Televisions as monitors: What are you using, and why?
- Thread starter Santilli
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udaman
Wannabe Storage Freak
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Only U can answer that
Deja vu?
32in TV aren't much bigger than the 27in iMac and surely are not better quality(unless you mean the TV's are better quality now than in the past?)
or more expensive 30in much higher res monitors (no TV can match that, other than insanely expensive, 5 figure Sharp & JVC monitors).Didn't you already do a thread on this? IIRC, you desire a PC monitor res/quality TV for a price less than a quality monitor, correct? You want a bargain. Basically asking for the impossible, but it all depends on your standards.
There are some nice 26-27 monitors with HDTV tuners since your last thread...and they might not be low enough in price, just a few though, and I take it that's too small now?
Santilli
Hairy Aussie
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The last thread was about a 28" monitor they offer, lower quality but good reviews, for 300 dollars. I've been looking at the TV's, and, they have better picture quality, and a better price point. Also, they appear to have better quality control then the monitors.
I have two 21.5" monitors, and they are nice, but, it seems that to get enough area to be really noticeably bigger, I don't even see them offered, other then that 28" for a reasonable price.
Vizio appears to have poor service, but excellent products, for TV's, in 1080P, in particular the 32" and the 37" and 40".
It's odd, but the 720 TV's are relatively expensive compared to the newer generation 1080P monitors of the same size.
I'm looking for a setup that will play BluRay or high quality HDTV rips.
I have the video card, 4670, and, it has hdmi out, along with the DVI to HDMI cables I have.
The stores seem to recommend 32" TV's be 4-6 feet away from the viewer, and, the bigger ones 6-8 feet.
My desk setup would put the screen at the back of the desk, about 6 feet probably.
I have two 21.5" monitors, and they are nice, but, it seems that to get enough area to be really noticeably bigger, I don't even see them offered, other then that 28" for a reasonable price.
Vizio appears to have poor service, but excellent products, for TV's, in 1080P, in particular the 32" and the 37" and 40".
It's odd, but the 720 TV's are relatively expensive compared to the newer generation 1080P monitors of the same size.
I'm looking for a setup that will play BluRay or high quality HDTV rips.
I have the video card, 4670, and, it has hdmi out, along with the DVI to HDMI cables I have.
The stores seem to recommend 32" TV's be 4-6 feet away from the viewer, and, the bigger ones 6-8 feet.
My desk setup would put the screen at the back of the desk, about 6 feet probably.
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
For media streaming it sounds great, especially if you couple it with a surround sound setup, even a modest one. My issue would be how well does it work as a regular monitor? Will text be sharp/crisp? Will still images have smooth edges? Is color reproduction good enough? And from a strain standpoint, will your head or eyes have to do too much lateral movement? I've found that much beyond a 24" panel and my eyes or head have to do too much to take in a full screen. At 24" and under my head can stay stationary.
Were I to go the TV-as-monitor route I'd probably use it as a second display and stay with a traditional LCD (28" or under) for my primary non-media display.
Were I to go the TV-as-monitor route I'd probably use it as a second display and stay with a traditional LCD (28" or under) for my primary non-media display.
ddrueding
Fixture
My main monitor at the office is a 42" Sharp AQUOS, and I love it. I've been using that as my main monitor for at least 18 months and no regrets. You could probably do with a 37" without losing anything appreciable, and I wouldn't go much larger or reading text full-screen will be like watching a tennis match.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Let's see: 32" Samsung LED, 40" Samsung LN40A650, 52" Sharp Aquos.
I also have two 27" and one 24" Dell Ultrasharp screens.
32" is really the upper limit for what it's comfortable to sit in front of. Bigger than that and reading text is kind of obnoxious at desktop distances.
The 52" screen is in my living room and serves as my main entertainment system.
The 40" screen is in my bedroom and is used for gaming as much as movie-watching.
The 32" screen is in my work room and is basically just a big monitor because I got tired of squinting at a 24" screen.
