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F*ckDell · Mar 11, 2006, 11:05 PM

No kidding... Where in Canada are you from? I'll have to stop by a Best Buy and check that out. I'll be sure to report once I get back from Florida.

I'm not to crazy about rear projection TVs, even with the hybrid LCD/Projection setups. I'll just have to check out the Westy and wait until Sharp releases their 1080p line.

Has anyone done any reading on Vista? What are your comments on the new OS?

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 12, 2006, 02:50 PM

What sony lock up bug? the only prob I know of was after 1200 hours the set wouldn't turn on but all you had to do was unplug it for a second and it would be ok for another 1200. The software update did fix that though.

Eug Wanker · Mar 12, 2006, 03:07 PM

Originally Posted by I Bent My Wookiee

What sony lock up bug? the only prob I know of was after 1200 hours the set wouldn't turn on but all you had to do was unplug it for a second and it would be ok for another 1200. The software update did fix that though.

Yeah, it's a different lockup bug, but that's what I'm talking about.

BTW, There is a new 1080p Westinghouse 37" coming soon.
The LVM-37w3 appears to be the successor to last year's LVM-37w1.
It looks better than the old model. I just hope it doesn't suffer from the Westy lockup bug.

F*ckDell · 06:08 PM

That price isn't bad at all!

Should we wait to see the new Sharps, or consider the Westy as a legit 1080p HDTV set... to of course use the Mac Mini with it.

...just reviewed the specs on that Westy... it says its got a 12 ms response time. My understanding was an 8 ms response time was good for games, so watching tv must be the same...

Will the 12 ms response time result in poor quality? I'm a stickler when it comes to quality and little sh*t like that...

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 12, 2006, 06:47 PM

Originally Posted by F*ckDell

Will the 12 ms response time result in poor quality? I'm a stickler when it comes to quality and little sh*t like that...

Oh hell no. My TV is 15 ms I think and I have NEVER seen the slightest ghosting ever.

F*ckDell · Mar 12, 2006, 07:34 PM

Oh well thats good to know... I'm new to these Plasma/LCD HDTVs - my family and I still don't own one. Planning on buying one once the semesters over and I move down to Florida. So knowing you guys have the answers to my questions is a big help. Thanks for everything!

Eug Wanker · Mar 13, 2006, 11:33 AM

Some people have claimed they see rare ghosting with some TVs with a supposed 16 ms response time. I can't say I have though, and 12 ms should definitely be fine. As far I've seen for the 12 ms screens out there, nobody is complaining about ghosting.

BTW, the new 37" LVM-37w3 is listed at Best Buy (USA-only, and only internally, not on their public website) for March 19 availability. However, given the issues with the previous 37" and new 42" model though, I'm definitely waiting. Other people can be the guinea pigs.

Who knows, I may just wait for a 1080p Sony Bravia X.

Waiting isn't a big deal for me anyway, since I want the TV partially because I want to hook up a Sony Playstation 3 and a version B Core Duo Mac mini to it, and obviously I don't have either of those yet.

P.S. Who sells good quality component video switchers?

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 13, 2006, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

P.S. Who sells good quality component video switchers?

I think it is just better to buy an new reciever with HDMI swithing and Component swiching.

F*ckDell · Mar 13, 2006, 05:09 PM

PS3... oh god... have fun paying $100 a game!

-no proof on that statement...

hotani · Mar 14, 2006, 11:39 AM

I just purchased a Westy LVM-37w1 a few weeks ago. I've been using it as my main monitor as well as TV. The 1080p is nice, video looks great and I have no complaints so far. Apparently at some point it's supposed to lock up on me?

Bit of a side note, I just downloaded Mplayer last night (yeah I'm late to the game on that one) and it will play my 720p XviD content quite well considering I'm still running at 867MHz.

Pic:

Eug Wanker · Mar 14, 2006, 12:15 PM

Hey, nice monitor.

I'm impressed that you're able to use this as your main monitor. Kinda big that close up though, no?

As for the lockup, the good news is that most people do not have the lockup issue. BTW, I've seen two reports of emails from Westinghouse stating:

1) It only happens on surge protectors. <-- Sounds like a bullcrap answer to me but whatever.
2) They haven't heard of this issue. <-- Hopefully this means it isn't as widespread as some of the reports might have suggested.

