Any experts out there?

Thorny17

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Originally posted this in the wrong forum, so moved here... :)

So, my setup before was simple - I had a HDTV, my coaxial cable came in from my aerial and plugged into my HDTV, allowing me to pick up Freeview in my bedroom up in the attic. No problem. Worked great.

Now, I have got rid of my HDTV and replaced it simply with a PC monitor. It's great, but obviously has no coax cable port (does RF in/out also mean this?) and has no freeview built-in, again, obviously.

Now, if I bought a set top box, freeview, freesat, whatever box, which had a HDMI port (to connect to my monitor) and a RF in or out (or both, not too good on this), could I connnect my Coax cable to the box, then my box to the monitor, and would I receive TV in my room, on my PC monitor?

I've tried searching for this or a setup similar, but so far my searches have come up empty.

Thanks for your help.
 
Sometimes works. Some people have issues with the set-top box not 'talking' to the HDMI input on the monitor. This is commonly called 'handshaking'. You also have to consider where the sound is going to come from. Not all monitors have speakers. Might be a good idea to specify what model your monitor is and people should suggest a likely match. It's not regarded as an ideal option. I assume you have a PC attached to the monitor in which case you could stream TV services from a site called TV Catch up, You need a fast reliable broadband though.
 
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Sometimes works. Some people have issues with the set-top box not 'talking' to the HDMI input on the monitor. This is commonly called 'handshaking'. You also have to consider where the sound is going to come from. Not all monitors have speakers. Might be a good idea to specify what model your monitor is and people should suggest a likely match. It's not regarded as an ideal option. I assume you have a PC attached to the monitor in which case you could stream TV services from a site called TV Catch up, You need a fast reliable broadband though.
Hello Mike. The sound will come from my monitor, its got speakers built in. Model number is Asus VG248QE.

Yes indeed there is a pc attached which is an option, but I'm leaving that as a last resort :)
 
Hello Mike. The sound will come from my monitor, its got speakers built in. Model number is Asus VG248QE.

Yes indeed there is a pc attached which is an option, but I'm leaving that as a last resort :)

I leave that to someone who has more knowledge of this monitor. Personally I would not build up your hopes too high.
 
The monitor manual https://www.asus.com/Monitors_Projectors/VG248QE/#support_Download_36 suggests the display will support all the usual UK TV resolutions bar 720x576i (720x576P is OK) over hdmi. Not clear - but possible is that audio over hdmi will be supported, too.
However some stbs/pvrs may still have 'issues'. Also, as there's no mention of HDCP in the manual, it may not work at all for HD content?
Ideally take the monitor to a shop willing to connect it up to a working stb you wish to purchase OR agree sale or return to try at home to 'prove' it will work?
 
So I think i've figured this out. Get a Freeview HD box that has RF ports. Bang my coax cable into this to feed this signal in. Hook the HD box up to the monitor through HDMI, bosh, should get TV no problem?
 
So I think i've figured this out. Get a Freeview HD box that has RF ports. Bang my coax cable into this to feed this signal in. Hook the HD box up to the monitor through HDMI, bosh, should get TV no problem?

There are a lot of things that will mean this simply will not work. The most common is not the resolution but the refresh rate. Most UK FVHD boxes output at 25fps, some (a few) 50fps. The lowest refresh rate of most monitors is 30Hz

Have you thought about simply getting a tuner stick for your computer? A DVB-T stick costs from about £10 and will receive all SD Freeview, Windows Media Center will allow you to schedule and record. There is one DVB-T2 stick (for Freeview HD or "Saorview lite" in Northern Ireland) widely available but that costs over £50.

If you want to experiment with a Freeview HD box, try this one It will output 1080p50 so you should have a decent chance of it matching the input. The main drawback might be if your monitor does not have HDCP (high definition content protection) which is a requirement for Freeview HD. You may be able to watch SD as this is not copy protected and that box is cheap enough to be used as a "spare" to upgrade any other flat screen TVs without a T2 tuner you might have.
 
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