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Television Media Entertainment Games

What's The Right TV Set For Gaming? 72

Posted by simoniker from the a-big-one dept.
Thanks to GameSpy for its article discussing the choice of TV sets that are best for playing videogames. The piece points out: "It is also important to keep in mind that bigger isn't always better, and that some types of displays aren't so game friendly", before analyzing the options, including Direct View CRT screens ("Affordable; good resolution... [but] Very large sets; limited progressive scan options"), DLP ("Immune to burn-in; reasonably affordable... [but] Doesn't work as well as CRT in bright conditions"), Plasma screens ("Wall-mountable; bright picture... [but] Phosphor burn-in; expensive") and Front Projection ("Big display; portability... [but] No speakers; depends a dark environment.")
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What's The Right TV Set For Gaming? More

What's The Right TV Set For Gaming?

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  • Interesting to note (Score:3, Interesting)

    by foidulus ( 743482 ) * on Monday July 19, 2004 @04:54PM (#9741208)
    that very few people who buy consoles even use most of the features of their TV. In fact, only about 1% of gamecube users even use the digital output [nintendo.com] despite the fact that 90% of Nintendo made games and about 1/3 of 3rd party games support it.

    • Re:Interesting to note (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Goyuix ( 698012 )
      It is also interesting to note that Nintendo never once pushed the component video cable as any relevant accessory to the gamecube. I looked far and wide back in the day but they were not available in retail stores. No third party had decided to manufacturer their own version either. The only place was the Nintendo online store, which had it perpetually back ordered.

      Not that I am wearing a tinfoil hat, but by severly limiting the distribution of a peripheral, then axing the port it requires all together, s

    • Re:Interesting to note (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Babbster ( 107076 ) <aaronbabb&gmail,com> on Monday July 19, 2004 @05:12PM (#9741379) Homepage
      You know why I (and many others) haven't used it? Because they make you special-order the damned component cables from their website. You simply can't buy one in a local store. As a special bonus, they want to charge you $30 (plus shipping) for the privilege of them cutting out the middle peoples. The same functionality for the Xbox and PS2 can be had for $20 and under.
      • You can buy them from a 3rd party at amazon, but from what I have read from the user reviews, the 3rd party cables aren't exactly of the highest quality....

        • the 3rd party cables aren't exactly of the highest quality....

          The first-party cables aren't exactly of the highest quality, either. The GCN and PS2 cables are short, thin-gauge pieces of crap. To be fair, the cables that come with the XBox HD pack are also thin-gauge pieces of crap, but they're longer, and most importantly, they're replaceable. I don't buy Monster cables, because they're overpriced for the supposed quality, in the same way that Bose is overpriced for home theater equipment (except t

      • You can also buy it in lik-sang:

        Official Nintendo Component cable in lik-sang [lik-sang.com]

        I didn't continue my search, but I'm sure I could have found more examples.

        However, I know that this cable is somewhat hard to find in local stores, but there isn't some Nintendo backed conspiracy against Component cables...
    • As the other people said, it's not that we don't want to use it, don't want to be bothered setting it up, it's that we don't want to be bothered having to get the thing on backorder (when I tried, I got a refund two months later instead of the adapter). This is honestly a component that should have come with the console to begin with, like they had two different adapters shipped with the SNES (old screwdriver tabs and the new (at the time) plugs. I'm pretty sure the coax adapter I used on mine came with it,
    • As other comment-posters have pointed out if was only availble via Nintendo's store website. The component cable also had a DAC in the cable so no third-party cables could be made. Sony and Microsoft put out an analog signal for the video out of the console.

      It is also worth to note that by playing with the chip and pins they could get RGB signal out of it (only option IIRC for people with NTSC gamecubes to get RGB out, the signals aren't on the analog like it was on the N64/SNES(usually)), and they also f
    • how many TVs support this feature? The allure of a console is that it's cheap (sub $100 now) and requires few peripherals. you buy a console, take it home, and it works. buying a TV that supports progressive scan to play your games defeats that purpose.

      While I've gone through 3 different computers in the past 7 years, I've only had 1 television in that time frame. My TV won't stop playing the latest nintendo games, so there's no reason to upgrade it. Besides, until the whole HDTV issue gets completely
      • Actually, there are S-video switchboxes. You can get them from Best Buy definately (as that's where I got mine).

        This one [bestbuy.com] is 90 bucks, but I got a cheaper one for about 30 bucks or so, and mine works very well sharing the S-video between my PS2, 'Cube, and DVD player.
    • After a lot of thought/research I bought a 32" 4:3 CRT HDTV mainly for gaming.

