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Just bought a HDTV (LCD) and got some queries.


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Old 25-11-2006, 17:15
sithius
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Right, so I've just ordered a 26 inch HT ready LCD.

Got some questions about HD and how it works.

What is out there currently that will use HD? I know of Xbox 360 and dvd players but what else?

I've wiki'd HMDI but I'm still totally lost on it. Is it just another kind of socket (Like scart?).

Can't actually think of any more questions at the mo but when I do i'll make sure to post them.

Thanks
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Old 25-11-2006, 17:21
Jarrak
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SKY and TW/NTL offer HD via there respective platforms and there is plenty (some legal some not) of HD content on the net for streaming to a TV via a PC or other product.
The PS3 will of course provide HD (blu-ray) where as the 360 supports HD-DVD.

HDMI is just a connection method, it's digital and supports HDCP which is a "secure" rights managment system intended to prevent piracy.
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Old 25-11-2006, 17:24
AubreyStevens
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If you don't have an XBox is there enough HD Tv content to make it worthwhile at the moment ?
I've read that some HD's don't handle standard def very well and that is what most of us are watching most of the time.

Last edited by AubreyStevens : 25-11-2006 at 17:25.
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Old 25-11-2006, 17:27
sithius
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Thanks for the quick replies. This is the tv i purchased. (http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/3134...6-9-26-66.html)

Does it look any good?

I've seen on other threads HD dvd players are around £500 at the moment. Why is it so much cheaper to have a HD-DVD player in a 360?

Aubrey, when you say some don't handle standard definition very well, is it worse then most conventional tv's, say hooked up to freeview?
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Old 25-11-2006, 17:33
AubreyStevens
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I've read on some forums that playing standard def on some HD looks a lot worse than on a CRT Tv.
I've never had an HD and the ones in the shops usually have a display I think from a DVD Player or a HD source to show the Tv at it's best. I've read that Freeview and some of the Sky regular channels look terrible thru HD Tv's.

Last edited by AubreyStevens : 25-11-2006 at 17:34.
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Old 25-11-2006, 17:35
sithius
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Ah, made me a bit nervous now.

Btw, from the specs on the link I gave, is my tv capable of connection with component cables?
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Old 25-11-2006, 17:41
AubreyStevens
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I thought of getting an HD but I wouldn't be happy if most of what I watched looked better on my older Thomson Tv. It's a CRT 24" widescreen and I got it from Argos for £149 managers special and it's been great. Even handles SECAM and all the different PAL's in Europe and NTSC.
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Old 25-11-2006, 17:59
Jarrak
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Originally Posted by sithius

I've seen on other threads HD dvd players are around £500 at the moment. Why is it so much cheaper to have a HD-DVD player in a 360?

Aubrey, when you say some don't handle standard definition very well, is it worse then most conventional tv's, say hooked up to freeview?



The combined price of a 360 and HD-DVD addon is cheaper since the hardware is sold below cost with MS (and SONY/Nintendo) making their profits from game licensing.
Standalone players are also built to a higher standard and incorporate higher specification chipsets.


The problem with HD displays is that they tend to be bigger than SD displays (which PAL was designed for) and the simple fact is their resolution is hugely increased yet with SD the amount of picture data remains the same.
Take a small jpeg on your PC and double/triple the resolution, you start to see the limitations of this as the picture loses it's smoothness and overall quality.
The principle is the same for SD when upscaling to HD, there is simply not enough data there to provide a picture that can compare to a "real" HD source.

That aside there are also issues (especially with cheaper TV's which are based on older designs) that the actual processing of the image is not upto the job and of course SD broadcasts are pretty much second rate to begin with thanks to corner cutting from digital broadcasters.
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Old 25-11-2006, 18:02
Jarrak
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Originally Posted by sithius

Btw, from the specs on the link I gave, is my tv capable of connection with component cables?



It's a HD Ready display so it should have component input and according the the LG website it does have that option.
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Old 25-11-2006, 18:43
sithius
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Great. Again, thanks for the feedback.

Jarrak, what do you mean by the picture becoming worse off? Surely that would be down to screen size as the tv is set to run it in SD rather then HD? Wouldn't the SD be the same quality on a standard 26" as a HD Ready 26"? I'm not great with all of this technical stuff so sorry about all the questions.

Last edited by sithius : 25-11-2006 at 18:45.
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Old 25-11-2006, 19:43
Jarrak
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Originally Posted by sithius

Jarrak, what do you mean by the picture becoming worse off? Surely that would be down to screen size as the tv is set to run it in SD rather then HD? Wouldn't the SD be the same quality on a standard 26" as a HD Ready 26"? I'm not great with all of this technical stuff so sorry about all the questions.


A HD display runs at it's native resolution so a SD (720*576) souce will be scaled up to 1366*768 (in the case of your LG) or even 1920*1080 for the more recent models.

If the 26" HD LCD showed SD at it's native resolution you would have a small picture in the middle of the screen surrounded by huge black areas
It's the scaling of SD resolution upto HD resolution which causes a lot of the problems, there is no way to do and retain the perceived quality on a screen size basis.
That is why a SD programme will 99% of the time look better on a 26" CRT compared to a 26" LCD, there are other factors but upscaling is the primary issue.

Never be afraid to ask, understanding the positive and negatives points of your purchase or future purchase saves so much time and hassle later
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