Buck said:
My aunt is moving into an assisted living place. The room is a little
small. Can she buy an LCD TV, which will also can serve as a monitor for
her TV? Is it a reasonable way for her to go, given space limitations?
The one thing I'd be interested in, is whether the "computer" interface
to the LCD TV, supports native resolution or not. There are a couple options.
You might find an LCD TV, at say 1366x768, where the VGA or DVI input
for "computer" is limited to 1280x1024. In other words, the highest
resolution setting from the computer side, does not match pixel for
pixel, the native screen resolution. The LCD TV resamples, and the
text quality will be slightly less.
You can find other ones, say a 1440 x 900, that actually offers that
as an option on the "computer" input. In other words, the LCD panel
is 1440x900 and the computer resolution top value is also 1440x900,
for "native" resolution. It means the pixels are not re-sampled to fit
the screen. Sharper text should result.
For an older person, you'd want to go into Windows and bump up the
font setting. For example, on my 17" 1280x1024, I use "125% normal size"
for fonts (Display:Settings:Advanced). That can screw up the rendering
of some dialog boxes, and cause quirks like problems selecting
text with the mouse, but otherwise can help if you cannot read
the text, while the screen is set to native resolution.
I recommend downloading the manual, for the LCD TV you are interested in,
and see what resolution options are available on the various interfaces.
Looking in the Newegg items, I've seen a few tricks already. One "LCD TV"
had no tuner inside (!), which makes it more of a "video monitor" than TV.
Some claim "1080i" or "1080p" etc, when there aren't enough pixels on
the screen, to do that 1:1.
Resampling video content, generally doesn't hurt it like it would
fine computer text. For example, 720p at 1280x720, has to be
re-sampled to fit a 1440x900 screen. The aspect ratios aren't the
same, and the remote control may offer a couple of options for how
the resulting picture will fill the screen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Common_Video_Resolutions_2.svg
Selecting one at random... This one has a 170°(H)/160°(V) viewing angle.
The viewing angle determines how much color shift happens, when you move
your head around, with respect to the screen. If a single person is using
the display, this is not as much of a problem, as if more than one person
is using it. You can get displays with specs up to about 178°(H)/178°(V)
for viewing angle. The panel type (TN, IPS, MVA, PVA) determines the
viewing angle (and the price).
Westinghouse Black & Dark Silver 19" 16:10 5ms 720p LCD HDTV SK-19H210S
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889234006
http://www.westinghousedigital.com/pdf/114_User_Manual.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_crystal_display (some panel types mentioned...)
The Westinghouse manual, mentions the VGA can be used with a computer.
Or a DVI to HDMI cable, and plugging to the HDMI input will also work.
That is important, as some LCD TVs have limited resolution options on
their HDMI input (i.e. don't have traditional computer resolution values).
The manual also mentions 1440x900 at 60Hz as the best setting. And since
the thing has a 1440x900 panel, that means the computer interface supports
native resolution. That gives the clearest display, for rendering computer
text.
I'm not really up on tuner technology. The advert mentions ATSC/NTSC/QAM Tuner,
but for premium content, it is possible a set top box might be required. So
the built-in tuner might not support every possible option. And that is where
some of the other input options on the set come in handy. (Like component
video, if the set top box had a component video output say.)
For some of the other Newegg Westinghouse LCD TVs, the service/warranty
experience was terrible. Some users return sets to Westinghouse, never
to see them again - or they receive another unit that is broken. The
chances of breakage on a smaller unit, like the 19", might be a bit
better, as it will be lighter. As long as it is well packed, and the
shipper chosen is not manned by gorillas, the purchase should go
OK.
HTH,
Paul
