What's The Right TV Set For Gaming? 72
Thanks to GameSpy for its article discussing the choice of TV sets that are best for playing videogames. The piece points out: "It is also important to keep in mind that bigger isn't always better, and that some types of displays aren't so game friendly", before analyzing the options, including Direct View CRT screens ("Affordable; good resolution... [but] Very large sets; limited progressive scan options"), DLP ("Immune to burn-in; reasonably affordable... [but] Doesn't work as well as CRT in bright conditions"), Plasma screens ("Wall-mountable; bright picture... [but] Phosphor burn-in; expensive") and Front Projection ("Big display; portability... [but] No speakers; depends a dark environment.")
Interesting to note (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Interesting to note (Score:3, Insightful)
Not that I am wearing a tinfoil hat, but by severly limiting the distribution of a peripheral, then axing the port it requires all together, s
Re:Interesting to note (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Interesting to note (Score:2)
Re:Interesting to note (Score:1)
Re:Interesting to note (Score:1)
The first-party cables aren't exactly of the highest quality, either. The GCN and PS2 cables are short, thin-gauge pieces of crap. To be fair, the cables that come with the XBox HD pack are also thin-gauge pieces of crap, but they're longer, and most importantly, they're replaceable. I don't buy Monster cables, because they're overpriced for the supposed quality, in the same way that Bose is overpriced for home theater equipment (except t
Do your homework before attacking. (Score:2)
Official Nintendo Component cable in lik-sang [lik-sang.com]
I didn't continue my search, but I'm sure I could have found more examples.
However, I know that this cable is somewhat hard to find in local stores, but there isn't some Nintendo backed conspiracy against Component cables...
Re:Interesting to note (Score:2)
Re:Interesting to note (Score:1)
It is also worth to note that by playing with the chip and pins they could get RGB signal out of it (only option IIRC for people with NTSC gamecubes to get RGB out, the signals aren't on the analog like it was on the N64/SNES(usually)), and they also f
Re:Interesting to note (Score:2)
While I've gone through 3 different computers in the past 7 years, I've only had 1 television in that time frame. My TV won't stop playing the latest nintendo games, so there's no reason to upgrade it. Besides, until the whole HDTV issue gets completely
Re:Interesting to note (Score:1)
This one [bestbuy.com] is 90 bucks, but I got a cheaper one for about 30 bucks or so, and mine works very well sharing the S-video between my PS2, 'Cube, and DVD player.
Re:Interesting to note (Score:3, Interesting)
I had to go with the 32" (or smaller) to fit into a cabinet I already had. Otherwise I would have gotten some sort of projection system.
The TV is good, and it is great for gaming- but it SUCKS for 'regular' TV viewing.
The worst is when the TV show has a lot of greys, or even blacks. They come out totally pixellated, and un-even. This is coming from my Dish receiver via RCA cables.
My Xbox is hooked up via component cables, an
Re:Interesting to note (Score:2)
See the FAQ, it does a better job of explaining it than I do, and you *can* fix it or get real close.
Re:Interesting to note (Score:1)
Echoing what some other posters have said here, Nintendo didn't exactly make the cables easy to get - plus, they sell a "component" video cable that is a simple analog, RCA type cable...
DLP (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:DLP (Score:1)
Toshiba (Score:1)
Re:Toshiba (Score:1)
Unfortunately I dropped it moving it from school one time though and now the image is a little too red (noticable when i
Parent AC Lying? (Score:4, Informative)
All four manuals relate that you should exercise caution with projection televisions (rear- and front-) and read the TV owner's manual befoer connecting the game system. One gives the exception of LCD (LCD rear-projection sets like the Sony Grand Wega line are immune to burn-in). None mention DLP.
Either you've just mis-read your manuals or you're trying to spread FUD about DLP for some reason.
Re:Parent AC Lying? (Score:1)
Re:Parent AC Lying? (Score:2)
Short and sweet: burn-in refers to phospors. CRT televisions, both direct-view and rear projection, have phosphors and are susceptible to burn-in. Plasma displays have phosphors and are susceptible to burn-in.
LCD flat panels, LCD projection, and DLP (projection) do not have phosphors. They cannot "burn-in".
This is true in the technical/grammatical sense in that if there were a similar process, it would not be called burn-in. But it is also true that there
Re:DLPs immune to burn-in? (Score:2)
Front Projection (Score:3, Interesting)
If only i had a money tree.. (Score:1)
Re:Front Projection (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Front Projection (Score:2)
Not everyone likes the "film" look. Personally, I love the 'surreal' look of Plasma. Jet Li's "Hero", and "Baraka" are good examples. Size is nice, but so is quality.
Anyways, this topic has been discussed to death over on avsforum. Different strokes for different folks.
Peace
--
Them: If you don't like it [the government] you are always free to leave.