      I had to go with the 32" (or smaller) to fit into a cabinet I already had. Otherwise I would have gotten some sort of projection system.

      The TV is good, and it is great for gaming- but it SUCKS for 'regular' TV viewing.

      The worst is when the TV show has a lot of greys, or even blacks. They come out totally pixellated, and un-even. This is coming from my Dish receiver via RCA cables.

      My Xbox is hooked up via component cables, an
      • Your black splotches issue is covered in the DVD-FAQ. Basically you don't have your black level set right, and U.S. and other countries don't "agree" on the proper voltage level for "black".

        See the FAQ, it does a better job of explaining it than I do, and you *can* fix it or get real close.
    • I picked up a digital output cable for my GC but I was sorely disappointed to learn that they only had a S-Video digital cable and not a component digital cable. Seemed rather silly to me...

      Echoing what some other posters have said here, Nintendo didn't exactly make the cables easy to get - plus, they sell a "component" video cable that is a simple analog, RCA type cable...

  • DLP (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Segaholic2 ( 659248 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @04:57PM (#9741239)
    My 61" Samsung DLP is pretty sweet for games... I like it a lot. Component video cables are definitely a requirement, though. The regular RCA cables make things look like total crap at that size.
  • I find that most toshiba Flat screen CRT TVs have excelent quality when viewing a video game. What even rally nice about them is that some models have component video for an even better image quality. And a 24 inch one will go for about $299
    • Yeah last year I picked up a mid-sized toshiba (not sure of the inches exactly sorry) for about $280, flat screen, no HD but this was before the big HD "boom," and have been very happy with it. Hooking up my SNES with RCAs, I was blown away by the quality of the image! Xbox also looked great, and PS2 was, well, pixelly jaggy PS2 but pretty good (especially during Final Fantasy cutscenes).

      Unfortunately I dropped it moving it from school one time though and now the image is a little too red (noticable when i

  • Front Projection (Score:3, Interesting)

    by LordNimon ( 85072 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @05:15PM (#9741409)
    I love playing games on my 80" screen. If you buy the low-end Dell projector, you can have a setup for less than $1000. I laugh at people who spent over $2K for their puny 40" high-def TV.
    • I agree that a projector would be great for gaming, the lighting issue is nothing, i usually don't have lights on during gaming anyways and i don't know anybody who does. If i had the dough, i'd have a projector now, but sadly i'm not very good at botanical gene manipulation. *sigh*

    • Re:Front Projection (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Babbster ( 107076 ) <aaronbabb&gmail,com> on Monday July 19, 2004 @05:53PM (#9741822) Homepage
      Anyone spending over $2,000 on a 40" TV is looking for something besides screen size (like, say, wall-mounting). A 40" rear-projection HDTV can be had for barely over $1,000 and you don't have to sit in the dark to enjoy it. That, of course, is the fundamental problem with front projection: Most people don't want to set up a dedicated viewing room isolated from virtually all light. Instead, the vast majority of people watch their television in the living room where there's usually at least one window. There are also some people who actually like light. I'm not one of them, but I hear they're out there.
    • > If you buy the low-end Dell projector, you can have a setup for less than $1000. I laugh at people who spent over $2K for their puny 40" high-def TV.

      Not everyone likes the "film" look. Personally, I love the 'surreal' look of Plasma. Jet Li's "Hero", and "Baraka" are good examples. Size is nice, but so is quality.

      Anyways, this topic has been discussed to death over on avsforum. Different strokes for different folks.

      Peace
      --
      Them: If you don't like it [the government] you are always free to leave.
    • I tried really hard when house hunting to find a house that had a suitable room for a front projection theater, but wasn't able to find one that had that, plus all the other things I wanted in a house.

      My big living room in my new house is great for my 42" rear projection CRT, but has a bunch of openings and nice windows that prevent me from even thinking about a projection system. My fantasy system included a nice gaming/computing command recliner parked in front of an 80-100" projection system with rotat

  • Typical GameSpy excuse for selling ads (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Cecil ( 37810 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @05:22PM (#9741475) Homepage
    Ah, the usual fluff without any conclusion from GameSpy, full of common sense advice, blatant truisms, and technical inaccuracies. I liked this gem:

    • LCD Rear Projection
    • Pro for Gamers: Reasonably affordable; immune to burn-in.
    • Con for Gamers: Phosphor burn-in; limited brands.


