[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by vinster

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.

I'll tell you tonite. I don't have a VGA cable for it, and my DVI cable box for it hasn't arrived yet. Maybe I'll try my DVI Cube with it too.

My guess the TV will identify itself as a 1366x768 monitor, and thus OS X will default to that. If not, one can use SwitchResX but I'd prefer not to use that since it's a haxie.

[applesnapple]

kinda a side note, but has anyone tried using it with a sony bravia? im looking into that tv and good quality for imac connectivity would seal the deal

[Eug Wanker]

So installed everything.

I'm using VGA with the Mac. OS X senses the TV as 1360x768. Dunno why it's not 1366x768, but the TV can be set to a "1:1" setting on the TV so there is perfect pixel mapping. (According to the TV, 1360 is the proper setting.) I just get 3 columns of black pixels down each side which I don't notice. There is also a "Full Screen" setting that scales up slightly to use those extra 6 pixels, but there is no point in doing that.

The only annoyance is that the TV sends this info even when it's off, so the Mac always thinks there's an active screen attached, even when the unit is off. That's stupid.

Colours in bright scenes are very good. Blacks and dark greys are so-so. I'd say this screen (rated 800:1 contrast ratio) is not as good as the iMac's (rated 800:1 also), but better than the iBook's (which isn't given a rating). DVD from the iMac is quite nice too. Much better than from my cheap 480i player over component. 720p trailers look good too. Unfortunately, my G5 2.0 with Radeon 9600 is struggling with 720p when the second screen is attached. With the native iMac screen 720p plays fine. However, once I plug in the second screen, 720p video sometimes stutters. More reason to get that 2.33 GHz iMac Core Duo...

I hooked up my HD cable box to the TV, and have it set to 720p most of the time. It also works fine via 1080i. 480p works too, but it doesn't look anywhere near as good. 480i is not supported over DVI. One cool thing is that if I use that "1:1" setting again, the TV sets itself to 1280x720, with a black rim all around the screen. No scaling needed.

One bonus of the remote is there is a "DVI" button, so it instantly takes me to the DVI input. Too bad there isn't a "VGA" button.

There is also a useful "Info" button, which tells me the resolution, refresh rate, audio and video settings, etc.

HD channels are very nice. Again, colours in bright scenes are great, but blacks and dark greys are so-so. Not as good as the best I've seen on LCD. The other problem is that this TV is designed to be used in a fairly bright setting. I find that if you go below 40 (out of 100) brightness, the contrast suffers severely. However, if I go over 50, it's far too bright for this room, which has only dim light. It'd be better in a room with full lighting.

SD channels range from OK, to downright crap. No comparison whatsoever to CRT. Mind you, the Bravias don't look so hot with SD channels either, but I'd say the few I've seen are superior to this set for SD channels to a certain extent. CRT still blows away the Bravias though for SD.

Originally Posted by applesnapple

kinda a side note, but has anyone tried using it with a sony bravia? im looking into that tv and good quality for imac connectivity would seal the deal

Which Bravia, and which iMac? My iMac G5 has no DVI support, so I have to use VGA. Unfortunately, most of the Bravias these days don't have a VGA port IIRC. In fact, one of the reasons I got the Dell W2606c in the first place is because it supports both DVI and VGA. (That and the fact I got the Dell for CAD$799 (US$685).) Neither the Bravias nor the Sharp Aquos TVs I was looking at had VGA.

If you have DVI you're all set, since the Bravias have HDMI, and you can just use a DVI to HDMI converter cable.

[Eug Wanker]

(Click to enlarge)

[F*ckDell]

With SDTV on HDTV sets looking like crap. Is it worth the money??

I mean if you look at it, how many channels are in true HD? From what I understand, there are still a lot of SD channels out there. If most of your channels (all but maybe 25) are in SD quality, what are we truely gaining by getting a HDTV set? I'm going to buy one no matter what, but does anyone have any suggestions on a LCD HDTV set that works well with SDTV?

[hotani]

If you just want a big screen and will be watching mostly SD content then EDTV is probably the best bet. Still not cheap but way less than HD.

[Eug Wanker]

Depends on the SD. Some of the better quality SD channels look fine on LCD TVs. Some of the worst analogue SD channels look terrible.

OTOH. HD programs (eg. 24, CSI, sports, PBS, etc.) look absolutel stunning.

[aadfadsfa]

Originally Posted by vinster

I'm running the G4 mini at 1366x768 by way of a 3rd party utility.

Care to share the settings you used? I am trying to help my friend (switcher as of last weekend) set up his Mac Mini to his Acquos TV.. Since I am helping him over the phone things are a little tricky...

[vinster]

Originally Posted by ahndee

Care to share the settings you used? I am trying to help my friend (switcher as of last weekend) set up his Mac Mini to his Acquos TV.. Since I am helping him over the phone things are a little tricky...

Sure.

1. Connected the mini via DVI (some of the 2005 AQUOS don't have DVI so you may not be able to get native resolution w/ a HDMI-only model).

2. Got DisplayConfigX and registered it.

3. Set the following parameters in DisplayConfigX (I only changed the settings mentioned and didn't modify those not mentioned).
a. monitor tab - selected keep all system resolutions radio button
b. resolutions tab - added a timing setting, settings: horizontal 1368 pixels, vertical 768 lines, refresh rate 59.997, selected enabled checkbox, click OK
c. install tab - wrote down the remove manually command just in case and clicked the install button
d. restarted and chose the new resolution from the display preference in system preferences.

Good luck, as mentioned this probably won't work w/ a DVI to HDMI conversion.

[aadfadsfa]

Originally Posted by vinster

[...]
Good luck, as mentioned this probably won't work w/ a DVI to HDMI conversion.

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately you were right about HDMI, it seems to be fairly impossible to get to work. We played a few hours changing settings and rebooting but have not been able to get anything useful. If we ever manage, I will post the settings here.

[vinster]

Originally Posted by ahndee

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately you were right about HDMI, it seems to be fairly impossible to get to work. We played a few hours changing settings and rebooting but have not been able to get anything useful. If we ever manage, I will post the settings here.

Yes, unfortunately even though HDMI uses the same signaling technology as DVI for reasons unknown to me there are incompatibilities. Probably the best compromise would be to send a 720p signal to the interface then adjust for any over scan by playing with the settings in DisplayConfigX (haven't had to do this so can't provide any how-to's, but I believe there is information on the DisplayConfigX web site).

Bad move by Sharp to remove the DVI interface from most of their 2005 lineup. Looks like they underestimated the desire for people to hook them up to computers.

[aadfadsfa]

Originally Posted by vinster

Probably the best compromise would be to send a 720p signal to the interface then adjust for any over scan by playing with the settings in DisplayConfigX

This is what we have been doing. THe problem is that you have to reboot and switch resolutions after every change (and need to use VNC if you made a bad change) and the fact that the TV seems to try to scale/correct the signal coming in. This makes it extremely difficult to figure out what effect a single change has (since they sometimes seem to contradict each other...)