Flat Panel TV Addiction

[mikey]

I have been going shopping for small items like movies and computer accessories on sale and I always check out the new flats screen tvs. I had a 31 inch GE big back tv that worked great with my PS3, but I wanted to experience HDMI like I see in Best Buy so I got a 26 Inch flat panel and it was incredible!. Yesterday, I go and check out some nice movie collections on sale and wind up purchasing another lcd flat panel this time a 32 inch. I heard some people are actually using them as monitors for the home computer. I saw a 47 inch vizio that was not even $900. Oh boy..... Have any of you guys gone thru this? or am I alone in this addiciton?

[RandyS]

Originally Posted by mikey

I have been going shopping for small items like movies and computer accessories on sale and I always check out the new flats screen tvs. I had a 31 inch GE big back tv that worked great with my PS3, but I wanted to experience HDMI like I see in Best Buy so I got a 26 Inch flat panel and it was incredible!. Yesterday, I go and check out some nice movie collections on sale and wind up purchasing another lcd flat panel this time a 32 inch. I heard some people are actually using them as monitors for the home computer. I saw a 47 inch vizio that was not even $900. Oh boy..... Have any of you guys gone thru this? or am I alone in this addiciton?

I have 3, Toshiba Regza 37 inch in poker room, Sony 40 inch in bedroom and Pioneer Elite Plasma 50 in the living room, all hooked up to direct tv hi def...awesome is the only word that i can think of...

and, the compressed signal dtv provides is about 20% less than it should be, so true hi def (off the airwaves without satellite or cable buffers) would be even more incredible...

awaiting my Pioneer Elite blu ray player, hooking that up to the pioneer and the Paradigm home theatre surround system i have, auto racing takes on a whole new meaning at my house

[applebook]

After going through several 24" 1920x1200 LCDs, I settled on my 32" 1080p Aquos last year and am still very pleased. I use it for everything EXCEPT for TV because I don't have HDTV anyway.

HD-DVD, Blu-ray, games, and general computer images look stunning.

[RandyS]

Originally Posted by applebook

After going through several 24" 1920x1200 LCDs, I settled on my 32" 1080p Aquos last year and am still very pleased. I use it for everything EXCEPT for TV because I don't have HDTV anyway.

HD-DVD, Blu-ray, games, and general computer images look stunning.

i got widescreen monitor, when i go to look at photos i took with camera, they are stretched out weird and i cant seem to fix it

[Incurable]

Originally Posted by RandyS

i got widescreen monitor, when i go to look at photos i took with camera, they are stretched out weird and i cant seem to fix it

Using a widescreen monitor, you must pick the proper resolution to display things in their correct aspect. My 22" widescreen monitor uses 1680x1050. A before unheard of resolution for 4:3 (regular screen) monitors. Until I upgraded my video card to display the correct "native" resolution for the monitor, things looked stretched like you describe. Monitors usually recommend an optimum resolution to display at. Find a resolution that your video card will output that matches the recommendation or suitable for widescreen. Monitors that are primarily TV's and secondly a monitor, usually are 720p or 1080p compatible. Translated to resolutions that equals 1280x720 for 720p and 1920x1080 for 1080p (or i).

Confused yet???

[RandyS]

Originally Posted by Incurable

Using a widescreen monitor, you must pick the proper resolution to display things in their correct aspect. My 22" widescreen monitor uses 1680x1050. A before unheard of resolution for 4:3 (regular screen) monitors. Until I upgraded my video card to display the correct "native" resolution for the monitor, things looked stretched like you describe. Monitors usually recommend an optimum resolution to display at. Find a resolution that your video card will output that matches the recommendation or suitable for widescreen. Monitors that are primarily TV's and secondly a monitor, usually are 720p or 1080p compatible. Translated to resolutions that equals 1280x720 for 720p and 1920x1080 for 1080p (or i).

Confused yet???

a friend is installing me a new video card and installing it soon, i bought him one and for that he is installing mine, so hoping that solves it (ie i bought two of them so he installs mine and for that service he gets the other one)

[Markg]

Originally Posted by Incurable

Using a widescreen monitor, you must pick the proper resolution to display things in their correct aspect. My 22" widescreen monitor uses 1680x1050.

im using 1920x1200 on a 24" widescreen

[Incurable]

Originally Posted by Markg

im using 1920x1200 on a 24" widescreen

Which is correct for a 24" widescreen. Most, if not all, recommend that resolution. TV's used as monitors, and having a HDMI or DVI port, things get a little more confusing. Reading the specs for the TV and port becomes important. My HDTV actually has a DB15 analog input for computers. It also has an HDMI port. Video card has DVI. I have an adapter (DVI to HDMI) but never tried it. For the price of the long HDMI cable, I could buy another monitor... Yes, I know about MonoPrice.com.

[mikey]

Any device albeit a PS3, Stand Alone Blue Ray player, or Upconvert 1080 dvd player that has an HDMI cord plugged directly into the Flat Screen will give you True Hi Def. The HDMI cord is sooo important. I will say the cable signal gives me a much better picture with my lcd than I had with my old 31 in GE fatback tv.

[mikey]

I must admit that I can get anal when adjusting resolution on tv in general. I have restrained myself to take it out the box plug in my equipment and power on and NEVER touch the factory settings. I was happy to pair my H700 Bluetooth to my PS3 but thats another thread.

[1Thunder1]

I was such a TV junkie 5 years ago but had a horrible experience with my SOny 50 LCD Pink SPots that I gave up on them. What is the hot product today?

[oneillba]

I use 1680 x 1050 on my 21 inch wide screen monitor.

[mfer]

I would stay away from the Vizio's. They bleed color badly after a bit. My best friend has one. It is worth a couple hundred dollars more to get a Samsung. I just got a 46" full 1080p. SWEEEEEET. You are not alone.

[mikey]

1thunder1, I have gotten the bug in the last couple of months. I was starting to lean towards laptops. I just love the MacBook Air and the newer apple white color laptops. I have a compaq laptop that works pretty good and a 15 inch dell flat panel which was the first flat panel on the home dell computer. I have had some bad experiences with the 37 inch lcd but they had the dvd player built in that wound up breaking and would not eject the disk. Oh well, it has been a few years since those early mass produced lcd but now they are more refined.

[mikey]

Mik, I was leaning toward the $749 37 inch vizio,but I don't like the 2 tone black/white trim. I either want it all Bllack Matte or Piano Gloss. I rarely see an all white lcd