Multiple CRT TV Display

[adambombing]

Hey!

 

I have 4 decent sized CRT TV's gathering dust in my basement currently. I was wondering if anyone could point me towards a guide on how to hook them all up to display a video or interface? I'm thinking I would use a raspberry pi, but I don't know what to do to interface the TV's with it. Somewhat related, it would be great if Linus could make a video on it, so that I could replicate it at home.

 

So if anyone has a guide for me, let me know!

 

Thanks in advance.

[adambombing]

13 minutes ago, Wikiforce said:

Use component/composite to vga adapter, i got one for my ps3 recently after my hdmi port stopped working.

Not quite what I'm looking for, since I would like to have them be a part of a TV wall (similar to the bars with multiple TV's in them). But thanks for the suggestion!

[mariushm]

Figure out what inputs the TVs support. At least they support RF IN (the round connectors), at best they may support S-Video or Composite through RCA connectors or through a SCART connector (SCART is an European thing but since you don't say where you're from...)

 

Then, you can buy a bunch of VGA to RF / Composite/ S-Video (depending on what the TVs support) converters, which would allow you to show a resolution of up to 800 x 600 on the CRT TV ( 720x480 is standard NTSC DVD resolution, so it would be supported by US TVs, in Europe we have 720x576 ... but these converters typically accept up to 800x600 or 1024x768 and if needed crop/resize image to fit the resolution supported by TV)

Here's an example of such converter : http://www.dx.com/p/vga-to-vga-s-video-rca-composite-video-converter-silver-168697#.WE3S43nYVhE

 

Older video cards have two analogue outputs but more modern cards only have one VGA output (often inside a DVI-I connector, you create a vga connector using a dvi-i to vga passive adapter). The most modern cards ( the Polaris series from AMD meaning RX 4** , or the Pascal series from nVidia meaning GTX 10** ) don't have any analogue output at all.

You can buy active converters which convert HDMI or DisplayPort to VGA, they're available from around 3$ at various online stores. So for example, you have modern cards with 1-2 hdmi ports, 1-2 displayport connectors and a dvi port, allowing you to connect at least 3 monitors to the video card. 

 

Basically, in the end they're not worth it. They're old CRT TVs with small resolution (probably at best 1024x768) and they use a lot of power (typically around 100 watts), while you can buy these days LCD monitors for less than $40 a piece, from the store, with warranty and everything. From thrift stores or Goodwill or similar stores, you could probably buy a monitor for something like $10-20, pretty much the amount of money you'd pay to convert your digital or vga signals to something suitable for TV.

 

For example Newegg currently has refurbished 19" HP monitors for $40, which have DVI and VGA inputs and 1280x1024 resolution : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA5SW4XB8445

Monitors with 19" wide (1440x900) resolution are only a bit more expensive at aroun 43$.

 

They also consume only about 20-25 watts, so you save money on your electricity bill and don't hurt your eyes.  Think of it like this .. if you pay 25 cents for 1 kwh, you'd pay 25 cents for every 10 hours you keep your tv running, while with a monitor you pay 25 cents for every 40 hours it's running. If you're keeping the monitor on for 6 hours a day, by the end of the year you're saving about 30 kWh by going with LCD monitor instead of CRT tv... that could be as much as $10-15 (depends on where you live).

 

[adambombing]

Thanks @mariushm! I will avoid this project, since that seems like a serious pain. I was hoping it would be a bit simpler, but oh well. I will donate them to my college's Super Smash club instead.