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**mid** · 30-01-2006, 09:03

Thanks - if it'll go above a fireplace that's even better!

**yesteryeargames** · 30-01-2006, 23:06

hi, i have just got my new samsung le26bdx, i have the xbox 360 + ps2 going through component at the moment, can anyone plz tell me what is the best way to conenct the following consoles on an hdtv

dreamcast
saturn
n64
snes
nes

MJ · 30-01-2006, 23:10

I did six hours worth of tests tonight, using various settings, running the Samsung LE32R41BD LCD IDTV and a Samsung DVD-HD850 next to my six year old Sony KV32FX20U CRT TV and Sony DVP-S725D, I also tried the Xbox and 360 on the LCD and this is what I found with it all compared to the Sony kit:

Sony DVD player through RGB on LCD looked terrible
Samsung DVD player through composite on LCD looked terrible
Samsung player through HDMI on LCD looked okay, but changing the resolution between 480p, 720p and 1080i I couldn't see any difference (should it look better than the Sony RGB set up?)
Samsung player through HDMI on LCD didn't look better than the Sony player through RGB on CRT, in fact the Sony kit looked sharper
Sin City on Samsung player through HDMI on LCD looked more grey/very light brown than the black and white it should look like and did on the Sony kit
Horizontal lines were more noticeable on the Sony CRT after watching things on the LCD, especially when the picture was stretched
Xbox through S-Video on LCD looked terrible
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory on 360 through component (1080i) on LCD looked brilliant
Halo 2 on 360 through component (720p and 1080i) on LCD looked okay, but not as good as SC:CT
360 games through component (720p and 1080i) on LCD looked awesome

I tried a lot of old and new DVDs and PAL and NTSC and various settings and resolutions and in all instances the Sony set up looked better than the Samsung set up. The colours and quality of the picture looked better. Is this because I'm familiar with how it all looks on a CRT? LCD does have its own unique look.

In conclusion I wanted to like the Samsung kit, I wanted it to be better, but overall it doesn't look better. I like the extra visible screen size (real 32" diagonal) and the 360 in HD looks fantastic, but I don't think it's worth the upgrade when I'll be losing picture quality for TV and DVD.

Have I just chosen the wrong LCD TV or is the technology not where it could be yet? I guess HD Ready TVs are only really any good when being fed a true HD signal.

**EvilBoris** · 30-01-2006, 23:25

After doing the 360 auto update the colours through VGA suddely seem more vivid, anyone else noticed this, or am I just nuts?

**andrewfee** · 31-01-2006, 00:13

Ok, Amazon should be coming tomorrow to collect my 37PF9830 for a refund, and I think I've decided what to do.

I've spent countless hours looking to see what's available to buy, and considered just about every option. As I think I said, I'd love for a 37" Panasonic Plasma to be just the right thing, but I'm not going to spend ?2000 on a TV if there's even a chance I could ruin it with burn-in / image retention by playing games. (as much as I want to believe you gIzzE, unless you would personally replace my display if it got burnt in, it's not happening

)

I've spent some time viewing CRTs again, and I just can't get used to the image. I'm fine with the CRT monitor I have hooked up to my 360, although it's a bit dark for most games, (just because it must be over 10 years old now) but the flicker of interlaced images on CRTs is just giving me terrible headaches after 20-30 mins of viewing. My old 100Hz set (which spent 99% of its set in "50Hz" mode) is equally unwatchable, as I don't like what 100Hz processing does to the image.

I've also spent a lot of cash on cables and equipment, so it seems that I'm going to have to get another LCD.

As I said before; it's not that I dislike LCD - it can be very good, but most sets have terrible processing going on in the background that ruins the image.

I was chatting with someone else about my Powerbook display tonight and snapped a couple of images, (just some of the default Apple wallpaper) so I thought I'd post them up here to show you what I do consider to be a good LCD display.

They were taken handheld in full auto mode (note the motion blur on the text from hand-holding the camera) and there has been no processing done whatsoever, they were just downsized in Photoshop and compressed.

Those blacks really are black like that when my light is on. (and still very convincing with it off)
If anything, the camera has over-exposed a little. (some of the lightning blows out)

So, it's not that LCD tech itself is bad, it just seems that whenever a display is a "television" it means they have to throw in some image-destroying processing, or use a big, but poor panel. Ironically, I believe it's a Philips panel in my machine, and the 37PF9830 never looked anywhere near this good.

