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PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 8:24 pm  Post subject: Need advice on my next bedroom TV/monitor
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Demon Of The Abyss
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Need to have a new bedroom tv - will use as monitor as well .

Price range €/$ 750-999 (~500-600 quid)
Needs to have PC-in obviously, and at least one component. HDMI would be nice but it's not a neccessity.
Must be able to handle 720p.

Really narrows it dowwn to 26' lcd really, though if there's a cheap good 32 , that'd be nice... :mrgreen:

I guess it's either sony, sharp or samsung ; philips only makes good high end (read:out-of-my-wallet-range) screens

So anyone have any good/bad experiences with the above 3 ?
Samsung seems to boost superior contrast , and some models have this so called 'game mode'... which I suspect to be marketing garbage really.

But sony seems to sport "Backlight control" - manually lowering it can increase contrast levels quite dramatic, reportedly.
And sharp, well truth be told , just glaring specs, I don't see why they have the reputation of being THE lcd brand.

Viewing them in my local shops is no good - they're all on standard factory settings :matrix:

So please , any input , links to DIRECT lcd comparison , highly appretiated.
And don't tell me to wait another 12 months - I'm afraid I need one asap :wacky:


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 10:03 pm  Post subject:
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I was going to buy a DELL 2407FWP, in fact i was considering doing it right this second. 24 inch.

You don't want to cheap out on a monitor as you seem to be hampering towards, and that means 28-32 is right out at that price range. 32 inch is going to be £1500+ easily for a decent one.

Dell make better screens than sony and sharp 9 models out of ten. Sony's tv department has been shite for about 20 years, one of the reasons they are going under. :lol: Sharp aren't particularly hot a brand in my estimation either, althought there were a couple of great quality monitors. However, imo, Illyama are the best brand for smaller monitors generally, they are pretty much top gun. For large panels, anything with a samsung panel is generally good.

Samsungs = DELL's panel, but dell have a much better replacements, dead pixel, policy, not to mention better build quality and stands imo.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 12:57 am  Post subject:
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*Purchased*

Its a good monitor, with the right resolution and features (and inputs!) but for the price its an absolute bargain i think (~£500). Ironically I've ended up buying it from the guy i bought my Dell 2001FP from 2 years ago.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 8:58 am  Post subject:
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What a nice monitor, and looks to be a bargain too.

Image

Probably looks better than comparable TVs.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 10:51 pm  Post subject:
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Check out this guy on ebay for about ~£200 off of dell direct's price. I've bought of him before, everything checks out in case you don't like big ebay purchases:
ebay

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 3:52 am  Post subject:
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Try a Samsung LE26R74BD, i have one of these as my bedroom tv/second monitor and can confirm that is excellent at both jobs.

It has 2 scarts, VGA, HDMI, component, and a myriad of other inputs/outputs plus built-in Digital TV (Freeview) with a conditional access module port (PCMCIA) the picture looks excellent.

The "game mode" is an automatic contrast/backlight control somewhat like what you were saying about the Sony, there are several other modes that can adjust the color/hue, & contrast, including several energy saving modes to adjust the picture according to the ambient light and save on the screens energy usage (why have the screen stupidly bright in a dark room for example....that uses more power..and hence more electricity) it also uses a system called DNle picture enhancement and while this is enabled by default and cannot be disabled (theres only a spilt screen demo to show how it would look without it) it appears to make a difference on grainy old movies (like most on here) that i can tell the difference on it from my friends Sony Bravia.

The screen accepts a stupid number of ratios including those you need and lots of others too, the DTV is clear and is firmware/os updateable and is simple and easy to use, the remote is well laid out and pleasant to use too and can be used to control the matching dvd player or Blu-ray player and probably the more popular cable/satilitte boxes, although while i know that the remote works with the matching dvd straight out of the box any other stuff has to be programmed into the remote in a OFA remote type fashion and I`m damned if I can find the codes anywhere.


(.......and DEEP BREATH)


There are also several sound modes that can help with dialogue clarity and can provide some scarily accurate sounds eg, with sound connected via the standard L/R in and a HUGE LENGTH of cable of the cheapest quality from a standard C-media soundcard playing in VLC Media Player from an AC3 rip of Stargate SG-1, the Jaffa staff blasts sound like they cross the room and with the volume at about half the dialling of the gate vibrates through the floor in my bedroom.

