How to watch movies on your TV?

Videocard with TV-Out/Video-Out
To watch VCDs,SVCDs and DVDs it is best to use a standalone DVD Player but you can also watch them with your computer connected to the TV with a TV-Out device. Many video cards today have TV-Out or some times called Video-Out but the quality is not that good compared to DVD Players yet. One of the best TV-Outs have the Matrox G400 card and the latest ATI Videocards. The advantage of TV-Out is that you can play all video formats that you are able to play on your computer(DivX, ASF, MOV...) because the TV-Out is showing what is on your monitor but you don't get the best quality and you probably have to have your noisy computer kinda near your TV if you do not have very long video cables.

MPEG Decoder Card
Or you can get a MPEG Decoder Card, it is a hardware PCI Card that you put in your computer and then connect it to your tv. The quality of MPEG-Cards video playback is superb, it is compared with the quality of standalone DVD Players. But remember that MPEG-cards only defaults play MPEG/MPEG2/VCD/DVD, to play DivXs and MOV you must have a very fast computer and special player, read more here. With the latest MPEG-Cards such as the Hollywood Xcard you can now play DivX but only from DivX version 4 and up. The advantage of MPEG Decoder Card is that you get superb quality but you can only play MPEG/MPEG2/VCD/DVD, DivX 4+(XCard only) and you probably have to have your noisy computer kinda near your TV if you do not have very long video cables.

VGA to PAL/NTSC Scan converter
Another method to watch movies from your computer is to use a VGA to PAL/NTSC Scan converter. These converters have a VGA pass through so the signal can be watched both on a PC monitor and on a TV. There are many such products available (in the US. I am not sure about other countries) Below is a list of scan converters for your information. The advantage of Scan converters is that you can play all video formats that you are able to play on your computer(DivX, ASF, MOV...) because the Scan converter is showing what is on your monitor but you don't get the best quality and you probably have to have your noisy computer kinda near your TV if you do not have very long video cables.