ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hi,
Since it seems there are quite a few affordable Beovision LCD's out there on the internets, I just got the idea of buying a 32 inch LCD to use mainly, as a computer monitor. (Don't watch much TV, but can't hurt to have that option as well.. built in speaker probably nice too.)
I have my eye on a Beovision 8 - 32 on ebay for ca 350€... Not exactly the cheapest monitor, but much cheaper than something from apple in that size.
Has anyone tried this, and made up their mind to how suitable the resolution and the usability of the Beovision are for a use like this?
Ideally I want it to feel like a massive computer monitor (without the downsides, like überpixelised text), and be from B&O..
Would be thankful for honest advice and suggestions!
james
or did B&O produce a monitor between 27-40 inches that would be MOST suitable....??
Honestly I wouldn't go for that - unless you are on a low budget.
It has a resolution of 1366 x 768, which was pretty fine for watching tv etc at that time, but not for a computer monitor nowadays.
You won't be disappointed from the sound, however.
To me there is only one option: the BeoPlay V1-32!
In the end it is up to where it will be placed!?
The V1 is perfect for wallmounting, which can't be said of the 8-32.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
or how about a beovision 4 37 inch? (costs only 200€) having trouble finding resolution specs though.....
A system 2-based monitor will be HD-Ready as well.
A BV4-37 would be a quite 'boxy' solution as a computer monitor - imo.
and you would need a seperate speaker, too.
it is oooold gear - let these things rest in peace ;-))
Ha, medium budget.. the V1 looks nice, but costs way too much for me to use as a computer monitor.... my comp usage is ca 50% reading, 50% movies.... I know I don't need a 4k apple display, but want something that fits the bill, at least for a couple years....
thanks for the response though!
There are lots of nice looking (good) monitors out there - not very expensive.
if you - in addition - want good sound, you could buy 2 BeoPlay S3's and hook these up to the computer using the USB connection.
Living Room: Beosystem 4, Beolab 7-2 (Center), Beolab 9 (Fronts), Beolab 8000 (Rears), no Subwoofer. Screen: Sony KD-85XH9096Dining Room: Beosound Essence MK II with Beolab 4000 on stands, fed by Amazon Echo Show 8Home Cinema: Beosystem 4, Beolab 7-4 (Center), Beolab 1 (Fronts), Beolab 4000 (Rears). Projector: Sony VPL-HW55Home Office: Beosystem 3, Beolab 7-4, Beolab 5000, Screen: Sony KD-55XH9005 on Beovision 7-40 stand, ML to Beosound 9000 MK3 and Beosound 5/Beomaster 5 (1 TB SSD version)Bedroom: Sony KD-65XH9077, Beosound Essence MK II with Beolab 6002 and Beolab 11 (all white, wall-mounted)
In storage: Beolab 5000/Beomaster 5000 (1960s).
Ha, well, maybe I should have mentioned that ittl be connected to a beosound 3200, with 4 beolab 3's... Speakers are as such very much secondary, though the center channel would hopefully even further improve the sound.
I like my B&O stuff a whole lot, so wanted to stay within the brand, and when I saw the überaffordable BV8000 I thought it might do well in replacing my 18 " 30 euro 4:3 Acer monitor. I'm not expecting it to look as good as a new 30" mac display, but as long as its reasonably good for browsing and word processing, i think the improvement for movies (run off the comp) could justify the switch..... ;) - but, as always, open to better B&O alternatives...
The BV 8 is a lovely TV.
I myself use a Beoplay V1-32" as my computer screen. And it is great!
Post pic when you decide what screen to get.
