LCD TV Questions

[Reddog]

Hey guys, I am looking at getting a nice TV with my tax refund this year (yipeee) just have some questions though.

Basically I am seeing a lot on nicely priced big brand LCD TV's at resolutions like 1366x768 with good contrast ratios and response time. I'm getting a bit confused though.

OK so we all know that standard 720p HD is 1280x720 and full HD is 1900x1080. However what the hell is the case with a TV that has a resolution of 1366x768? Does this mean the TV will be able to do 720p (1280x720) or does it mean it won't?

I mean I know how my LCD monitor looks with non native resolutions (****house) would such a TV scale down to 720p and look terrible?

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[fiftyone]

I had my Samsung TV connected to the computer for over a year when being use at its native resolution 1360/768 it was full-screen.
It did support several resolutions within the same ratio.

From the Owners Instruction manual..

Connecting Component Devices DTV/DVD...
This LCD TV displays its optimum picture resolution in 720p mode.
This LCD TV displays its maximum picture resolution in 1080i mode.

Later we can read in the manual : DVI does not support PC function.

So I gather that when reading a DVD or watching digital TV or playing GTA IV on a Play, we are using 1080i mode but then switching to PC mode we drop down to 720p. I think .

Mine is a 27" Samsung at 8mhz refresh and playing RO or any other game was a real joy, set a yard back from my keyboard.
I now use it for watching the TV, shame really.

Plugged a Samsung 22" 2232bw in to the computer and playing RO or any other game is a real joy, set a yard back from my keyboard...

EDIT : My TV has a Dsub connection for PC. I believe that some later models have a DVI interface for PC, in which case 1080i mode may be available in PC mode.

Check it out...51...

 

[[TW]schneidzekk]

1366x768 is the panel's resolution (I think most 720p TVs use these panels) so yes it will show 720p. There is no reason to feed an 1080i signal into an 720p TV, it would be scaled down anyway.

I don't know how much 1080p TVs are down under and if you actually have cable/sat providers who deliver in 1080 but if it isn't to expensive and the signal you get is 1080 go for a 1080p. Looks awesome and is not going to change too soon.

Don't be disappointed when some of your "HD" stations have a ****ty quality. Some of them just upscale their regular signal which doesn't look much better than regular TV.

 

[Reddog]

Well theres two TV's I am looking at;

LG LCD 81cm
1366x768
8,000:1 contrast ratio
$999

or

LG LCD 106cm
1366x768
8,000:1 contrast ratio
8ms response time
$1391

I know 1080 is the main stream now but I have seen the difference between 720p and 1080i and it isn't significant enough for me to worry about. On top of that the price difference between 720p TV's and 1080i ones is massive, we're talking $2,500-$4,500. I know that with LCD TV's you need to get a decent brand for good colour and picture, so yeah I could get a 1080i TV for a few hundered bucks extra but it'd be a store brand with ****house colour and contrast.

Prices for anything electrical in Aus are ****house compared to what you pay over seas, most of it is tax too

 

[[TW]schneidzekk]

Yeah it is the same in Germany. When i moved to Hotlanta i was like wtf? TVs are really cheap here.

 

[fiftyone]

A mid range TV like mine will now cost about 500/600

 

[radix]

I have a sharp 37 xd1e full hd and I'm very pleased with it even if it was a litle bit pricy when i've bought it.

 

[Peter.Steele]

I know it's not an LCD, but I just bought a Phillips 50-inch DLP projection TV. It was less than $400, brand new at the store. Granted, it's 720p and my cable is 1080i, but still ... there's other things that are worth looking at than just the LCD.

 

[Xendance]

From what I've heard, 1080i isn't really worth it, get either 1080p or 720p :\

 

[[TW]schneidzekk]

There is not a single TV station on the planet sending a 1080p stream afaik (Well, i bet somebody will digg up some weird station in some weird country which does ).

They either send in 720p (some sports channel prefer that because progressive is way better with fast moving stuff) or 1080i (DiscoveryHD etc) who prefer the higher resolution.

1080p is future proof, that is why i would get one (If you have the money and/or the lady approves of course )

 

[Xendance]

There is not a single TV station on the planet sending a 1080p stream afaik (Well, i bet somebody will digg up some weird station in some weird country which does ).

They either send in 720p (some sports channel prefer that because progressive is way better with fast moving stuff) or 1080i (DiscoveryHD etc) who prefer the higher resolution.

1080p is future proof, that is why i would get one (If you have the money and/or the lady approves of course )

True, but it the flickering caused by interlaced frames annoy me and cause me headaches. The flickering is especially visible with narrow lines, so that field 1 shows the line and field 2 doesn't.

But that's just me.

 

[[TW]schneidzekk]

Yeah, you definitely need a decent de-interlacer in your TV or receiver. I am lucky i guess, because i don't see a lot of flickering. I guess it depends on what you do on your TV, like just watching TV or gaming or whatever.

 

[Peter.Steele]

I've yet to notice any flickering whatsoever in my Phillips DLP. It's a 720p projection, like I said, but with the cable signal at 1080i, there's still got to be some processing involved ... and no flickering.

 

[BuddyLee]

If you are gonna settle for less than 1080i... get a plasma. Fry's has 720 err 768 res. plasmas in the 50 inch catagory for under $800.

plasma > lcd

 

[Reddog]

If you are gonna settle for less than 1080i... get a plasma. Fry's has 720 err 768 res. plasmas in the 50 inch catagory for under $800.

plasma > lcd

But aren't Plasmas horrible for power consumption and have short life spans?

 

[Fu. Svedberg]

I really don't notice any difference between SD and HD when watching a movie unless the picture is very still and has very little motion in it

*hides from fanboy flame feast*


So I would go for a 720p LCD and the bigger of your options if I was to buy a flat panel.

BUT if you can wait I would wait getting one a couple of years until OLED has matured. Surley there are commercial OLEDs on sale but they are small, expensive as hell and have a life expectancy of 3 years.

The strong point for OLED IMO is that they don't have any backlight which gives much better contrast and black really is black on screen. But as I said I expect it to be atleast another 3-5 years before they are cheap and commercialy viable choice.

 

[Monkwarrior]

TV's are so 90's

Monk.

 

[BuddyLee]

Not sure about the lifespan or power consumption, but when I check out the flatscreen tv's at the electronics store, just about any plasma screen looks a million times better than a lcd. The contrast ratio and amount of colors a plasma can reproduce is several times higher.

If you are worried about a short lifespan buy extra warranty.

 

[spraduke]

A panasonic plasma should last 30 years before the brightness halves. (not that something else wont blow up before then ). This is straight from my panasonic plasma training .

If you want a 40+ inch tv go plasma all the way (the extra power usage isn't too bad for the pay off in colour and response (0.1ms).

Anything smaller lcd is fine but unless you watch a lot of bluray movies go 720p as the upscalling is less offensive.