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Need Help on First HDTV Buy

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Eomer of Aldburg

Senior member
Jan 15, 2006
352
0
0
I have a few questions about HDTV's that need to be answered.

1) If properly configured, does a 32inch LCD HDTV with a resolution of 1366 x 768 work out well for a computer monitor. Such as clear, crispt text?

2) Does a VGA to VGA connection work out well or does a DVI to HDMI work out best? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp...01&type=product&tab=1&id=1158319080440
DVI to DVI isn't an option as the one I plan to buy doesn't have a DVI input.

3) How great is the quality for games and DVD's playing fom a PC and displaying on a HDTV?

Thanks guys :D
 
The Boston Dangler

The Boston Dangler

Lifer
Mar 10, 2005
14,647
2
0
Welcome!

It will look pretty good for video and still pictures, but text is "less than optimal". You definately want a digital connection to the screen. DVI and HDMI are electrically identical, so no big deal there.

widescreen gaming

Besides text quality, the other issue is overscan. The signal fed into the TV is almost always too big for the screen, even at the specified resolution. Vid drivers will have an underscan/overscan adjustment.
 
YOyoYOhowsDAjello

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,205
45
91
If you can get a native res signal to the monitor digitally, you should be in very good shape for text clarity.

Something you might consider looking at is AVSforum to see if there is specific info on the models you are considering.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

There's tons of info over there, don't get lost ;)
 
bob4432

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,727
46
91
i have a 40" westy and must say connected via vga it works excellent. this set has no overscan so it is fine for a monitor. the panel refresh rate was high enough as not to have issues with games :)

gaming was excellent, text was very good as was everything else i did with the lcd. at about 10' away the text was getting a bit small, so move in closer than that.

as far as hdmi - my cable box uses it and i really can't tell a difference between it and component, probably due to the 720p resolution and i am pretty sure that hdmi has hdcp protection which your card more than likely doesn't so that may be an issue for you.

dvds look exceptional even if running of a regular dvd player (non-upscaling), especially any of the animated one likes the incredibles and cars, but all look very good.

for a monitor if you could swing a 1920x1080 lcd in 37" i think that would be the sweet spot since you will have a lot more real estate, but that is up to you. now i am looking for a deal on a 37" 1080p lcd to replace my 17" lcd since connecting my rig to the larger lcd (as soon as those 8800gtxs drop a bit in $$....)....

have a look at www.monoprice for a good price on cables :)
 
S

Slammy1

Platinum Member
Apr 8, 2003
2,112
0
76
LOL. You do realize everyone and their mom is trying for that deal, you'll need to camp out the night before to get that deal. Depending on the popularity of your BB I'm thinking sometime between 5PM to midnight, so a 5-12 hour wait (maybe even longer).
 
bob4432

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,727
46
91
Originally posted by: Slammy1
LOL. You do realize everyone and their mom is trying for that deal, you'll need to camp out the night before to get that deal. Depending on the popularity of your BB I'm thinking sometime between 5PM to midnight, so a 5-12 hour wait (maybe even longer).
Click to expand...

if you are referring to me i am not dealing with any deal where i need to camp out - i will buy when i desire, if this is meant to the op than please disregard....
 
S

Slammy1

Platinum Member
Apr 8, 2003
2,112
0
76
Sorry Bob. The OP is referring to the BB BF doorbuster deal on the 32" Westy for $480. People are touting it as the deal of the post-holiday, and ads are saying 15 units per store (min). In researching for a friend they're saying to check with BB about how soon they should arrive, but people who do BF professionally are talking about coming as early as 14 hours before door opening. Craziness!

I use the 37" 1080P Westy as my primary display. A lot of people use the 32" for similar purpose. Heck, for stricter HTPC use a CRT through S-Video is usable (but I wouldn't want to be reading threads on it). No need to adapt fonts or anything, it reads easily from my typical 5' viewing. Friends can read it from the couch (10-12'), except the fine print. The nice thing about these units is you can put the money you were going to spend on a new monitor into a new television and run it for dual application. You're smart to wait out your DX10 purchase. I don't mind losing some eye-candy, but 1080p gaming is very GPU/CPU intensive stuff. I'm already at the point I have to tone down upconverting, even with 3-GHz HT o/c'd.

