Gaming/HDTV Options?

[DeusDeus]

Good morning everyone,

First time on this forum, and I need some advice. Prior to two months ago, I had been using a 17-inch Dell CRT for about 4 years of gaming. Thing still works like a charm. Two months ago my cousin came down and bought a shuttle PC, with a Viewsonic VX924 19-inch LCD. Well, he hung out for a month, then had to go out of town for a couple of months.

Being as concerned as I was, I decided to take care of the monitor for him..you know, to make sure it didn't go bad or anything...Anyways, it is a fantastic monitor! Its large, the color is great, the response time is great as well. I play all kinds of games too, from Starcraft, CS:S to WoW.

Alas, he is returning tomorrow so I will be returning it to him. I don't think I'll be able to go back to my loyal 17-inch CRT anymore, so I need to get a new monitor.

Now, I'm kind of a cheapass when it comes to spending money. I currently have a regular old school TV set (non-HDTV), and sooner or later I need to step up to the standard. Since I'm abou to spend a few hundred bucks, I'd like to knock out both my dilemas in one shot, at least temporarilly (untill I feel like investing in a nice 52-inch TV).

So, what I'm trying to do is play alot of games, AND be able to watch HDTV on the same device. Will the VX924 allow me to do this? I am also looking at the Dell 2005FPW. As far as my system, and graphics, I have a Gainward Geforce 6800 REGULAR. Two other questions: Will that card be able to support the widescreen resolution of the Dell, and what else do I need to get in my PC to be able to watch HDTV, that is if these monitors can even display it. I would greatly appreciate any advice anyone may have to offer, and a Happy New Year to all! Thanks in advance!

-AL

 

[DeusDeus]

Anyone got any ideas?

 

[Dman877]

A pc can display HD content on most monitors. 19 inch lcd's max out at 1280x1024 so your stuck with 720p (1280x720) which is still considered hi def. You'll have black bars at the top and bottom of the screen though. Your card will handle widescreen resolutions without a problem. Some games might not support it but there are fixes available at www.widescreengamingforum.com. You'll need an HD tuner of some kind to hook digital cable or satellite up to your pc. PCI HDTV tuner cards don't cost much though, you can get em for 100 - 150 iirc.

 

[DeusDeus]

Finally some answers! Thanks alot! So what do you think is a better option, one of the viewsonic 19 inches w/ the ultrafast response times that are normal 4:3 aspects or the dell 2005 widescreen however its 8ms?

 

[Dman877]

That's a personal preference thing. If you plan to watch a lot of hdtv and movies, having a widescreen would be nice. Widescreen gaming is pretty sweet too but like I said, is not always supported. I use a Westinghouse 37inch widescreen lcd hdtv (1080p) for my computer screen and I love it . What's your budget?

 

[LungExpansion]

Are you able to beat up your cousin? If so take it from him.

Just kidding

Im going to assume you partially fell in love with the size since a 17" monitor is really about 16" and a 19" LCD panel is well 19"

Since most games are not widescreen a 4:3 is good although some newer games like HL2 allow widescreen but as you know widescreen is pricey. Prices will eventually come down.

My personal thought is spend the extra on a monitor/lcd panel because its something that will live through several computers if you choose a good one. So up your budget.

If you need a quick size fix.
There are a lot of cheap 19" monitors and heck you can find 21" monitors for cheap around $100.00. That will hold you over until LCD panels or better technology comes along and cheaper next year.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: DeusDeus
Finally some answers! Thanks alot! So what do you think is a better option, one of the viewsonic 19 inches w/ the ultrafast response times that are normal 4:3 aspects or the dell 2005 widescreen however its 8ms?

I'm obviously biased here since I own one, but I really love the 2005FPW if you can afford it. For HDTV/widescreen content you'll get a lot more pixels and screen area (1680x945 instead of 1280x720 for 16:9 content). And many/most games these days either support widescreen resolutions or can be modified to do so. The ones that can't, you can run either stretched, or a 4:3 resolution with bars on the side of the screen (or in a box in the middle of the screen with black pixels all around, if you're running a low resolution and don't want to scale the image at all). Your 6800 will support 1680x1050 just fine, though you might not be able to play newer games at that resolution. You can always add lower 16:10 resolutions like 1280x800, as the scaling on this monitor is actually pretty good. The 2005FPW is actually 12/16ms, but in my experience it's great for gaming. It's not 100% free of "ghosting" (more correctly called motion blur), but unless you're actively looking for it instead of just watching what's on the monitor, IMO it isn't an issue.