Ideally what I would want in a panel is the following:

The ability to disable all image processing, if the set does any.
Manually adjustable backlight that allows me to bring max luminance as low as 100cd/m2.
VGA input with 1:1 mapping for PC use.
Colour Management System. (preferably Primaries and Secondaries)
Fast enough response time to eliminate smearing.

Unfortunately, I can't find a single display that has all of the above, seeing as Sharp no longer has a colour management system on their sets, and I can't see another that does. (Samsung's doesn't count.

) Surely the above isn't too much to ask for?

Anyway - when considering the Sharps previously, I had been put off by the "16ms" response time quoted for the GA6E, and their "better" GD7E does not have a manual backlight adjustment, so I had counted them out. However, it does seems to tick all the other boxes.

I remembered an article TomsHardware did a while back on LCD TVs, and when going back to have a read over it, I noticed they had an updated one for current 32" models, with the 32GA6E scoring very well in the response test:

With a lowly "16ms" panel, it's the fastest television they've ever tested! (and they had the Samsung, Sony "S" and Philips 32PF9830 in there, amongst others)

16ms = 62.5fps shown, so the Sharp should be perfect for gaming. I'd be interested to see how the "6ms" Philips 37PF9830 scores, as the "8ms" 32" one didn't do so well.

As I can't really go without a television for much longer - it really is driving me mad, I think I'm going to pick up the LC26GA6E for around ?700. (can be had about ?50 cheaper, but I'd rather stick with Amazon for their amazing customer service)

It may not be the best LCD television around, and LCD televisions themselves may not be perfect, but I figure that at that price, it's only about 4-6 week's worth of cash, so if something better comes along in a year or so, then it's not a huge loss to upgrade so soon.

I see that there are new Sharps announced for release in Japan at the end of March, May in USA, but that typically means around Q3 over here from them, and I couldn't even wait until the end of March to be honest.

It's almost been about 5 months since my Samsung went away for repair, and apart from a couple of days with the Philips, I've been completely without a TV in that time.

So, who here has a GA6E, and what do you think of it?

Any problems I should know of?

At 26" it's going to be rather low down on my stand compared to the 32" Sammy / 37" Philips, so I'm going to have to wall-mount it, has anyone done this? Does it need an official Sharp bracket, or will any VESA mount do? (and what would you recommend?)

EDIT: Oh, and does anyone know how to get into the service menu for one of these? I'd really like to be able to do a greyscale calibration on it with my Spyder 2 sensor. I've done a quick google search, but it didn't come up with anything.

**themanwithapc** · 31-01-2006, 00:52

Nooooo, don't buy a GA6E. You'll find it's flaws and ruin it for us all!!!!11!! Only kidding

I've got one, and TBH it's a good set for the money. I'm very surprised by your comments about the response times. You of all people should know that response times can be measured in different ways. This set is as 'responsive' as others in it's category, if not more. Sharp apparently measure 'true' response times, rather than grey to black or something like that.

With regards to your requirements, I think you'll find a decent amount of tweaking options on the set. Just don't go comparing it to some of the older (and supposedly 'better' sets). A few more things you should be aware of is that the VGA is not the best socket of any TV around. There is a lack of options for the TV in VGA mode, and hence I don't think you'll be impressed much by this, although addmitedly to my eyes, the image isn't 'too bad' by default. In fact, in general, there aren't a huge number of tweaks on the set for VGA and Component, and backlight is not adjustable on VGA nor component.

As for processing, AFAIK, the set doesn't have dedicated image processing, and the options that are available can all be toggled.

Like I said earlier, it's a very good TV, and I was hell bent on finding faults in it during the initial few weeks I had it. These are the only ones I could find. Not a HUGE problem for me, but they could be major for you. Like you mentioned, the service menu could well adjust these, but I don't know how to get it either. I'm trying to criticise the telly as much as I can, so that when/if you do buy it, I don't end up looking completely red in the face when you tear it apart in your impressions

Finally, as for the wallmount, I'm thinking of going down that route too. Problem is, I know nabsolutely nothing about wall mounts, so I guess wandering over to avforums will probably get you more help.

Hope all that helps. Sorry I couldn't be of more assistance. I'm not as hardcore about my setups I'd recommend going for the telly, even if you only return it later, as you'll know there's one more telly on the market that you don't want.

**andrewfee** · 31-01-2006, 01:41