Beo in white is my thing
Currently own: BeoVision Avant 55", BeoLab 5, BeoLab 18, BeoRemoteOne, BeoPlay V1-32", BeoRemote4, BeoSound 3200, BeoGram 6500 (MMC-1), BeoLit 15, BeoPlay A1, LC2, BeoVision MX7000 and BeoLab 3
jame521: Ha, well, maybe I should have mentioned that ittl be connected to a beosound 3200, with 4 beolab 3's... Speakers are as such very much secondary, though the center channel would hopefully even further improve the sound. I like my B&O stuff a whole lot, so wanted to stay within the brand, and when I saw the überaffordable BV8000 I thought it might do well in replacing my 18 " 30 euro 4:3 Acer monitor. I'm not expecting it to look as good as a new 30" mac display, but as long as its reasonably good for browsing and word processing, i think the improvement for movies (run off the comp) could justify the switch..... ;) - but, as always, open to better B&O alternatives...
Allways tell the whole story ;-)
Makes things kinda easier.
In this case a BV8-32 should indeed be an improvement.
Let us see some pics, once you've bought it.
N.B. Be sure to check, that the 8-32 has MasterLink installed!!!
Hi James,
Obviously how crisp something looks on screen will be related to both screen resolution and screen size. A resolution that looks fantastic on a phone screen might look terrible when blown up to Television sizes (but might look okay again if you sit far enough away from the screen)
This is rarely an issue at typical viewing distances for a TV picture, but can be an issue for text / web browsing when we tend to sit very close.
To give you an idea, a 32" 16x9 screen at 1366x768 has roughly the same pixel density (pixels per square inch) as running your existing 18" 4x3 monitor at a resolution of 705x529 so as an experiment, if you were to set your existing screen to a resolution of 800x600 (which is likely the closest supported standard resolution) and imagine you are looking at one quarter of your new TV screen you'll get an approximation of what to expect with the BV8-32 image wise.
Kind Regards,
Martin.
BeoNut since '75
Good call martin. that is a great way to get a feel for what you'll have infront of you... Obviously a brand new 30" mac would be on a whole different level... idk though.. could be a reasonable prophylaxis for the inevitability of macular degeneration ;) If all goes to *** though, and i deem it unusable as a main comp. monitor, it would always make as a bitching tv for a guestroom....
Any other Beovisions that anyone knows of that would be stouter but within the same price range used? (ca 200@-650)???
gracias,
Hey -
so.... finally have my Beovision 8 (26).. To be more exact, I now have 2... One of them (in white) has the masterlink module, the other black one does not.. I am considering switching the module to the other BV 8 that currently doesn't have one...
I have read on an archived forum that this should be pretty easy to do.. Any comments from anyone who has done it that this is indeed correct?
Also, I read that the software needs to be updated to complete this step.. is this correct?
As far as I know installing the software requires loading it onto a USB stick and sticking it into the otherwise useless USB port in the back of the device...
Any tipps on this aspect???
thanks a bunch, Ill be posting pictures of the setup soon.
The only thing you can do using the USB port, is to update the DVB-tuner.
The software needed for the tv itself isn't free accessable.
These updates have to be done by a B&O tech.
updating the software of the TV is maybe necessary if it's on an old level.
In the BV8-32 of my girlfriend i just plugged in the Masterlink module and it was recognized immediatelly after power up. No update was done. The masterlink Module was without the DVB-T receiver, just a third SCART connector, the masterlink connector and the RF-OUT für video distribution.
The BV8-26 is quite the same device as the BV8-32 except a smaller screen. Just give it a try it should hurt nothing. In the worst case the BV8-26 is on a too old software level and needs an update, in the best case it just works
Ralph-Marcus
thanks a bunch for the quick responses..
