Who has a 37-42" LCD connected to their HTPC?

[Mark SS]

(note to moderators: posted in UK sub-forum rather than Hardware as limited models available in UK)

I've been trawling www.avforums.com for the past few weeks trying to find a suitable 37-42" LCD for use with Sage, without much luck. There are very few people trying to connect them to HTPC so little information available to confirm that a particular model will accept the correct resolution over DVI-HDMI.

Anyone have any success (or failure!) stories to share? At the moment the only model I've read confirmed as working properly (1368x766 native resolution at 1to1 over DVI) is the JVC 40DS7.

[birty]

if you buy me one i will let you know if it works

[Humanzee]

I have the 37" Westinghouse LCD, hooked into DVI at 1920 x 1080. THAT'S 1080P & I LOVE IT.

The Westinghouse 42" is out now and has even better reviews than my 37" which is a first generation. There is talk on AVS forums but you have to dig in the HTPC forum and the display forum. Like anything there though, you'll find people who love and hate every model. So take it all with some salt.

If I had to buy again I'd choose the Westinghouse again, but this time the 42". It is truely an HD monitor as in, it does not include an HDTV tuner. Also, the newer models have both DVI and HDMI so you don't need a conversion cable. Being a monitor it works with your computers power save features, so if by chance your computer goes to sleep, so will your tv.

The speakers are a little small, but thats why you have a home theater reciever right?

I got mine from Crutchfield on account of their customer service and free shipping, which in the end made it the same price as others who offer it for less.

If this is your first move into HDTV, read up on video decoders and rendere's like PureVideo, they make a difference. I'd call it an essential extra, especially if you already have a capable nVidia graphics card.

Other names to check out are HP and Sceptre, the later getting good reviews for picture quality but not for quality.

[12three45]

This LCD comes with just about everything. There are newer models out but do not see that much of a different so I bought the older model. Was cheaper of course.

It displays all content in full HD spec (1080p) resolution, the highest of the DTV resolutions. With a 16:9 aspect ratio, unbeatable resolution of 1920 x 1080.

Other features that distinguish the LC-45GD4U: HDMI, DVI-I and 2 HD component video inputs, HD Tuner, HD Cable Card, a PC Card slot which allows you to record and view still images and a video on a PC Card, and the next generation of Sharp’s proprietary Quick Shoot video circuit, which enables a fast response time of less than 12ms.

So far this LCD has been amazing. Easy to setup and adapts to what my video card puts on the DVI cable.

[Mark SS]

Originally Posted by Humanzee

I have the 37" Westinghouse LCD, hooked into DVI at 1920 x 1080. THAT'S 1080P & I LOVE IT.

Have read plenty about them and yes a Westinghouse would be absolutely perfect. Unfortunately they aren't available in Europe and the US distributor does not ship outside of the US.

[Mark SS]

Originally Posted by 12three45

LC-45GD4U

Can't find anywhere in the UK selling it and I suspect 45 might be a little too large for the seating distance (8ft).

[Humanzee]

Originally Posted by Mark SS

Unfortunately they aren't available in Europe

Doh

Originally Posted by Mark SS

and the US distributor does not ship outside of the US.

is there only one that you are willing to go through? I can tell you this, the box mine came in was HUGE. But not that heavy.

looks like amazon.com ships to the UK but maybe not items that big, their website talks mostly about books and cd's. Check it out though. Link

[Mark SS]

Originally Posted by Humanzee

is there only one that you are willing to go through?

Have spent sometime googling suppliers but not found any that will ship outside US yet.

[Mahoney]

Had exactly the same issues as you, Mark. Can't find any 1920x1080 TV in the UK that will accept a 1920x1080@50 (or 60) hertz PC signal.

Most of the UK TVs only claim to support a PC via D-SUB, which is absurd, and they won't tell you how it will behave if you use the HDMI input with a digital signal from the PC - I've had irritating discussions with no-nothing sales people trying to find out. There's also a Philips TV out with a 1920x1080 resolution screen but it won't accept a 1920x1080 PC signal, which strikes me as simply brain dead.

[ukmgranger]

Slightly off topic.

I purchased a Phillips 32pf9986 a while back. Man was i p***ed off when I found that it couldn't do the 1366x??? ratio. I now have to put up with a 2 cm black border around the screen because it's native res is 1280x720.

Any way, the moral of the story is:
Don't buy a screen unless you have evidence that it will work properly with a PC.

[eehtpc]

I have a 42in Grand Wega that will sync to 1920x1080, however, my problem has been that Sage refuses to maximize at this resolution. It will only go to 1600x900 before it starts to cut itself off. Anyone encountered anything similar?

[Mahoney]

This lot:

http://www.lacc.com/

claim to ship internationally and stock the new Westinghouse LVM-37w3 which appears to be pretty much the perfect HTPC monitor.

I've emailed them asking for instaructions how to order. Once I've an idea of whether it's possible and what the total cost will be (including shipping, import duty and taxes) I'll report back.

Only thing is that it is still an LCD, not a plasma... but they look pretty good by and large.

