Can a $2500 big screen 42" Plasma EDTV double as a computer monitor?

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Can a $2500 big screen 42" Plasma EDTV double as a computer monitor? We are
looking for a way to add a big screen TV/computer monitor at the lowest
possible price.
 
Can a $2500 big screen 42" Plasma EDTV double as a computer monitor? We are
looking for a way to add a big screen TV/computer monitor at the lowest
possible price.
Click to expand...

I remember seeing it done with Quake 3 in a shop.

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Julian Richards
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I remember seeing it done with Quake 3 in a shop.
Plasma?
Quake3?

Didnt one come out way before the other?
Click to expand...

lol yes ;-)
<joke> they probably spent so much money on the plasma screen TV that they
couldnt afford a pc fast enough to run anything new... decided quake 3 looks
quite cool and stuck that on :-P </joke>
 
Can a $2500 big screen 42" Plasma EDTV double as a computer monitor? We are
looking for a way to add a big screen TV/computer monitor at the lowest
possible price.
Click to expand...


Bring it on over and I'll be glad to ummm, test it for you! :)

I do believe it's possible as most come with vga inputs.
 
New said:
Can a $2500 big screen 42" Plasma EDTV double as a computer monitor? We
are looking for a way to add a big screen TV/computer monitor at the
lowest possible price.
Click to expand...

If it can display 720p or better it should work as a monitor reasonably
well. Note though that "accept the signal" and "display" are not the
same--if it takes it and downconverts it to SD then it's not going to do
the job for you.

Another problem is matching the signal--computer monitors are for the most
part autosynchronizing--they can figure out how to display just about any
halfway reasonable signal you give them. Very few TV sets work like
that--you may have to do some tweaking on the video settings on your
computer before you hit the "magic" combination that the set can
display--until you've got that figured you may need a second monitor.
 
J. Clarke said:
If it can display 720p or better it should work as a monitor reasonably
well. Note though that "accept the signal" and "display" are not the
same--if it takes it and downconverts it to SD then it's not going to do
the job for you.
Click to expand...

What about the widescreen look? How will computer application look on a
widescreen?
 
New said:
What about the widescreen look? How will computer application look on a
widescreen?
Click to expand...

EDTV is 480p, HDTV is 720p and 1080p.

I would suggest that an EDTV is going to struggle at anything over 800x600,
but I've never used one, so it's difficult to say.

Again... it would be useful to be able to display the correct number of
pixels... which I think would be 854x480 or 1280x720 - I just don't think an
EDTV will cope well with 720p resolution, an I don't think your video card
will output that the widescreen resolutions.

Basically, the answer is no unless you only want to output video. For any
desktop work other than selecting your video/game to play, you're likely be
disappointed.

Ben
 
Ben Pope said:
Basically, the answer is no unless you only want to output video. For any
desktop work other than selecting your video/game to play, you're likely be
disappointed.
Click to expand...

I wonder if the new ATI All-In-Wonder + HDTV Wonder will accomodate
widescreen TV? I know ATI's website references a $8,000 widescreen TV that
has the ATI HDTV Wonder built in.

Viewsonic has the $2,500 VPW425 42" plasma that does 852x480 SVGA (native
mode), the $4,100 VPW450HD 42" plasma that does 1024x1024 video, and the
$5,700 VPW505 50" plasma that does 1366x768, 1080i, 720p, 480p.
 
New said:
I wonder if the new ATI All-In-Wonder + HDTV Wonder will accomodate
widescreen TV? I know ATI's website references a $8,000 widescreen TV
that has the ATI HDTV Wonder built in.

Viewsonic has the $2,500 VPW425 42" plasma that does 852x480 SVGA (native
mode), the $4,100 VPW450HD 42" plasma that does 1024x1024 video, and the
$5,700 VPW505 50" plasma that does 1366x768, 1080i, 720p, 480p.
Click to expand...

The radeons handle wide screen just fine. I use mine with a 1360x768
projector with no problems at all. Of course that projector is designed to
work with computers and can handle pretty much anything that the computer
throws at it where a TV will usually be a lot more picky.

The HDTV wonder just lets you tune the digital broadcast stations. The real
catch with the computer and HD is HD cable or satellite--right now there's
no way to get that signal into the computer except a component-video
capture card, and they're still in the several thousand dollar pro
equipment range.

As far as appearance goes, most applications work fine. Some games that
insist on setting their own resolution are going to give you trouble.

If you're going to spend $5K then look into a projector.
 
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