I installed the module itself a few hours ago.. it seems to have taken it pretty well, no signs of transplant rejection so far ;)... (the unit seems to be the one that allows installation of a tv tuner card) - i assume thats a good thing, right?
now i've spent the last hour trying to get my intial idea to work..... and that would be to have tv and speakers play the same audio source, either from the comp, or from the tv tuner.... all via masterlink....
with a bit of tinkering, probably not totally reproduceable at this point, i was able to make the tv play music off the stereo, and the stereo play the sound coming from the tuner (with a healthy amount of lag)....... what I was so far not able to figure out is how to play music from the comp... leaving the imac and arrivin at the back of the BV 8 with an hdmi cable, set up under DVD... Since most of the movies I watch will be coming from the imac, accomplishing this is my most important task.....
any ideas, or will this even yield good results? it seems to me like the tv doesn't want to route out sound coming in via HDMI (at a first glance)....... i wonder why there is so much lag when the beosound plays sound coming from the tuner (while the tv is also producing the same sound)..... I should mention maybe that the powerlink cables are pretty damn look.. 2 are ca 30 ft... and the masterlink cable is also a healthy 10 meters long.. is this route destined to sound laggy?????
A few thoughts...
As a general rule, masterlink distribution of audio / video is from analogue sources only (some of the BVs were able to distribute audio and video from HDMI after a certain software version, but only if you were also watching that source on the BV at the same time), so it's entirely possible it won't send HDMI audio via ML (you should however be able to connect both HDMI and audio L+R for the same input (assuming the Imac has analogue audio outputs too?).
Are you sure the lag is in the way you describe? It is more usual for the beovision speakers to lag behind the audio distributed via ML to a stereo when both are playing a source from the BV - this would be experienced as the sound coming out of the stereos speakers first, followed by the BVs speakers after a short delay. This is because the audio is delayed internally within the beovision so that it syncs with the picture, and is the reason the ML audio delay box was originally produced.
Long cables will not delay the audio (well, technically they will, but because we are talking about electrons travelling at the speed of light, the delay would never be noticeable).
Good Morning (from Munich) -
I'll double check the way of the lag when I get back in the afternoon and can make a bit more noise...
It did however seem fairly obvious last night that the Beovision would be like, grossly, a third of a second ahead of the beosound, especially in vocals, and much more noticeably so when the entire system was playing at lower volumes... Strangely enough, when i cranked up the beosound (which i found a little arduous as I havent figured out a way to set one volume control for tv and stereo in this constellation), the lag seemed to disappear.......
At its worst it almost sounds a bit like reverb.... Which as far as I know is what you call it when a mic picks up the sound and reproduces it.... Like reverb, only it didn't keep building up to a screech like you would expect.....
My other consideration was that the sound quality of the BL3 is just so much more sedated at lower volumes, that the somewhat sparky Beovision at low volumes just produces a drastically different sound, making it appear as if the sounds were happening at different times...
I was really looking forward to using the HDMI audio, as I have this naive notion that such an expensive cable with so much shielding will transmit the sound better than a regular old Ypin auido to rca cable.... I will however try plugging that into the tv, to see if it makes a difference... Honestly though, still a little confused by how i would go about doing that... Select one of the AV inputs, HDMI yes? Which AV source woud you recommend, or does that not make a difference? (think its time i studied the manual for a while ; )
vielen lieben Dank,
James
jame521:I havent figured out a way to set one volume control for tv and stereo in this constellation
This is by design, as masterlink audio distribution is generally used between devices in different rooms, so you'd want the ability to set different volume levels in each product. If both are in the same room it would be better to connect the speakers to the BV6 powerlink connection, then set the BV6 to option 2 and the beosound to option 0. This will allow you to set one volume level, and will also eliminate any echo.
jame521:Honestly though, still a little confused by how i would go about doing that... Select one of the AV inputs, HDMI yes? Which AV source woud you recommend, or does that not make a difference?
Yes, that's correct, and it doesn't matter which AV connection you use as long as it is one which allows the HDMI = yes setting.
Hmmm...
Tried connecting the RCA audio out to the AV3 audio ins on the back of the TV... Set AV3 to PC, HDMI yes, and while it showed picture from HDMI, no sound came out.. If I set AV3 to VGA yes, i got sound but no picture ;) . So, as far as i can tell from that experiment, it wont let me combine the HDMI picture with RCA sound.............
So it looks like getting another y adapter and sourcing all 4 BL3's direct from the TV will be the only good solution... I assume the TV doesn't have to be on for this to work...???
