Dell 2407 or HD LCD TV

InvaderGIR · 7 May 2007 at 17:36

Well I would like to get a second monitor for my PC, something 24" and WS. Now I was very tempted by the Dell 2407, but people have said that it isn't that good for DVD etc. playback. I'd mostly use it for DVDs/Videos as I'd use my Viewsonic VX922 for games etc. as I prefer the square screen for that.

I'm just wondering, should I spend (in a month or so) the £500 on a Dell monitor or find an HD TV with DVI (or HDMI, or whatever a graphics card can output as HD) that's 24"+?

After quickly looking at some TVs they cost less than the Dell, and effectivly come with more things.

Cheers all.

InvG

Uriel · 7 May 2007 at 21:25

Bear in mind the resolution difference. The TVs are probably 1360x768 and the Dell is 1920x1200 (enough to fit in a full 1080p picture - 1920x1080). For DVD watching you may be better off with a TV but if you're want to use 1080p HD in future the Dell will allow you to do so. At the moment to get a 1080p TV you're looking at at least 30 something inches and it will probably cost quite a bit more than the Dell too.

fish99 · 7 May 2007 at 21:51

I think the HDTV will look better with DVDs, especially with an upscaling DVD player. I've got a 32" LG LCD HDTV and the Dell 2007WFP here, and the HDTV gives a nicer picture with movie/video content. It also does a better job with games on my 360 than the Dell, and with HD movies played through my 360.

Of course I have the 2007 not the 2407, but as you say many people don't seem to like DVDs playback on their 2407s either. I don't quite know why but it seems PC monitors and films don't seem to go together well.

InvaderGIR · 8 May 2007 at 01:12

Well I know that the reason for monitors and DVDs not being exactly brilliant working together is that the native resolution of a DVD is for a non HD tv, therfore it's a tiny res and the image is stretched onto the screen at full screen. Which is why I'm not so keen on the Dell. But then I would like the use of a high res screen for image and video editing...although I could sacrefice a bit of res if needed.

Hmmm...still rather confused.

I'd be using the WS display for image and video editing, aswell as PS2, DVD player, and TV via a capture card (or built in if buy a TV).

I know that with the whole grainy reports from the 2407s it's probably similair to what I have when playing DVDs on my Viewsonic VX922 which is a 1280x1024. It also has a grainy display, but that's soley due to the original image resolution and it being stretched.

I hear that the 2407 has DVI, HD, Composite, S-Video etc. in, which would help me out with putting the PS2, and a standalone DVD player into it. TVs obvioulsy have all the correct inputs, but not so much the DVI (which I'd prefer over VGA).

Cheers for a bit of a help, still got quite a bit of time to work out which I prefer.

InvG

fish99 · 8 May 2007 at 01:45

Clearly for image/video editing the Dell would be excellent. PC gaming in widescreen is also excellent, and the Dell has a 4:3 mode for older games. So there's two good reason to go for the Dell.

I've read posts here from people trying to use PS2 via s-video on their 2407 and saying it looked nasty, and indeed my xbox via s-video on my 2007WFP looks pretty awful. I also read people saying the component input on the 2407 wasn't the best. So it seems these extra inputs many be poor. Likewise standalone dvd player means you're relying on the screen to do the upscaling (which few screen do well), unless it's an upscaling dvd player via HDMI-DVI lead. I've run a dvd player via s-video into my 2007 and again it looked awful. I've also run Sky and a Gamecube via composite and again it looked awful.

The grainyness isn't caused by the upscaling as such, poor upscaling tends to give a soft image rather than grainy. Grain is most likely just part of the DVD (in the form of noise or compression), but LCDs bring it out more than CRT/plasma, and you notice it more the closer to the screen you sit. If you're happy to fit say 5 ft away from the 2407 to watch films, it will probably look just fine presuming your PC is doing the upscaling.

Btw you can get HDTVs which handle PC input via HDMI well (using DVI-HDMI lead). A HDTV may be a bit bright for using close up though, plus 1366*768 doesn't give you much desktop space if you're going to connect it to your PC.

Both have their pros and cons really.

InvaderGIR · 8 May 2007 at 10:15

Well if I got the Dell I'd use the inputs for the PS2, or use my TV capture card which has s-video, component etc. in, but unless it's run in a window it won't look right.
I just googled 'PS2 on a dell' and got that image, it's a 2405fpw. Which to be honest if it's a similar screen to the one OcUK ship (the 2407wfp) there should be no worries on image quality. That image is using compnent in from the PS2, and to be honest I get a similar display on my 21" CRT TV.

I am certainly swaying towards the Dell moreso. Also I have two sound cards(1xonboard, 1xcreative), so for sound purposes I can split the displays by getting a second speakerset...so the TV speakers aren't that needed.

Also, what's this people keep saying about HD 2407 monitors? - As far as I knew all HD is, is just a larger res TV image, as most PC monitors have a much higher res than TVs anyways.

InvG

fish99 · 8 May 2007 at 11:39

Then again if you read the whole thread that picture is from there's plenty of people saying various consoles on the 2405 look awful-

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=895439

.. and you'll find similar comments by searching the forum here for 2407 threads. Plus that shot is too small to judge image quality. Definitely get a component lead for your PS2 if you're going to plug it into the 2407. Component > RGB scart > s-video > composite. Xbox via s-video into my 2007 was horrible when stretched to fill the screen. Not making this up it really was nasty. It was a lot worse than running PC games in the same 640*480 resolution on the same screen, so I took that to mean that the s-video input was poor. Looked better in 1:1 mode, but then it was tiny.