As far as watching HDTV, as mentioned above, you can display 720p natively on the 19" monitor, and on the 2005FPW too if you want (though not scaling it will result in a smaller image in the middle of the screen). It's not quite high resolution enough to display 1080i/1080p content natively, but IMO it looks very good scaled down, and I can definitely tell the difference over 720p (assuming the content/source is good). 720p scaled up also looks quite good. Regardless of which monitor you choose, neither has a built-in HDTV tuner, so you will need to buy either an HDTV tuner for your computer or use an external tuner box/cable box or something similar. How are you planning to get your channels? If you're interested in getting HD over cable/satellite, no computer HDTV tuner can decode the encryption used for those (with one exception), so unless you just want the local/national broadcast networks in HD, you will need to use the external box method. The only thing to advise about here, is that often, the HDMI/DVI outputs of these boxes are crippled with HDCP, meaning they cannot be connected to regular DVI inputs - your monitor must support HDCP too, which neither monitor you are considering does. However, Dell is releasing a newer version (2007FPW) with HDCP support soon.

If you are not interested in premium/pay channels in HD and would be content with your locals, I would recommend using a tuner card for your computer, since that would allow you to record easily to your hard drive. There are a few different choices, but I often recommend this one - it's only $99 and will allow you to watch HDTV, record, timeshift, etc. It also supports both OTA (antenna) reception and unencrypted QAM - meaning you can receive whatever digital/HD channels on cable that the cable provider does not encrypt. Generally, the local channels they carry are not encrypted (PBS, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, etc.). Sometimes others are left unencrypted too, but it's not too common. If you live in an area where antenna reception might be difficult (say, you're more than 20-25 miles from your broadcast towers and don't want to use an outdoor antenna), and you already have basic cable, then getting those channels over cable would be ideal for you. Antennaweb.org is a good site to check out if you're interested in OTA HD reception; it will tell you how far you are from your local broadcast towers and in which direction, as well as what frequency/channel numbers they use so you know if you need a combo VHF/UHF antenna, or just UHF (generally most/all tend to be UHF).

That's all I can think of for now...I've had my 2005FPW since (last) January and my HDTV tuner since February, and I couldn't be happier.

 

[DeusDeus]

Really appreciate the awesome advice guys, thanks for filling me in.

On another forum someone reccommended this, and I think its my number one choice as of right now...what do you guys think?
ViewSonic N2750w Black 27" 16:9 8ms HD LCD TV Monitor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16889107001

Now with this thing, I don't have to worry about a tuner at all correct?

$739 bucks hurts, but considering I have a bottom line 27" TV right now, and this would replace that AS WELL as my main gaming monitor...

Also, yes, getting the local channels is awesome (24, NFL, etc...). I do watch alot of National Geographic, and they are comming out with an HD channel soon and theres Discovery, and ESPN HD, etc...so I think with the Viewsonic 27" I can watch those, whereas with the Dell or the VS 19" I cannot, correct?


ARRGH! So many options!

Oh also, although I play alot of todays games (CoD2, CS:S, BF2, WoW, etc...) I'm pretty old school and will never stop playing Starcraft. Now that game locks you into what I believe is 800x600 resolution. Would I be able to play it on the 27" LCD TV I mentioned above? Even if it means bars on the sides or whatever, no problem.

 

[DeusDeus]

Sorry, must bump. I'm almost ready to place the order for the N2750...just want some feedback before I push the button. I mean its gotten 5 out of 5 stars out of 95 ratings on Newegg...it can't be bad, can it?

 

[DeusDeus]

Another concern....the monitors native rez is 1280x768, but to make the text look right, the reviewers said to set it and WoW to 1280 x 720. Now I get a decent framerate in WoW with my 6800 REGULAR at 1024 x 768 with high details. Anything above that I get slowdown in several places. So does that mean I must set it to 1280 x 720 and suffer through the slower gameplay with this monitor?

 

[DeusDeus]

Another question. This monitor has one DVI, a D-sub, AV, and a few other ports. Here is a link to a picture of the back of the monitor.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage...20HD%20LCD%20TV%20Monitor%20-%20Retail

The reviewers on newegg said you must hook up your pc via DVI because it looks far better. Ok, the HDTV cable box by Brighthouse Networks has a HDMI to DVI connection...so I guess my question is, how do I hook them both up as optimally as possible? Does HDTV look ok being hooked up through AV cables?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: DeusDeus
Another question. This monitor has one DVI, a D-sub, AV, and a few other ports. Here is a link to a picture of the back of the monitor.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage...20HD%20LCD%20TV%20Monitor%20-%20Retail

The reviewers on newegg said you must hook up your pc via DVI because it looks far better. Ok, the HDTV cable box by Brighthouse Networks has a HDMI to DVI connection...so I guess my question is, how do I hook them both up as optimally as possible? Does HDTV look ok being hooked up through AV cables?

You could get a DVI switcher if you're really concerned about it, but hooking up via component should give pretty darn good results too.

 

[Aarondeep]

I currently own a 2405FPW, I love this thing I have plugged in my comcast cable box to it, but i prefer my 56"DLP. As far as the viewsonic goes, 1280x720 dosen't seem like a desktop resolution I would want. I think it would get irritating on a 27" with that low of a resolution. I would go with the 2005FPW, or heck look on the hot deals forum and wait until dell has another discount. I picked up this 2405 for 850. Only about 100$ more than that viewsonic and much more worth it.