TVs / Monitors of Choice

[HomeyFour]

As I have dove head-first into the HD world, I'm longing to purchase a nice HDTV set of some sort. Over the holidays, I visited some family friends only to end up watching football on a 61" DLP TV. I was STUNNED by the picture.

I certainly cannot afford something like that (nor will it fit in my living room!) but, I am looking for some information from BTV+HD users to find TVs that are easily "compatible" with the signals my 6600GT puts out. I really don't know much/care much about the different HD resolutions, but I do read a lot here in the forums about native resolutions and "true" HD and so forth.

Can anyone make any recommendations/generalizations on feature sets/good practices for purchasing an HDTV to use with BTV?

FWIW, I will probably end up with either an LCD or a regular tube-HDTV, but I don't want this discussion to be stuck on those types of monitors.

[civerson4]

I have a Panasonic 50" Plasma connected to my HTPC (6600 Nvidia card) via a DVI to HDMI cable. I could not be happier. You should check out the AVS Forums (www.avsforum.com) for a very active discussion of HTPC's and HDTV's.

I went with a Plasma for a couple of reasons, but mainly the (i) wide viewing angle and (ii) the "smoothness" of the action (i.e. sports) vs. LCD. That said, DLP's and LCD's definately have followers--and as you said, I don't want this thread to devolve to a Plasma vs DLP vs LCD vs CRT discussion.

As I understand it, most 50" plasmas are 1366 x 768 native resolution. That said, I am using the latest Nvidia drivers (81.95) and feeding it a 720P signal through the HDTV driver section. This works great--razor sharp text when browsing the web, and a fantastic picture when using BTV. As I said, I could not be happier with my setup (though it did take a while to "tweak"--but that is half the fun of building a HTPC!)

[Deckard]

I have a Samsung 42inch plasma in the lounge and a 32inch LCD in the bedroom, using a 6600 in both my htpc's. I use 576P out on the Plasma for a great BTV picture and excellent web browsing - although 576P is more suitable I think for the PAL tv in my part of the world. I use the native resolution of the LCD monitor 1360x768 which I found to be best on the LCD after much tweaking and trying of all the HDTV standards first (480P,576P,720P,1080i)

[HomeyFour]

My wife and I are struggling whether to buy an HDTV in a 4:3 aspect ratio, or 16:9. At the moment, we only have OTA HD, and regular analog cable (no HBO or anything like that) so besides some of the shows on OTA which are 16:9 and DVDs, most of the programming we watch (today at least) is in 4:3.

Any opinions on 4:3 vs. 16:9 in this scenario?

[Vladi]

I have an HDTV monitor running at 1920x1080 - Westinghouse 37" LCD. It is one of the affordable HDTVs, no internal tuner but I don't need one. It can be purchased for around $1600.

[queonda]

This is only a 720P but a nice one and not that expensive: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...-CatHome&pos=6

[queonda]

Originally Posted by HomeyFour

My wife and I are struggling whether to buy an HDTV in a 4:3 aspect ratio, or 16:9. At the moment, we only have OTA HD, and regular analog cable (no HBO or anything like that) so besides some of the shows on OTA which are 16:9 and DVDs, most of the programming we watch (today at least) is in 4:3.

Any opinions on 4:3 vs. 16:9 in this scenario?

I'm pro 16:9 all the way. HDTV is made for 16:9 viewing. I watch most in 4:3 but love the 16:9 movies and HD.

[dlandrum]

I really like my Samsung DLPs. I bought one of them from circuit city and and the other one online: http://www.bestbuyplasma.com/

[Rich A]

There are some known issues with some Nvidia 6000 series cards regarding their "tv out" or S-Video out. In my case the BTV full screen GUI menus etc., display fine on the TV-out line of the video card. BUT if using BTV in "overlay" mode, the TV out playback window is blank. In overlay the Nvidia TV-out won't work for me. I have to use 3d Accel. in order to have program playback viewable.

I've done some research and it seems this is a common problem. But if you are using the secondary monitor (DVI) output then it should be okay.

BTW, if anyone has a solution for this problem please PM me (don't want to hijack this thread)

[HomeyFour]

Well our local ABC warehouse has a good deal on a Hitachi 51" rear projection, CRT based HDTV set that may have to find its way into my apartment. My 6600GT has DVI output... is it a simple as buying a DVI->HDMI cable and hooking it up to the TV that way? I realize I'd also have to attach the RCA audio up as well if going this route.

[tenax]

16:9 panasonic from a 6600gt card and works great. re: your hook up question..i'm dvi to dvi connector..caution though...make sure you work within native resolution of your tv. over a year, i wrecked my samsung tv using dvi to dvi out...there is a caution with most tv's that it should not be connected the computer...it can be done, no question, but carefully!

[doubledose]

I like my Sony 52" grand wega lcd projection tv. In fact I can't get enough of the high def shows to watch. Just love CSI Miami high def wide screen with surround sound on. I also have a Ben-Q 15" monitor setup on my system just so we can have the guide showing all the time. Different people use theres different. My 15" monitor is on all the time unless I am watching a recorded show on the tv.

[wpappas]

i have 3 lcd....olevia, 42" in the living room, 32" in my room, and a 26" in my daughters room.
the 2 big ones are hdtv, but the small one is not...but they all work fine
hope this helps...cause they all look good

[HomeyFour]

Well, I took the "plunge" today and picked up a Samsun 46" DLP HDTV set (HL-R4667W) which was on sale.

So far I am impressed to hell... and I found that even though I only have basic cable, Comcast throws in the unencrypted digital channels including the locals in HD!

[btvfreak]

Nice! Now you can really enjoy that Fusion5.