Re:Front Projection (Score:2)
My big living room in my new house is great for my 42" rear projection CRT, but has a bunch of openings and nice windows that prevent me from even thinking about a projection system. My fantasy system included a nice gaming/computing command recliner parked in front of an 80-100" projection system with rotat
Typical GameSpy excuse for selling ads (Score:5, Insightful)
So, does it burn in or not? (The answer is no) Therefore... the only con you could come up with is that there are limited brands (also not really true)? In other words, this display type is excellent for gaming.
Yet it gets a single paragraph hidden away at the end of the rear projection section where they explicitly avoid saying whether it's good or bad. DLP, on the other hand, gets one and a half sections devoted to it (The DLP section and the rear projection section. uhh...)
Meanwhile, a shitty 800x600 projector with a bottom-of-the-barrel 1200 lumens seems to be their choice for gaming, their primary reasoning apparently being "it was designed by Italians!"
GameSpy continues to live up to their traditional standard of inspid and useless ad-copy disguised as articles. It's odd how people still find them relevant enough to be submitted to and accepted by Slashdot, though.
Re:Typical GameSpy excuse for selling ads (Score:5, Insightful)
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And why on earth did they put LCD rear projection with CRT rear projection, but leave DLP off by itself? LCD RP and DLP (RP) are so much more similar than CRT RP is to either one. I'm tempted to send the author a nice polite note with some educational material.
That being said, there are downsides to LCD RP that the author didn't mention. Specifically, slightly worse contrast ratio and a slightly higher dead pixel ratio than DLP. Also, an SDE (screen door effect) is more likely because of bigger gaps between pixels.
However, I bought an LCD RP because these disadvantages were far less intrusive than the disadvantages I saw with DLP. Specifically, some DLPs had dithering that was very disturbing, the price was far too much (relative to LCD RP), and the moving parts were a slight maintenance concern.
No burn-in on rear-projection CRT (Score:1)
I suspect that burn-in is only a problem if you leave the TV at the showroom settings, with the contrast maxed out. If you follow the advice of most RP CRT web sites and bring the contrast dow
LCD works well (Score:1)
Re:LCD works well (Score:2, Funny)
You poor guy... If you're lucky, you might get some emails offering discounted drugs to help with your problem!
What's The Right TV Set For Gaming? (Score:2)
What's the right monitor for me. Thats what you should ask. We wouldnt know your budget, home setting, preference (curtains drawn or darkroom), and other preferences like some people are suckers for good color, others for high res, I'm a sucker for good refresh rates, dont care about anything above 800x600.
Almost anything can be put to gaming use. Given a refresh rate above a threshold, resolution above 1024x768, the display can be usable for gaming. Thats ALL thats really required. The rest
(waiting impatiently) (Score:2)
What I use (Score:3, Insightful)
Best part, the price. $150 at a University surplus sale.
My brother had me get one for him as well, he uses it at 1024x768 on his computer, and sometimes a game system through the s-video.
Philips 30PW8402 (Score:1)
Re:Philips 30PW8402 (Score:1)
Sounds more like a fault in the component cable adapter rather than something internal to the Xbox. If you have access to one, try another adapter.
what? (Score:1)
Oh, wait, that was fifteen years ago.
Re:what? (Score:1)
article out of touch with reality IMHO (Score:2, Interesting)
sometimes it is plain wrong (LCoS displays are roughly the same size as DLP, contrary to the "nor does it make for a small form factor." comment on page 3). And their recommended LCD of 15" costing $1800? What a horrible recommendation! A 17" LCD (meant for PC display) w/ TV-tuner costs way under $100
This article has many mistakes (Score:3, Insightful)
New HDTV on bargain (Score:1)
Re:New HDTV on bargain (Score:1, Flamebait)
pedant alert! (Score:1)
Use "regardless" instead.
Affordable & spiffy: Sony WEGA Flatscreen (Score:2, Interesting)
While not as technologically impressive as other choices, I'd recommend it whole
Re:Affordable & spiffy: Sony WEGA Flatscreen (Score:1)
Re:Affordable & spiffy: Sony WEGA Flatscreen (Score:1)
Well, perhaps I'm the only one who has thought to pronounce it that way....^_^
Re:Affordable & spiffy: Sony WEGA Flatscreen (Score:1)
blech, not a good article (Score:5, Informative)
The biggest decision point on projectors is what you want to display. If you just want to do Standard Definition(SD) stuff, then even the cheapo projectors are fine. The Infocus X1 (and, apparently, the replacement X2) are very well-regarded. These are DLP projectors that do 800x600, which is just fine for SD material, including DVDs. (which are not very high resolution).
