[bentoon]

I'm in the market for a larger than 17" high def flat screen to mount on a wall
primarily for editing (and showing) video/dvd's
I am not sure of the diff between LCD & other kinds.
What do you all use that you love and is resonable
Thanks
J

[OreoCookie]

A 23" Cinema Display of the current or the previous generation (or equivalent) would do the trick. All current LCDs I know of have a VESA-compatible wall mount (either 75 or 100 mm). Smaller displays are usually not capable to show full hdtv resolution.

If you are interested in TVs, make sure they have a DVI input, then they should work fine. Computer displays are only LCDs (liquid crystal displays), but there are TVs with plasma screen. If you don't understand what that is, just that much: Plasma TVs are usually bigger and more expensive

What's your budget?

[bentoon]

can a Plasma screen work with as a monitor?
I was thinking of the 23 but there seem to be a few LCD screens that are as big and cheaper - though I am not sure of the res.
1 am thinking around 1500 (a cinema display23 " price) and want to know alternatives - if there are things people absolutely love.
Also someone suggested that I wait unil after the next round of Apple releases to figure this out, although none of the rumors suggest screen updates.
Thanks

[OreoCookie]

Yes, Plasma TVs will work as long as they have a DVI or VGA input. However TVs usually have a lower resolution than the 23+" LCDs for computers and are thus preferable. For alternatives, I'd do a search. In the States, Dell displays seem to be cheap and popular (which is not true here in Europe). Just do a search in these forums.

There are rumors that Apple will cut the prices, so I'd wait just a little bit longer.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

This should help. BTW DVI is pretty much dead on TV's replaced with HDMI.

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?t=223497

[bentoon]

alright so it seems the LCD is the best way to go
and I went looking at a few models and I gotta say there is something about the SONY XRB/Wega that Look FANTASTIC - I wish I could see this in comp to a cinema display...
any experience with these or others?
Thanks

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally Posted by bentoon

alright so it seems the LCD is the best way to go

Wait, how did you reach that conclusion?

[bentoon]

Originally Posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO

Wait, how did you reach that conclusion?

The article you posted - he says that LCD RP is the wasy to go
Rear Proj. seems to make it a bit thick to hang on wall though
And then looking at the Sony LCD's for the quality and price...
Are there other things I should know about?

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally Posted by bentoon

The article you posted - he says that LCD RP is the wasy to go
Rear Proj. seems to make it a bit thick to hang on wall though
And then looking at the Sony LCD's for the quality and price...
Are there other things I should know about?

Well LCD RP is different than just LCD. With a RP set you cannot get one as small as 17" nor can you hang it on the wall. But with RP you can just replace the bulb and the pic is as good as new. Normal LCD's fade over time or yellow.

Now if all you want is 17" you don't have any other options than LCD. They do not make plasma's that small.

I strongly suggest you get a widesceen no smaller than 26" though.

Also, don't cheap out. I bought a low end LCD TV and the picture was absolutely horrible. Blacks were bright and no shadow detail. I suggest a Sony LCD.

[bentoon]

Originally Posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO

Well LCD RP is different than just LCD. With a RP set you cannot get one as small as 17" nor can you hang it on the wall. But with RP you can just replace the bulb and the pic is as good as new. Normal LCD's fade over time or yellow.

Now if all you want is 17" you don't have any other options than LCD. They do not make plasma's that small.

I strongly suggest you get a widesceen no smaller than 26" though.

Also, don't cheap out. I bought a low end LCD TV and the picture was absolutely horrible. Blacks were bright and no shadow detail. I suggest a Sony LCD.

Very good advice !
A higher end/HD ready LCD will run me more than I originally wanted to pay 2000 at the low end. but after looking around - the difference seems well worth it.
I am still not sure how a 23' Cinema display compares to a Sony - the Sony seems better picture & cheaper
Anyone have experience with these?

