HDTV recommendation?
polycounter lvl 17
I haven't followed electronic stuff for a long while now... It's about time I should get a hold of HD TV I think.....
I'm wondering if HD TV can be used as monitor for PC too without any need of converter?
HD DVD, bluerays, all next gen consoles can be played on the same HD TV right?
I want a light waight HD TV I can carry around easily, nothing fancy, just 20-25''ish screen is good enough. (my old sony CRT was 200+ lb, was a night mare to get rid of)
I don't own any next gen consoles currently. But during my part time job interview, they seemed to want me to own at least one
So I'm really looking into xbox 360 right now.
I'm wondering if HD TV can be used as monitor for PC too without any need of converter?
HD DVD, bluerays, all next gen consoles can be played on the same HD TV right?
I want a light waight HD TV I can carry around easily, nothing fancy, just 20-25''ish screen is good enough. (my old sony CRT was 200+ lb, was a night mare to get rid of)
I don't own any next gen consoles currently. But during my part time job interview, they seemed to want me to own at least one
So I'm really looking into xbox 360 right now.
Replies
samsung screens are good, and although they build the panels for the new sony range, the sony chipset gives a MUCH better picture.
if you don't mind going with plasma, which has a higher risk of screen burn if you're not carefull. but will give you a much sharper picture due to its higher contrast ratio, then the panasonic viera range is the tits.
(used to work in an electronics store, so i got to test them all side by side).
there are only a handful of brands worth considdering when buying a TV, and that's based on the fact that they are the only ones who either build all their own components, or they build components for other people:
Sony
Panasonic
Pioneer
Samsung
although they don't fall into the above catagory, great value for money would be LG.
I would stick with Pioneer, Sony, or Sharp. I own a 46" Sharp and it's been pretty good. Other sizes have been rated very well also. I haven't seen anything in the smaller sizes, but I would imagine the ratings would still be good.
As for connection as a monitor, many HDTVs have some sort of VGA port. If not, like mine, it SHOULD have an HDMI port, which you can use to connect to a computer with a DVI to HDMI cable. They are pretty cheap on Ebay. I got a 15ft cable for $10. Works great.
I'm applying for a part time job at the moment. I want to be ready for relocation once I get a full time job, which is why I want some TV that is light and easy to carry around. So I think for this reason, 20-25'' 720p LCD should be my best choice. I'll shop around and see what I can find.
You don't need 1080p at all, especially if you're not going over 25". Since you're going so small, just look for deals on dealnews.com or something similar and look up reviews on the set before you purchase. Lots of the generic brands like Westinghouse, Vizio, etc come out of the same plants that the expensive brands but they charge less to compete with the bigger names.
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actually i agree, i should apologise as i didn't read the part about it being such a small panel. in larger tv's the difference between 1366x768 pixels, and 1920x1080 pixels is actually pretty big, the clarity is amazing in 1080p models, although not essential, it brings a whole new level to it.
you'll usually find that most of those smaller brands belong to the larger ones anyway, and while yes the major component (the screen...) will probably be the same, the rest of the electronics are completely different in terms of quality.
i chose my screen after seeing it in action next to toshiba's, samsung's, sony's, panasonic's and others ion that price bracket. picture was just plain better and it holds up nicely against the higher end bravia's at work as well.
when i tried using my old tv as a monitor, i had overhanging edges in all directions, i also found that occasionally some lines appeared thicker than others. purely because although i had my pc set to pump out a 720p signal, that wasn't the tvs native resolution. and finding a card, or driver for that matter, which can output the exact resolution is pretty hard.
while my new 1080p tv has none of those problems.
It seems like you guys are just making shit up to be honest
you would be better off with a Dell or Apple monitor, which can give you a very good rez and be used to run tv off your pc
720 is fine for reading the internet. Ass for anything else.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?...f=10&loc=01
Apple monitors are way overpriced, and Dell is slightly overpriced
how is 720p too low of a resolution for a PC monitor? 720p is 1280x720, which is plenty high enough for use on a PC.
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i wonder - do you work in CG at all?
i wonder - do you work in CG at all?
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Yes, as well as all other forms of graphic design and programming. I've worked on several rigs at several different jobs and I've never needed a resolution higher than 1280x720. I do however, work in 1440x900 at home on my 19" LCD.
EQ: A lot of TVs are stubborn when it comes to accepting a signal from a computer. If you use a program called Powerstrip you can manually modify the resolutions that your video card is outputting, as well as the refresh rate, etc. Many 720p LCDs use funky native resolutions so you may need to find out what the native is and try using Powerstrip to output that.