TV Experts, Help

[TSXDude]

I recently got my hands on a 42" LG LCD Monitor, and I am thinking of using it as my television for my new condo. Here is a link of the TV:

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=19423&vpn=M4200C&manufacture=LG%20Electronics

I hooked it up last night via my PS2 just to give it a try and popped in a DVD to see the quality. The is my first big screen LCD, and to my surprise, the quality was horrible!! The brightness and color was great, but the pictures look very pixelated!

Comparing the spec to some of the other televisions, aside from not having a TV tuner, the spec of my LCD doesn't seem inferior to other LCD. How come I am getting poor image quality? Is it because i was sitting too close (~ 6ft). Or is this normal for a LCD monitor, as opposed to a LCD TV? Would using component input/DVI input improve the quality?

[AcidLotus]

LG is a pretty good brand. I'd go with component or DVI if I were you, and even HDMI if you have that available. Also see if you can adjust any of the settings in the TV to allow better quality. I have an HDTV that defaults to 480i unless I specifically set it to accept inputs of 1080i and lower.

[ians]

So you using s-video or regular RCA input? if yes then "Da Lay Say" :rofl:
It is a 720p unit and s-video or composite input only give you 480i only. And if it is a monitor so the tv very unlikely have a scaler. So pixelated is expected. So use a PC and hook up through VGA with 1360x768 resolution then it will give you the best pic for DVD. And regarding regular TV viewing such as the chinese channel! then learn to live with it! Oh another hints is to turn down the sharpness setting if it has. Actually, a well calibate TV can make a big difference!

[TSXDude]

^ Ya, my PS2 only has the RCA output.

So for regular TV viewing, i would have no choice? What if i get a HD Cable and use component or DVI as input? would that make a difference?

[narci]

^ Ya, my PS2 only has the RCA output.

So for regular TV viewing, i would have no choice? What if i get a HD Cable and use component or DVI as input? would that make a difference?

Component and HDMI has almost no difference..at least to my eyes.

Roger's HD boxes are DVI out only. Unless they changed thier PVR, those are still DVI out only. Your better off using components that come witht he HD box.

One thing you need to do is NEVER use the default calibration setting that the TV shipped with. You'll need to calibrate the color, brightness etc. Professional clibration can run upwards of $300+. If you want a cheap way...you can google the TV and see what other settings people used or try to calibrate it yourself witht he THX calibration thing. (CARS DVD has that in it).

[TSXDude]

^ Ya, i think the TV doesn't have HDMI, so no big deal. I'll use the components or DVI input.

Anymore advice is greatly appreciated.

[narci]

^ Ya, i think the TV doesn't have HDMI, so no big deal. I'll use the components or DVI input.

Anymore advice is greatly appreciated.

If you use DVI, you will only get Video. You'll need to run the audio through RCA or a RCA to 3.5mm jack depending on what your TV can handle.

DVI = Digital video only.
HDMI = Digital video and audio.

[ians]

Well DVI or component will help on HD channel, HD-DVD/Blu-Ray & upconverted DVD(regular DVD from an upconverted player or PC). For regular SD channel... no hope! actually the LG XD video processor already did a pretty good job on up scaling any SD material on the display but since your is a LCD display instead of LCD TV, so I dunno is it come with ths XD video processor. For SD channel... live with the pixelation or sit further from the display!

BTW, did you paid $3400 for this?????

[TSXDude]

^ Thanks. So can one of you guys answer me this? For regular TV viewing and occassional DVD watching, would an LCD monitor be sufficient? or should i get a LCD TV instead?? I am eventually going to connect a computer to this (so i can watch my downloaded media)

The $3400 is really off the wall! I don't understand why this unit cost this much... Of course i didn't pay that amount. In fact, for the amount that i got this for, i can live with the pixelation, haha.

Tonight, I'll try hooking it up to a DVD-player instead of my PS2 and see the results.

[narci]

^ Thanks. So can one of you guys answer me this? For regular TV viewing and occassional DVD watching, would an LCD monitor be sufficient? or should i get a LCD TV instead?? I am eventually going to connect a computer to this (so i can watch my downloaded media)

The $3400 is really off the wall! I don't understand why this unit cost this much... Of course i didn't pay that amount. In fact, for the amount that i got this for, i can live with the pixelation, haha.

Tonight, I'll try hooking it up to a DVD-player instead of my PS2 and see the results.

That's the problem. television signals has not yet caught up with TV technology. All LCD's have pixelation or bad picture quality with analogue channels (all channels for Rogers below 500). HD is only as good as how much the the station compresses the content. Discover HD is good but some other ones, like PBS isn't all that great but both are on the HD spectrum.

The best type of TV's to handle analogue channels would be rear projections LCD and Plasmas.

Then comes the arguement...Rear Projections needs to buy a new lamp every few years and people are afraid of plasmas cause of burn in and gaming. That's why when you buy a TV now..you have to ask to see the TV running on regualr analogue cable channels instead of the eye candy BluRay/HD DVD loops they run making you think the TV is that awesome.

If your hooking up a regular progessive scan DVD player..don't expect much difference. Now an upconverting DVD player...that's a different story.

[TSXDude]

What about using it as a computer monitor, which i will be doing eventually.

Do i need any special video card? I have a video card that has a DVI output, would that be sufficient? For fun, i hooked up my laptop via S-video and the image was still pretty pixelated. Is it because the max resolution of my laptop is only 1024x768?

Thanks for helping a tech-noob.

[TSXDude]

I also noticed that there is not a lot of mention of the viewing distance. Would sitting at 5 ft from the monitor compare to 10 ft make a difference in terms of the pixelation?

[ians]

of course 10ft will be better than 5ft. Once you are further away from the TV, less detail you able to see. But on the other hand, the TV will become smaller & smaller like your tv is shrinking! Some TV have a good internal scaler which able to make the analog signal looks better & smoother such as the XD engine from LG but I doubt your monitor will come with it. So your best bet is to get a decent video card such as nVidia 7600GT, a TV tunner card then install the nvidia purevideo decoder and then running a MCE to manage everything through your PC. Using your PC as a upconvert DVD player(DVD rom or just save/download an image in your hard disk :p ) is better than most of upconvert DVD player in the market.

Also if you want a plasma also PC friendly, you need to get something with VGA input and also 50"+.

[VorteC]

What about using it as a computer monitor, which i will be doing eventually.

Do i need any special video card? I have a video card that has a DVI output, would that be sufficient? For fun, i hooked up my laptop via S-video and the image was still pretty pixelated. Is it because the max resolution of my laptop is only 1024x768?

Thanks for helping a tech-noob.

Video card wise I am sure it will have no problem, as it is only sending a signal and the power to the monitor is doing the rest. However I have ran 2 monitors on the same video card (2 DVI ports) and it basically split it's speed in 2, and both lagged.

I don't know why but when I hooked up my desktop to my LCD TV via S-video/component it was pretty blurry too.

[TSXDude]

Ian, your explanation is overwhelming for me. How about this? You come to my house and hook up everything for me :p

[ians]

Video card wise I am sure it will have no problem, as it is only sending a signal and the power to the monitor is doing the rest. However I have ran 2 monitors on the same video card (2 DVI ports) and it basically split it's speed in 2, and both lagged.

I don't know why but when I hooked up my desktop to my LCD TV via S-video/component it was pretty blurry too.

Not really, a good video card & a bad video card will make a big different!

And sounds like we are going to have a house warming party pretty soon on Dan's new condo! :ben:

[VorteC]

Not really, a good video card & a bad video card will make a big different!

And sounds like we are going to have a house warming party pretty soon on Dan's new condo! :ben:

get the strippers ready.