LCD/Plasma/CRT/DLP - questions

[sj33]

andrewfee i have the 32wlt68. i am running the ps3 in 1080p mode. i know the tv is not native 1080p but is this then being downscaled?

It's being downscaled to the screens native resolution (1366x768).
I'd imagine 1920x1080 downscaled to 1366x768 would looks very nice.

[Matt]

Right, I've got the N series 40" Samsung. Been running the 360 through component no problems.

Got the official VGA lead on Friday, hooked it up - wow, definite picture improvement, and only had to bump Colour up by 3; VGA still looks washed out but the image is much crisper compared to component.

Then tonight I sat down to watch an HD film and I noticed, during almost / totally black scenes, "banding". About a quarter of the left and right sides of the screen are noticeably brighter than the middle, and on the left there's an even brighter vertical line about 2cm thick coming down the screen, about 10cm in from the far side.

I've tried other "dark" films now, and it's not the film I was watching. I've also used the Andrewfree setup pics and it's on the black patterns there - I setup component using those and didn't notice this banding then.

I'm going to call Samsung tomorrow as I have another problem with the TV. I'm guessing this is a fault on the VGA input, but could anyone elaborate?

[EvilBoris]

Alot of Samsung TVs suffer from banding at certain resolutions, it is something to do with VGA timings that the 360 offers. Mine got it in 1280*720

Change your 360 resolution to 1280*768, that should sort it without any loss in image quality

[Matt]

Still there mate, it's better, in fact quite a bit better, but still there

Plus there are now more vertical bands. Very unhappy about this, any way to change VGA timings in the service menu?

Thanks for the advice Boris.

[EvilBoris]

I don't think you can change anything on the TV that will help unless Samsung have any newer firmware updates or anything for the set.

The ones I used to get were horizontal ones, kinda like brown bars of screen tearing, it only started happening after one of the updates (which changed the VGA timings)

You are looking for a settings called clock phase and something else, although as I've experienced the samsung sets vary very little between model and my old set didn't offer these options.

try all the resolutions and see if they are any better.

[Matt]

Well I found PC Delay in the service menu, there were delays for all kinds of things.

Default was 41h, went up to 51h and then down to 31h, to be honest I couldn't notice any difference

I'll get Samsung round anyway, got another issue with it that sounds like yours - kind of horizontal "rolling" on certain colours, thought it may have been electrical interference at first.

[Daragon]

Does anyone happen to know if there's a difference other than size between the sony KDLS2030 and the KDLS2630? According to Sony's website, the Bravia engine features are only found in the 26" + model yet Amazon seem to think they're also in the 20" version. Looking at the two, there's a difference of an average of ?200 now if all thats different is screensize I'm going for the 20".

Anyone know? I need to get one ordered sharpish so I'm not waiting until the new year for it.

[andrewfee]

The 20s2030 has the same feature-set / processing as the BRAVIA U series ("worst" BRAVIAs) whereas the 26s2030 uses the "full" BRAVIA engine, as far as I know.

Should still be a great set though.

[revisedgenocide]

What HDTV mags/websites do people here read?
Ive yet to upgrade to HD but have been doing a bit of reading on it in preperation of a purchase. Sadly there seems to be a fair bit of misinformation out there so any sources trusted by folks here would be nice.
Does anyone own this set? Worth a purchase?

[Lyris]

Read the AV Forums. Most of the magazines barely justify the claims they make (and sometimes those claims seem technically impossible, too).

[revisedgenocide]

Ta muchely

[Kotatsu Neko]

What HDTV mags/websites do people here read?
Ive yet to upgrade to HD but have been doing a bit of reading on it in preperation of a purchase. Sadly there seems to be a fair bit of misinformation out there so any sources trusted by folks here would be nice.
Does anyone own this set? Worth a purchase?

That's the TV I have. What would you like to know?

[Daragon]

That's the TV I have. What would you like to know?

I wouldn't mind knowing a few details about that set - how does it handle terrestrial TV/freeview and how would a PS2 title look on it via component? Only problem I see is that it has no VGA slot. I'm trying to decide between the 26" model and the Sony KDL26S2030 - I was originally hoping my parents would buy me the Sony for Christmas but its a bit much for their pockets, especially as its my Birthday a week later

[revisedgenocide]

That's the TV I have. What would you like to know?

Overall are you pleased with it or did you get buyers guilt after you purchased it and wished youd have opted for another set in a similar price range?
How bad are the usual issues associated with LCD panels?
How is it for HD gaming?
Any unusual quirks your not keen on?
Finally how do you rate the panel on a technical level?
Thanks

[Geezer]

Does anybody know how the 37" WLT68 compares to the 40" Bravia W series?
A friend of mine has the 46" Bravia W and I was totally blown away by it, both for HD and SD. I'm looking to upgrade after Xmas and these are two of the options I'm considering.