    So, does it burn in or not? (The answer is no) Therefore... the only con you could come up with is that there are limited brands (also not really true)? In other words, this display type is excellent for gaming.

    Yet it gets a single paragraph hidden away at the end of the rear projection section where they explicitly avoid saying whether it's good or bad. DLP, on the other hand, gets one and a half sections devoted to it (The DLP section and the rear projection section. uhh...)

    Meanwhile, a shitty 800x600 projector with a bottom-of-the-barrel 1200 lumens seems to be their choice for gaming, their primary reasoning apparently being "it was designed by Italians!"

    • Recommended LCD Projector: 3M S10 Bravo Home Theater Projector; Price: $1400.
    • Features: Crafted by Italian design firm Pininfarina, 1200 lumens; digital keystone correction; HDTV support; 800x600 native resolution.


    GameSpy continues to live up to their traditional standard of inspid and useless ad-copy disguised as articles. It's odd how people still find them relevant enough to be submitted to and accepted by Slashdot, though.

    • Re:Typical GameSpy excuse for selling ads (Score:5, Insightful)

      by hawkstone ( 233083 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @06:09PM (#9741999)
      Sorry, no Mod points today, but you deserve 'em. At least you saved me the trouble of typing it all up myself. And just to reiterate, because this is often debated and often gotten wrong: LCD Rear Projection TV's do not burn in. (Excessive heat buildup might cause some temporary afterimages, but that is rare, minor, and temporary, and is thus not burnin.
      )
      And why on earth did they put LCD rear projection with CRT rear projection, but leave DLP off by itself? LCD RP and DLP (RP) are so much more similar than CRT RP is to either one. I'm tempted to send the author a nice polite note with some educational material.

      That being said, there are downsides to LCD RP that the author didn't mention. Specifically, slightly worse contrast ratio and a slightly higher dead pixel ratio than DLP. Also, an SDE (screen door effect) is more likely because of bigger gaps between pixels.

      However, I bought an LCD RP because these disadvantages were far less intrusive than the disadvantages I saw with DLP. Specifically, some DLPs had dithering that was very disturbing, the price was far too much (relative to LCD RP), and the moving parts were a slight maintenance concern.

  • I've had a 50" rear-projection Toshiba CRT HDTV since late 2001, and I have yet to see any kind of burn-in. I've easily logged 100+ hours on both GTA3 and GTA:VC, which have fixed overlays, not to mention myriad other games with static display components, and I can't say that there's any evidence of this on-screen.

    I suspect that burn-in is only a problem if you leave the TV at the showroom settings, with the contrast maxed out. If you follow the advice of most RP CRT web sites and bring the contrast dow

  • While i do wish i had a frontal projection, my lcd monitor works well for gaming. In fact it works well all around, i don't actually have a TV, i just use the built-in tuner!

    • Re:LCD works well (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      While i do wish i had a frontal projection

      You poor guy... If you're lucky, you might get some emails offering discounted drugs to help with your problem!

  • Bad question.

    What's the right monitor for me. Thats what you should ask. We wouldnt know your budget, home setting, preference (curtains drawn or darkroom), and other preferences like some people are suckers for good color, others for high res, I'm a sucker for good refresh rates, dont care about anything above 800x600.

    Almost anything can be put to gaming use. Given a refresh rate above a threshold, resolution above 1024x768, the display can be usable for gaming. Thats ALL thats really required. The rest
  • I want one of these [slashdot.org].

  • What I use (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Student_Tech ( 66719 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @05:42PM (#9741686) Journal
    NEC MultiSync 4PG 27" monitor. CRT, direct view weighing about 120 pounds. Specs say it can handle 15-50 KHz Horizontal, 40-120 Hz Vertical. Has composite and S-Video connectors(and switch to go NTSC and PAL), and 5BNC and 15HD RGB connectors. Combined that with a transcoder to go from component on games/DVD to RGB and I can do 480i,480p,1080i,720p.

    Best part, the price. $150 at a University surplus sale.

    My brother had me get one for him as well, he uses it at 1024x768 on his computer, and sometimes a game system through the s-video.
  • This is a 30" CRT 16x9 HDTV. It has a HDMI input that you will be hearing much more about in the future because its one cable that has HDCP support, backwards compatible with DVI, and carries Audio, 5GB of bandwidth, all in one cable. I hope the Next Gen consoles support this connection. That said My TV had two Component TV inputs and I am the 1% using the Progressive scan output of my GAMECUBE, and loving it. This picture looks great when gaming, I tried the XBOX with the component cables and Halo in progr
    • "I tried the XBOX with the component cables and Halo in progressive scan but I think I may have damaged my XBOX because no red is displayed on the screen."