There is a new model LVM-37w3 coming out, but who knows exactly when. Best Buy claims soon, but the good news for you is that I think the LVM-37w1 seems to be cheaper priced, and I believe they use the exact same screen. I think the 37w3 with speakers looks better than the 37w1 with speakers, but you've removed the speakers so that is a moot point.

P.S. What did you use to hang the thing up? It's a pretty heavy unit. Do you have a tilt on the screen. It seems like if you're sitting in front of that desk the angle might be off kilter a bit.

hotani · Mar 14, 2006, 02:02 PM

Honestly, when I ordered it I was worried about being too close with not enough resolution - meaning really big text that can be blurry when viewed at close quarters. However, in reality it is quite useful and I've had no problems other than it is really frakkin bright when sitting 3' away! Especially when looking at webpages with a lot of whitespace (which is most of them).

I came from a dual monitor setup (still use this at work) which provided a 2560x1024 desktop space, now with the new huge display I've actually given up some desktop realestate but with multiple desktops I have no problems at all.

The LCD and mac combo been a great HTPC, and the best purchase I've made so far for the whole setup was the ATI Remote Wonder. Highly recommend this to anyone considering any kind of HTPC.

It is mounted to the wall via basic wall mount I found on amazon for $45. Some wall mounts were over $100 but I never understood why - turns out there is no reason that I can tell, my $45 mount is very sturdy and I can't imagine needing any more out of it. It does not tilt, I decided proximity to the wall was more important and with the great viewing angle of the LCD tilt is not really necessary, even when sitting at the desk.

Oh, and games are a whole new experience now.

Eug Wanker · Mar 16, 2006, 12:15 PM

hotani, did OS X have a built-in color profile for the LVM-37w1? Apparently there is already one built into OS X for the 42" LVM-42w2.

Pic

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 16, 2006, 06:12 PM

Personally i have a 720p set. I have never see the difference between 1080i and 720p.

With LCD sets they don't flicker like other sets so interlaced or progressive isn't that big of a difference.

The people who have seen 1080p sets say the look good but not necessarily because it is progressive but the TV has other technologies that make the picture look better.

My understanding of the Blu-ray disks is that they cannot even move a 1080p signal off the disk fast enough so it must be 1080i and is being unconverted.

Another problem is shows/movies that are being filmed with Hi-def cameras are filming in 1080i and not progressive. So a dream of watching BSG or Enterprise in 1080p will just be 1080i upconverted. The same might even apply to the last few Star Wars movies who where filmed in hi-def.

What content would you watch in 1080p on a Mac Mini other than movie trailers?

Some sources:

http://kamalot.blogspot.com/2006/02/...only-hype.html

http://www.hdtvexpert.com/pages_b/reality.html

Right now 1080p is nothing but the current marketing buzzword. ZERO sources fully support it, heck I have my suspicions about the 1080p trailers Apple offers (they are probably just up-converts).

Eug, if you are looking at LCD TVs you need to concentrate more on contrast ratio's over 1080p and refresh times.

Trust me on all modern sets the last problem any of them have is refreash time. The LCD's DO have BAD BAD shadow detail and black levels. I wouldn't have got a LCD TV unil they came out with the rear projection set with an adjustable iris. The contrast ratio on it is 1500:1 at minimum and it is really the lowest you want to go especially since you watch BSG, Star Trek, Sci-fi and are REALLY picky about these things.

Eug Wanker · Mar 16, 2006, 06:42 PM

The kamalot source you list is just plain wrong. 1080p data transfer is easily within the 1X Blu-ray spec, and Blu-ray will debut at 2X. Since when does Blu-ray stream uncompressed 1080p off disk? And HDMI 1.0 already fully supports 1080p.

And anyways, I want 1080p more for the Mac mini and PS3 than for watching movies. Hell, probably most movies I'll be watching for the near future will be 480p anyway.

Contrast ratio is an issue, but I have seen current generation 1000:1 ratio sets, and the contrast is acceptable. If it were my main concern I'd probably buy a plasma instead. I don't like rear projection TVs.

hotani · 09:25 PM

Originally Posted by I Bent My Wookiee

Personally i have a 720p set. I have never see the difference between 1080i and 720p.

