32"+ HdTv for media center.

Energize · 22 Jan 2006 at 20:17

Whats a good tv for using with a media center computer through vga or dvi as long as it does 720p it doesnt matter wether its crt or lcd, no plasma though.

pinkaardvark · 22 Jan 2006 at 20:51

Well if your gonna use MCE as your tuner you may as well get yourself a big TFT. Those dell ones in 30" sound pretty impressive.

Matt · 22 Jan 2006 at 21:00

Go and have a look in a shop to see which you like

Bare in mind though that quite a few will have DVI but will not be able to properly take a PC signal.

Models to consider are:
- Samsung M series
- Panasonic 500 series
- Sony S series

Energize · 22 Jan 2006 at 23:38

What do you mean by not be able to take a pc signal?

Kamakazie! · 22 Jan 2006 at 23:52

any of them with dvi-i should take a PC signal but those with HDMI might not support a PC connection/resolution through HDMI. Be careful when looking as this would be a big problem. Most panels will take a VGA (d-sub) connection though. I would only look at panels with a 1366x768 resolution though to be honest. That way you should get 1:1 mapping from your pc though it will leave a 3pxl bar at each side as closest match is 1360x768 i believe?!? something liket hat anyhow.

Mr Latte · 24 Jan 2006 at 00:54

pinkaardvark said:
Well if your gonna use MCE as your tuner you may as well get yourself a big TFT. Those dell ones in 30" sound pretty impressive.

Couldnt be further from the truth.
MCE for a start stays the same size eg in 720p or 1080i modes
Having the higher res wouldnt benifit at all and as for video playback the Dells extra high resolutions means additional scaling which would only worsen the quality. Its also a monitor so doesnt include typical noise reduction or other picture enchancing technology found on the latest HDTVs

The Dells a nifty PC display, probably great for high res photos and a massive desktop for multitasking but it sure aint as well suited for HTPC or HD movie playback.

1:1 Pixel mapping isnt that important unless you are really fussy regarding desktop usage. A good HDTV will scale well, showing no major artifacts and manual resolution modes via "overscan" set just below 720p and 1080i resolutions will give fullscreen desktops.

Also remember a common 1366x768 panel scales HD movies up/down so 1:1 isnt possible on the vast majority of displays when viewing HD movies. Id also bet that most people couldnt tell the difference between a 1366x768 & 1280x720 panel both running a X360 thats outputing in 720p, the same goes for 1080i playback too.

I can recommend the new Sony models "V" "S" range for HTPC usage.
Use a Sony V40 via HDMI myself.

Matt · 24 Jan 2006 at 09:21

Energize said:
What do you mean by not be able to take a pc signal?

Some TV's (JVC DS6?) for example, say that they take a PC signal, BUT will only do so upto 1024x768 as standard. So read the manuals on the manufacturers site BEFORE you place the order

Mr Latte · 24 Jan 2006 at 11:50

Matt said:
Some TV's (JVC DS6?) for example, say that they take a PC signal, BUT will only do so upto 1024x768 as standard. So read the manuals on the manufacturers site BEFORE you place the order

Yeah this has been annoying for many buyers of different models. Seems some models VGA connection bypasses the internal scalers. I once tried to get a collection of compatible resolution modes for a lot of different models here on a thread to help with this problem but to no avail.

All i could say to help is for such owners to try DVI/HDMI instead of VGA and set their resolutions to 720p (1280x720) or 1080i (1920x1080i) ensure interlaced mode is set on the graphics card for 1080i setting if trying that mode though.

Really were just trying to fool the display that its receiving 720p or 1080i video. If it works then only overscan needs to be applied within the graphic drivers to give full desktop.

Worth a try?

pinkaardvark · 24 Jan 2006 at 11:54

Mr Latte? so your telling me that you can't play PC games or browse the web or do all the other PC related things at normal PC resolutions on MCE? I figured anybody prepared to put up with the disadvantages of a PC that you need to boot and that will likely make some noise will want to use those features over and above looking at TV

Mr Latte · 24 Jan 2006 at 12:16

pinkaardvark said:
Mr Latte? so your telling me that you can't play PC games or browse the web or do all the other PC related things at normal PC resolutions on MCE?

When referring to MCE im talking about the actual "Media Centre Experience" it stays the same size so running larger resolutions doesnt change its layout.
Outside of this yes its the same as XP. For gaming I thought the 2405 was already pushing the boundries of graphics cards in games with its high resolution panel never mind this latest Dell and if your going to be gaming at a lot less than native then thats not a good thing.

Ive always preferred and found my gaming to be more enjoyable on my projector at 1280x720 via PC but some people are perhaps kinda like high resolution freaks. Back to the point im not sure outside of professional work quite who the new Dell display suits, its not aimed at HDTV users for sure though.