LCD TVs are in! Well? An LCD or Liquid Crystal Display Television is a flat panel television that uses the same basic Liquid Crystal Display technology used in cell phones, camcorder and computer monitors. The success of LCD computer monitors inspired TV manufacturers to use the Liquid Crystal Display technology for home televisions. Both the LCD monitors and TVs have almost similar formats , but then the only difference is that the LCD televisions have a more brilliant image resolution, since they had to contend with the Plasma TV technology.

Can LCD Television be used as a Computer Monitor? Yes, most of the LCD TV brands have a VGA (PC Monitor) option that allows you to connect the LCD TV to your computer or even to a gaming system like Xbox and other gaming consoles.

An important pointer : This VGA option to connect the TV to your personal computer is one feature that you should never overlook when buying an LCD TV.

The advantages of using your LCD TV as a computer monitor is that first, it is a great way to get 2 devices for the price of one and second, the larger screen of TV is great for viewing pictures and DVD's, general computing and video games.

You can connect either a Windows or Apple computer to your TV, but the exact type of cable you'll need differs for each brand.

For Windows PCs

Things you need:

• VGA cable (Windows)

(The 15-pin VGA cables are called so because they have 15 pins. The female, the receiver, has open spaces while the 15-pin male stick out.. To connect your Desktop PC to your LCD you need one VGA cable with male 15-pin connectors on both sides)

Now follow these steps:

1. Make sure that your LCD TV set has a VGA input port in the back. Most LCD TV sets have this connection. This VGA input is the only connection for a computer and its monitor.
2. It is ideal to place your computer, keyboard and mouse near the TV and hence make sure that you have enough space.
3. The port will look like a rectangle with several pinholes inside it. These ports come in two varieties: Male and Female
4. Since both the ends in the VGA cable has male ends,look for the female VGA input on your TV.Connect one end to the TV and the other end to the PC.It is recommended that you do this with the power off.
   
5. Now,turn on both the computer and TV. Press the "Input" button on the side of the TV. The on-screen menu showing all of the TV's input connections will appear. Go to the "Computer/VGA" selection (it may be on the very bottom) and this should bring up the computer's video screen.

You need to do some adjustments for a real cool experience. Go to the display settings by right-clicking on your desktop and do the needful.

• You need to set your computer resolution to something that the monitor can display.

• If you have a 1080i monitor, but are running your computer at 1600×1200, you will need to reduce the resolution to something under 1080.

• Try out the settings in the Display properties in Control Panel.

• Also, reduce the reset rate (again in Display properties, under Advanced) to 60 Hz, instead of the 75 or 85 Hz that your computer monitor can display.

Done! Enjoy the amazing experience of viewing your LCD TV as your PC monitor!

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