LCD TV as monitor

[Guest]

Since my CRT Monitor (24" Sony GDM-FW900) keeps turning off at times with
Vista I decided I would get a new monitor. I think I want to go with a 23"
LCD TV so I could connect my HD Cable box to it at the same time as my PC. I
was wondering if you guys had opinions on this and which kind to go with.
Should it have a DVI or analog RGB imput? The guy at my local computer place
said there is no difference. I just can't believe that. You guys seem to be
very knowledgeable in this sort of thing. What do you think?

 

[Zapper]

You are not asking about how to connect your COMPUTER to the monitor(DVI,
righ?) but rather what would be best from the cable box?

I run my HD TV with composite..had the choice for DVI, but early firmware
issues made composite more configurable AND I have limited extras when
through DVI. My cable company upgraded our DVR, and now it only puts out
HDMI in digital, so I cant connect this to my LCD monitor or HDTV(neither of
them have hdcp controls), so I am stuck with composite..

So what I am saying is computer to LCD-DVI, Cable box to LCD composite.

 

[Peter M]

In a sense there isn't... a good analogue connection is as good as a crappy
dvi. It just depends on how good the circuitry built in is. As for the crt
turning off at time you could just go into screensaver properties and set
the monitor to never power down in "power management".

 

[Guest]

Peter M
That was the first thing I did. It's not that.It seems to do this when I am
trying to do something like navigate through this forum. It will freeze then
the monitor turns off but the PC stays on. Maybe it is because it is a ATI
All In Wonder card and only the video drivers are released but not the
multimedia drivers. It is fine with XP. I would like an LCD. Are there any
benifits that I will be missing by going with a tv over a monitor?

 

[Zapper]

Look for the best performance LCD you can get.....as long as it has Svideo
input, you could put a VCR below it to tune it if you decide that an LCD
monitor is better performance than a combo unit. I actually do that in
another room with a super old Apple 14 Analog LCD screen.

I honestly have not looked at combo units, and know that the current crop of
LCD monitors are getting pretty amazing..

 

[JW]

You want to get one of the LCD widescrewn TVs/monitors that has both a DVI
or HDMI connection for your digital cable or satellite box and a VGA
connection for your PC connection

 

[Tom Scales]

I disagree. HDMI is still too new and doesn't work well.

I went with an LCD with DVI, Component and VGA. I use DVI from my PC (and
VGA from another PC) and Component from the cable box. There is a small,
but noticeable, improvement with DVI.

If you want true HD, which is 1080i, none of the 23" TVs will do it. You
have to go to a 37" or better. The best choice might be the Dell 2405FPW,
which is a true 1920x1200.

Tom

 

[Zapper]

Wow, that sounds just like my suggestion... ;-)

And just to pick nits, there are 2 "true" HD formats, 1080i and 720p.

 

[Tom Scales]

I have 1080i. I now ignore 720p

The difference is huge.

Tom

 

[Zapper]

I also have 1080i, but my favorite stations, ESPN and the Deuce, along with
ABC went 720p...so I am always looking for a reason to get another HD
set...just because I want to make sure my wife can see any show on ABC
"correctly" ;-)

 

[JW]

I don't understand why you think that a TV that has a HDMI interface
instead of a DVI interface that you think it is too new. Some of the cable
companies have been providing STBs with only an HDMI interface for almost a
year I have not heard of any that do not work. Also many HDTVs only have a
HDMI interfaces now. If you have a STB or PC with only a DVI interface you
can use a DVI-HDMI adapter or cable to connect to a TV with a HDMI interface
since the HDMI video protocol is just a superset of the DVI video protocol
and the adapter or cable just connect the right pins on the DVI connecor to
the correct pins on the HDMI connector.

 

[Tom Scales]

The problem is that evil thing called DRM. Many, many reports out there of
the DVI->HDMI not working, particularly when trying to play content from a
PC.

DVI, on the otherhand, always works.

Tom

 

[PaulM]

If you have 1080i, you should still watch any channel with 720p.. Why would
you buy another HDTV?

 

[Zapper]

So I could have 2?
That is like asking why I just bought a new computer to test out the x64
version of Vista!!!!!


;-)

 

[PaulM]

Good answer!

--
www.winxpvista.com

So I could have 2?
That is like asking why I just bought a new computer to test out the x64
version of Vista!!!!!


;-)

 

[Guest]

Tom
what brand of TV did you get? I have a Sony 27" LCD TV and it only comes
with a HD 15 analog RGB input for the PC. I want a DVI imput for the PC. It's
better, right?

 

[Tom Scales]

I bought a Westinghouse 37". Be careful though as the new model is only
720p. The model I bought (the number escapes me) is 1920x1080. It's
stunning!

Tom

 

[JW]

Are you saying your TV does not have a DVI input? Some HDTV user manuals
state that they do not support PCs over DVI. What they really mean is that
the don't support all of the standard PC resolutions of a PC. You can
output those reolutions from your PC over DVI that the TV user manual says
it will receive over DVI. These are normally 480i,480p, 720p, 1080i, and
now even 1080p or some subset of these.

 

[JW]

Are you saying your TV does not have a DVI input? Some HDTV user manuals
state that they do not support PCs over DVI. What they really mean is that
the don't support all of the standard PC resolutions of a PC. You can
output those reolutions from your PC over DVI that the TV user manual says
it will receive over DVI. These are normally 480i,480p, 720p, 1080i, and
now even 1080p or some subset of these.
The advantage of DVI over VGA is that you get more accurate color since the
signals are not converted to analog for VGA and then back to digital in the
TV
Your HDTV very likely overscans the inputs it gets over DVI so you have to
apply overscan compensation in your PC video drivers to compensate if you
plan on using the TV for PC applications. Becasue of this you may want to
stick with VGA from the PC since even the minor amount of scaling done by
the overscan and the overscan compensation can cause some distortaion of
small text fonts.