Using 38" Sony LCD TV as main monitor?

[Santilli]

Hi
Someone I know has a 38" Sony, but, needs a HD capable TV to go with her Blue Ray. The Sony is not HD capable.

Now, it should have S-video, and, my ATI 1650 has a S-Video out.

Anyone using such a TV as a primary monitor?

The other option is either a 22" Samsung, or a 25" Viewsonic.

 

[Stereodude]

I'm confused... Who is going to use the 38" TV as a monitor? You?

How did someone get a LCD TV that isn't HD capable?

I don't think you will want to use a blurry 640x480 38" TV.

 

[ddrueding]

Agreed. If you are going to use a TV as a monitor, it must be at least 720P (1080P is ideal) and must have a digital input (DVI/HDMI).

Anything else is going to suck.

 

[Santilli]

Thanks. Girl at blockbuster picked one up, and, it doesn't work well with her Blue Ray Xbox, so I figured it probably wouldn't work as a monitor, but, I thought I'd check.

 

[ddrueding]

You are correct. Buying anything today that isn't 1080P is a significant mistake.

 

[MaxBurn]

I have thought about this a couple times and I am on the edge myself. Something 30-35" with 1920x1080 sounds pretty good until I compare it with the virtual space I already have at 1600x1200 on TWO monitors. Just not ready to spend that much plus take a hit on virtual space but give me another year or two of declining LCD prices and eyestrain from this desk job and I may make the leap.

Also not enthusiastic to make the jump to wide screen for a PC either.

 

[ddrueding]

I'm not a fan of wide screen either, but it gave me my minimum requirement (1000+ pixels vertical). I love the fact that I can view images @ 100% and still see every pixel; on my 22" 4:3 1600x1200 LCD I had to zoom to 200% to see every pixel; making this one effectively twice as large.

It also allowed me to mount the monitor on the back wall, freeing up space on my desk.

Of course, my vision is crap, so I got a 42" instead.

 

[Santilli]

OK. David:

What cable do you use to connect your video card to your TV?
I gather it's a s-video out, that with some sort of converter, goes to HDMI????

Where did you get the cable?

I can't find the card you are using in AGP. First, my 1650 ATI, other then having one Analog, and one DVI, and the S-video out, seem to be pretty much the same as the newer cards.

So, how did you do it?

Thank you

GS

 

[ddrueding]

S-Video sucks (limited to 800x600). So does VGA (looks bad above 1024x768 IMHO)

The only acceptable connections are: DVI and HDMI.

I use a DVI to HDMI cable (they are essentially the same data, just different plugs). Any video card with DVI out should do fine.

 

[ddrueding]

For only very light gaming, I would get this card. For something more powerful (still not that great) I would get this one.

 

[Santilli]

HMMMM.

The problem is still needing 2 DVI ports, one for the Samsung, and one for the TV, using HDMI...

Niether card has two dvi ports. Would the Analog to DVI adapter, connected to the cable you are using work???

Kind of doubt it, but, I've been wrong before.

Also, drivers for 2003 seem few and far between. Everytime I load an ATI new driver, for XP PRO, I wonder if the driver is going to not work with the OS, much like their software...

Where did you find drivers for 2003 with your current cards?

 

[Santilli]

OK: This is the part I'm not getting: the HIS card lists the s-video out port as both s-video out, and, HDTV
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3805441&CatId=2234

?????????

 

[ddrueding]

OK: This is the part I'm not getting: the HIS card lists the s-video out port as both s-video out, and, HDTV
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3805441&CatId=2234

?????????

Correct. They used the spare pins in an s-video connector to sneak out composite cables. They are only accessible with the included composite break-out box. Composite is outdated tech, and it wasn't around long enough to have/keep products in the market.

 

[ddrueding]

HMMMM.

The problem is still needing 2 DVI ports, one for the Samsung, and one for the TV, using HDMI...

Niether card has two dvi ports. Would the Analog to DVI adapter, connected to the cable you are using work???

Kind of doubt it, but, I've been wrong before.

Also, drivers for 2003 seem few and far between. Everytime I load an ATI new driver, for XP PRO, I wonder if the driver is going to not work with the OS, much like their software...

Where did you find drivers for 2003 with your current cards?

The XP drivers always work fine in 2003 for me. The kernel is essentially the same. The only software that doesn't work is when the stupid programmers intentionally break it.

Here is a fanless AGP video card with 2 DVI connections.

 

[Santilli]

WHY are Blue Ray players SOOOO expensive for computers????