It all depends on how far away it is. According to that chart, I can't tell the diff between 720p and 1080i - but I have yet to watch any 1080 content on mine. I know I could have gotten away with a 720p TV for my room and how far I am from the 37" screen, but I wanted 1080p because I'm also using it for a monitor and will be about 1m from the screen a lot of the time.

And games look really frakking good.

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

hotani, did OS X have a built-in color profile for the LVM-37w1? Apparently there is already one built into OS X for the 42" LVM-42w2.

Pic

I'll check it when I get home, but I know I didn't have to do anything but plug it in. The picture was perfect from the start, so something worked right.

EDIT: yep, the profile is in there.

asxless · 11:40 PM

Originally Posted by I Bent My Wookiee

Personally i have a 720p set. I have never see the difference between 1080i and 720p....

Say what bro?

You only have to wander into a Best Buy and look around at the HDTVs on display at any distance less than 3m to see how poor the resolution of 720p HDTV LCDs are compared to 1080i or 1080p when you compare displays of roughly the same size. Of course, most of the current crop of 1080i/p HDTVs are much larger than the 720p HDTVs. So they don't look that different during causal inspection. In fact, the smaller 720p displays can look better than a larger 1080i/p if you are at the same distance from both.

But as hotani points out, viewing HDTV from across the room is not a very stiff test of resolution. The real test is using one of these HDTVs as a Mac monitor sitting less than 1m away from the display. That is when all but the smallest of the current 720p HDTVs becomes obviously low resolution (i.e. large dot pitch)

-- asxless in iLand

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 17, 2006, 12:05 AM

Originally Posted by asxless

Say what bro?

You only have to wander into a Best Buy and look around at the HDTVs on display at any distance less than 3m to see how poor the resolution of 720p HDTV LCDs are compared to 1080i-- asxless in iLand

No way, just about everyone agrees that 720p and 1080i are indistinguishable. 720p is actually better for many things like sports.

mduell · Mar 17, 2006, 02:41 AM

720p and 1080i is a wash to me... go for 1080p.

asxless · Mar 17, 2006, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by I Bent My Wookiee

No way, just about everyone agrees that 720p and 1080i are indistinguishable. 720p is actually better for many things like sports.

Thats because almost all of the current 1080i/p HDTVs are much larger than the current 720p HDTVs. So the pixels on most1080i/p HDTV are actually further apart -> lower pixel density -> lower appearant resolution when viewed from the same distance. Interestingly this is the part of the sentence you chose not to quote.

Take a look at the chart hotani posted and read the difference in appearant resolution vertically to compare displays of the same size. As the display size gets bigger, the difference in appearant resolution grows. If you sit/stand far enough away from them, they both look great

-- asxless in iLand

F*ckDell · Mar 17, 2006, 11:16 AM

Ok, so what chart is telling me - if i have a 37 inch 1080p - i should sit something like 13 feet away to watch a DVD?? I don't understand that...

I'd only get a 1080p if I was to use a Mac Mini with it... and thats what I plan on doing... what happens to the quality if HD broadcast is only at 720p, will quality be lost if I have a 1080p?

hotani · 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by F*ckDell

Ok, so what chart is telling me - if i have a 37 inch 1080p - i should sit something like 13 feet away to watch a DVD?? I don't understand that...

It means that 13' is how far you need to be for DVD quality to be 'transparent' to HD quality.

Originally Posted by F*ckDell

I'd only get a 1080p if I was to use a Mac Mini with it... and thats what I plan on doing... what happens to the quality if HD broadcast is only at 720p, will quality be lost if I have a 1080p?

You won't lose any quality, the display 'upconverts' the signal to 1080. That doesn't mean you gain any quality either, it just fits 720p onto the 1080 screen.

The chart shows for any point on there, resolutions to the left will be distinguishable from those on the right, whereas you won't be able to tell the difference between everything to the right.