Did you check the audio settings of your computer?
Millemissen: Did you check the audio settings of your computer? MM
Exactly as Millemissen said - you may find that the computer mutes the analogue audio out when it detects an HDMI connection, or that you need to specifically configure it to send audio via HDMI.
Yep.. Good idea on your parts, but i checked that... Its a mac, which lets you choose pretty transparently where the sound comes out from.....
I would try using another AV group and a beo4 source other than PC (V.AUX for example). Hopefully you will then be choosing between HDMI and a standard definition AV source (rather than VGA) and see if that makes any difference.
A few questions for you:
What is your current setup? You mention 4 speakers - is this two connected to the BV8 and two connected to the BS3200?
Are both units (BV8 and BS3200 in the same room?
When you say that with the computer connected via HDMI there was no sound, was there no sound either device or was there sound from the BV8 but none from the BS3200?
jame521:Yep.. Good idea on your parts, but i checked that... Its a mac, which lets you choose pretty transparently where the sound comes out from.....
Hey Martin,
i tried both of the ports allowing RCA Input, believe its 3 and 4, and neither wanted to work..
Current setup is a beosound 3200 with 4 Beolab 3... In the same room as a BV 8, connected to the 3200 via masterlink. Sound source is my mac mini, which can send sound e i t h e r via ypin-RCA or directly through HDMI.. It will allow you to send out sound/music via 1, and then alert sounds through the other output... Do not know of a way to output via both (RCA & HDMI) simultaneously though....
When i connect the audio of the mac mini via HDMI, sound came out of the TV.. But I was not able to channel that sound through to the speakers on the beosound by pressing AV. I can however, forward sound from the cable TV input via the TV to the Beosound. (this worked but was accompanied by the strange reverb/lag i mentioned earlier)
I just tried connecting the two front speakers directly to the BV8. (cannot connect all 4 at this point because I lack the one further y splitter for the powerlink cables i would need (that would be 3 splitters in toto)).. works fine. sounds good. no lag, and the speech comes out of the center channel the way you would want it to..
I think this is the route I will go. 1 more Powerlink y adapter, and then all 4 BL 3 will be connected to the 1 outlet on the back of the TV. Since 90% of my music would be coming from the mac mini, then via HDMI to the TV, then directly to all 5 speakers, this seems like the optimal solution for almost everything I am trying to achieve..
Now I just have to figure out how to route CD, Radio, and CD MEM from the Beosound to the speakers, preferably without having to turn on the TV......
Is that possible??
Good effort there with your troubleshooting process.
jame521: I just tried connecting the two front speakers directly to the BV8. (cannot connect all 4 at this point because I lack the one further y splitter for the powerlink cables i would need (that would be 3 splitters in toto)).. works fine. sounds good. no lag, and the speech comes out of the center channel the way you would want it to.. I think this is the route I will go. 1 more Powerlink y adapter, and then all 4 BL 3 will be connected to the 1 outlet on the back of the TV. Since 90% of my music would be coming from the mac mini, then via HDMI to the TV, then directly to all 5 speakers, this seems like the optimal solution for almost everything I am trying to achieve..
Yep, this makes sense to me. It's a shame that there was never a surround module option for the BV8 otherwise you would also have had the ability to switch between centre speaker only, two front speakers only, all four speakers, or 5.0 surround with the group of speakers you are attaching.
jame521:Now I just have to figure out how to route CD, Radio, and CD MEM from the Beosound to the speakers, preferably without having to turn on the TV......
This bit should be easy. Just set your BV8 to option 2, and set the BS3200 to option 0 (let me know if you need instructions for this as I can't remember whether we have already covered this before).
Then pressing CD, Radio, A.MEM etc should all result in audio coming from the speakers connected to the BV8 without the screen coming on, and you also won't experience any of that annoying echo / delay.