Thanks

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally Posted by bentoon

Very good advice !
A higher end/HD ready LCD will run me more than I originally wanted to pay 2000 at the low end. but after looking around - the difference seems well worth it.
I am still not sure how a 23' Cinema display compares to a Sony - the Sony seems better picture & cheaper
Anyone have experience with these?

Thanks

The sony's should be much better as they are updated more frequently.

[OreoCookie]

I've seen HD trailers on my friend's Cinema Display and it was awesome.

[bentoon]

23" Cinema Display does look nice And it can be wall mounted
it costs 1500
30 ' costs 3000

the Sony Bravia Wega/XBR looks Fantastic dont think it mounts on wall
26 cost 2000
32 costs 2600

I wanted to spend 2000 at most, but having something that will be around for awhile is better.
Also the 23 cinema display is looking small - but I hear price drops are on the way...

The Thing is really the Sony wega xrb technology looks So Nice !!!

[OreoCookie]

It's not really that small. Especially if you use it with your computer. And even the 23" ACD offers a higher resolution than HDTVs.

[bentoon]

Yes I think you are right -
I went to the Sony store today and was under wealmed with their larger screens.
Here's what I adore about them
and the people working there couldn't explain it to me -
Their laptop and monitor screens are superb , there is something shiny , maybe they sit under a coat of plastic film
but the appearence of the screen is supurb -
it is not even higher res
nor is it HD compatable all the time. but films look brilliant on them.
That being said
I found little there in the way to satisfy me that was over 17 or 19 inches

So I am thinking again of cinema displays

or the DELL 24 inch HD screen as it is cheap -
too bad I can't find a place to see it
any experience is helpful
Thanks
J

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally Posted by bentoon

Yes I think you are right -
I went to the Sony store today and was under wealmed with their larger screens.
J

You cannot judge the set by the showfloor. The stores are stupid. They blast the same feed between 20 sets which that alone reduces the quality by a ton. Sometimes they even use plain old Coax cable which looks terrible no matter what source it comes from.

Also, the TV's out of the box are set to "Torch mode". The colours, contrast and brightness and set to high which looks retched but it gets peoples attention walking by. Even my set which is considered to be the best in the price range looked horrid out of the box. It look about a week of tinkering to get the settings just right.

I watched Troy on DVD on my sony set and it looked good. Then I put it on my Apple Cinema display and I thought it looked HORRID, absolutely horrid. The picture was fuzzy, and the colours were off. Apples cinema displays are by no means the best picture on the market.

[bentoon]

Originally Posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO

I watched Troy on DVD on my sony set and it looked good. Then I put it on my Apple Cinema display and I thought it looked HORRID, absolutely horrid. The picture was fuzzy, and the colours were off. Apples cinema displays are by no means the best picture on the market.

True,
What do you have - a Bravia or Bravia XBR
a 26 or 32?
Here is something else too I want to us it as a monitor for my 17' laptop too
The resolution is going to be less than a regular display
What would you recommend in this scenario

Thanks

But then of course to complicate things furthur Haha
there is this :
SED Screens..

http://www.hardmac.com/news/2005-10-07/#4585

http://www.canon.com/technology/display/

[mduell]

If you need pixels instead of inches, look at Dell's LCD monitors. They use the same quality panels as Apple, but they're a fair bit cheaper, and of course they come VESA mountable out of the box. They also have a plethora of inputs (DVI, VGA, component, s-video), so you can connect many sources to them.

[bentoon]

Originally Posted by mduell

If you need pixels instead of inches, look at Dell's LCD monitors. They use the same quality panels as Apple, but they're a fair bit cheaper, and of course they come VESA mountable out of the box. They also have a plethora of inputs (DVI, VGA, component, s-video), so you can connect many sources to them.