EDIT: You'll avoid some problems running through the DVI, but HDCP is easier through VGA (no protection, also some issues running through a converter). Definitely go DVI/HDMI if at all possible.
 
bob4432

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,727
46
91
Originally posted by: Slammy1
Sorry Bob. The OP is referring to the BB BF doorbuster deal on the 32" Westy for $480. People are touting it as the deal of the post-holiday, and ads are saying 15 units per store (min). In researching for a friend they're saying to check with BB about how soon they should arrive, but people who do BF professionally are talking about coming as early as 14 hours before door opening. Craziness!

I use the 37" 1080P Westy as my primary display. A lot of people use the 32" for similar purpose. Heck, for stricter HTPC use a CRT through S-Video is usable (but I wouldn't want to be reading threads on it). No need to adapt fonts or anything, it reads easily from my typical 5' viewing. Friends can read it from the couch (10-12'), except the fine print. The nice thing about these units is you can put the money you were going to spend on a new monitor into a new television and run it for dual application. You're smart to wait out your DX10 purchase. I don't mind losing some eye-candy, but 1080p gaming is very GPU/CPU intensive stuff. I'm already at the point I have to tone down upconverting, even with 3-GHz HT o/c'd.

EDIT: You'll avoid some problems running through the DVI, but HDCP is easier through VGA (no protection, also some issues running through a converter). Definitely go DVI/HDMI if at all possible.
Click to expand...

no probs, man that is a long time to wait :(

just out of curiosity, with your last line of the statement, there is no hdcp on vga but there is on the tv at least on hdmi and possibly dvi, so wouldn't vga be easier? as far as i know the current cards don't support any hdcp but will with the dx10 cards.

hdcp is the protection.

just trying to figure out what you mean
 
R

RaynorWolfcastle

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2001
8,968
16
81
Originally posted by: bob4432
no probs, man that is a long time to wait :(

just out of curiosity, with your last line of the statement, there is no hdcp on vga but there is on the tv at least on hdmi and possibly dvi, so wouldn't vga be easier? as far as i know the current cards don't support any hdcp but will with the dx10 cards.

hdcp is the protection.

just trying to figure out what you mean
Click to expand...

There are video cards with HDCP, there are even cards with HDCP-protected HDMI outputs. I know EVGA makes an HDCP-protected DVI 7900 GS card. I can't recall the others off the top of my head but they do exist.
 
bob4432

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,727
46
91
Originally posted by: RaynorWolfcastle
Originally posted by: bob4432
no probs, man that is a long time to wait :(

just out of curiosity, with your last line of the statement, there is no hdcp on vga but there is on the tv at least on hdmi and possibly dvi, so wouldn't vga be easier? as far as i know the current cards don't support any hdcp but will with the dx10 cards.

hdcp is the protection.

just trying to figure out what you mean
Click to expand...

There are video cards with HDCP, there are even cards with HDCP-protected HDMI outputs. I know EVGA makes an HDCP-protected DVI 7900 GS card. I can't recall the others off the top of my head but they do exist.
Click to expand...

thanks for the info, didn't know they were out there ;)
 
E

Eomer of Aldburg

Senior member
Jan 15, 2006
352
0
0
Originally posted by: Slammy1
LOL. You do realize everyone and their mom is trying for that deal, you'll need to camp out the night before to get that deal. Depending on the popularity of your BB I'm thinking sometime between 5PM to midnight, so a 5-12 hour wait (maybe even longer).
Click to expand...

Oh, I'm fully aware of this. I'm only 16 and have saved up money for black friday. I plan to do everything in my power and will to get that LCD :p
 
S

Slammy1

Platinum Member
Apr 8, 2003
2,112
0
76
Well, you should be happy with the unit. I wish you luck, you might check out gottadeal.com to see some tips on surviving the BF rush. There are several cards currently that are HDCP enabled (mainly NVidia from 7600+ iirc, the only ATI card I think is the 1950). You don't have to have DX10, it's just using things to their potential cause the 1080p is demanding. Plus if you're talking HW acceleration for H.264 or what not you'll be happy to have a card to relieve stress from the CPU/ The DVI has a couple of advantages. It's easier to set up cause it auto detects easier than VGA, and for a digital display you have to convert a digital source to analog out back to digital display which is where PQ comes into play.
 
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