Okay. with a bit of fiddling... still confused with the difference between 'setting 1 and 2' and option 0-5 ... either way, i optioned the Beosound at 0, and the TV at 2.... now when i press cd/radio/atape or the like, the green indicator on the tv goes on, as well as the speakers and the Beosound, and it plays what it is supposed to - out of the Beolab 3's, but NOT out of the center speaker on the TV.... uff... I think i just need an afternoon with the manuals and maybe I'll get to the bottom of it..
though right now i feel like I'm getting pretty close.. Only drawback I'm noticing so far is that the entire system produces significantly more humming noise when on at low volumes than it did before... Something I always adored about the 3200 was how quiet the system was... Oh well, its not terrible now, just a little more noticeable.
Okay. with a bit of fiddling... still confused with the difference between 'setting 1 and 2' and option 0-5 ... either way, i optioned the Beosound at 0, and the TV at 2... (achieved this, i think, by pressing off and list on the remote, going to option, scrolling to audio and video, and pressing the number 0 and 2, respectively. now when i press cd/radio/atape or the like, the green indicator on the tv goes on, as well as the speakers and the Beosound, and it plays what it is supposed to - out of the Beolab 3's, but NOT out of the center speaker on the TV.... uff... I think i just need an afternoon with the manuals and maybe I'll get to the bottom of it..
Is there a way to also make the TV's speaker fire in this scenario?????
jame521:Is there a way to also make the TV's speaker fire in this scenario?????
Yes (or very likely yes, as I'm not 100% sure how the beovisions without surround modules behave)...
If you press LIST repeatedly on your remote, is 'SPEAKER' one of the options?
If so, when it shows, press 1 for TV speaker only, 2 for your beolabs, or 3 for both.
If not, you'll need to add it to the list and I can give you instructions to do so.
Genius Martin!
for celebration, a little early beoporn ;) - don't worry, those wires will be hidden in no time (eta 2-3 weeks when I'm certain everything is the way i want it ;)
thanks a bunch!
The BV8 looks really good as a computer monitor - how did you find the image quality in the end for this use?
One little extra for you in case you are not already aware of it (I'm assuming this works with the BV8):
Add the 'AV' function to LIST if it is not already there.
Then, when you have already selected for example, PC, and have the computer image on screen, scroll through the LIST until AV is shown and press CD, RADIO or A.MEM buttons and you can listen to those sources without losing the computer picture
woah, it has been a while...
That is a good question, and I owe it a response...
i would recommend the BV8 to anyone who uses a mac/pc frequently, watches a lot of movies, likes a larger screen, isn't too obsessed with resolution, and is okay with the 1 HDMI input.
Especially in combination with my other B&o Stuff I am very happy. Just occasionally the slightly lower resolution isn't ideal.. For this reason I am always on the lookout for an affordable BV8-40 or a Beoplay V1, but with no urgency..
When i consider having only paid for ca 300 for the Monitor, gotta say, am surprised barely anyone goes this route..
all the best,
Hi, very interesting thread! I have just connected up my HP UltraBook to my Beovision 8 and its working great. Just one question....i want the sound that comes out of my PC to come out of the Beovision. The only outputs on the Ultrbook are USB. If i got a USB to RCA lead would that work?
Thanks,
Miles
mileso:Hi, very interesting thread! I have just connected up my HP UltraBook to my Beovision 8 and its working great. Just one question....i want the sound that comes out of my PC to come out of the Beovision. The only outputs on the Ultrbook are USB. If i got a USB to RCA lead would that work? Thanks, Miles
I know I'm digging up an old thread, but I thought I would share here rather that the main "flash" thread.
Just came to say that the BV8-32 is still good enough for computer duty if you have the space and you can't decide on whether or not to do it. Also highly recommend if you are the type of person who listens to a lot of music while you work.
Some passers-by have told me the BV8 has transformed my desk into "full boss mode"
Beo4 'til I die!
Looks great and the sound will definitely be good.
It seems a bit far away from your seating position.
Is that ok for working - the panel of the 8-32 isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.