How will this CRT do for gaming?

[mazeroth]

A local seller on Craigslist has this Samsung 30" CRT that has a built-in HD tuner, HDMI, DVI etc for $500 that's only a month old:

http://samsung.com/Products/TV/SlimFitHDTV/TXS3079WHXXAA.asp

I'd really like to get a bigger display for gaming but don't want to shell out $1000+ for something this size. How do you feel a TV like this will do for gaming at 1280x720 or even 1920x1080? Also, with 1080i input will I have to run my games at a special res like 1920x540 progressive? Not quite sure about that. I have an X1800XL that I got from ZipZoomFly that I'll soon be flashing to an XT.

Thanks!

 

[SonicIce]

I think its max res is 1280x720, so you wont be able to get full 1080i without some scaling. I'm not sure though. You could ask on http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ since they're experts on this stuff. I think it would be a good TV for gaming, though.

 

[JRW]

CRT HDTV's tend to have much worse geometry , corner to corner focus and overscan (parts of the screen being cut off) vs. a PC CRT , but if you can live with that im sure it will be pretty nice for games. I know on Nvidia cards you can adjust overscan but not sure about ATI.

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: mazeroth
Also, with 1080i input will I have to run my games at a special res like 1920x540 progressive?

Nope, 1080i is still 1920x1080 frames, each frame is simply broken down into two interlaced fields which is how a HD-CRT like the one you are looking at will display them anyway. So 1080p input wouldn't do you any favors even if the display did support it.

But you will be getting into a bit of a project when it comes to getting the most out of PC hooked up to such a display. For more info on that, check out this thread on AVSforum.

 

[Rage187]

as long as you don't plan on web browsing, then it should be ok.

 

[kylebisme]

I'll bet web browsing would be at least functional from a reasonable distance when running the desktop at 720p and corrrected for underscan.

 

[Rage187]

well 1366x768 was functional, you just had to scroll to the right to see webpages.

 

[kylebisme]

How do you figure? Most webpages I come across are still formated to scale down to 800x600 well or at least 1024x768. 1366x768 gives you less need to scroll to the side than your average 1280x1024 LCD. 1280x720 (720p) is what I use on my HTPC setup, and while my Trinitron on my PC at 1600x1200 does give me a lot more room to work, I can't say I have any trouble browsing the web and such on my TV.