Samusung LCD TV with VGA, DVI or HDMI? (3 Viewers)

[madmonkeyman]

Hey Folks,

Just to add my tuppence here, I using a Samsung 32" LE-32R41BD via VGA and have had no issues with it in anyway whatsoever. In fact I couldn't be happier it!!

Monkey

 

[Spragleknas]

So you have no problem achieving 1:1 pixelmapping (w/o over-/underscan?)

 

[smnnekho]

So you have no problem achieving 1:1 pixelmapping (w/o over-/underscan?)

of course not, because its no problem for samsung (with VGA input) (-;

 

[joboehl]

My experience with a Samsung LCD is:

- 1:1 is available with VGA and works pretty good. The only problem is that my model don't allow color/gamma control for VGA input, so you need to tweak using the Video drivers.

- In my opinion, most of the promissed Dynamic Contrast from Samsung doesn't work without DNIe, witch is not available with VGA. So picture might look better with HDMI.

- HDMI doesn't work if your card is not HDCP complients. That's why a lot of users can't get their cards to work trogh HDMI.

- HDMI only works good with standard TV definitions (like 1280x720). Non standard resolutions (1360/1366x768) thends to lead to problems over HDMI.

Overall I think is a good TV for use with a PC (my TV material is 30fps, so the 60hz limitation is not a issue) but it can be a real PITA to set it up correctly.

The thing I like the most on my is that if there is no signal on VGA, the displays enter in standby. So if my HTPC turns off, so does the TV and if the HTPC turns on, the TV turns on too.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[knutinh]

Most tvs can be made to work... kind of.

My no-name 40" lcd supports 1366x768 1:1 pixel at 66fps. Excelent for desktop use or still images.

It also supports 720p@50Hz and 60Hz. Ok for watching movie and tv content, although the scaling and cropping is less than ideal.

I am sure that Samsung tvs work ok if you live in a 60Hz country (us or japan), and are satisfied with VGA only and have no worries of future HDCP-demands for HD-DVD/BluRay content. The question is why you would want a limited tv when you are adviced against it?

I tend to see things in a larger perspective. People tend to buy tvs first, THEN ask how it will work on forums like this. As long as that is how the market works, Samsung (and others) have no incentive to make usable products.

My next tv will give the user full access to its native pixels through a digital connection at a number of usable refreshrates - 48, 50 and 60 Hz at the very least. Stuttering, cropping and scaling@720 is a lot more visible than the difference of 720p vs 1080p. Yet people only want "full HD" and "12megapix digicams"

-k

 

[madmonkeyman]

Hey Folks,

My pre-requisites for buying the tv were as follows:-

1. Did it support 1366*768 resolution with a low response time, oh I do like playing games on big screen lcd's.
2. Did it have VGA connectivity as with the machine I had at the time I didn't have HMDI as an option for output.
3. Did it have a HDMI interface for future connectivity.
4. Did it support 720p natively and was it able to 1080 albeit forced down to 720p.
5. Could I get it for less than £800, remembering I bought this over a year ago when prices hadn't dropped as much as now.

From a normal buyers perspective this TV met all of my requirements and I couldn't be happier with the purchase. As of yet there is little HD content, barring games, that I can put through the TV so I can't comment on its performance in this area. SKY TV & HD/Blueray = way too expensive for me at the moment. What I can say is that watching normal PAL tv and watching normal DVD's via Mediaportal results in a very crisp image.

Haven't had the time, the incliniation, or the funds :-( to try out connectivity via HDMI yet. I'll leave that to the 1:1 50Hz experts on this threat ;-) as they are obviously the elite few who can afford to use it ;-)

Monkey.

 

[Howard]

Samsung LA40M81BDX is first class

Hi All,

I have a 40" Samsung LA40M81BDX (thats what they call it in Australia anyway). It works perfectly with my PC at 1080p @ 60Hz via VGA. I am using just an old ATI Raedon x700 in my HTPC. I have a DVI to HDMI cable which also works well to the TV at 1080p. The only problem is that the ATI Catalyst software does detect the conversion cable but doesn't allow more than 30Hz. This is a limitation of the card/software and not the TV though. The TV just takes what it can get and works perfectly! time to upgrade the card. May as well just get one with HDMI output and avoid the hassle. The TV has 3 HDMI inputs (and incidentally looks great with Blu-rays from the PS3).

I wish there was a native 1920x1080 skin for MP though. Streching a smaller one just messes with the fonts

Cheers,
Howard

 

[Flerbizky]

Hi All,

I have a 40" Samsung LA40M81BDX (thats what they call it in Australia anyway). It works perfectly with my PC at 1080p @ 60Hz via VGA. I am using just an old ATI Raedon x700 in my HTPC. I have a DVI to HDMI cable which also works well to the TV at 1080p. The only problem is that the ATI Catalyst software does detect the conversion cable but doesn't allow more than 30Hz. This is a limitation of the card/software and not the TV though. The TV just takes what it can get and works perfectly! time to upgrade the card. May as well just get one with HDMI output and avoid the hassle. The TV has 3 HDMI inputs (and incidentally looks great with Blu-rays from the PS3).

I wish there was a native 1920x1080 skin for MP though. Streching a smaller one just messes with the fonts

Cheers,
Howard

Have you tried ReVision ?.. .That looks very very good in 1920x1080 !...

 

[knutinh]

Hey Folks,

My pre-requisites for buying the tv were as follows:-

1. Did it support 1366*768 resolution with a low response time, oh I do like playing games on big screen lcd's.
2. Did it have VGA connectivity as with the machine I had at the time I didn't have HMDI as an option for output.
3. Did it have a HDMI interface for future connectivity.
4. Did it support 720p natively and was it able to 1080 albeit forced down to 720p.
5. Could I get it for less than £800, remembering I bought this over a year ago when prices hadn't dropped as much as now.

I cant see how your demand 1) and 4) can be satisfied at once. A given lcd tv has only one physical resolution, all others have to be scaled.

Haven't had the time, the incliniation, or the funds :-( to try out connectivity via HDMI yet. I'll leave that to the 1:1 50Hz experts on this threat ;-) as they are obviously the elite few who can afford to use it ;-)

I certanily dont feel "elite". I have a cheap nvidia 6600gt, using DVI to an inexpensive 40" lcd. I still would like my live tv and dvds to play without stuttery movement, living in i PAL country. The Samsung tvs cannot do that in a good way, as VGA cant support 50Hz and its HDMI is limited to 720p/1080 withoverscan.

-k

 

[Jean-Marc]

All that is very interesting but I have a question: WHY do you want to use a TV with MediaPortal??

A single LCD screen is not the solution? (because MP supports TV cards, TVserver also exists ...)

Maybe my question is stupid but I really would like to know why you want to spend a lot of momey buying a HD TV when you can achieve the same result with a LCD screen for computer. Is is a problem of size?

Please explain.
Thanks,