HD is a specific set of resolutions - 1280*720 (720p), 1920*1080 (1080i/1080p interlaced/progressive) etc. For using a screen like the 2407 with your PC, HD doesn't really mean anything though, you just always run it in native res (1920*1200), run games in whatever res you want, and for movies your movie software will handle upscaling. Things are a bit different when connecting to other devices, like HD-DVD player, Blu-ray player, PS3, 360 or an upscaling dvd player. Pretty sure from what I've read that the latest revision of the 2407 (A04) is fine with 1080p content either stretched (PC widescreens are 16:10 not 16:9) or displayed 1:1. Think I read it can't handle 1080i properly though, but that's unlikely to be an issue since you could always just use 720p.

InvaderGIR · 8 May 2007 at 12:04

Well my VX922 runs 1080p content happily...although it doesn't all fit on the screen

I did read some of the thread aswell, I didn't just take the picture for an example, it does just look kinda grainy, something like halfway between PS1 and PS2 graphics...but as you say, very hard to see the image properly as it's a poor photo.

*sigh*

I hate pros and cons of things, especially when they make both options just as appealing.

InvG

tom_nieto · 8 May 2007 at 12:19

If you're ONLY using it for video, I'd go for the HDTV every time. I had a similar choice not so long ago, but for my primary screen, but because I'm using it for everything I went down the Dell 24" route. It works just fine for video, but I think a dedicated TV would give a much better picture.

InvaderGIR · 8 May 2007 at 12:30

That's the thing though, I hate having a single siplay at the moment, so would want to have it as my 2nd monitor, for use with many different programs aswell as video...which is why I was unsure as to TV or the dell.

In all honesty, if I wanted a 2nd screen for video I'd just bring my 21" CRT TV to uni with me next year. My TV just doesn't do a good job when it comes to multimonitors, about the only half decent thing it can do is play videos on a large screen at a decent quality.

I'm currently in my first year at uni doing computing, and have found that a 2nd screen would be a godsend, so the dell is rather appealing, especially as next year I'll be doing 'games and entertainment', which means I'm probably going to want 2 screens...just whether an HDTV would be up to the job really..which I honestly doubt.

I'm swaying towards the Dell, as I'm not to fussed on image quality loss to be honest, if it's too bad for the PS2, I'll figure out something come the time...unless I can really be pushed to the HDTV side by people here

InvG

TheDean · 9 May 2007 at 09:16

I have a 2407 A04, and must say it was an awesome decision. Quite a big buy for me, and I was in exactly the same situation as you - HDTV or Monitor?!!?!?

HDTV would have been a silly decision for a few reasons.

i) It would have looked stupidly out of place in my room.
2) I can't imagine playing games on a 32" HDTV with low res
3)1080p
4)4 Yr on site warrenty with Dell 2407

Sirrel Squirrel · 9 May 2007 at 15:37

If you want 1080p you won't find a hdtv of the same size in the Dell's price range, don't think they even make 24" HDTVs.

I run my Xbox 360 over the vga cable on my Dell and everything is upscaled by the Xbox to 1920x1080 including DVDs and they look fantastic, no idea how they upscale so well.

The problem with the Dell though is that the component/composite and s video ports are awful so if you're planning to plug anything into them you will be disappointed.

But for anything plugged in via the vga or dvi port it just looks awesome.

InvaderGIR · 9 May 2007 at 16:15

Sirrel Squirrel said:
But for anything plugged in via the vga or dvi port it just looks awesome.

So ideally I'd want to buy something like a composite/component/PS2 to VGA adaptor to run the PS2 on the monitor?

I think I will get the monitor instead of a TV, as it will be much better for Windows use, and will be used a lot for it. If all else fails with putting the PS2 onto the monitor, I can run it in the PC by one card, and then out again via the DVI port on the gpu.

InvG

Sirrel Squirrel · 9 May 2007 at 16:36

That'd work but then it depends how good the adapter you buy is

InvaderGIR · 9 May 2007 at 16:45

I was thinking that...they cost like £50-£150. :eek:

Do you recon that it'd be possible to use a PS2 Component cable -> Component to VGA cable via some phono adaptors, or is that just a ***** way of working it?

InvG

Sirrel Squirrel · 9 May 2007 at 17:04

Not too sure, just try it with the s-video first and see what you think, I work with video everyday so I'm very fussy about quality

InvaderGIR · 26 May 2007 at 14:08

Quick update on this.

I have a PS1/2/3 cable to component out...

Which is connected to three phono-phono plugs...

Which connect to a component to VGA connector...

Which I then plugged into my Viewsonic VX922's VGA input. Unfourtunatly this rather crude way of working it does not work. Shame, as in all it cost like £10 instead of the £50+ for a VGA converter box thingy.

I'm still planning on getting the Dell...I think...so the PS2 component cable will come in handy anyways.

InvG

Mud · 26 May 2007 at 14:33

Assumedly it's the VGA->component connector where your chain is falling over...I think you'll find it converts a VGA signal to component only, and isn't bi-directional.

Sirrel Squirrel · 27 May 2007 at 00:53

Mud said:
Assumedly it's the VGA->component connector where your chain is falling over...I think you'll find it converts a VGA signal to component only, and isn't bi-directional.

Those component connections on the vga adapter are female though, which suggests they are inputs, it's late and that sounds really dodgy!

InvaderGIR · 27 May 2007 at 13:15

That's actualy not a picture of what I'm using. Below are the actual Items I was using...

All connected together...

And after reading the ebay item title properly...VGA to RCA...DUH!! looks like I need to go back to school.

So I take it this cable can't run data both ways? Only out? I suppose it's for connecting your PC to an HDTV that only has component in.

Cheers for pointing out my lack of attention

.

I take it there is no such cable that does the reverse of this then? Taking the component cable and running it into VGA. I'm guessing I'd need one of those converter boxes that cost silly amounts? Or just run it on the Dell with component in.

InvG