I just brought a brand new Pioneer PDP435FDE HDTV and i wish to use it as a monitor as well with my pc. now what i want to know is how do i connet it? the best possible connection available? the plasma has a HDMI output... what do i need on the pc for both of them to connect?
You can connect your computer up to a TV to get images in various ways, all of which depend on what sort of plugs you have on your video card.
First there is composite. It is the yellow plug that comes standard on every AV piece. You will need an adapter to change this into s-video so you can plug it into your computer.
Next is s-video. Offering much better quality than composite, it is a good choice. Most TV's have s-video input, and all recent video cards have tv-out, or s-video out.
VGA (or RGB) is next. It comes standard with every video card, and is the blue plug. You will need a VGA lead from computer to VGA in on TV. Some TV's have this, some don't. Most often called computer in.
Last we have DVI. This will provide you with the best picture, as it is digital. It is the white rectangular plug on most recent video cards. You will need a DVI lead, or a DVI -> HDMI converter to plug it in.
There is also component, but that does not work very well. If you want to pursue that area, check out some ATI Radeon cards, some of them come with those leads.