For example, 10 feet from a 40" screen: With 3 displays side-by-side (DVD, 720, 1080), you should be able to easily tell the difference between DVD and 720p, but not between 720p and 1080. Actually, according to the chart, for that size screen at that distance 720p looks as good as 4k digital cinema! Move to 5' and you would be able to spot the 1080 from the 720.

So in other words, if you are 10' away from your TV, there is no need to get anything higher res than 720p with a 40" screen since the human eye wouldn't be able to tell the difference. If you really want to take advantage of 1080 from 10' away, you'll have to get a 55"+ TV.

Sitting on my couch puts my face about 9' from my 37" display. I've watched 480p content that looked so close to 720p I didn't care (848x480, or EDTV). I think a lot of people jump on the 1080 bandwagon so they can have bragging rights, but don't realize the extra resolution (not to mention $$) is wasted.

Eug Wanker · Mar 17, 2006, 12:04 PM

Sony Outlines New 'Full HD' Plans Featuring BRAVIA and SXRD HDTV

LAS VEGAS, March 16, 2006

Due to ship in the second half of 2006, there will be various models with 1920 x 1080 display resolution and some products capable of 1080p input. They are expected to complement the upcoming launch of 1080p Blu-ray products, including Sony's recently announced BDP-S1 Blu-ray Disc™ player and the VAIO® RC Desktop PC with a Blu-ray ROM disc drive.

"We plan to bring the best possible visual experience to consumers and 1080p full HD is the holy grail of picture quality," said Randy Waynick, senior vice president of the Home Products Division for Sony Electronics. "Whether it's a Blu-ray movie or another HD source, our BRAVIA and Grand WEGA SXRD televisions deliver higher definition than all the rest."

I don't really want a 46" though. I'd prefer a 42".

F*ckDell · Mar 17, 2006, 12:55 PM

Just last night, while at the air point, I heard a guy that works for Sony say they are releasing 1080p LCD HDTVs by "June, July, Aug."... He added that Sony agreed they wouldn't make plasmas, strictly focusing on LCD and DLP displays. (Eventhough Sony calls there DLP designs different) Hopefully this will bring more 1080p HDTVs to the market, and lower the price...

hotani - I understand what your saying, for the most part people want 1080p HDTVs to just say they have one. Your saying buying one now isn't wise, what LCD HDTV set would you buy if you were to hook a Mini into in??

...just checked out that link above... the guy that I'm talking about from the air port was coming from Las Vagas - probably from that show!

hotani · Mar 17, 2006, 01:43 PM

If I were getting a 37-42" LCD for my space (9'/3m from the display), and using the mini only for an HTPC, then I'd get a 720p display. Most of the LCDs I looked at were 720p, 1080 seems to be rare.

Now, after saying all that - I do own a 1080p display, but in my situation, it is my computer monitor as well as TV. I would not have been able to live with 1280x720... especially coming from 2560x1024 on a dual monitor setup! As a computer monitor, 1920x1080 is almost too big for the screen - 2560x1440 would have been more ideal... maybe next time.

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 17, 2006, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by F*ckDell

Just last night, while at the air point, I heard a guy that works for Sony say they are releasing 1080p LCD HDTVs by "June, July, Aug."... He added that Sony agreed they wouldn't make plasmas, strictly focusing on LCD and DLP displays. (Eventhough Sony calls there DLP designs different) Hopefully this will bring more 1080p HDTVs to the market, and lower the price...

Sony and DLP? Last I heard they didn't have any DLP's on the market or were planning on it. It wouldn't make much sense for them to sell LCD, LCD-RP and LCoD all which talk about the advantages over DLP and then come out with a DLP set which talks about the advantages over LCD.

F*ckDell · Mar 18, 2006, 12:00 PM

No no no... Sony has something thats like DLP, I wasn't saying they were using TI's DLP Tech. I don't know what Sony called their version of a "DLP" HDTV, so I used DLP as an example.

I went to my local Best Buy last night, they did not have the Westy 37incher (1080p)... I wasn't happy... I really want to make the move and buy this TV set, but I'm worried there will be problems. And of course I'd like to see it in action before spending the cheese!

