Post your Gaming Setups

[Spatial]

Nice - see you've got the JML Cable Tidy on the go as well (those things can be a godsend)

[SubparMario]

Aye, was a horrible mess of cables going off in all directions without one. I've got it secured in a straight vertical direction for neatness now!

[themanwithapc]

That one is the 26" Samsung LE26R41B. I wasn't sure which size to get but I'm glad I went for the 26" in the end. It is actually a pretty large screen and is more than adequate for my bedroom set-up.

I guess everyone knows how hard it is to take a photo of a TV. The picture and casing finish are both so much nicer in the flesh, I wish I could get better pictures!

I am REALLY interested in this TV (especially with the 360 almost upon us). could you tell me the approximate size of your bedroom?

[Pavey]

Wush,how much was the tv and from where if you dont mind such personal questions?

Ta

[SubparMario]

I am REALLY interested in this TV (especially with the 360 almost upon us). could you tell me the approximate size of your bedroom?

My bedroom is large but my L-shaped PC and entertainment set-up is in one corner. The best way to judge the set would probably be to mark out the dimensions on a wall and see what you think. The casing is 66cm x 49cm and the visible screen is 58cm x 32cm. You could also use those markings to extend the diagonal to 32" and see if you think the extra is worth it. I sit about 1.5m away from the screen and it's more than large enough to me.

Wush,how much was the tv and from where if you dont mind such personal questions?

Ta

No worries. It was a spectacular ?589.99 with free delivery from DigiUK.

[themanwithapc]

My bedroom is large but my L-shaped PC and entertainment set-up is in one corner. The best way to judge the set would probably be to mark out the dimensions on a wall and see what you think. The casing is 66cm x 49cm and the visible screen is 58cm x 32cm. You could also use those markings to extend the diagonal to 32" and see if you think the extra is worth it. I sit about 1.5m away from the screen and it's more than large enough to me.

Thanks for the info. I was actually deciding between the 26 and 23 inch versions. I have a 10x10 bedroom, and it seems unlikely that I will mount the set. However, since you view it about 1.5m away, I think a 26 inch should be fine in my room.

One last question (if you don't mind me asking), have you encountered any problems with this set (e.g. tearing)? A lot of people report this on the avforums, so this was something which concerned me before taking the plunge for this set.

[andrewfee]

Wush, that looks great up on the wall.

I've got the 32" and it's a beautiful set.

You might find that your camera can take good pictures of the LCD in use, but it definitely won't if it's just in "automatic" mode.

This is pretty indepth, but here's how you go about taking accurate pictures of a television:

Firstly, your camera needs to have a manual mode, and you need to be able to set the white balance. The white balance is the most important thing here though, if you can't set that, then you won't be able to get it right If can can do that with your camera, you should be able to get some good pictures. For the best shots you should be using a tripod as well.

Unfortunately I rushed this, so the images aren't centred, and I've given everything a slight red cast, but you should be able to get good images from it. I also haven't calibrated it for my Powerbook's output yet (just reformatted) so things might look a little off. If I was taking my time I'd have actually reviewed the pictures on the camera, but I just took them without checking.

First thing you want to do - set up the camera on the tripod and don't move it around. If you don't have one, try and find something stable to lean on. You'll have to go with your camera's auto focus if you're doing that.

If you've got a "self-timer" turn that on to eliminate camera shake. This is a big problem with P&S cameras because they're so light. Even 2 seconds should be enough, but it's the action of you pressing the shutter release that shakes it.

Display a pure white image onscreen. You'll be using this for a few things. Disable the flash on your camera - it'll probably screw up the white balance, and makes it harder to get the exposure set correctly.



What you want to do first is get the exposure set right. If you've never done this before, it'll take a bit of practice. Your camera should have a "histogram" display on it, either a "live" one as you're framing, or one that can be turned on when you're reviewing your images.

If you don't know what a histogram is, it's basically a graph showing how much bright and dark areas there are onscreen. The left hand side is dark, the right-hand side is light. You want to expose your image as far right as possible without going so far that any bright area becomes a solid colour. This can be quite a learning process, but you also want to try and balance the bright areas with the dark, so you still have shadow details.

Here's the histogram for the above image:



Once you've got your exposure right, you need to set the white balance on your camera. This is key to getting accurate colour. Throw the camera out of focus a little, and zoom in on the actual screen. (white part) Set this to be your white balance. You should now be able to take a picture of the screen with the white area looking white, but natural.

This is how the white in the first photo is actually a pure white. You'll find that most cameras will give it a blue tint on "automatic" white balance.