I also have two 27" and one 24" Dell Ultrasharp screens.
32" is really the upper limit for what it's comfortable to sit in front of. Bigger than that and reading text is kind of obnoxious at desktop distances.
The 52" screen is in my living room and serves as my main entertainment system.
The 40" screen is in my bedroom and is used for gaming as much as movie-watching.
The 32" screen is in my work room and is basically just a big monitor because I got tired of squinting at a 24" screen.
Santilli
Hairy Aussie
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OK; Thanks.
So far, I took my old video card, and HDMI cable, installed it in my friends' computer, and hooked it up to a relative cheap Emerson 32" 720 60 mhz TV. Seems to play pretty darn well, and, with a DVD out put from the computer, looks VERY good.
So, a few more questions. Which programs are you using to play DVD's, and other video stuff?
What video programs support 1080P output?
Anyone know what 32" TV's are 120 MHZ, 1080P? Can't find any at Costco.
Only thing I can find is a 40" Vizio, with 120 MHZ, 1080P, and a 10 bit screen, and processor.
Anyone know who, besides Sony, is using 10 bit screens?
Fushigi:
Your concerns are well taken, hence finding a 120 MHZ 10 bit screen.
The vizio is 629. @ costco, and, looks near the same as a 900 dollar Sony.
So far, I took my old video card, and HDMI cable, installed it in my friends' computer, and hooked it up to a relative cheap Emerson 32" 720 60 mhz TV. Seems to play pretty darn well, and, with a DVD out put from the computer, looks VERY good.
So, a few more questions. Which programs are you using to play DVD's, and other video stuff?
What video programs support 1080P output?
Anyone know what 32" TV's are 120 MHZ, 1080P? Can't find any at Costco.
Only thing I can find is a 40" Vizio, with 120 MHZ, 1080P, and a 10 bit screen, and processor.
Anyone know who, besides Sony, is using 10 bit screens?
Fushigi:
Your concerns are well taken, hence finding a 120 MHZ 10 bit screen.
The vizio is 629. @ costco, and, looks near the same as a 900 dollar Sony.
Stereodude
Not really a
It's also completely not hardware accelerated.
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
Greg, it's 120 Hz. If you are not in a big rush hold off till Feb next year. The upcoming gen will accept a 120 Hz input signal, allowing it to display 1080p 3d at 60 Hz - 60 frames to left and right eyes. High bitrate 1080p is delivered via blu-ray.
ddrueding
Fixture
I use AnyDVD HD to rip blu-ray movies to my server, then Media Player Classic Homecinema to mirror playback on the 1080p screen and 1080p projector. Mirroring will break your HDCP chain, BTW.
Santilli
Hairy Aussie
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Stereodude:
What are you using for DVD playback?
I've been using VLC, Nero 9, recently downloaded a trial of PowerDVD 9, but couldn't get it running.
PowerDVD 6 gives me the best playback with DVD's so far, with default settings.
David: I'll give any AnyDVD HD a try. I've been using, on your recommendation, the free Media Player Classic, and it's ok, not vivid.
Thanks Sam. That gives me an idea of what is driving the prices down a bit.
I don't think they'll have the 3D avaliable for the 700 dollar and under category for a long time. Do you think that's a good guess?
What are you using for DVD playback?
I've been using VLC, Nero 9, recently downloaded a trial of PowerDVD 9, but couldn't get it running.
PowerDVD 6 gives me the best playback with DVD's so far, with default settings.
David: I'll give any AnyDVD HD a try. I've been using, on your recommendation, the free Media Player Classic, and it's ok, not vivid.
Thanks Sam. That gives me an idea of what is driving the prices down a bit.
I don't think they'll have the 3D avaliable for the 700 dollar and under category for a long time. Do you think that's a good guess?
