Hi definition TV?

I am surprised that this has not been a more popular option.

I have tried a model flight simulator – yes I fly radio control models – with a Panasonic widescreen 37″ LCD tv via a HDMI connector giving 1080p & I was mightily impressed. When I went back to my old 19″ 4:3 Mitsubishi monitor it looked absolutely tiny & with a very narrow view.

I would be very interested to try FSX with a TV such as this as I suspect that the results would be very worthwhile. Unfortunately my TV is a 32″ CRT si until we replace it, probably this autumn, I may well not get the chance.

Chris

You know I’m not sure three screens is the answer any more. For the price of three screens you can get a really quite large good quality wide screen monitor and the VC will do the rest for you.

That will probably be more realistic.

John Y

My mate not only has a special bench designed to hold the three screens he has a seperate room especially for the whole setup. Not exactly loaded he justifies it as a work expense.

Had a go of one of his games and actually found the big screen too big. It makes you move your head a lot more when you play than a smaller screen and my neck got quite sore.

Garry.

Monitors

Thanks again Gary. Unfortunately I do not have a small fortune. Working in the security industry dosn’t make you rich. I understand what your saying though as you get higher resolutions with a CRT monitor. I’d be lucky to have the room for the 29″ never mind the three of them.
Cheers Malcky

A mate of mine is a graphics artist and he has spent a small fortune on his monitors. He buys only CRTs because LCDs are a bit more limited as to the screen resolution they can display well. He has a huge 29 inch monitor for his main screen and two 20 inch screens. The 29 inch is his canvas screen, while on one of the 20 inch screens he opens out all his toolboxes, and on the other 20 inch screen he has his colour palates. He has it set up so that when his mouse pointer goes off the main screen it goes to his tools on one side and his palate screen off the other.
Personally I’d like a similar setup for flight simulators and first person shootemups like Shadows of Chernobyl etc…

High Def

Thanks for that Gary. I’ve knocked that idea on the head. Might treat myself to a nice 22″ monitor sometime soon.
Malcky (Bonny Scotland)

TVs and Computer monitors are seen by most people as being much the same thing. This belief is increased because very early home computers were plugged into the home TV because monitors were and still are quite expensive. Look at the price of your average 19 inch CRT monitor and compare it with TV prices and you will probably get a good 29 inch TV for the same price.
TVs and monitors are very different. When TV came out it first came out in the US and some asian countries. The earlier tv standards were SECAM (ASIAN) and NTSC (US). Most of the rest of the world adopted the later PAL system. The PAL system being later was designed to have more lines in its display and is basically a 640 x 480 resolution system. Computer Screens have been able to display at better resolutions for many years… my Amiga 500 had a 640 x 480 screen resolution in the 1980s. Since the mid to late 1990s screen resolutions have increased for computers to where most will be using 1024 x 768 now at the very least. TV signals on the other hand have not changed. HDTV is just TV trying to catch up by increasing screen resolution.
Modern LCD type TVs can be used as computer monitors and TVs but you have to be careful when buying. For standard TV pictures the quality is not improved by having a high resolution TV and you might find if you have an awesome and expensive computer graphics card that the screen cant display at 1280 x 1024 or higher… or it might go that high but the refresh rate is so low it flickers and gives you headaches…

Regarding your original question… really big monitor screens means you need to move your head more to see everything on the screen. If you think this might make some games easier because it will let you see more then I would suggest you think about multiple monitors rather than a large one, which will not likely show you more in a game than a standard monitor… a 50 inch monitor at 1280 x 1024 resolution will not show you more screen area than a 21 inch monitor at 1280 x 1024 resolution… it is just that on the 50 inch the pixels will be bigger and will be easier to see from further away.

HD TV

I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a new computer to go with my LG 50″ HDTV but I can’t find any information in the manual regarding using it with a PC even though there is a PC connection on it. There is also the HDMI connections as well. The picture resolution for the 50″ TV is 1366X768 but I have no idea what to expect when connected to a computer. I’m not very techy so I need to try and find out before I take the plunge. When I’m a bit more informed I’ll post again. Sorry i’ve not been much help but keep an eye out for future posts.
Malcky