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[dcwebman]

I need to get a 37-42" LCD TV and of course price matters. I have been looking at the Vizio brand as they seem to have a lot of inputs which is good. Any other recommendations for an inexpensive brand/model?

Now I plan on hooking up a computer to this TV somehow so I can finally take advantage of MC's Theater View. I see that most of the LCD TV's have PC inputs and the Vizio for instance has "Computer monitor (RGB) up to 1366 X 768 WXGA".  Does this mean that a normal graphics card could be used to provide decent quality to the TV or would I still need to get a different graphics card that has component output? Note that I have no interest in recording on the computer since I have two DVRs.

Thanks,
Jeff

[jmone]

I would really suggest that you get something with Native 1920x1080 support over HDMI.  Then connect you HTPC to the TV using a DVI to HDMI cable and set you graphics card to 1080.  This will then reduce the number of times some device in the chain is reconverting the video format (eg the graphics card will upscale everything to 1080 from the native resolution of the recorded or transmitted media).  I've got a nVidia 7600GS that supports 1080i over HDMI but I am very hesitant to recomend nVidia cards due to a number of existing driver issues BUT can not comment if ATI is any better.
Thanks
Nathan

Note: you will still need to output Audio from your HTPC over something (eg S/PDIF, Stero out etc or even HDMI if you have an HDMI Graphics Card)

[dcwebman]

Thanks for the info.

[raym]

I have a Samsung 40" R Series LCD TV and have never been able to get HDMI to work from my PC. I have an ATI x1600 with HDMI out which I bought specifically for this purpose 

I've tried forcing 1080i and 720p (set-top box type) resolutions thru PowerStrip but nothing works. I think Samsung (and possibly others) purposely restrict PC based HDMI connections. Either that, or the TV input is very picky about what timings it receives from your video card. I've simply given up trying to work it out...

Having said all this, the TV's VGA input at native res looks amazing.

[JimH]

It could be a driver problem.

[dcwebman]

I ended up getting a Samsung 40" TV, model LN-T4042H. I don't have the HDMI PC outputs though to see if I have the same problem mentioned. Glad to hear the VGA input is good though.

[raym]

I ended up getting a Samsung 40" TV, model LN-T4042H. I don't have the HDMI PC outputs though to see if I have the same problem mentioned. Glad to hear the VGA input is good though.

If you have a DVI to HDMI cable, I'd be interested to know how that works for you.

Thanks.

[jmone]

If you have a DVI to HDMI cable, I'd be interested to know how that works for you.

Thanks.

Hi Ralf, I use a DVI to HDMI cable from my HTPC's nVidia 7600GS to the Yami V2700 then HDMI to the Hitachi Plasma.  Appart from the usual problems with nVidia's crappy drivers, it all works fine.  For me it was a simple matter of going into the nVidia control pannel to the HDTV tab and selecting the desired resolution (eg 720p / 1080i).  I notice that this is a different tab to setting resolution and some of the wording is something like "Treat output as HDTV" and under the advanced areas you see all the TV Standards that are supported.  I certainly do not set the resolution with P'Strip or Windows.
Thanks
Nathan

[raym]

Hi Ralf, I use a DVI to HDMI cable from my HTPC's nVidia 7600GS to the Yami V2700 then HDMI to the Hitachi Plasma.  Appart from the usual problems with nVidia's crappy drivers, it all works fine.  For me it was a simple matter of going into the nVidia control pannel to the HDTV tab and selecting the desired resolution (eg 720p / 1080i).  I notice that this is a different tab to setting resolution and some of the wording is something like "Treat output as HDTV" and under the advanced areas you see all the TV Standards that are supported.  I certainly do not set the resolution with P'Strip or Windows.
Thanks
Nathan

Thanks for the feedback Nathan. The ATI catalyst has very similar settings to these but I just cannot get it to work. Maybe the card is a dud. I have an older nvidia video card with DVI out so I'm going to try what you suggested. How does the desktop look though? Is text blurry? That's one thing about using VGA at native res. Everything (including the desktop) is razor sharp.

By the way, I assume you are yet to overcome the stuttering video playback issues? One thing I just cannot comprehend is even with ATI, the 720p and 1080i HD settings are fixed at 60Hz only! This is absurd for us in 50Hz PAL land. Therefore, are you absolutely certain you are outputting 50Hz to your Plasma?

Interested in your thoughts.

Thanks.

[jmone]

Yup I am punching out 50Hz, you can change the refresh rate in the control panel and even the TV reports the signal as 720p/50 or 1080i/50.  The stutter appears to be a frame order bug in the driver.....The Desktop is sharp but anyother bug in the nVidia drivers is that you can not Resize your desktop & have 50hz (i've contacted nvidia who know of the problem - but no resolutions) - so for me parts of the desktop is "overscan" and I rely on the border options setting in T'View
Thanks
Nathan

[raym]

Have you heard of or tried this?

http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/knowledgebase/entry/17/54/

Cheers,
Ralf.

[jmone]

Thanks - I'll give any driver a go at this stage (and have tried many!)....I'm also considering upgrading to Vista now that nVidia have their new drivers out for that platfrom...

Edit - I also remember that earlier drivers and the Dvico software did not work well together (used to get a gray strip for the bottom 20% of the picture....)

[raym]

Cool. Let us know what you find....

[jmone]

Cool. Let us know what you find....

OK will do but I'm away for a few days for work so will have a squiz when I get back...