      Sounds more like a fault in the component cable adapter rather than something internal to the Xbox. If you have access to one, try another adapter.

  • What the *$%@ is wrong with you people?! I got along just fine with a 13" television purchased from Sears in 1984!

    Oh, wait, that was fifteen years ago.
  • wow this article wasn't written by anyone who has done a lot of research. it makes little mention of the benefits of progressive scan and instead focuses on the much less important issue of aspect ratio.

    sometimes it is plain wrong (LCoS displays are roughly the same size as DLP, contrary to the "nor does it make for a small form factor." comment on page 3). And their recommended LCD of 15" costing $1800? What a horrible recommendation! A 17" LCD (meant for PC display) w/ TV-tuner costs way under $100

  • This article has many mistakes (Score:3, Insightful)

    by swat_r2 ( 586705 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @06:00PM (#9741905)
    It's a long read, but this is the most informative thread on Rear Projection CRT vs DLP vs LCD I've seen. Apparently the worst thing you can do is buy LCD, RP CRT has an absolutely amazing picture after tuning, and DLP has some strong points as well as some negatives. A must read for those (like myself) who are looking for a set and have been overwhelmed with choices. I'll probably end up with a Toshiba or Hitachi CRT RPTV, as they are highly regarded by the videophiles.
  • What a coincidence, I actually ordered a very nice Philips 34" widescreen HDTV last night for less than $1200, from here [techgather.com]. What really sold it for me is the DVI support, irregardless of the lack of 720p support. Nice, eh?
  • I bought a 20 inch Sony WEGA flatscreen a few years back for ~$300, and have never regretted it. Mine is even one of the cheaper models without S-Video capabilities, but people are stilled wowed by it's picture quality and vibrant colors. The first game I played on it was Final Fantasy X, and my friends playing it started bringing their memory cards to my house, esepcially if they had a effects-laden boss fight coming up. ^_^

    While not as technologically impressive as other choices, I'd recommend it whole

  • blech, not a good article (Score:5, Informative)

    by Malor ( 3658 ) * on Monday July 19, 2004 @07:38PM (#9742987) Journal
    If you have good light control, which *most* folks either have or can arrange, a front projector is an extremely good way to go. You get a gigantic screen and great picture quality. And no, they don't have speakers, but most folks I know have a stereo in the front room anyway, and just hook up through that.

    The biggest decision point on projectors is what you want to display. If you just want to do Standard Definition(SD) stuff, then even the cheapo projectors are fine. The Infocus X1 (and, apparently, the replacement X2) are very well-regarded. These are DLP projectors that do 800x600, which is just fine for SD material, including DVDs. (which are not very high resolution).

    In general, DLP technology at a given resolution is better than LCD at the same resolution; the contrast ratio is better and the pixels are larger, resulting in less screendoor. However, because of how the image is generated, it is important to do a test viewing before buying. About 10% of the population sees rainbows with DLP. The technology basically consists of a spinning color wheel in front of a bright light, with thousands of tiny mirrors. The mirrors rotate so that a certain amount of each color gets through while the wheel is showing. During the (short) interval between colors, the mirrors realign. So you are seeing red/green/blue/white, red/green/blue/white. Most people can't see this, but some do, and it shows up as rainbows.

    If you are sensitive to rainbows, or if you want to do HDTV, then LCD projectors are the only reasonable alternative at this point. Both the Panaonic AE500 and L500 (same unit, different distribution channels) and the Sanyo PLV-Z2 are excellent projectors that do 1280x720 resolution for around $2000. The contrast ratio isn't as good as DLP (1300:1 instead of 2000:1). To get a true 1280x720 DLP projector, you are talking $5000+: if you can afford that, it will look better, but I doubt it's 2.5x better.

    LCD is more susceptible to misalignment and stuck/dead pixels than the DLPs. Misalignment mostly manifests as vertical banding. In watching posts on avsforum.com, nearly everyone who starts out with a problem will find an adjustment that will make them happy, but the chances of starting out unhappy are higher with LCD.

    Of the Panasonic and Z2, the Panny is considered to have a little nicer screen quality (and is a shade cheaper), and the Z2 is much more flexible about mounting, due to a nice feature called 'lens shift', which will let you move the projected image an amazing distance on your wall.