My Dell laptop display is at 1920x1200... if it wasn't for the new IE7s zoom tool, I'd have a hard time reading most of the pages. 1080p display won't be the same story, will it?

hotani · Mar 18, 2006, 01:27 PM

I ordered mine from Crutchfield. I read a lot of good reviews of their service so figured it was a safe bet. The price online, even with shipping was $200 less than Best Buy. That is, unless BB is having a sale or something which they weren't when I was looking.

I did go look at it in BB, but couldn't tell much. They had a basketball game playing on it in SD - best you are going to get in the store lots of time is DVD quality so it is really hard to tell the full range of capabilities. Only HD content they had playing in BB was on a huge 70"+ TV.

As for the text size, if anything it is too big on mine! Sitting at the couch is a different story, no way I would be able to read web pages and such from 9' away.

F*ckDell · Mar 18, 2006, 01:32 PM

HAHA, yeah BB sucks - they had a 720p Westy set up lsat night, quality looked like crap bc it was SD... I plan on ordering mine from Crutchfield also, like the way they do business. I'm looking to get the 42 incher only because of the connections. Hope you enjoy and don't have problems with your Westy - but if you do - be sure you report back!

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 18, 2006, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by F*ckDell

No no no... Sony has something thats like DLP, I wasn't saying they were using TI's DLP Tech. I don't know what Sony called their version of a "DLP" HDTV, so I used DLP as an example.

Sony has NOTHING like a DLP. The only sell LCD, LCD-RP and LCoS flat panels.

Eug Wanker · Mar 18, 2006, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by F*ckDell

HAHA, yeah BB sucks - they had a 720p Westy set up lsat night, quality looked like crap bc it was SD... I plan on ordering mine from Crutchfield also, like the way they do business. I'm looking to get the 42 incher only because of the connections. Hope you enjoy and don't have problems with your Westy - but if you do - be sure you report back!

BB does suck at times, but in some ways it is a good test. Standard definition video from analogue sources is especially problematic on LCDs, and some LCDs are worse than others. Much of the TV I watch is SD, and I'd hate to have a TV that is über bad at SD.

BTW, good news...

It seems in the UK some retailer with a Sony Bravia dealer-only brochure is saying there is not only going to be a 46" 1080p Bravia X, but also a 40" and a 52" as well. A 40-incher 1080p Bravia X would suit me perfectly. I just hope they don't drop the 40" for the North American market.

Dunno about the inputs, but in the UK it will be 2xHDMI, 2xSCART, and 2xComponent. Since SCART is useless in North America, I wonder if they'd just drop them, or else add other inputs for North America. eg. 1 VGA and one DVI? That would rock, but I doubt it. Maybe just 1 VGA and one S-video?

F*ckDell · Mar 18, 2006, 11:31 PM

They have to have a DVI!! Thats how I plan on hooking up my Mac Mini...

I checked out the 42 inch Westy - great connections... how would I find out if the set has poor quality with SD tv?

Eug Wanker · Mar 18, 2006, 11:49 PM

Originally Posted by F*ckDell

They have to have a DVI!! Thats how I plan on hooking up my Mac Mini...

You can use a DVI to HDMI cable:

F*ckDell · Mar 19, 2006, 01:38 AM

Yeahhhh I could... but I'm picky

Eug Wanker · Mar 19, 2006, 11:34 AM

Originally Posted by F*ckDell

Yeahhhh I could... but I'm picky

I don't see why you should be picky about that. There is no quality difference. You can almost think of HDMI as DVI-D with a different shape and the ability to carry audio channels. In other words, for video, you can basicaly think of HDMI and DVI-D as interchangeable.

vinster · Mar 19, 2006, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

I don't see why you should be picky about that. There is no quality difference. You can almost think of HDMI as DVI-D with a different shape and the ability to carry audio channels. In other words, for video, you can basicaly think of HDMI and DVI-D as interchangeable.

The problems people are finding with HDMI when hooked up to a HTPC isn't necessarily the specification, it's the implementation in some TVs. Some HDMI interfaces only accept signals in the HDTV range and then scale to the panel's native resolution resulting in over scan and/or a non-proportional display. I've also read reports of color-gamut issues.

F*ckDell · Mar 19, 2006, 07:04 PM

............yeah what he said!

