Small LCD TV advice wanted
 

Hi,

My wife and I are interested in getting a small 15-20 inch flat panel
TV, primarily for the space-savings aspect of it.

But as long as we're getting something like this, I figure it might as
well let us get a bit of new technology too. My big question is on
what resolution to select.

It seems that there are three resolutions that make some amount of sense:
640x480, 1280x1024, and 1280x768 (or so).

640x480 seems really suboptimal for watching HDTV; as you simply lose much
of the data. On the other hand, my impression is that these LCDs are
really designed for TV, offering the fastest LCD resonse times, better
contrast, and better brightness, better viewing angles. And, it is just
the right for 95% of the TV watching we'll be doing for the next few years.

1280x1024 seems almost ideal - 640x480 can be scaled 2:1 which won't
result in the usual ugly LCD scaling mess. And 720p can also be viewed
at its native resolution, with a little letterboxing. Most of these
can also be used as computer monitors, which is a nice bonus. But
most of these ARE computer monitors in disguise, which means the contrast,
brightness, and viewing angle might not be up to snuff. They are almost
as cheap as the 640x480 displays though.

And 1280x768, while sounding good for the 720p, would be a disaster for
SDTV viewing, as the 480 lines can't be uniformly scaled to fit the LCD,
and as I said, that's most of my viewing.

And yes, 1920x1200 or thereabouts sounds good but we're just not
spending that kind of money. And SDTV could only do a 2:1 scale, not
enough space for 3:1. But I must say the Sun 24-inch flat panels we
have at work that are based on the Samsung 240T are really beautiful
as computer monitors.

So, are my concerns about scaling the image on LCDs valid, or is there
technology out there now that addresses this successfully, without
driving the price through the roof? And what do people think about
the relative quality of the 640x480 LCD versus the 1280x1024? Am
I on target the the TV-specific ones make for better viewing? Yeah,
I should go look at the store, but they always keep the video corner
dark so even dim displays look good.

Thanks in advance,

tom

Using 15 inch, LCD and HDTV in the same sentence is an oxymoron. You're
wasting a lot of time worrying about something that will have little or no
bearing on your viewing experience...cause a 15 or 20 inch LCD just ain't
gonna get it done.


"Thomas A. Fine" wrote in message
...
Hi,

My wife and I are interested in getting a small 15-20 inch flat panel
TV, primarily for the space-savings aspect of it.

But as long as we're getting something like this, I figure it might as
well let us get a bit of new technology too. My big question is on
what resolution to select.

It seems that there are three resolutions that make some amount of sense:
640x480, 1280x1024, and 1280x768 (or so).

640x480 seems really suboptimal for watching HDTV; as you simply lose much
of the data. On the other hand, my impression is that these LCDs are
really designed for TV, offering the fastest LCD resonse times, better
contrast, and better brightness, better viewing angles. And, it is just
the right for 95% of the TV watching we'll be doing for the next few
years.

1280x1024 seems almost ideal - 640x480 can be scaled 2:1 which won't
result in the usual ugly LCD scaling mess. And 720p can also be viewed
at its native resolution, with a little letterboxing. Most of these
can also be used as computer monitors, which is a nice bonus. But
most of these ARE computer monitors in disguise, which means the contrast,
brightness, and viewing angle might not be up to snuff. They are almost
as cheap as the 640x480 displays though.

And 1280x768, while sounding good for the 720p, would be a disaster for
SDTV viewing, as the 480 lines can't be uniformly scaled to fit the LCD,
and as I said, that's most of my viewing.

And yes, 1920x1200 or thereabouts sounds good but we're just not
spending that kind of money. And SDTV could only do a 2:1 scale, not
enough space for 3:1. But I must say the Sun 24-inch flat panels we
have at work that are based on the Samsung 240T are really beautiful
as computer monitors.

So, are my concerns about scaling the image on LCDs valid, or is there
technology out there now that addresses this successfully, without
driving the price through the roof? And what do people think about
the relative quality of the 640x480 LCD versus the 1280x1024? Am
I on target the the TV-specific ones make for better viewing? Yeah,
I should go look at the store, but they always keep the video corner
dark so even dim displays look good.

Thanks in advance,

tom

"Thomas A. Fine" wrote in message
...
Hi,

My wife and I are interested in getting a small 15-20 inch flat panel
TV, primarily for the space-savings aspect of it.

But as long as we're getting something like this, I figure it might as
well let us get a bit of new technology too. My big question is on
what resolution to select.

It seems that there are three resolutions that make some amount of sense:
640x480, 1280x1024, and 1280x768 (or so).

I bought a Samsung 171MP. 17 inches, 1280x1024, cable ready (with
tuner module that was free at the time), HD ready (with external tuner or
cable/satellite box) and computer ready. (And now much cheaper than
when I bought!)

It has a beautiful scaler, so it's not really important that scaling be done
in
even multiples.

I've seen the 213T and it's nice too.

The 640x480 sets are optimized for current TV. Some cannot even display
component video, and will not accept the signal. They are usually MUCH
brighter than the ones to be used for computers... Too bright to use as a
monitor.

If you're very concerned, buy from a place with easy exchanges, knowing
you'll pay more for that service.

Chris