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badtz · Aug 7, 2002, 02:21 AM

Instead of forking out 3500 for a cinema display........

is there anyway to fork out the 3500 for a plasma [maybe a vga input?] and use that as the monitor instead??

is there any way to do this? would this work???

has anyone done it?

Mediaman_12 · Aug 7, 2002, 08:59 AM

I dont think Plasma screens are as sharp or provide as good colour reproduction as the cinema display it would also only be 'TV' res. Also I never seen a Plasma display that whasn't huge of for under $5000.

badtz · Aug 7, 2002, 09:12 AM

....... i'm hoping eventually a 42" plasma [the minimum size] will reach the 1920x1080 HD resolution so I could make the purchase then.
In the meantime, I believe the highest res. is @ 1024x1024 on a 42".

Would connecting to it via VGA lose me any quality?

I was thinking I could do the plasma TV instead, so I could watch TV on it also, along with cpu usage........

or bad idea?

how would you control which input got control of what was displayed? [if cpu/tv signals are both pluged in, and turned on?]

dialo · Aug 7, 2002, 05:33 PM

Bad idea. 1024 on that big of a display is not going to be fun. You would have to have it far enough away that it would end up being the equivalent of sitting up on a tibook, except you would have lower resolution. There is also little incentive for manufacturers to make plasmas beyond HDTV resolution: 1024. You will see a 42" lcd before you see plasma move to a higher resolution. If you really want a digital setup and have a big screen, get a projector. It will be ~$4000 and you could probably get better resolution and end up with a bigger, crisper screen. I have one hooked up to a g4 tower in my living room for DVDs and nothing beats it.

Ken_F2 · Aug 7, 2002, 06:47 PM

Plasmas are not a good choice because they suffer from burn in.

If you really want a nice, large screen for computer display, Samsung has 43" and 50" DLP models with 1280x720 resolution; they can be had for about $2700 and $3100 respectively. As they use DLP technology, the blacks are significantly better than traditional LCDs. These are digital displays with a DVI-CP input that will accept the DVI output from a Radeon or Geforce graphics board.

Or if you really want a large monitor, Toshiba has a 56" LCOS set coming late this year with an astounding 1920x1080P resolution (the first of its kind). Imagine the 23" Apple Cinema HD Display in a 56" size, except with better blacks (thanks to LCOS, an improvement over traditional LCD), and that's what you'll essentially get with the Toshiba.

badtz · Aug 7, 2002, 10:56 PM

by using a projector, wouldn't i suffer with the projector's noise [fan, etc.]????

I'm hoping to cut the cost of a new TV & CPU monitor, by using the same one for both.........

......... so plasma's aren't a good choice to go to?

native HDTV resolutions aren't available yet for 42" TVs. [i don't need anything bigger than that].......... ????

any other suggestions?

thanks for the help so far!

badtz · Aug 8, 2002, 04:55 AM

also, i'm trying to make my setup as "modern" as possible. So no big TV sets anymore

That was the other reason for plasma, as I can hang it up

Ken_F2 · Aug 8, 2002, 05:41 AM

by using a projector, wouldn't i suffer with the projector's noise [fan, etc.]????

If you mean a front projector, yes, some do produce significant fan noise, while others produce minimal noise.

......... so plasma's aren't a good choice to go to?

That's correct, they suffer from burn-in. That means, when you display a static (non-changing) image on a plasma for an extended period of time, it will burn into the screen, meaning you will see a ghost of the image all the time. This "burn in" issue is the reason why it is a good idea to avoid standard CRT projectors and plasma displays for extended computer usage. If you're going to just play games or watch movies, that's fine, but the set won't last long at all it if you display a static/non-changing desktop on the screen for prolonged periods of time.

native HDTV resolutions aren't available yet for 42" TVs. [i don't need anything bigger than that].......... ????

Well, there are two formats for HDTV, 1280x720p and 1920x1080i. There are no current sets that can do 1920x1080p, but there are digital sets that can do 1280x720p. The LCD/LCOS/DLP digital sets won't be 2" deep like the plasmas (they'll be 15-20" deep), but they won't suffer from burn-in either...

badtz · Aug 8, 2002, 06:33 AM

burn-ion wouldn't be a problem though if you set your system to turn the screen black/screen saver ????

Ken_F2 · Aug 8, 2002, 06:36 AM

burn-ion wouldn't be a problem though if you set your system to turn the screen black/screen saver ????

That's true...

But aren't you getting this display to use as a computer monitor too? If you spend hours in front of the computer, browsing this forum or working on some document or image, the Omniweb or Photoshop toolbar is going to remain static on the screen, the OSX dock is going to remain static on the screen, the Apple menu is going to remain static on the screen, the icons on your desktop will remain static...

badtz · Aug 8, 2002, 03:56 PM

being static for such a short period would affect it that much?

i'm trying to use a plasma for both purposes so i don't have to buy a cpu monitor AND tv display.......

.......yeah, i'm cheap

Todd Corzett · Aug 8, 2002, 04:27 PM

What about a presentation projector? I don't know how the resolution is, but you could hook many different devices into it (computer, DVD, TV, etc). It also really depends on the setup in your room... If you have a desk that faces a wall you could mount it above your head and have it project down onto the wall (or a small white screen). I don't know what the costs for a high quality/resolution projector would be... Seems to me like getting a traditional 17" LCD for computer use and a moderatly sized TV would be best -- but if size is an issue (and money isn't?) you could get a 23" HD Display (or save $1k and get a 22") and a FW video input/converter and run everything onto your computer for viewing.

The problem I see with having only one monitor for both TV and computer is that most computer work is done at a desk, and most TV watching is done from the couch. If I want to watch a DVD or something I don't necessarly want to be sitting at my desk... and if I want to work on something, sitting on a couch isn't the best for typing and stuff.

For me I have limited space in my bedroom for a TV, computer, etc. I find that the computer works well as a TV when I'm laying in bed, because it's like a TV would be from a couch... but again, it's not the same as sitting on a couch (relaxing) watching TV.

-Todd...

dialo · Aug 8, 2002, 04:42 PM

what's wrong with this? It is projection, though

badtz · Aug 8, 2002, 05:14 PM

dialo::: that's WAY big

todd::: that's exactly my dileamma. But since I'm in a loft, one device could possible span for two uses.

I was going to figure out the problem with the desk being in the way of a hanging display later on

A plasma display would look gorgeous on a wall

front-projector -->> has to be in a dark room, unfortunately.
rear-projector -->>> too big.
plasma ------------> so nice!
everything else ---> too big