As you can see, the colour in the rest of the room does not look right, but that's because an LCD screen has a different "temperature" of light from the light in your room, or from your camera's flash. You either have the colour of the screen right, or the colour of the room, you can't have both. This is why it's best to take your shots in a pitch-black room, so it doesn't look as strange.



Now you want to set up the focus. Again, I rushed this, so it's slightly off.

You'll want something with fine details, I used a program that generates test patterns, and set up the focus to the fine white lines. This will also let you check that the colour is accurate:



As you can hopefully see from the greyscale bar here, I've got the exposure just about right, with even clipping on either side. A digital camera is not able to reproduce the full dynamic range of your display unfortunately, so you have to make a compromise.

Now that you've got the exposure, white-balance, and focus right, you're ready to take some pictures of your display in action.



And here's one of Ghost Recon 2 I took last night:


(it's maybe a little under-exposed)

This was all done with a Casio Exilm EX-Z750, which I only got recently, so I'm still getting used to it. It's a higher end P&S camera (~?270) but you should be able to get good results from any digital camera that has a manual mode and lets you set a manual white balance.


EDIT: themanwithapc I'd say the 26" is about right for your room if you'll mainly be using it with games. The 23" is a better size if it's mainly going to be used for SD content. (freeview, cable, sky etc)

Personally I'd go with the 26" I don't think the 23" has a HDMI port.

[SubparMario]

One last question (if you don't mind me asking), have you encountered any problems with this set (e.g. tearing)? A lot of people report this on the avforums, so this was something which concerned me before taking the plunge for this set.

Yes, I did see this a few times when I ran some videos at 720p @ 60hz over component. Personally, I am not too worried about it. For me it's pretty minor and only lasted about half a second every once in a while. I doubt I would have noticed had I not been watching the videos with the sole purpose of looking for the problem.

The TV's not perfect but none are. The tearing issue and slightly poor 480i picture are far outweighed by the TV's many other strengths I would say. You could check out andrewfee's excellent review in the other forum for the full low-down. It all applies to the 26" version too.

[themanwithapc]

Yes, I did see this a few times when I ran some videos at 720p @ 60hz over component. Personally, I am not too worried about it. For me it's pretty minor and only lasted about half a second every once in a while. I doubt I would have noticed had I not been watching the videos with the sole purpose of looking for the problem.

The TV's not perfect but none are. The tearing issue and slightly poor 480i picture are far outweighed by the TV's many other strengths I would say. You could check out andrewfee's excellent review in the other forum for the full low-down. It all applies to the 26" version too.

Thanks a lot for your help, and a big thanks to andrewfree too. Seems as if Samsung have another cuustomer.

p.s. excellent guide too andrew

[SubparMario]

Wow, thanks for the excellent guide andrewfee. Unforunately my digital camera is pretty bad so I have next to no manual options available to me. Hopefully your post will serve as a guide to others. Don't suppose you could point me to the program and instructions for calibrating the display? It's been a bit of a stab in the dark so far.

Oh yeah and your Madagascar picture is excellent. That is what these sets are capable of.

[andrewfee]

The program I used was "DisplayConfig X" it's a Mac program that's mainly used in setting custom resolutions (kinda like Powerstrip) but also has test patterns built in.

It's been a long time since I was a PC user now, but I seem to remember some "nokia monitor test" program that was very good. This will only calibrate your computer's output though. You'll want to get a hold of either the "Avia" or "Digital Video Essentials" DVDs. They'll walk you through the whole process, and are great for calibrating.

Avia is said to be better for people that don't know a lot about it, but I prefer DVE.

DVE is only ?13.49 at BlahDVD just now. (ordered mine for ?10 a few days ago after using a voucher)

http://www.blahdvd.com/blah/DVD_Product.aspx?productid=DVD-DVDI0710-5Z

As for a calibration guide, there was a good one on how to use DVE posted on AVS Forums, I'll try to find the link.

Fair enough if your camera doesn't have many manual options, I'm sure the guide will be of use to other people here.

[Leon Retro]

Thanks for the advice Andrew. I have just bought DVE from Play for ?14.99- with the free delivery it's a good buy!

I will be getting a nice big LCD screen around new-year- so this disc should come in useful!

[Samurai Matt]

Damn it, am I the only one who still usese a full screen TV.

You all have suck flash set ups :/

[Pavey]

Could someone explain tearing to the village idiot? i.e. me.

[Hodge]

Could someone explain tearing to the village idiot? i.e. me.

Televisionuser over at avforums manage to take a pic of it happening
http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=8/21605392170.jpg&s=x1

It generally lasts about 8-10 seconds on mine when i had one, working its way up the screen and dissapearing.