Telus Optik box to computer monitor?

[impreza_scott]

Looking for advice.

Ultimately, I want to use my monitor as both a TV and a monitor and be able to switch back and forth, as my computer desk already faces my bed so removing the TV would free up some space in the room.

My only concern is audio; a lot of monitors don't have speakers, or decent ones at least. The Telus box has HDMI out, the monitor has HDMI in, perfect but my monitor doesn't have built in speakers so how would that work? And if I hook up bookshelf speakers to the Telus box how would that work when I go to watch something from my computer? I want to be able to switch back and forth.

Would I be looking for a monitor with decent built in speakers and x2 HDMI inputs? What is a good size monitor? 27"? I think I may need better resolution than 1920x1080 if I go bigger than 23"???

See pics of Telus box and monitor inputs/outputs

[Soundy]

You can get an HDMI-to-DVI adapter or cable and use the DVI on your monitor for video input, but not audio. Monitor with speakers and two HDMI inputs would work, although built-in speakers tend to be pretty shitty. Monitor with headphone jack and two HDMI in would let you plug in some better speakers.

You could also use the current monitor, use an HDMI-to-DVI cable for the Optik box, then get a set of speakers with two inputs and run the Optik box's Audio Out jacks to one input via RCA-to-miniTRS cable, and miniTRS male-to-male cable for the computer output.

Connect Optik HDMI out to monitor DVI in:



Dual-input speakers:



Connect Optik audio outs to speaker Aux input:



Connect computer line out to speaker Computer input:

[InvisibleSoul]

Another potential possibility is finding a monitor with component input like a Dell UltraSharp U2410.

[Soundy]

Still need an audio solution with that, and an HDMI to DVI cable is a lot cheaper than a new monitor - 6' for $10.

A-Power.com - Buy AP 6FT HDMI Male to DVI-D Male Shielded Cable #2583 - CBHDMI-DVI-HQ-06 - Canada

[underscore]

Hook the Telus box to the screen via HDMI, hook the PC up using DVI, run both to some speakers the way Soundy suggested. Don't bother with built in speakers, they were crappy when they first came out and they've gotten worse (TV's seem to have been going the same way) and controlling them is generally a pain.

[impreza_scott]

Thanks guys!

I'll throw in another tech question. I currently have this 23" monitor which has been great but feels like I would need something bigger

My only concern is I'm scared to go bigger than 23" and then my eyes hurt at the desk because its only 1920x1080. Someone told me once you start to pass the 23" mark you need more resolution if you still want to sit close to the screen...? Like 2560 x 1440 would be ideal.

Ie: I can sit a foot away from my sister's Imac 27" with 5120x2880 and my eyes are fine.

[Soundy]

I'll just leave this here

http://m.thewirecutter.com/reviews/b...-doesnt-exist/

[Reeyal]

Originally Posted by underscore

Hook the Telus box to the screen via HDMI, hook the PC up using DVI, run both to some speakers the way Soundy suggested. Don't bother with built in speakers, they were crappy when they first came out and they've gotten worse (TV's seem to have been going the same way) and controlling them is generally a pain.

underscore is correct. That would be the best setup.

Originally Posted by impreza_scott

Thanks guys!

I'll throw in another tech question. I currently have this 23" monitor which has been great but feels like I would need something bigger

My only concern is I'm scared to go bigger than 23" and then my eyes hurt at the desk because its only 1920x1080. Someone told me once you start to pass the 23" mark you need more resolution if you still want to sit close to the screen...? Like 2560 x 1440 would be ideal.

Ie: I can sit a foot away from my sister's Imac 27" with 5120x2880 and my eyes are fine.

I'm not really sure what you're trying to get at, but I'll try to answer your question.

Ideally, when you go to a larger monitor, you would want more screen native resolution to have the same icon size relative to the monitor. I only use icon size as an example.

Different manufactures list different type of specification for their monitors. You want to look at the dot per inch (DPI) or pixel pitch. These numbers will give a general idea on sizing of the resolution.

For example, a 23" monitor with 1920 x 1080 gives you 95.78 DPI.
A 27" monitor with 5120 x 2880 (aka 5K) gives you 217.57 DPI.
However, a 27" with 2560 x 1440 gives you 108.79 DPI.
Whereas a 30" with 2560 x 1600 gives you 100.63 DPI.

As you can see, if you like your current monitor size and resolution, try to keep the DPI of your new monitor as close as possible to your current setup.

As a note, really high DPI monitor is very nice to look at, but when you're trying to do daily work on them, it's a pain to get used to (unless you use zoom).

[underscore]

Originally Posted by impreza_scott

Thanks guys!

I'll throw in another tech question. I currently have this 23" monitor which has been great but feels like I would need something bigger

My only concern is I'm scared to go bigger than 23" and then my eyes hurt at the desk because its only 1920x1080. Someone told me once you start to pass the 23" mark you need more resolution if you still want to sit close to the screen...? Like 2560 x 1440 would be ideal.

Ie: I can sit a foot away from my sister's Imac 27" with 5120x2880 and my eyes are fine.

I have a 25" 1920x1080 screen at home that I sit about 1.5-2ft from (face to screen distance), at work I had the same but just went to a 27" 1920x1080 screen with zero problems. To get close enough to have problems with the resolution I have to be so close that I can't see the whole screen, but your eyes might be better than mine.

That said, 2560x1440 might be better since you're hooking it to a cable box which should be 720p (1280x720) if I'm not mistaken. Since 2560x1440 is exactly twice as many pixels tall/wide, it might display 720p a bit smoother. That's just a guess based on whats rattling in my head so I could be completely wrong, I've run 720p video games to the 25" monitor mentioned above, sat extremely close to it and had zero problems.

Two final and important notes, first is that once you start going beyond 27"/1080p monitors get a lot more expensive, 2560x1440 is 2.5-3x the price of 1920x1080. Personally I'd run your current monitor for a while, then pick up a used 27/1080 if you feel it isn't enough and see how it goes. If you like it get a good 27/1080, if you don't get something bigger. Second is you'll need to check the HDCP requirements for that Telus box (if any) and make sure whatever screen you might buy is compatible.

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by underscore

Hook the Telus box to the screen via HDMI, hook the PC up using DVI...

Originally Posted by Reeyal

underscore is correct. That would be the best setup.

From a technical standpoint there's no difference - HDMI and DVI use the same digital video signal. It's just a matter of which cables you use - if you have a DVI-DVI cable already this makes sense.

[underscore]

Oh I know, but why would you go HDMI to DVI for the Telus box and then DVI to HDMI for the PC?

edit: Ah I forgot OP already has the PC hooked to the HDMI in the pics. Like you said it doesn't matter what way they get hooked to those inputs, so just do whichever is cheaper.

[Ulic Qel-Droma]

there's also an optical out...

u could set up a real sound system with the optical out...

and connect the tv and monitor like above said.