At the end of my last blog entry, I was stuck with a dead monitor. After a family meeting (not “the family“!), it was decided that I could get a replacement monitor due to the exceptional circumstances.

Unfortunately I did not just need a new monitor - I needed one or more cable(s) which would connect the PlayStation 3 to an LCD monitor. If I got a monitor with DVI input, then I could get a HDMI to DVI Cable, as the PlayStation 3 has HDMI output. However, since DVI does not carry sound, I would need an audio cable. Whatever LCD monitor I bought. I would have to buy additional cables. A replacement LCD monitor plus cables would work out at a little over $200.

Then I noticed something. Small HDTVs, that is ones with screens of 19 inches or so were not much more expensive than LCD monitors. The HDTVs had multiple inputs, ranging from HDMI to VGA. Finding a small HDTV which had a VGA input and a component AV input was relatively easy. The switching between the inputs would be done on the TV itself. The main advantage was that I didn’t have to buy any additional cables.

There was a 19 inch HDTV on sale at a Best Buy within 10 miles, one similar to the Coby TF-TV1913 19 inch LCD TV. Two hours of post Christmas Day shopping later we had the HDTV.

Setting the HDTV up to work both as a computer monitor and a PS3 display was relatively easy.