Tooling costs? Price fixing? Both?

....

 

[ddrueding]

Price fixing. But they aren't that expensive.

 

[Santilli]

David, I don't agree. I think they are worth about 30-50 bucks, and, it will be a year or so, and they will be down there. Either that, or no one's going to buy that junk, at that price...

 

[Will Rickards]

Well it took a while for dvd writable drives to come down but they did eventually and now we enjoy 30-50 dvd writable drives. Blue ray may be the same but I think it depends on the licenses the manufacturers have to pay. Also the laser is different. So the main component probably hasn't been made that cheap yet. The rest of the drive is probably the same components as in the 30-50 dvd writable drives.

 

[Stereodude]

WHY are Blue Ray players SOOOO expensive for computers????

Tooling costs? Price fixing? Both?

....

Expensive?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0100055+1036533264&name=Blu-ray+DVD-ROM+Drive

 

[Stereodude]

AGP, give up now...

The nVidia AGP cards don't have properly working video acceleration for some of the advanced video formats, and if I recall correctly the ATI cards don't have working acceleration for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD playback under XP.

 

[Stereodude]

Here is a fanless AGP video card with 2 DVI connections.

But it doesn't have HDCP, so and it lacks support for accelerating Blu-Ray or HD-DVD content (AVC / H.264).

 

[Stereodude]

Hi
Someone I know has a 38" Sony, but, needs a HD capable TV to go with her Blue Ray. The Sony is not HD capable.

Wait a minute... Are you talking about HDCP when you say it's not compatible with Blu-Ray? What inputs are on the back of the set?

I think we need to start this all over again. We can start with the fact that there's no such thing as a 38" LCD TV from any maker let alone Sony.

 

[Santilli]

"Someone I know has a 38" Sony, but, needs a HD capable TV to go with her Blue Ray"xbox360". The Sony is not HD capable.

Now, it should have S-video, and, my ATI 1650 has a S-Video out.

Anyone using such a TV as a primary monitor?"

My guess is this is a giant CRT. I've been trying to hook up with her, and, get more information. If it's a CRT, it may weigh 250 pounds, and would be the last thing I need. I also need to find out what she's after, money wise. She's kind of weird. Looks a bit like Mila Jovovich, but, she's built more like Sophia Loren...

Too much makeup, but a very pretty face....

 

[ddrueding]

A CRT made for television is not worth anything, really. The last one I worked with was a top-of-the-line 42" Sony (the biggest they made IIRC). S-Video was the best input it took, and 800x600 on a screen that big looks horrible. I would have preferred a 15" LCD with 1024x768, really. It will be so blurry and so offensive to the eye that it simply isn't worth it.

 

[udaman]

"Someone I know has a 38" Sony, but, needs a HD capable TV to go with her Blue Ray"xbox360". The Sony is not HD capable.

Now, it should have S-video, and, my ATI 1650 has a S-Video out.

Anyone using such a TV as a primary monitor?"

My guess is this is a giant CRT. I've been trying to hook up with her, and, get more information. If it's a CRT, it may weigh 250 pounds, and would be the last thing I need. I also need to find out what she's after, money wise. She's kind of weird. Looks a bit like Mila Jovovich, but, she's built more like Sophia Loren...

Too much makeup, but a very pretty face....

Seen her without her makeup yet? Uh oh, dude you're in trouble :roflmao:

Find someone better than the Blockbuster grrrrl.

 

[Santilli]

Thanks David.

I'm more curious then anything else, both about the TV and the girl.

Bikini shot would be fun...

I'm old enough to not have to chase everything, but, she's nice, and fun to talk to.

"Find someone better than the Blockbuster grrrrl."

Rarely do I find something really uncalled for, but, this remark makes the grade.

What do you define as 'better', since from my description, you have no idea who you are talking about.

I know this is a revolutionary concept, but, many kids in our area work such jobs while attending St. Mary's College,
Berkeley, Holy Names, etc. to try and wisely keep themselves out of the debt the excessive tuition gets you into.

From what I gather, she's taking a film class for fun. Let's see, my Dad was a TV director/producer/production company owner, my brother is a prop guy, union, working forever in the industry, in a variety of jobs.

It's weird, I'm being defensive about someone who I know very little about, just because they are nice.

Whatever.

Udaman: That was a stupid, uncalled for, and unfounded remark.

 

[Santilli]

AGP, give up now...

The nVidia AGP cards don't have properly working video acceleration for some of the advanced video formats, and if I recall correctly the ATI cards don't have working acceleration for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD playback under XP.