Have used it with my PS2 (via the scart) and can confirm that the screens response time is very fast and smooth with almost no blurring even at very close distances.

All in all I would reccomend the R74 series to anyone.....now all i need is an LE40R74BD for the living room and I`m set.

EthrielTD

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 5:23 pm  Post subject:
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BTW i forgot to mention, your right about philips, theyt make some excellent panels. I've just noticed a lot of DELLs actually have philips panels too, i'd assumed they were all Samsung :oops:

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PostPosted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 12:10 pm  Post subject:
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My Dell monitor arrived and its excellent, i'll take some photos of my setup now its all up and sparkly new and post them in that thread about screens of our computers.

Inputs are S-VHS, composite, component (HDTV), DVI (HDCP for HD output from video cards via DVI), and VGA. You can switch between the five, and do picture in picture (DVI/VGA main, SVHS/Composite/Component inside) or picture by picture (same, dvi/vga and svhs/composite. There's no HDMI though, but its primarily a monitor. You've got ratio control, scaling options, etc.

There are 'modes' for setup, theatre, gaming and desktop which adjust the contrast, sharpness, colour balances, etc. I think this is standard for most heavy duty monitors with tv like inputs.

This is a monitor first, that has inputs for tv. I'll try and borrow an XBOX2 and see how the 1080i/p looks over component. The monitors native resolution is "Resolution : 1920 x 1200 / WUXGA"


Info and tech spec:
http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/pr ... &sku=59234

Image


Quote:
# Monitor size and type : 24" (61.0cm) active matrix TFT
# Resolution : 1920 x 1200 / WUXGA
# Response time / Brightness / Contrast Ratio : 16ms (black to white) or 6ms (grey to grey) / 450 cd/m2/ 1000:1
# Dimensions (WxDxH) mm : 559.7 x 195.0 x 584.7 / 387.9 (extended/compressed)
# Weight : 8.3 kg
# Inputs : Analog DVI-D (Digital) with HDCP / S-Video / Composite / Component
# Height adjustable stand / Audio capability : Yes / Optional AS501 soundbar
# VESA mounting compatible / Security slot : Yes (100mm) / Yes
# Integrated powered USB 2.0 hub / 9-in-2 card reader : 4 downstream, 1 upstream ports / CompactFlash type I/II Card, MicroDrive, Smart Media Card, Memory Stick Card, Memory Stick Pro Card, Memory Stick Duo (with Adapter), Secure Digital Card, MultiMedia Card, Mini Secure Digital (with Adapter)
# Warranty : 3-years next business day exchange


Quote:
# Clear, sharp images at a maximum resolution of up to 1920x1200 pixels
# Supports advanced features like PIP (Picture in Picture) and PBP (Picture By Picture), DCDi® by Faroudja (Directional Correlational Deinterlacing) Processing, ACM™ (Active Colour Management) and ACC™ (Adaptive colour and Contrast) technologies
# Add multimedia capability to Dell™UltraSharp™ 2407WFP display with the optional AS501 sound bar.
Manufacturer Part : 860-10023
Dell Part : 59234

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PostPosted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 6:49 pm  Post subject:
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Oh bugger off gloating you prick :eatthis:

Really your Dell looks like a terrific deal.....

IF I was looking for a pc monitor.
It's rather on the small side, no matter how you spin it..... my bedroom is is larger than some 3 by 2 Meter closet you know.:P

Also, really plan to hook up all kinds of stuff to it, including some SCART junk...Guess I'm looking for a general purpose machine.

Note that I already have a good old 19' CRT IIYAMA that still woops any LCD's ass contrast wise. :mrgreen:

But yeah, sweet deal you found yourself there.


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:40 am  Post subject:
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Quote:
19' CRT IIYAMA


lol, that reminds me, a guy at work sounds like he's got the same one and it melts his graphics card! :lol:

Quote:
SCART


Your not looking for a monitor then, just a tv with a dvi input. Never seen a monitor with a scart socket before.

I find that for out of date interfaces with scart, i find it easier to use a high quality splitter/input box so you can output to composite.

I put "take a picture of my monitors" on my to do list cos i don't have time atm :googley:

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