If you decide to get AnyDVD HD, make sure to check out this thread from MaxBurn regarding reduced pricing.
ddrueding
Fixture
You are expecting the video player to alter the video in some way? There are quite a few post-processing plugins available to the back-end engine, but they require a crapload of CPU to do in real-time. I have a bunch running to help upsample DVD to 1080p, and it keeps an i7 pretty busy
I thought at 1920x1080@60 was about right at the limit for single link DVI/HDMI. To go beyond that would require dual link which isn't available in HDMI?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI
Stereodude
Not really a
That's why there's HDMI 1.3 which allows more than 165MHz.
Stereodude
Not really a
MPC-HC
True, isn't that the dumbest thing when you can do something like this that doesn't:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=1011301&p_id=4921&seq=1&format=2#description
Zoom in close to the picture and read the box.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10113&cs_id=1011301&p_id=5068&seq=1&format=2
I have the first one but I wouldn't know about the HDCP portion working as my KVM isn't HDCP anyway.
Stereodude
Not really a
No because TV and Blu-Ray max out at 1920x1080.
Stereodude
Not really a
Then get a 30" 2560x1600 LCD monitor.
Yes, I did and it was very expensive crapola. But I thought we were on about the TVs. Will there be a higher definition of high definition eventaully?
Can you set the HDTV display to 1680 wide and leave the rest in blackness?
Can you set the HDTV display to 1680 wide and leave the rest in blackness?
ddrueding
Fixture
Yes. You want the standard known as 4k (4096×3072 pixels). There are already projectors that support it.
ddrueding
Fixture
Are you still out in the boonies somewhere. You are being very prolific this evening.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Stereodude
Not really a
He's trying to catch up with Merc.
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/17/blu-ray-3d-specifications-finalized-your-ps3-is-ready/
"The Blu-ray 3D specification calls for encoding 3D video using the Multiview Video Coding (MVC) codec, an extension to the ITU-T H.264 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) codec currently supported by all Blu-ray Disc players. MPEG4-MVC compresses both left and right eye views with a typical 50% overhead compared to equivalent 2D content, and can provide full 1080p resolution backward compatibility with current 2D Blu-ray Disc players. The specification also incorporates enhanced graphic features for 3D. These features provide a new experience for users, enabling navigation using 3D graphic menus and displaying 3D subtitles positioned in 3D video."
Interestingly, the PS3 which was initially released in 2006 with HDMI 1.2 will work with the spec via firmware upgrade.
What they have done is allowed 3D without a doubling in the bandwidth required, that plus backwards compatibility with existing players, i.e. a future 3D blu-ray disc will playback in 3D on a 3D player and 2D on a 2D player. No future bluray media segmentation = win.
The section you are looking for is HDMI 1.3 in the wiki. 1.3 gives support for beyond UXGA resolutions (dual link DVI equivalent).
And HDMI 1.4 supports 3D, in addition to things like an Ethernet channel (lets your TV and blu-ray player share a single network connection for example)
Stereodude
Not really a
I wouldn't touch one of those with a 10 foot pole. We had a few at my last job and they're trash. They had all sorts of problems & bugs, and the super slow refresh rate didn't help either.
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
They will have 3D capability in the smaller models as well. Given it is basically an upgrade to the HDMI transmitter chip in the TV, there is a very small increase in the cost of parts for the manufacturer. There are also the shutter glasses to acquire.
The announcement of new products at CES on January 7-10, 2010 will continue to drive down prices of existing models, as they will now be "old" in the eyes of those who pursue the shiny.
For the sake of your dollar, wait till then at least.
BTW the 3D technology in question is already at the sub $300 mark in the PC space, albeit at 22" size (video card needs to support dual link DVI which all ATI cards have done for several years now):
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/monitors/display/viewsonic-fuhzion-vx2268wm.html
ddrueding
Fixture
That is fantastic. Can't find a price, though. The question is how many tens of thousands is it? $20k? $40k?
ddrueding
Fixture
It's probably intended for institutional use and you would need a quote. I doubt they are in stock off the shelf for consumers to buy.
I know. I went to Best Buy and they didn't have any.