j4 | Video killed the Saturday night

We exchanged contracts yesterday, so we're most of the way to owning a house. As an absolutely essential part of the packing/moving process, we are trying to connect the VCR to an LCD monitor (this is actually sort of essential - we really want to get rid of the space-consuming TV, but might have to settle for getting rid of the VHS videos). This is proving difficult.

So, we have the following devices (described as best I can - I'm not a hardware geek at the best of times, and AV is all Deep Magic):

* HP 1502 LCD monitor with video in cable ending in 15-pin VGA (female) connector

* VCR with the following outputs: RF (m), 2 x 3mm audio out (f), SCART (f)

* a TVBox 1440ex which has the following sockets: 8-pin VGA (f), 3mm audio in (f), 3mm audio out (f), 9-pin (f) MMI-C, antenna in (f)

(The magic TVBox thing lets us connect the PlayStation to the monitor, so it's not a wasted bit of kit even if it doesn't, as I fear, let us connect the VCR to the monitor as well.)

We also have the following cables/adaptors:

* SCART (m) to 5-pin S-video (m)
* SCART (m) to red/white/yellow AV thing (f)
* SCART (m) to SCART (m)
* 3mm jack (m) to 3mm jack (m)
* 14-pin (m) to 8-pin (m), god knows
* PlayStation (f) to red/white/yellow AV thing (m)
* GameCube adaptor, too complicated to describe but probably not relevant

My questions are:

1. Reassure me here, please: it is possible to connect an LCD monitor to a VCR, yes? The internet seems divided between "no you cant but just get a chepa tv lol" and "yeah you need some kinda box you can get it off ebay lol".

2. Assuming it's possible at all, is it possible with some combination of the above kit?

3. If not, what's the cheapest and easiest way of joining the dots which doesn't involve a) having a TV, or b) crimping/soldering? (The ideal answer would be along the lines of "you need an X to Y connector, you can get them from Maplin for £2.99".)

Thank you in advance, and sorry for being such a div when it comes to hardware. :-}

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Jeremy has a box that takes TV signal (as from the VCR) and writes it to memory cards.

I expect the TV box can convert the VCR TV signal to VGA as understood by the monitor—on the other hand, does not the TV Box count as a TV and hence need a TV licence anyway?

I am imagining SCART to RCA (red-white-yellow trio) using an adapter you don’t have, RCA to S-VIDEO (9-pin VIVO connector) via Mystery Cable #16 then S-VIDEO to the TV-Box then the TV-Box’s VGA to the monitor.

I have an RCA-to-SCART connector that goes between my PowerBook and iPod dock and a SCART input on my steam-powered TV; assuming it works in both directions, you would use it to get from SCART on the VCR to RCA.

There are connector photos on Wikipedia’s list of display interfaces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_display_interfaces) that might help.

connector photos

Wow! That's incredibly useful, thank you! I can now start identifying all the mystery cables... 8-)

using an adapter you don't have

That's the story of my hardware life... :-}

Jeremy has a box that takes TV signal (as from the VCR) and writes it to memory cards.

Ah! I have been meaning to investigate those for ages. I think at some point (when Jeremy has unpacked, & probably after we move now to be honest) I may be asking for a loan of it... There are quite a lot of vids though & I suspect it'd take a long time to rip them all.

does not the TV Box count as a TV and hence need a TV licence anyway?

I don't think it counts as a TV - it has no way of receiving TV signal. Anyway, you don't need a TV licence unless you're watching live TV... (I wonder what the TVL people are going to do about iPlayer now that you can watch that live? Can they detect it?)

For the purposes of TVL, the TVbox will count as much as the TV and VCR - i.e. it's capable of picking up the signals, but if it's never actually used as such there is no need for a license. (For this to hold water you must at least not have an aerial hooked up when an inspector calls, and it's probably safest to make sure that none of them are tuned to broadcast stations, the VCR clock isn't set, &c.)

Out of curiosity, how would you use the TVbox to get live TV? There's no way to tune it or anything AFAICT...

Dunno, it's your kit not mine ;-)

According to the website you linked to, "[it] is a standalone, plug-and-play TV box which allows you to watch the terrestrial TV programmes on the LCD monitor". This is backed up by the diagram, which has an antenna input: these don't just magically work by themselves, there has to be some sort of tuning interface somewhere along the line. Indeed,

addedentry must have interacted with it somehow if he's successfully brought up the VCR via a coax cable.

The TV Box is largely irrelevant for the TV Licensing question because the VCR would count as a licensable device (if it were tuned in to broadcast stations and had an antenna connected). However, if it has RF-in then it must have a tuner (does the VCR – TVBox via RF lead combination work, and if so how did you get the TVBox to find the signal?).

Yes, the TV box can display a menu on the monitor screen, one option on which automatically scans the channels for a signal.

To be honest, we've no objection to paying for a TV licence - we want the space of a CRT television set and the principle of being able to tell people "actually, we don't own a television" (-:

we've no objection to paying for a TV licence

Speak for yourself! I have one strong objection to paying to a TV Licence, namely: I don't watch live TV, and I don't see why I should pay for a service I don't use.

I don't object to the idea of paying for those of the BBC's services which I *do* use: if there was a radio licence then I'd pay it, & I would regard a 'BBC tax' (covering TV, radio, and bbc.co.uk) as fair and reasonable in principle.

Video killed the Saturday night

Time to digitize your VHS tapes?

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