In general, DLP technology at a given resolution is better than LCD at the same resolution; the contrast ratio is better and the pixels are larger, resulting in less screendoor. However, because of how the image is generated, it is important to do a test viewing before buying. About 10% of the population sees rainbows with DLP. The technology basically consists of a spinning color wheel in front of a bright light, with thousands of tiny mirrors. The mirrors rotate so that a certain amount of each color gets through while the wheel is showing. During the (short) interval between colors, the mirrors realign. So you are seeing red/green/blue/white, red/green/blue/white. Most people can't see this, but some do, and it shows up as rainbows.
If you are sensitive to rainbows, or if you want to do HDTV, then LCD projectors are the only reasonable alternative at this point. Both the Panaonic AE500 and L500 (same unit, different distribution channels) and the Sanyo PLV-Z2 are excellent projectors that do 1280x720 resolution for around $2000. The contrast ratio isn't as good as DLP (1300:1 instead of 2000:1). To get a true 1280x720 DLP projector, you are talking $5000+: if you can afford that, it will look better, but I doubt it's 2.5x better.
LCD is more susceptible to misalignment and stuck/dead pixels than the DLPs. Misalignment mostly manifests as vertical banding. In watching posts on avsforum.com, nearly everyone who starts out with a problem will find an adjustment that will make them happy, but the chances of starting out unhappy are higher with LCD.
Of the Panasonic and Z2, the Panny is considered to have a little nicer screen quality (and is a shade cheaper), and the Z2 is much more flexible about mounting, due to a nice feature called 'lens shift', which will let you move the projected image an amazing distance on your wall.
I have a Studio Experience 2HD, which is a rebadged Z2 with a better warranty, at a little higher price. I am EXTREMELY happy with this unit. I have a HTPC hooked up to it, using PowerStrip to run a true native 1280x720 out the DVI port, and it looks *awesome*. I'm throwing a 100" 16:9 screen..... playing Ninja Gaiden on a screen 7.5 FEET wide is pretty darn impressive. "You still measure your screen size in inches? How quaint!"
If you have good light control, you want true HDTV, and you want it BIG.... these projectors are a fantastic way to go. There are many, many tweaks available, but right out of the box, either unit is likely to knock your socks off.
Both units are more than you need, however, for SD material. For that, you're fine with the $1K projectors.
Oh, one final note: you also have a runtime expense with front projectors. The Z2's bulb, for example, is rated as lasting about 3000 hours, and replacements cost about $300, so the run cost is about 10 cents/hour. Make sure to find out the expected bulb life and cost before buying a projector.
($300 for a bulb, you gasp? Yep... you gotta realize that these things are putting out an AMAZING amount of light in a very small space. That's not easy to do, and they cost plenty.)
Re:blech, not a good article (Score:2)
Most front projectors that I have dealt with (granted, only about 10 or so over the last 4 years) have been very noisy. OK in a large room, but if I was any less than 20 feet away from the thing, the n
Re:blech, not a good article (Score:4, Informative)
It's a little louder in high lamp mode, but even then it's still reasonable. (30db??)
Re:blech, not a good article (Score:1)
Re:blech, not a good article (Score:1)
Plasma burn in ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Of all the thousands of posts on avsforum.com, I think I've seen a grand total of 1 or 2 posts about it. I've never experienced it on my own plasma either, and I've put a lot of long continious hours on it.
--
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My Kit: (Score:2)
A 25" sony trinitron studio [video] monitor. It's old enough to where it actually has a CGA input, in addition to its two s-video and one composite. Has a really beautiful picture, and I got it for $35 at a flea market. I cannot recommend a video monitor of any type highly enough for gaming. There's no tuner, so you won't be using any RF connections which is kind of a drag if all your systems are old, and you will need to find some external speakers of the proper impedance but almost all of them have stere
Re:My Kit: (Score:1)
The easiest way to solve that difficulty is to run the RF signal through a VCR (game consoles don't send Macrovision which can be a problem using the same method with a DVD player). I know very few people these days without an spare one collecting dust.
Re:My Kit: (Score:2)
CRT (Score:3, Insightful)
CRT projection isn't going to burn-in on you if you're even the least bit aware that it can happen.
Excellent image quality (I worked in a high-end consumer electronics store at one point, and given the choice between any TV set I would definitely go with a 5 lens CRT).
Cheap! You can purchase one of these bad boys for less than 1500 bucks.
Technology is tried and true.
Not as deep or heavy as you would think - a 46" weighs about 150 pounds and is easily less than 20" deep.
At any rate, I'd say it's the best bang for the buck. I'm THRILLED with my Toshiba 46" cinema series.
Re:CRT (Score:3, Informative)
You should be well-familiar with the shady tactics manufacturers use to sell their sets, then. Most (all) sets on display are set to "torch mode" contrast, and often have varying degrees of "red push" (the red component is stronger, because it makes the display
Re:CRT (Score:2)
samsung (Score:1)
plasma has other advantages (Score:1)