Video killed the Saturday night

[j4]

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. :-}

Comments

[imc.livejournal.com]

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?).

[addedentry.livejournal.com]

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" (-:

[j4.livejournal.com]

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.