So yes, I want Pixels AND inches
after looking at the Sony store her, and Boy do I want what they have in there smaller screens But seem to loose in their larger ones...
And hearing what a lot of people say about the Cinema Displays And hearing about the 24 inch Dell and reading some great reviews
and the price just over 1000 with tax shipping and handling
even though we all expect Apple to drop some prices soon
I took the Dell plunge
UNSEEN
I never though I would say that
I sure hope their 24 inch widescreen is not dissapointing -

[bentoon]

Although
Since I could not go and see a Dell 24
I dropped by a store and looked at a Sony 23 inch with the same Resolution. It was playing the Matrix.
near it was an 17 inch Xbtight screen that looked nicer, but I want size here too
But Near That was a Sony HDTV 26 inches playing another movie and Boy did it look splendid.
Now it only has Res of 1300ish
So why does it look better Hmmmm Would it be better as a computer screen too has the PC inputs I need
only about 4 or 500 dollars more,
Hmmmmm

[mduell]

Originally Posted by bentoon

Although
Since I could not go and see a Dell 24
I dropped by a store and looked at a Sony 23 inch with the same Resolution. It was playing the Matrix.
near it was an 17 inch Xbtight screen that looked nicer, but I want size here too
But Near That was a Sony HDTV 26 inches playing another movie and Boy did it look splendid.
Now it only has Res of 1300ish
So why does it look better Hmmmm Would it be better as a computer screen too has the PC inputs I need
only about 4 or 500 dollars more,
Hmmmmm

It's optimised for relatively low-resolution work as a TV (i.e. playing movies), not relatively high-resolution work as a computer display. Different tradeoffs are made.

[OreoCookie]

I'll repeat myself, but if you want to work with the display on your computer, get a computer display and not a TV. The resolution of hdtv-capabable TVs is less than that of a 17" PowerBook's display! Keep that in mind.

[crooner]

Originally Posted by bentoon

So yes, I want Pixels AND inches
after looking at the Sony store her, and Boy do I want what they have in there smaller screens But seem to loose in their larger ones...
And hearing what a lot of people say about the Cinema Displays And hearing about the 24 inch Dell and reading some great reviews
and the price just over 1000 with tax shipping and handling
even though we all expect Apple to drop some prices soon
I took the Dell plunge
UNSEEN
I never though I would say that
I sure hope their 24 inch widescreen is not dissapointing -

I just got two Dell 24" Widescreens and I can say that I was extremely overimpressed. They look great, are of excellent quality and will make perfect bookends for my 30" Apple Cinema Display when I get it in the next few weeks.

You made the right choice and you won't be disappointed.

[bentoon]

Excellent !
Thanks Guys.
I appreciate all your feedback and help

[plastiqueusa]

There's a new 21" widescreen Gateway monitor with a Faroudja video processor built in, which would be good if you plan on using it a lot for video as you say. Faroudja is considered to have some of the best scaling and deinterlacing chips around, and I'm not aware of any other monitor which has used them before, only HDTV's and dedicated home theater components. The resolution is not as high as the Dell 24", but it's only $599 so it may be worth looking at depending on your budget/needs. I do have a 24" Dell, by the way, and like it very much--just wanted to let you know about a new alternative.

[bentoon]

Originally Posted by plastiqueusa

There's a new 21" widescreen Gateway monitor with a Faroudja video processor built in, which would be good if you plan on using it a lot for video as you say. Faroudja is considered to have some of the best scaling and deinterlacing chips around, and I'm not aware of any other monitor which has used them before, only HDTV's and dedicated home theater components. The resolution is not as high as the Dell 24", but it's only $599 so it may be worth looking at depending on your budget/needs. I do have a 24" Dell, by the way, and like it very much--just wanted to let you know about a new alternative.

Wow
Thanks Plastiqusa,
This might be a great second screen - but just goes to show that everyone is in the game now and I bet there will be a few dazzling things coming in the next months -
I feel good about the Dell with the Pixles size an price - it's my first etxtra monitor running off the 17powerbook - I am waiting for the updates this week to get a desktop - if their all out fitted well I doubt I would get a top of the line machine with the upcoming processor switch but I'd hope that the price would drop on a great not so top of the line G5
Then I could go for this Gateway as a second
it seems like it would be GREAT
Thanks