    I have a Studio Experience 2HD, which is a rebadged Z2 with a better warranty, at a little higher price. I am EXTREMELY happy with this unit. I have a HTPC hooked up to it, using PowerStrip to run a true native 1280x720 out the DVI port, and it looks *awesome*. I'm throwing a 100" 16:9 screen..... playing Ninja Gaiden on a screen 7.5 FEET wide is pretty darn impressive. "You still measure your screen size in inches? How quaint!" :-) And they're tiny, easily fitting under one arm. At 9lbs, I know you could carry it comfortably with two fingers, and probably with one.

    If you have good light control, you want true HDTV, and you want it BIG.... these projectors are a fantastic way to go. There are many, many tweaks available, but right out of the box, either unit is likely to knock your socks off.

    Both units are more than you need, however, for SD material. For that, you're fine with the $1K projectors.

    Oh, one final note: you also have a runtime expense with front projectors. The Z2's bulb, for example, is rated as lasting about 3000 hours, and replacements cost about $300, so the run cost is about 10 cents/hour. Make sure to find out the expected bulb life and cost before buying a projector.

    ($300 for a bulb, you gasp? Yep... you gotta realize that these things are putting out an AMAZING amount of light in a very small space. That's not easy to do, and they cost plenty.)
    • If you have good light control, which *most* folks either have or can arrange, a front projector is an extremely good way to go. You get a gigantic screen and great picture quality. And no, they don't have speakers, but most folks I know have a stereo in the front room anyway, and just hook up through that.

      Most front projectors that I have dealt with (granted, only about 10 or so over the last 4 years) have been very noisy. OK in a large room, but if I was any less than 20 feet away from the thing, the n
    • For all the technical upsides, front projection has one big down side: you can't play DDR with it! Or any other games (e.g. EyeToy) which involve standing between projector and screen...

  • Plasma burn in ... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by UnknownSoldier ( 67820 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @08:05PM (#9743230)
    ... is OVER rated.

    Of all the thousands of posts on avsforum.com, I think I've seen a grand total of 1 or 2 posts about it. I've never experienced it on my own plasma either, and I've put a lot of long continious hours on it.

    --
    Orignal, Fun Palm games by the Lead Designer of Majesty!
    http://www.arcanejourneys.com/ [arcanejourneys.com]

  • A 25" sony trinitron studio [video] monitor. It's old enough to where it actually has a CGA input, in addition to its two s-video and one composite. Has a really beautiful picture, and I got it for $35 at a flea market. I cannot recommend a video monitor of any type highly enough for gaming. There's no tuner, so you won't be using any RF connections which is kind of a drag if all your systems are old, and you will need to find some external speakers of the proper impedance but almost all of them have stere

    • "There's no tuner, so you won't be using any RF connections which is kind of a drag if all your systems are old..."

      The easiest way to solve that difficulty is to run the RF signal through a VCR (game consoles don't send Macrovision which can be a problem using the same method with a DVD player). I know very few people these days without an spare one collecting dust.

  • CRT (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Rew190 ( 138940 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @10:21PM (#9744338)
    Get a high definition projection CRT. If you're buying a new TV, at this point you probably want to have the capability to do HD.

    CRT projection isn't going to burn-in on you if you're even the least bit aware that it can happen.

    Excellent image quality (I worked in a high-end consumer electronics store at one point, and given the choice between any TV set I would definitely go with a 5 lens CRT).

    Cheap! You can purchase one of these bad boys for less than 1500 bucks.

    Technology is tried and true.

    Not as deep or heavy as you would think - a 46" weighs about 150 pounds and is easily less than 20" deep.

    At any rate, I'd say it's the best bang for the buck. I'm THRILLED with my Toshiba 46" cinema series.

    • Re:CRT (Score:3, Informative)

      by Osty ( 16825 )


      CRT projection isn't going to burn-in on you if you're even the least bit aware that it can happen

      I worked in a high-end consumer electronics store at one point, and given the choice between any TV set I would definitely go with a 5 lens CRT

      You should be well-familiar with the shady tactics manufacturers use to sell their sets, then. Most (all) sets on display are set to "torch mode" contrast, and often have varying degrees of "red push" (the red component is stronger, because it makes the display

  • I have a 24" samsung. I use my Xbox to watch videos. They look good. Games look good. I use svideo. No progressive scan, no bullshit. Works great.

  • I recently decided to spring for a 42" HD quality plasma display and have been very happy. One advantage at this level of quality is that RGB or DVI input gives an excellent video connection to my computer. Add in a nice gaming controller or dualshock to USB adaptor and emulation becomes better than the original system. Only problem is deciding whether to stretch the image or not.

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