LCD/Plasma/CRT/DLP - questions

[Kotatsu Neko]

Hmm, Toshiba seem to be out of stock for that one, and it looks like the mounting plate is different.

I think it's only for thr 42" and 50" models. It's a nice stand, especially for the price. I got mine with my TV from Beyond Television by the way.

[Spatial]

This is going to sound like an odd question...hell, it is an odd question but just indulge me for a bit... but if you run something at 1024x768 on a set that's native resolution is 1360x768, will it look a bit of a mess?

The point came up in a discussion with a mate today about LCD sets. His doesn't support anything except 1024x768 via VGA and he's using that to run his 360 in 720p. That does kind of defy the whole point of HD, but he reckons it looks better (and has far less jaggies) than 1360x768 via component as his set is upscaling it from 1280×720?

Got me wondering is downscaling better than upscaling in terms of final picture quality? Is he being silly?

[sj33]

1024x768 would not be HD, it's a 4:3 rstio that just isn't high enough resolution.

Upscaling 1280x720 to 1366x768 makes much more sense as the source resolution is higher, and HDTV's are designed for that upscaling process.

If he's unfortunate enough to have a set that only does 1024x768 over VGA, he should use 720p over Component.

[Spatial]

That's what I was thinking as surely at 1024x768 he'd either get massive boarders or a squidgy mess

[Concept]

5th TV and the nightmare continues. Picked up the 26LC2R from Comet only to find it doesn't have a headphone socket when I got it back home and decided to do some gaming at night.

A HDTV without a headphone socket (therefore making gaming during the hours I do so generally impossible). Wonderful.[/disspirited Concept]

[sj33]

That's wierd, the previous 26LX2R had it. Then again, the 26LC2R does seem to lack a lot that the old one had (more limited VGA I'm told).

Does it still have the stereo audio outputs at the back? You could use them with an adaptor.

[Concept]

I'm going to take it back asap this morning (hopefully Comet will be okay with it - a headphone socket is a dealbreaker for me), and tell them I'll make up the difference for a Bravia or 32LX2R (which they had in stock, but I didn't go for due to the size).

The LX series does seem superior to the LC series from what I've seen. As you say, VGA is sharper on it.

[EvilBoris]

I'm going to take it back asap this morning (hopefully Comet will be okay with it - a headphone socket is a dealbreaker for me), and tell them I'll make up the difference for a Bravia or 32LX2R (which they had in stock, but I didn't go for due to the size).

The LX series does seem superior to the LC series from what I've seen. As you say, VGA is sharper on it.

If you are gonna go for a Bravia in comet, go the extra 100 quid and get the new Toshiba me and Andrewfee have; the WLT68.

3 HDMI sockets, 100hz processing and a convieniently located Headphone socket on the side.

[Oh_Mutants]

I'm ordering the wlt68 today, 360 wise what's the best way to connect it, i keep hearing contradicting opinions on this. I'd like to go through vga but i hear this will leave borders, or end up looking worse than through component? Do i need to set my 360 to a certain res to get it right over vga? Could someone please take the time to explain all this to a total hdtv noob

[sj33]

I think the only bad thing about the Tosh is the VGA support actually, read through the lengthly topic at AVForums, and it was basically figured out that 1360x768 doesn't work properly. Or rather, it does, but it's actually a 1024x768 rendered image.
Least that's what the topic said, andrewfee could give confirmation.
There's nothing wrong with Component when done properly though, I use Component myself.

I love my Sony Bravia to bits, but from the sounds of it, the Tosh has more features.

Does 100Hz make a difference on an LCD btw? Never really seem to see any difference in refresh rates on LCD other than sync timings.

[capcom_suicide]

I think I may have dropped the ball with this 1024x768 business.

I bought a panel called a Pioneer 436XDE some months back. I knew it was not 1080p, but had been promised by the shop that it was 720p. But the resolution is actually 1024x768, and it seems that is not really 720p?

In my humble opinion (Now I am finished running it in, and have applied better settings) the xbox360 looks fantastic over component at 720p, but as the screen is only 1024x768, I guess the Pioneer must be downscaling to what is less than 720P

I feel it's unfair that they say a TV is "HD" if it turns out not to be! It wasn't the cheapest set either, costing ?2600 with stand and speakers at the time.

On the other side of the coin, I think the picture is amazing, and feel happy with that! But I can't help but feel "Am I missing out" compared to these Samsung LCD's that can do higher res.

Buying a TV is a bloody minefield! The salesman was positive that the pio was a good set, and fully HD compliant. ft:

[Kotatsu Neko]

The 'HD Ready' sticker thing they put on TVs is a total scam. I've seen 480p TVs with the stickers on.

There should be 2 levels of TV resolution - 1280x720, and 1920x1080. Nothing else, just those two as they are the standards supported by HD-DVD, 360, PS3 etc. Then stick a sticker on a TV with one of those resolutions on it.

1024x768 isn't a milllion miles off 720p, and if you're happy with it then don't worry, but it also isn't really 'HD'. Plasmas are often quite low-res though, if you want resolution you really have to go LCD. (unless you're willing to have a monster sized TV)

[capcom_suicide]

The 'HD Ready' sticker thing they put on TVs is a total scam. I've seen 480p TVs with the stickers on.

There should be 2 levels of TV resolution - 1280x720, and 1920x1080. Nothing else, just those two as they are the standards supported by HD-DVD, 360, PS3 etc. Then stick a sticker on a TV with one of those resolutions on it.

1024x768 isn't a milllion miles off 720p, and if you're happy with it then don't worry, but it also isn't really 'HD'. Plasmas are often quite low-res though, if you want resolution you really have to go LCD. (unless you're willing to have a monster sized TV)

Thanks,

I think it's the "irritation factor" that it's not really 720p.

On the plus side, the colours are really good, and it seems to handle fast images and stuff. I lost count of the reviews I read of the XDE, and not a single bloody reviewer mentioned it's lack of resolution!

Oh well! Still, it's an OK TV, just maybe not the best on the HD front.

http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/attachment...chmentid=12438

Still nice to have the games on a big screen compared to my old 28inch...

[Kotatsu Neko]

I'm ordering the wlt68 today, 360 wise what's the best way to connect it, i keep hearing contradicting opinions on this. I'd like to go through vga but i hear this will leave borders, or end up looking worse than through component? Do i need to set my 360 to a certain res to get it right over vga? Could someone please take the time to explain all this to a total hdtv noob

Component all the way. Set the 360 to output it's native 1280x720 feed and let the TV do the rest.

Will look great with rich colours and no off-set images.

[Kotatsu Neko]

Does 100Hz make a difference on an LCD btw? Never really seem to see any difference in refresh rates on LCD other than sync timings.

LCDs are all progressive and don't flicker, an LCD pixel is just on until it refreshes, it isn't redrawn like a CRT pixel is so 50hz is as good as 100hz in LCD land.

Sync rates could still be an issue though, although I haven't had any with my TV.