I bought a similar Westinghouse LCD TV (mine is 42"), mainly for use as a TV, but I also tried hooking my Dell D610 up to it as an experiment. The video output showed up in the central part of the TV’s screen. I’d estimate its size to be similar to a standard 27" TV, though I didn’t get a yardstick and measure. The resolution max was the same that the laptop uses on its screen. Text seemed fuzzy.
Overall, I was disappointed, and wouldn’t use this for work. I might use it to show friends YouTube videos or the like. However, this is using plug n play and the Dell D610’s built-in graphics, so I’m sure there’s a way to tweak it for better results.
Well I have a big monitor. Mine is bigger! I have the Toshiba 62 inch DLP TV, with VGA input. But resolution on this thing is terrible. 1024 x 768, and it does not do wide screen. But for my purposees this is quite adequite.
Oh, and the reason, well I am going blind, so I need a lot of help. Sitting 4 feet from this monster I can still code for a long while. I still use conventional monitors at work, but by the end of the day the big box is a lot easier on the eyes for the times when a good idea just wont leave me alone. Higher resolution? well I cant see all that clearly as it is, but I guess other people can tell.
I am really thankful for it despite the cost. It totally dominates my living room, and dwarfs the large sound system that sits beside it. At one time the sound system was the biggest thing, but no more. My MONITOR is large and klunky but just plain good imho.
I own a recording studio because the time is coming when I won’t be able to do much with my eyesight. Eventually the big screen will probably be my ONLY monitor alternative. At least I can still hear…
Er, what did ya say? Sorry sonny, speak up a bit… lol
I recently upgraded from my 27" Viewsonic HDTV to the 37" Westinghouse, and it was worth every dollar. Since I basically don’t watch TV, I didn’t mind the Westinghouse’s lack of a TV tuner. 1080p on the new unit is beautiful over DVI, I’ve yet to test the VGA input though.
With my previous 27", I had issues displaying native res over DVI/HDMI.
Over VGA, the unit matched the resolution 1:1 pixel at 1360 x 768
But I couldn’t achieve the same thing over HDMI, there was always a certain amount of overscan/understand depending on what resolution I’m using, and the best I could do was go with 1280 x 720, and tell the monitor to do 1:1 with no scaling, but I’m losing 80 pixels across, and 48 pixels vertical. A friend of mine also had the very same issue with his 720p/1080i, where the VGA looks beautiful, while the DVI/HDMI can’t scale correctly
not sure why CRT’s generally have a higher resolution than LCD monitors of the same size.
Just because a CRT “supports” 1920x1440 doesn’t mean it has enough RGB phosphor triads to actually do that resolution justice. Check this image out to see why:
I already have a computer that is hooked to two 40 HDTVs. It’s awesome, because I tile my windows at high resolution and can fit 4 windows on each screen. That way I can use eight windows, or use four and watch an HD movie. It’s big enough that I can work from the couch with my wireless keyboard and mouse. Now I’m combining my poroductivity and laziness. ha! Great Article!
Although the 20" Apple Cinema HD Display is very nice, at $699 it is too rich for my blood. I just bought a Dell 2007WFP (20" widescreen with the same resolution as the Apple) through the Dell outlet for $319, with free 3-5 day delivery (which turned out to be 2 because I live in Texas). I just checked now and they have another 82 still in stock. The picture is fantastic, plus the monitor handles VGA, DVI, s-video and regular analog video (the old school yellow RCA plug). It even ships with DVI and VGA cables. Admittedly it is not aluminum and it won’t get me into the chic Apple club, but it is very nice at an awesome price. It is the third Dell flat panel I’ve bought (two 1907FP’s, plus this new one). Say what you like about their unimaginative designs, etc., they make some good hardware for great prices, which is why they are still the 800 lb. gorilla.
Sorry - scratch that - the WFP models with all the inputs are $289. The newer 2007FP (regular 4:3 20" LCD) is $319. There is a newer 20" widescreen (E207WFP) with only DVI and VGA inputs and no USB ports on the side, but it has a 5ms response time, as opposed to the 16ms of the 2007WFP (as a non-hardcore gamer it meant nothing to me).
Those three articles about OS X not being graphically scalable surprised me so I checked apple’s site and they have a little note about resolution independence in Leopard.
I personally like a Large Monitor for my main center monitor with around 20’ on each side. I use my desktop more for gaming purposes, that is why I like the large monitor for the middle.
I have the Westingouse 37" 1080p display, which my wife and I use as combination of computer monitor and HDTV. After configuring the resolution for Win XP (it defaults to 1080i mode, which is a bit fuzzy and needs to be switched to 1080p), it ran perfectly without issue.
The PC is connected via DVI cable, the TV with component inputs, and the Xbox with the VGA input (for the 1080p resolution). All-in-all, it’s a great setup. The resolution is high enough that the PC display isn’t pixellated up close, but low enough that you can actually read text.
Setup was cake, and we’re very happy with the results. The picture-in-picture function allows you to put any of the inputs in the PiP window, so we can watch the TV while we’re working on the computer, or check in on downloads or installs while watching TV. Pretty handy.
First of all, you missed a spam comment! One snuck in from 3/14/2010.
Secondly, I’d love to see an update to this post. My mother has macular degeneration, and I’ve experimented with an HD TV display. The results using a VGA cable were awful [1]. I suspect results would be better using HDMI.
Despite your 2006 optimism, the worsening problem with pixel density, the falling cost of HD TVs, and the slowwww emergence of vector solutions, I don’t see people taking this route. Why not?
I’ve been running my computer via a 42" HDTV, but mainly to watch movies and as a 2nd monitor for multimedia stuff. Still waiting news on a real HDTV computer monitor. Its been a while - has anyone come across any news lately?
It would be cool to have a big 42" PC monitor, but I’m quite happy with my small computer monitor that I got for under $200. Not quite HD but does the job. If anyones interested, check SmallMonitor.com for some decent offers on all kinds of monitors.
And if someone comes across anything about the big HDTV computer monitors - please let me know
hdtv as monitor for computers is the best idea ever. as I searched for more articles on this criteria, i have found that they are kind of expensive and to be honest , not many people will afford it. but not impossible …
