC-monitor-quality output with a hi-def tv, look for a different solution.
I wanted something to watch my netflix movies on and the thing they push on their site is good only for netflix. So the 4 stars. I have a old crt tv about 30 feet away from my computer and I ran a JDI GoldX With Premium Connector - Video cable - composite video - RCA (M) - RCA (M) - 50 ft - double shielded coaxial I bought here at Amazon from my computer to the tv.
This works perfectly for that. I have a y connector running from my computer to my tv for sound or if the pc is in same room just use the sound off of that. I like to watch all kinds of tv shows and movies from all the streaming media sites such as Hulu,Fancast,Youtube,and [.].
Set up was in minutes It was really easy. It has controls for settings hue, contrast,brightness,to get the picture to look right. After messing around with that for about ten minutes it started to look decent.
I think that this little gem is good only for videos and pictures and not for reading small words on a tv cause the words will look blurry. I pay for high speed cable and with this device I can get more bang out of my buck by watching my favorite tv shows and movies on my tv at home.
I needed to obtain a separate power chord as it did not work of the USB connection.
In the picture, you see two VGA ports, one is VGA in (from your computer) and one is VGA out. I bought it to use with my Optoma Pico Projector PK101 because it can not be connected directly with computer. its simple and easy to use. Another good thing about this converter is that it runs on your USB power so its really portable too. But it does not affect performance. The only concern I have is that when I use connect my projector with laptop using this converter, my projector does not give me as sharp a picture as it would give me when I connect the projector directly to a DVD player.
Why I gave it 4 stars. There are not many buttons or options to choose from, I haven't even tried all those buttons which are there. So, you can connect an external monitor with this too in addition to being able to see your computer screen on a TV or a projector. But you probably won't feel the difference while watching a movie. Its good stuff for the price. Because of not real sharp picture that I get and the inflexible VGA cable which makes it difficult to place because the VGA cable is tough like am external monitor cable and it makes this device twist and turn.
I would recommend this product.
|
