PC/Mac to TV or HDTV Connections

Connect your PC or Mac to your TV or HDTV - Cables and Converters to use your TV or HDTV as a monitor, Convert VGA to Component Video or use your Monitor as a TV/HDTV Video Display

Tutorial: How to connect your computer to your Television (HD or Regular)
Well, while connecting your PC or Mac to your TV or HDTV seems like it should be an easy and great way to gain a larger display for watching movies, cruising the Internet, doing Presentations or Viewing Picture Slideshows, it is usually either less easy or less great in practice.
So, what do you want to do?
Connect your PC/Mac Video output to your TV/HDTV
The first decision to make is Standard Def or High Def TV?
With a Standard Def TV, it is pretty easy to hook up a VGA to Video converter that puts out NTSC or PAL Composite Video for your TV. The disappointment comes when people think that a Standard Def TV can somehow display at the resolution of their monitor. The monitor is usually 800x600 or higher, while the TV is basically like a 640x480 monitor. You are going to lose resolution and Text and graphics will be less clear than on the monitor.
With a HDTV you have to deal with Video format conversion as well as possible resolution conversion. Most HDTV's accept only a few possible resolutions and refresh rates, etc. The video formats are RGB/HV and Y-Pr-Pb (Component Video) which are entirely different encoded signals which must be converted ("transcoded" - since it is changing the encoded format). The resolution and refresh rates, etc, are just as much as a problem, since sending a typical Computer signal to an HDTV will not give you an output. You need to have a video card that can send out an appropriate signal, a program like "Powerstrip" to customize the output signal to give you TV what it requires, or a video converting scaler to change the signal.
With digital video connections like DVI or HDMI you also have the resolution problem to deal with, although depending on equipment, the transcoding may not be necessary.
Video Transcoders have the same signal in as they do out, just changing the encoding.
Video Converters can change resolutions, refresh rates, etc, but cost more than transcoders.
TV/HDTV Tuners These connect your PC/Mac to an Antenna or Cable TV connection and act like a TV Tuner or Cable TV Set top Box to give you channel selection and control, as well as recording/time shifting functions. They can be USB or PCI card, depending on your "commitment" level.
Video Capture takes video (usually Composite video with audio) and records the audio and video in a computer file format that your computer can use to watch, edit and burn to DVD or Video CD.
Please ask us for help if you need it! It's not rocket science, but it's not as easy as you might think.
More info: How to connect your computer to your Television (HD or Regular)
How to connect your Home Theater