Quick and Painless: TV question, WTB PST.

[Deacon]

Note that these will hardly ever have TV tuning capabilities, rendering them solely displays. If any HD television is desired, a separate tuner box and/or a cable/satellite box would be required.

Personally, I consider this a good thing as most built in tuners are not as good as separate ones.

*facepalm*

OK, sport. I'll play along. Source?

[Shegokigo]

Shegokigo, I edited the post and added some more links. I'd go with the NEC. It has a resolution of 1920x1200, so you'll have full HD resolution all the way up to 1080p (1920x1080), so you'll have black bars at top and bottom but still full res. It also has VGA, DVI, HDMI and component inputs so you'll be set for a bit on video inputs.

Looks great, thanks for the links. I'll simplify my question. Can it "Play PSP games on TV (Progressive Scan TVs only), Play regular Cable TV (Non-HD), and Play PS3 games/Blu-ray movies? If so, I think I'm sold...

I'd suggest looking at computer monitors that also have TV inputs.

Note that these will hardly ever have TV tuning capabilities, rendering them solely displays. If any HD television is desired, a separate tuner box and/or a cable/satellite box would be required.

Basically meaning I just have to get a cable box from Time Warner instead of just hooking up the AUX?

[bagheadinc]

Keep in mind that the DTV switchover is less than 323 days away. Whatever TV you settle on, make sure it has a digital tuner.

[adciv]

I remember reading that. However, I'll believe it when I see it. For the most part, I'm waiting to see something along the lines of a decrypter where I can see the source code (i.e. DeCSS) before I believe it is fully compromised.

[Deacon]

Shegokigo, are you a cable subscriber? Yes, you'd need a box (regular analog cable wouldn't work). It's a good idea to check what the deal is if you're switching to digital cable and whether the STB will cost you anything. You'll probably also need a separate A/V receiver with regular speakers (not computer speakers) to get the sound, unless the monitor has speakers built in, in which case I'm sure you could rig up something via Radioshack.

Have you considered just buying a TV card for your computer? I did that a few years ago when I was roommates with a guy whose entirely unconcernedly inconsiderate girlfriend monopolized the TV to the point where I needed my own solution, and I had neither the room nor the money to get a nice TV.

[bagheadinc]

I remember reading that. However, I'll believe it when I see it.

Well, the legislation was signed by the FCC in 2006. The switchover date is February 17, 2009. Many other countries are switching over, and some have already completed doing so.

[adciv]

Arg, didn't notice the 2nd page. Sorry baghead, that was in response to MBs

Blu-Ray (including BD+, the newest one that was supposed to last for ten years) has already been broken.

not the DTV switchover.

Personally, I consider this a good thing as most built in tuners are not as good as separate ones.

*facepalm*

OK, sport. I'll play along. Source?

Testing from when I worked at a network by the lead engineer for said network with different consumer recievers and generations of test boxes. Mind you, it is not only the tuners but the decoders as well that also factor into this. The external recievers are more likely to handle multipath and noise better than the built in tuners. Further, they are more likely to have superior scalers (part of the decoder) for translating the original signal into the TV's native display resolution.

The FCC regulation for requiring an ATSC (digital) tuner in TVs merely states that TVs above a certain size (diagonal measurement) must be capable of recieving Digital over the air signals. It gives no requirements on performance and other metrics that factor in to the quality of the receiver. As such, most manufacturers have been buying the cheapest ATSC tuner they can to place in their TVs where as those making the seperate receivers have to compete on quality and are using the better/more advanced chips to do so. One example is that the 4th or 5th generation chips were able to use multipath interference to increase the strength of the original signal (by use of two or more antenas, I believe) and are able to pick up a weaker/more noisey signal than prior chips. Good luck finding one of those in a TV.

[Deacon]

Sure, if you're in a weak signal area, you may be able to extend the usable range of the signal with multiple antennas or get a slightly more solid signal in some nightmarishly noisy area, but your everyday TV viewer will be just fine with the built-in tuners in nearly all of today's HDTVs. I've experienced this several times in about about 8 different locations two different cities. I personally lived on OTA HD in the proverbial bottom of an EMI well, and a $40 passive UHF antenna grabbed all the signal I needed.

[adciv]

Most everyday TV watchers think they are watching HDTV just because they have an HDTV even if the source is SD and the video is upscaled to fit their HDTV. I like to think that most people on this forum want something better than bare bones and whatever is cheap.

[Deacon]

ARGH. You're impossible, like the kind of argument that if your soundcard is on-board you're necessarily getting inferior sound and leeching power from your CPU, etc. The reality is that, no, built-in tuners work quite well in the vast majority of circumstances, and an external unit is a waste of money for all but a relative handful of people. I don't know how else to properly communicate the error of what you're saying without resorting to dumb analogies like suggesting that anything less than a Porsche is a waste of a car and cannot deliver a satisfying ownership experience.

[adciv]

I like to think that most people on this forum want something better than bare bones and whatever is cheap.

[Deacon]

Yes, that's the ridiculous statement in question. Technically, it's a red-herring stuffed straw man. Realistically it's just a stupid statement.

[Shegokigo]

Well gee, stupid me didn't realize the monitor doesn't have speakers... so it's usefullness vs a TV seems to be completely lost.... *sigh*

Any recommendations on a Progressive scan TV under 30'' but over 17'' ?

[Deacon]

A much better approach: come up with a target budget and an absolute maximum cap, and try to find what you can that fits that. The higher the target, the broader the options.

[Shegokigo]

$500
720p
Over 17''
Less than 8ms (though I think lower than 8ms is pretty much impossible at this range)