Eug Wanker · Mar 19, 2006, 08:33 PM

Originally Posted by vinster

The problems people are finding with HDMI when hooked up to a HTPC isn't necessarily the specification, it's the implementation in some TVs. Some HDMI interfaces only accept signals in the HDTV range and then scale to the panel's native resolution resulting in over scan and/or a non-proportional display. I've also read reports of color-gamut issues.

As you have already mentioned, that's a function of the TV, not a function of the interface. DVI-D may behave the exact same way on some TVs.

vinster · 01:12 AM

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

As you have already mentioned, that's a function of the TV, not a function of the interface. DVI-D may behave the exact same way on some TVs.

True, and there are really no guarantees unless the TV specifically lists support at the native resolution for the DVI and/or HDMI interfaces.

But on many TVs with DVI and HDMI, people are having better results with their PCs using DVI. Sharp dropped the DVI interface on the 2005 32" AQUOS models (the later revision to my TV) and people have been unable to drive the panel at 1366x768 via HDMI - unacceptable for most HTPC enthusiasts. The incompatibilities aren't limited to computers either. In my case, I have a 2004-model DirecTV HD receiver that's hooked up via a DVI to HDMI cable but only displays an image in 480i/p and 1080i modes. It wont display anything at 720p (what Sharp calls my panel's native resolution) and some of the settings in the HDMI menu (where I might be able to adjust things) are grayed out. The TV will display a 720p signal using the component input (I haven't tried DVI-DVI as my mini's hooked up to that port).

asxless · Mar 19, 2006, 11:17 PM

Originally Posted by vinster

...I have a 2004-model DirecTV HD receiver that's hooked up via a DVI to HDMI cable but only displays an image in 480i/p and 1080i modes....

Off Topic a bit... Do you also use DirecWay for your Internet access?

When we move to our country place, in a few months, we will probably use satellite for both HDTV and internet access. So I'm interested in a any feedback on DirecTV and/or DirecWay.

And the connection to this thread is...
I'm planning to buy a 24 in. 1920x1200 (i.e. 1080p capable) monitor for use as a Mac monitor and HDTV as soon as I find a HDCP compliant 24" monitor.

Thanks in Advance - asxless in iLand

vinster · Mar 20, 2006, 01:16 AM

Originally Posted by asxless

Off Topic a bit... Do you also use DirecWay for your Internet access?

I have DSL, no cable TV allowed in the building which is why I subscribed to DirecTV.

F*ckDell · 07:01 PM

Okkk... I'm moving down to Florida come next semester and plan on buying a Mac Mini as a HTPC. Bighthouse Cable (cable service in Orlando) has a HD DVR that I can use for a monthly fee, but I don't know if I should use it. Would it be easier for me to simply get a Mac Mini, EyeTV 500 and a nice sized external HDD? Will my Mac Mini with EyeTV 500 have all the bells as wistles as Brighthouse Cable's HD DVR (rewind, pause, tv listings screen, sch. recording, etc)? And will it pick up all the HD channels broadcasted through cable?

Eug Wanker · Mar 27, 2006, 10:49 PM

So after continuing to read about all the quality control issues with the Westinghouse 37" LVM-37w1 and 42" LVM-42w2 units, I decided to forget the whole idea of replacing my primary TV for the moment. (There's the 37" LVM-37w3 also coming out, but I suspect it will have the same issues.) I can't get these units locally anyway, so I was hesitant to buy.

Instead, I have ordered a 1366x768p 26" TV to replace my 14" CRT in my study. It's the Dell W2606C 26" LCD.

I hope the quality is reasonable, but I'm not expecting it to necessarily match to top end brands, given the relatively low price I paid for it.

The TV supports PC-input over both DVI and VGA, and IIRC, OS X supports 1366x768 @ 60 Hz just fine. I'll hook it up to my iMac G5 and my secondary cable box for the time being. I expect that it should look good with HD sources, or even good quality digital SD sources, but it may be mediocre at best or perhaps just outright poor with bad analogue SD sources. I was in the store the other day and they had almost all the LCDs and CRTs hooked up to a very noisy analogue source. It was remarkable... Even the $250 CRTs beat out the $1500 LCDs for image quality with this type of input.

hotani · Mar 28, 2006, 11:58 AM

Hope the Dell works out, sounds like a good one.

