Albert said:
Looked at the specs for a few HDTV's, interested in purchasing one to
hook up a PC to. Notice that they seem to have D-Sub VGA connectors
with a separate PC Audio In. Is there a reason that they would not
have a DVI connection or even and HDMI connection with integrated
Audio?
http://www.westinghousedigital.com/details.aspx?itemnum=170#VALUE
http://www.vizio.com/products/detail.aspx?pid=36
Westinghouse 52" 1080p LCD HDTV TX-52F480S
QTY TYPE
1 Antenna In (RF)
1 Video/S-Video In
2 YPbPr In
4 HDMI + 1 L/R
1 D-Sub (VGA) In
1 PC Audio In (mini)
4 Audio In (dual RCA)
1 Audio Out (dual RCA)
1 SPDIF Optical Out
1 AC Power In
PC = SVGA, XGA, SXGA, HD 720, HD 1080 (implies supported resolutions on VGA)
So that one has four HDMI (digital inputs). You can get DVI to HDMI adapter
dongles. There is a difference between HDMI and DVI, as HDMI has more options
(such as carrying audio in-band). While the DVI-I connector has analog video
signals, there are no pins for them needed on HDMI (as HDMI is not an attempt
to bridge between the analog and digital worlds).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hdmi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDCP
Note that, if you download the user manual for an LCD TV, you may see a
warning not to connect a PC to the HDMI ports. They appear to be intended
for connection to DVD players, or perhaps game consoles. The reason for
the warning, could be that the PC doesn't support whatever resolution
options are offered by the TV set. So far, I haven't seen a manual that
explains that particular warning. I presume, with some fiddling, a PC
video card could be convinced to make a matching output resolution.
(You might get a few gray hairs doing it though.)
One thing to watch for, is whether the intended computer connection
method, will be done at the "native resolution". I reviewed one
product, and it did not offer native resolution. Say, for example, the
set is 1440x900 in physical pixels. You'd want to see "1440x900"
offered for the VGA connector. If all the PC resolutions offered,
do not include the "native" value, then text will look terrible.
Movies, on the other hand, will look fine.
The Westinghouse set lists 1920 x 1080 as native. I take it, the
listing of "HD 1080" for the PC input, implies it would take
1920 x 1080 at 60Hz on the VGA connector. That set also supports
both 1080i and 1080p, which is not that common (a lot of sets would
have 1080i or interleaved, but not the progressive option).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p
One thing I don't see on the Westinghouse web page, is any mention
of HDCP support. That would be required, if a PC with DVI+HDCP
was connecting to the HDMI port, and attempting to run at high
resolution. It is possible for the output rendering to have the
resolution diminished (fuzzy), if a software player wishes to
enforce playback restrictions. HDCP provides an encrypted pipe
from the PC to the LCD panel, so that no "pirates" can steal a
perfect digital copy of the pixels (or so we're told). In fact,
all this amount to, is a nuisance for the consumer. The pirates
aren't inconvenienced at all. When HDCP is detected by a PC
software movie player, then full resolution of the image should
be delivered.
HDCP is mentioned in the user manual, so that is not a problem.
(And is apparently part of HDMI, which I missed. In the computer
world, not all DVI output connectors have HDCP capability, so on
the computer, you have to check for it.) It should have
been mentioned in the advert, in my mind. If you wanted to
drive 1920x1080 from Vista, over a DVI connection (to an HDMI
port), you'd want the video card to support HDCP. A small EEPROM
on the video card, contains encryption keys for use with HDCP
content protection, and that was missing from some of the first
cards that could have implemented it.
http://www.westinghousedigital.com/pdf/170_User_Manual.pdf
In terms of HDMI, video cards come in several generations.
With older cards, you'd connect a DVI to HDMI dongle, then
run a cable to the HDMI port. HDCP might not be supported
with the older video card. In-band audio would also be out of
the question.
Next, comes video cards that have an SPDIF-In connector on
the faceplate of the video card. And an HDMI-Out connector
on the faceplate as well. Such a video card, supports in-band
audio, by the user running a coax cable from the SPDIF-Out of
a sound card, to the SPDIF-In on the video card. The audio is
then properly formatted and sent digitally over the HDMI.
There are also a limited number of video cards, that have
audio on the video card. So an audio driver is installed,
as part of the video card software install. Such a card then
supports audio, without needing an SPDIF cable and sound card.
It can get a bit confusing though, seeing both a conventional
sound card in Device Manager, and another audio device that
only delivers sound over the HDMI connection. I'm not sure
how smooth Windows is about dealing with that. Perhaps only
a DVD player program knows how to handle it ?
*******
VIZIO GV52LFHDTV10A GV52LF - 52" LCD FHDTV
http://www.vizio.com/media/products/pdfs/GV52L+FHDTV+User's+Manual(1).pdf
The Visio has 4 HDMI inputs, PC VGA, two component YPrPb, and a composite in.
It supports HDCP. It has 1920x1080x60 native available via HDMI (so a
DVI to HDMI dongle from the PC would be an option). On VGA, it seems to
support 1920x1080 and also 1360x768. The 1360 number is significant, in
that it is evenly divisible by 8. Some sets want 1366 x whatever, and
then the video card doesn't have the ability to do 1366. So that is not a
problem with the Visio.
I'd say, at least from an interconnect to PC standpoint, that
they have the basics for excellent visuals. I haven't seen
any complaints in the manual, about connecting a PC, and in
some other brands, I've seen the manual insist that only VGA
be used for connecting a PC.
Note - I don't own any of this stuff, and my only exposure has
been by reading a few downloaded LCD TV manuals. There are
AV forums on the web, that are a much better source of practical
experience.
HTH,
Paul
