Forum Discussion

Gjac's avatar
Gjac
Explorer III
Apr 10, 2015

Using the TV as a GPS screen.

Has any one adapted an analog TV to use as a monitor for an IPhone GPS program? I have an old TV that I rarely watch and it is mounted right above the dog house. It is about 19 ins diagonal and is in a perfect locator for a monitor.
  • You will need a signal adapter to change the output to analog, the old tv can't use HDMI digital signal
    Find one of those and it might work
  • Do a google search on "connect ipad to analog tv"
    Lots of info and Youtube videos.
  • With the cost of a modern 19" TV, it's probably cheaper to just buy a new TV.

    But as others have said, it can be done.
  • valhalla360 wrote:
    With the cost of a modern 19" TV, it's probably cheaper to just buy a new TV.

    But as others have said, it can be done.


    Also consider just getting a double din display like the new vehicles use. That way you get a stereo, dvd player,gps, hands free phone connection and a display to use with a backup camera. Only costs about $150 on Ebay. Just trying to connect to the old tv will probably be most of that cost. Just a thought.

    Like this
  • valhalla360 wrote:
    With the cost of a modern 19" TV, it's probably cheaper to just buy a new TV.

    But as others have said, it can be done.


    It can be done BUT..

    Analog SD TVs have very poor resolution..

    You are NOT going to like the results IF you can read it at all..

    I posted this sometime ago for someone else that was insisting on using analog composite video in of their vehicles display..

    First pix is a PC setup at 800x600 resolution and displayed on a analog TV which has a VGA input.

    Second pix is the same TV at the same resolution but through the composite analog video port..

    VGA 800x600



    Composite video in with 800x600



    The results of the analog composite input is pretty darn ugly..

    Your Ipad most likely has 1024 by something (wide screen perhaps) and you would have to downgrade that most likely to 640x something which may not be even possible on your IPad..
  • Gjac's avatar
    Gjac
    Explorer III
    Gdetrailer wrote:
    valhalla360 wrote:
    With the cost of a modern 19" TV, it's probably cheaper to just buy a new TV.

    But as others have said, it can be done.


    It can be done BUT..

    Analog SD TVs have very poor resolution..

    You are NOT going to like the results IF you can read it at all..

    I posted this sometime ago for someone else that was insisting on using analog composite video in of their vehicles display..

    First pix is a PC setup at 800x600 resolution and displayed on a analog TV which has a VGA input.

    Second pix is the same TV at the same resolution but through the composite analog video port..

    VGA 800x600



    Composite video in with 800x600



    The results of the analog composite input is pretty darn ugly..

    Your Ipad most likely has 1024 by something (wide screen perhaps) and you would have to downgrade that most likely to 640x something which may not be even possible on your IPad..
    Thanks for posting this. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I won't waste any more time thinking about this. I do have a new LCD 21 in TV but it won;t fit in the molded plastic that houses the analog TV.
  • if you end up shopping for a new TV, look for one that has MHL support - that's the code that means it will play video and audio from your mobile device, as well as charge its battery and let the tv remote control functions like pause, stop, skip work where applicable.
  • Gjac's avatar
    Gjac
    Explorer III
    GordonThree wrote:
    if you end up shopping for a new TV, look for one that has MHL support - that's the code that means it will play video and audio from your mobile device, as well as charge its battery and let the tv remote control functions like pause, stop, skip work where applicable.
    Is that with or without the apple tv device?
  • Gjac's avatar
    Gjac
    Explorer III
    MrWizard wrote:
    You will need a signal adapter to change the output to analog, the old tv can't use HDMI digital signal
    Find one of those and it might work
    Are you saying if my tv has an HDMI connection if I buy a cable that converts HDMI to usb then connect the I phone it should work?
  • #1 old analog tv's don't have HDMI

    #2 the adapter can convert a signal
    But you must have software on the iPad to direct the video to the USB port, that is not a built in function

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