[Mark SS]

Couple of updates...

Samsung LE40R7 is a very serious contender. Works perfectly over VGA at 1to1 mapping and coped far better with the HD demo I was running than the Tosh or JVC which I also tested. Apparently VGA or HDMI are indistinguishable over short cable runs so using VGA isn't going to lose you any detail.

Unfortunately my HTPC decided to play up and the nvidia control panel crashed everytime I tried to set the correct resolution for the Tosh and JVC over DVI-HDMI. Have now got powerstrip on standby to try again if I get time.

There is one 1920x1080p LCD available in the UK but it is a bit of an unknown. Its manufactured by Amoi, currently only a 37" but 42" due in June. Lots of discussion about it on www.avforums.com and it has been purchased on mass (50 units) by a group from a Greek AV forum. Reports are very good but as its not in stores its a bit of a leap of faith. Company selling them do so on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/37-LCD-HDTV-19...QQcmdZViewItem

I've been in email with one of the Greek buyers who is very happy with the screen. He also kindly tried the HD demo I'd been using for tests and reports that the screen copes with it ok. A www.avforums.com member has just received a unit to evaluate and is also reporting good things so far.

[Mark SS]

For anyone interested, I ended up buying an Amoi 37" 1080p from http://www.its-a-breeze.com. Very pleased with the results so far and am still experimenting with various widgets to improve the PQ further.

Monday will be a last ditch attempt to get a sweetspot SDI card working with STV before I consider trying a DVB-S solution.

[Mahoney]

I have also gone with the Amoi - 1:1 pixel mapping accepting a 1920x1080p50 and a 1920x1080p60 input over DVI/HDMI.

Mark - I intend to have a crack at updating Anders' DVB plugin to use DVB-S once I get a DVB-S card (hopefully in the next 3 weeks or so). I'll let you know if I make any progress.

[Mark SS]

Originally Posted by Mahoney

Mark - I intend to have a crack at updating Anders' DVB plugin to use DVB-S once I get a DVB-S card (hopefully in the next 3 weeks or so). I'll let you know if I make any progress.

Fantastic news! I managed to get the SDI sky+ working today but the pq with the WDM driver is appalling compared to DScaler (where its superb) so it looks like I'll be selling it on and sticking with SVideo/PVR150 for the time being.

Is there a whole other world of work to be done to get DVB-S2 working once DVB-S is done? Cards are supposedly on the horizon with support for both, could we have HD nirvana in the UK soon?

Let me know if theres anything I can do to assist with testing, happy to buy a card in advance if I can help.

[Mahoney]

I'm intending to get a DVBS-2 card, to get BBC HD at least.

[printul77700]

Originally Posted by Mark SS

Couple of updates...

Samsung LE40R7 is a very serious contender. Works perfectly over VGA at 1to1 mapping and coped far better with the HD demo I was running than the Tosh or JVC which I also tested. Apparently VGA or HDMI are indistinguishable over short cable runs so using VGA isn't going to lose you any detail.

Unfortunately my HTPC decided to play up and the nvidia control panel crashed everytime I tried to set the correct resolution for the Tosh and JVC over DVI-HDMI. Have now got powerstrip on standby to try again if I get time.

There is one 1920x1080p LCD available in the UK but it is a bit of an unknown. Its manufactured by Amoi, currently only a 37" but 42" due in June. Lots of discussion about it on www.avforums.com and it has been purchased on mass (50 units) by a group from a Greek AV forum. Reports are very good but as its not in stores its a bit of a leap of faith. Company selling them do so on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/37-LCD-HDTV-19...QQcmdZViewItem

I've been in email with one of the Greek buyers who is very happy with the screen. He also kindly tried the HD demo I'd been using for tests and reports that the screen copes with it ok. A www.avforums.com member has just received a unit to evaluate and is also reporting good things so far.

pls help me with this one

i have a fujitsu siemens laptop with via chrome igp video card and the lcd le40r7...when i connect them with SUB to SUB 15 pins i have a problem....on the lcd it appears the the whole background but it appears no icon..or any aplication from my laptop...if i want to see those i got to drag them out of the laptop widescreen and when the icon start dissapearing from the laptop screen it appears on the lcd tv...what is the problem???with another computer,,,a desktop one it goes perfectly....it myght be from my driver?anyone met this problem?do u have the solutions??thansk!!!

[motobarsteward]

It appears that you have yur graphics card set tpan multiple monitiors. Go to your primary monitor (probably the laptop) and right-click the desktop. Select 'Properties' and then click the 'Settings' Tab. Click the 'Identify' button and then right click the screen on the controp panel that corresponds to the number on your TV. Click the 'attached' option. Your flat screen TV should have now gone off. Click 'Advanced' and try and find a button called 'Clone'

[pschweig]

Originally Posted by Mahoney

Mark - I intend to have a crack at updating Anders' DVB plugin to use DVB-S once I get a DVB-S card (hopefully in the next 3 weeks or so). I'll let you know if I make any progress.

Why use a plugin when dvb-s is supported natively in sage?