Not quite yet. I'm not paying 129 dollars for a BluRay burner. I'm waiting until they are around 50 before I even consider it, and, until the video stores actually have more then one row of 20 with Blue Ray disks. Or, my online program offers Blue Ray disks.

That's one area.

You are correct that the reviews on the AGP Nvidia and ATI cards leave something to be desired. I tend to like ATI cards because they are so good about replacing cards under warranty. Don't know about Nvidia, but, David works with them all the time, and they work for him.
Seems to me there aren't a lot of video cards that actually have the proper chip, or programing to do what we are talking about, much less in AGP. I've got ATI's last AGP card:
http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonx1650/radeonx1650proagp/specs.html

So, i've got a bit of time. HIS and a few other companies are trying to get faster GPU's to work for AGP. They just came out with a new bunch, and, they have problems which are usually resolved over time. We'll see.
Driver issues, as you've pointed out.
Don't really see much point in dumping a Supermicro X5DA8 with dual Xeons, even if it is AGP. Dual DVI output is a bit of a big deal, but, on the otherhand, a cheap CRT for a second monitor isn't bad, at least for right now.

You still need a CRT around to do installations, sometimes. Kind of like a serial keyboard and mouse.

 

[Stereodude]

My guess is this is a giant CRT. I've been trying to hook up with her, and, get more information. If it's a CRT, it may weigh 250 pounds, and would be the last thing I need.

Ok, but your topic says LCD TV. Still, Sony didn't make a 38" tube. They did made a 40" 4:3 set for a while and more recently 36" 4:3. They made a 34" 16:9 set also, but no 38". Now, overseas they sold some sets as 38" where they didn't use the viewable diagonal, but the tube size (like was done with monitors in the US for a while).

Anyhow, it's not worth anything, so pass.

 

[Stereodude]

Or, my online program offers Blue Ray disks.

Both Netflix and Blockbuster Online have 'em. What online program are you using?

 

[LunarMist]

So it is a CRT??? I am confused.

 

[Stereodude]

I am confused.

Welcome to the club...

 

[Santilli]

The girl is attractive, young, and, I don't know how much she knows about electronics. She said, "Like 38" so who knows?

However, thanks to everyones help, I now know it's more curiosity value as anything else as to what exactly the thing is.

As soon as I get a better idea of what it is, you all will be the first to know...

I've got blockbuster, but, they don't list blue ray, nor does a search show up anything saying blue ray...

Have to look again...

 

[Stereodude]

Have to look again...

You might want to do that.

 

[Fushigi]

When searching, keep in mind it is Blu-ray Disc or BD and not Blue Ray.

 

[Bozo]

I have a Sony Wega 42" CRT that does HD. And weighs 250lb !!!

Bozo :joker:

 

[Santilli]

Bozo:
How does it look, and how did you move it???

 

[Bozo]

It looks great! I have had two relatives here that both have plasma TVs. Their remarks boil down to this: The CRT Sony looks better in standard mode than their plasmas in HD. (we are all on Comcast cable).
I really believe that any HD TV must be set up properly to work and look right. At the moment I don't have HD enabled. When I did there wasn't much difference between standard TV and HD TV. But, I don't think HD was set up correctly.
Some of the problems with LCD and Plasma that I have seen: Screen too big for the room; seating too close to the screen; too great of an angle from the seating to the screen; and number 1, the set has not been set up properly. HD TV is not plug-n-play.
I guess I should call Comcast and have HD turned back on and try to set the TV up correctly.

Bozo :joker:

 

[timwhit]

I helped a friend move a 36" Sony TV a couple years ago. I think it weighed right around 200 lbs, but I could be off a little. We had to carry it down some stairs and I thought my back was going to break.

 

[ddrueding]

I helped a friend move a 36" Sony TV a couple years ago. I think it weighed right around 200 lbs, but I could be off a little. We had to carry it down some stairs and I thought my back was going to break.

When a friend had this 40" CRT, I had to help him move. I offered to pitch in on a new LCD so long as we could leave the beast where it was.

 

[Fushigi]

For reference my 35" JVC tube weighs in at 153 pounds.

I agree with Bozo's comments about HDTV although some of those issues apply to any TV setup. When it comes time to replace the above 35" set with an HDTV, a set of about 44" will be required to achieve similar screen size for 4:3 material. "Upgrading" from that, I'd prefer a 52-56" screen. 60" and up is really too big for the room.