CRTs do a wonderful job at hiding bad signals and image quality. My friend who normally watches a 27" SD CRT (as you say, $250 or so nowadays) has been coming over to watch Sopranos at my house on the Westy 37" ($1700 last month). Although the image is not full HD (compressed XviD), it is better than DVD at 960x540, but still a compressed file so in other words, from the couch the well lit areas look very crisp and clear, but there are fragments in the dark areas. Of course, all she sees is the fragments and goes "what's with the blocks? That sucks, my TV looks better."

I'm sure she'd sing a different tune looking at a full-quality HD image, but the LCD makes the digital 'fragments' stand out even on the best images.

Eug Wanker · Mar 28, 2006, 11:23 PM

Plasma burn-in after one evening of Xbox 360 use:

"I got the unit 3 days ago, installed and turned down the contrast and brightness in order to prevent a burn in image.

At any rate last night I decided to play the xbox360 on the unit, the plasma had been by then about 40 hours of use. After done playing I saw the call of duty icon and score burned into the plasma.

I told myself not to panic, maybe it was retention. Fast forward to today, I still see the image when the tv is turned on and the dell logo shows up."

Eug Wanker · Mar 29, 2006, 12:52 AM

Here is the webpage for the new Westinghouse 37" LVM-37w3. It seems the menu is different and the remote is better, compared to the 42" LVM-37w2, even though the units look almost identicial. (The 42" LVM-42w2 has the same menu and remote as the old 37" LVM-37w1.)

Matt S · Mar 29, 2006, 02:50 AM

Originally Posted by hotani

Hope the Dell works out, sounds like a good one.

CRTs do a wonderful job at hiding bad signals and image quality. My friend who normally watches a 27" SD CRT (as you say, $250 or so nowadays) has been coming over to watch Sopranos at my house on the Westy 37" ($1700 last month). Although the image is not full HD (compressed XviD), it is better than DVD at 960x540, but still a compressed file so in other words, from the couch the well lit areas look very crisp and clear, but there are fragments in the dark areas. Of course, all she sees is the fragments and goes "what's with the blocks? That sucks, my TV looks better."

I'm sure she'd sing a different tune looking at a full-quality HD image, but the LCD makes the digital 'fragments' stand out even on the best images.

You might do well to invest in a Faroudja de-interlacing DVD player. Panasonic RP-62, RP-82, Denon DVD-900 series, etc. This technology virtually eliminates the jaggies and blockies.

hotani · Mar 29, 2006, 11:17 AM

That sounds great, but defeats the purpose of having an HTPC. Plus, the files that are showing 'blockies' are .avi XviD videos. Although they are in a relatively high quality size (960x540) and overall look very good, the dark areas do get chunky. DVDs actually look fine playing off the internal drive via Apple's DVD software. That is, as "fine" as a DVD can look - they look like trash after watching one of the 540p vids.

Eug Wanker · Mar 30, 2006, 12:35 AM

Got the Dell 26" TV. Massive shipping box. No obvious stuck pixels seen yet.

As expected, poor to medium quality analogue SD cable truly sux through S-video. Higher quality SD cable is mediocre at best, and much worse than on my CRT (but again, I was expecting this).

The remote is pretty good actually, much to my delight.

No obvious video banding, but I'll assess better when I try a greyscreen from my iMac.

480i DVD through component is pretty reasonable, but I can see some rare combing. I'm guessing this TV uses the Pixelworks chip, but I'm not sure.

Unfortunately, I don't have a progressive scan (and definitely not an upcoverting) DVD player for this TV, and my HD cable box for this TV has not yet arrived.

I have not yet tested VGA. I forgot that I don't have an extra VGA cable at home to hook up to my iMac.

vinster · Mar 30, 2006, 01:45 AM

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

The TV supports PC-input over both DVI and VGA, and IIRC, OS X supports 1366x768 @ 60 Hz just fine. I'll hook it up to my iMac G5 and my secondary cable box for the time being. .

Just wondering if the iMac recognized the 1366x768 native resolution out of the box or if you had to use a utility to force the resolution.