What am I looking for?

[robkelk]

Hoping somebody here can give me some help. Since I'm seeing completely different devices called the same thing in searches, no matter which search phrase I use that I think is appropriate, I'll describe what I have and what I want.

I have an antenna. I don't have cable.
I have a Blu-ray player.
I have a monitor. (I can get a much better 4K monitor relatively inexpensively.)
I have a good (if relatively old) stereo system for audio.

I want a single device to plug all of these into so that I can watch Blu-rays or North American broadcast TV.

What is this thing called? And does anybody have any recommendations for or against one?

[RMH999]

AV receiver?

I have my TV, Roku, Blu-Ray, PS3 running through mine.  It has a coaxial port for antenna.  Mine is a 5.1 receiver, so I don't have a stereo hooked up to it.

[robkelk]

Maybe? Does it include a tuner?

[Bob Schroeck]

What kind of tuner? Looking at the article, it looks like it works much like a component stereo -- you buy the tuner of your choice and wire it up to the right input.

[robkelk]

Then it isn't what I'm looking for.

tl;dr: Fill in the blank: Antenna goes to _____ goes to monitor and audio, and I get to watch TV.

[Bob Schroeck]

<shrug> I'd say tuner, if it hadn't been brought up already, or maybe a receiver, but I've never seen a component-style TV tuner/receiver. (Not that I've ever looked, mind you.)

[ECSNorway]

<shrug>  I'd say tuner, if it hadn't been brought up already, or maybe a receiver, but I've never seen a component-style TV tuner/receiver.  (Not that I've ever looked, mind you.)

I’ve seen A/V receivers that included tv tuners...

[classicdrogn]

If it was 20-30 years ago, I'd say a VCR. I don't know what the modern equivalent might be...

[Dragonflight]

Broadcast tv largely doesn't exist in Ontario, anymore. Most of the places that used to transmit local media over the airwaves stopped a couple years ago. I'd be surprised if you found more than three or four places that still had recognizable signal on an antenna. The lack of cable is what hurts you. Otherwise, you could plug it all through your cable subscription box.

The only other thing I could think of would be a Blu-Ray player. That would give you the best of all possible options, but wouldn't get you tv. The only way to get that which comes to mind other than a cable subscription would be one of those little streaming boxes. Not sure where you'd have to go to get one, though.

[Dartz]

You've a monitor, but not an actual television so?

It sounds like you need something like what we call A set-top box here. Either the legitimate kind for Freeview, or a dodgybox for Freeview of the other channels too.

There's probably a version of that available in North America. With HDMI so universal I'd be surprised if your monitor didn't support it.

Getting sound out might be tricky though. Very little has analague audio these days. If you've Optical you can get HDMI to optical outputs. You might also be able to run the box through your Blue Ray like an old VCR. It really depends on the project.

[robkelk]

I have a TV, but the monitor has a bigger screen.

I think what I'm reading is that I won't be able to do what I want with the hardware I have... Thanks anyway.

[Skyfire2020]

Adding to the current comments, the main options for tv content seem to be fire stick (also check if your bluray player has any online channels), a set top box or a satelite receiver. 


You might also need a HDMI Switcher and a HDMI to VGA adapter which are both available on amazon.  There are Youtube videos for "convert PC monitor to TV" but there's none I'd recommend.



In theory connect bluray and setup box to hdmi selector.  Connect HDMI selector to vga adapter if needed.  Connect HDMI/VGA lead to Monitor. Connect monitor to stereo.



In reality it might work but personally I'd want to make sure anything I bought had a great returns policy.






Mark

[Rajvik]

i'm guessing what you are wanting to do is be able to change the TV channel or tune the stereo, as earlier said, then you want a Tuner, if not then i can't offer any suggestions