Turn PC Monitors Into TVs

Ramon G. McLeod

Though flat-screen televisions look sexy, their cost has always cooled my ardor. But now, for several hundred dollars less than the price of a genuine LCD TV, ViewSonic's NextVision 5 external TV tuner can turn any PC monitor--CRT or LCD--into a television, without requiring a computer connection.

NextVision 5 comes with a high-definition video processor that has an RGB computer pass-through, so you can watch TV (including both HDTV and DVD movies) with or without a PC. The box also contains a built-in 181-channel TV tuner. Nicely designed in black and silver, it can hook up to a standard TV antenna or cable line, a DVD player, a VCR, a video camcorder, or a game console. It has S-Video and composite-video inputs, too. And since it can be connected to a computer, you can switch from TV to your desktop with a click of the included remote control.

I tested a shipping copy of the $149 NextVision 5 linked to a 15-inch ViewSonic VG150 LCD monitor and computer speakers. I adjusted the LCD's screen resolution to 1024 by 768 (NextVision's maximum) and quickly replaced the 14-inch TV in my bedroom. With 15-inch LCDs selling for $400 to $600, the whole setup would have cost $750 or less. In contrast, Sharp's 15-inch Aquos LCD TV fetches about $1000.

Picture quality, while adequate, was far less crisp than I've seen on true LCD TVs. Text looked blocky, and was difficult to read. Imaging and clarity improved with a DVD movie, but they still didn't knock me over. Nevertheless, that nice, slim LCD looked so right I would happily put up with the image imperfections.

The product really sparkled when we hooked it up to my son's Nintendo GameCube and a PC. This let him easily flip from game play to a game cheat Web site. Heaven. Moreover, imaging was crisp, with beautifully rendered colors.

NextVision is not for viewers who demand superior TV image clarity. But if you prize sleekness or want to liberate a TV trapped in game-console purgatory, check it out.