Hey Moe, Quick Question; Macs and TV's

[Lionheart]

Hey Mike,

I was looking at TV's last night. You put it in my head a while back to get a Mac super tower. I have been thinking of that. My doctor has a large screen TV linked to his HP computer. I was thinking this evening, what if I got a Mac Tower and a large screen flat HD TV? I was thinking of the Apple monitor at first, but man, I would like to possibly bump up to something massive. The Apple is only a 30" if I am correct, (the big one).

Do you think the quality and all would be worth it? Or would it be kind of fuzzy and goofy looking?



Bill

[Moparmike]

Not sure about on the Macs...but on Linux or Winders it's perfectly usable. Don't see why it won't work on a Mac...

My media PC (also the old MAPE FSHost rig) uses my 42" LCD boob-tube for it's primary monitor.
I've got a DVI-to-HDMI cable connecting the rig to one of the HDMI inputs on the TV. It runs at 1920x1080 and is nice and clear as long as you don't have your nose right in front of the screen. Sit back a few feet and it's just fine.
To be able to see the text clearly, I also changed the font size from the standard 96dpi to 120dpi. Makes for slightly larger text when I'm sitting clear across the living room.

I also tried that 42" on my flightsim rig a couple times. My cockpit places the monitor about 3' from my face and that's just a bit too close for a 42"...it's darn near lifesize when looking out the VC of Milt's Howard! I'm planning on getting a 32" or 37" 1080 TV for a monitor for the flightsim rig someday (when prices come down a bit more for the smaller 1080s).

The key is to use the TV's native resolution, so make sure you go with a 1920x1080 screen. Otherwise, an LCD TV is just like an LCD monitor...anything besides native will be fuzzy.

[Lionheart]

Thanks for that Mike. Good to know.

So maybe I should go with the 30" monitor then.. Its pretty high resolution and tuned to the computer.

The screen needs to be within 2 feet of my face. 3 feet away would be too far, for me anyways.



Bill

[Moparmike]

Yeah, 2' away from a 42" is like being in the front row of an Imax theatre. Your neck gets a good workout scanning that whole screen. :)
3' away is fine for the 42", except I would've had to tweak down my TrackIR sensitivity a bit.


When I planned out my cockpit desk I set it up for a 30-32" screen since that's the size I'm eventually planning on using on it. Til then I've got a 23" widescreen (plus a 19" standard-format) LCD.

[hey_moe]

Hi Bill, Pat went ahead and hooked his up to his Plasma TV the other day. He is in LA LA land. He said the more he learns about this Apple the better he likes it. As far as speed is concerned ...well you already know about that. BTW have you been reading up on this Netgear Push2TV Adapter Wireless Display....BB has some on display...kinda of cool. I feel it's just a matter of time before this takes off by other companies...Mike

[kilo delta]

I've the Dell 3008WFP 30" monitor since it's launch (3007WFP before that) ...but use it exclusively for my PC. I've 2 of my desktop's connected to 47" LCD TV's and while the resolution is lower (1920x1080 vs 2560x1600) the immersion factor in gaming or even general internet browsing is much better. I'd recommend go with the biggest screen size you can afford with the minimum resolution being 1080P. :)

[Lionheart]

Hi Bill, Pat went ahead and hooked his up to his Plasma TV the other day. He is in LA LA land. He said the more he learns about this Apple the better he likes it. As far as speed is concerned ...well you already know about that. BTW have you been reading up on this Netgear Push2TV Adapter Wireless Display....BB has some on display...kinda of cool. I feel it's just a matter of time before this takes off by other companies...Mike

I have heard of this. It was a while back. I'll have to check into it, see if someone has it around here.


Thanks Kilo Delta for the heads up and advice.


I was looking at tv's today at 'Land of Wally' and man, they have some really nice deals. Figure last year, I purchased a 24" hp monitor for $250, and now they have 37" LCD HD TV's for $150.00 more then that, lol.. They are finally coming down in price.

Bill

[hey_moe]

Well the 27 inch Apple monitor to me has the best looking screen I have seen on a computer monitor. I don't know what or how Apple makes their OS and monior look so clear compared to Windows and the rest of the companies, but they win hands down in my book.