What resolution is my TV?

cavemanoc · 21 Aug 2006 at 11:20

I have a Philips 32pw9556 05r widescreen 100Hz tele that I've had for the past few years. I'm now setting up my media PC and want to set the correct resolution so I can read the text off the screen. Try as I might I cannot work out what the resolution is.

I know standard pal is 720*486, but my screen is wider than the standard 4:3 so I'm guessing it's a different resolution (not that 720*486 is 4:3 :confused:

)

Any guesses?

El_Watcher · 21 Aug 2006 at 11:56

It depends on how you are connecting the PC to the TV.
AFAIK composite video will usually only send standard PAL resolution (as you say 720*468 although some will only take 640*480).
S-Video I think goes up to 800*600 (or maybe 1024*768 but I don't think so).
Either way text is very difficult to read on these connections which is why text displayed by games consoles is formatted differently to PCs so that it is readable at these resolutions/refresh rates.
If on the other hand the TV has VGA in, you may be able to get a readable resolution.

cavemanoc · 21 Aug 2006 at 13:45

I'm using the svideo at the moment as it seems the best quality (no vga input unfortunately) - I can run it in 640*480 or 800*600 (and above) but I thought If I matched the actual resolution of the TV then the text would be clearer as noting is getting translated. I suppose the easiest is to try a couple of different resolutions and see what works best - might be worth turning off the digital correction circuits on the tv and see if that helps.

Does the TV (like CRT monitors) have a range of resolutions available to it, and does it automatically match the input, or does it have one set (ie pal). And what about the fact that it's WideScreen - doesn't that mean that it's resolution will be slightly different from a standard 4:3 TV?

Tesla · 21 Aug 2006 at 14:30

Are you assuming all pixels are square on 16:9 and 4:3 TV's?

As soon as you consider that pixels do not have to be square the resolution differences make sense

squiffy · 21 Aug 2006 at 14:37

CRT's don't have pixels.
afaik PAL is something like 576 vertical or something..google search should bring it up.

Tesla · 21 Aug 2006 at 14:58

squiffy said:
CRT's don't have pixels.
afaik PAL is something like 576 vertical or something..google search should bring it up.

They don't have pixels? What does the PAL resolution refer to then and also what do they have?

Remember, a group of 1 x red, 1 x, green and 1 x blue phosphor is considered a pixel.

squiffy · 21 Aug 2006 at 16:31

Tesla said:
They don't have pixels? What does the PAL resolution refer to then and also what do they have?

Remember, a group of 1 x red, 1 x, green and 1 x blue phosphor is considered a pixel.

Electron gun (CRT's) doesn't go along the same principle as fixed pixels (Plasma/LCD/DLP) it goes to scanlines and phosphor mask.

Tesla · 21 Aug 2006 at 16:55

squiffy said:
Electron gun (CRT's) doesn't go along the same principle as fixed pixels (Plasma/LCD/DLP) it goes to scanlines and phosphor mask.

It still has pixels though. A pixel is just the smallest point of an image. In a B&W CRT it would be the end of the electron beam, in a colour TV it's commonly a group of three phosphors each of different colour.

If this was not the case then how would analogue PAL transmissions be assigned a resolution?

squiffy · 21 Aug 2006 at 17:00

Not in the same sense as fixed pixel panels. a CRT projector has no pixels, it has scanlines, and maximum supported resolution/refresh. The electron dots are as fine as it can produce, it isn't classed as pixels.

Tesla · 21 Aug 2006 at 17:05

squiffy said:
Not in the same sense as fixed pixel panels. a CRT projector has no pixels, it has scanlines, and maximum supported resolution/refresh. The electron dots are as fine as it can produce, it isn't classed as pixels.

Stolen from the dictionary...

pixel noun, electronics the smallest element of the image displayed on a computer or TV screen, consisting of a single dot which may be illuminated (ie on) or dark (off).

As I have asked, if the screen has no pixels, what does the NTSC/PAL resolution figures refer to?

squiffy · 21 Aug 2006 at 17:17

Tesla said:
Stolen from the dictionary...

As I have asked, if the screen has no pixels, what does the NTSC/PAL resolution figures refer to?

That is the about the phosphor MASK not the actual minimum size of the electron spots. A CRT projector has far higher resolution /scalines than PAL and NTSC. for example a 9" CRT projector is capable of 2500x2000 resolutions.

those aren't pixels, they're electron gun phosphor dots.