Thanks for the info pspboy! Very useful, and sorts of tallies with my estimates.

HDMI is a connection standard that supports Hi def video AND audio in a single cable. This means that a single cable can carry all HD signals without having degradation. So from your HDMI DVD player/Bluray/PS3 the connection to your TV will be directly using this cable.

What this also means is that with HDMI Hollywood can implement HDCP - which is an anti-piracy system that ensures that you can only see full HD resolution if you use HDMI. If you use other cables your resolution will be downscaled.

Excellent info, PSPboy! Thanks!

I'll help answer some of those questions:

1) Depends. Some LCD TVs don't support 1080i (newer models, highly unlikely). You'll have to make sure it does.

2) DVI connection generally gives a better quality for PC-->TV connections.

3)You'll only be receiving HDTV signals with a HDTV tuner or settop box. In the meantime you can continue playing games in HD resolutions.

LoL. No problem lah, as long as the information gets out.

I checked out that Laser TV thingo. Interesting claim and more products mean more choice for the consumer!

Woohooo!

You can purchase AVIA at some stores.

WARNING: It can be quite pricey.

To question 2: Yup, you'll get letterboxing if your TV/monitor is 4:3 and you output a widescreen signal.

Question 3: The "badness" depends on the TV. Good ones have competent scalers that will present the optimum picture.

elhh82: It's VERY difficult to find these days. I think I snagged one of the last few ones.

Kantao: 1) Yup, DVI doesn't carry audio signals. You still need an audio out to the LCD TV.

Holy cow. Confirms what I've been thinking all along. Thanks PSPboy!

I've answered a question on Dynamic Contrast somewhere earlier in this thread. Basically the difference between the Samsung dynamic contrast and the Sharp's static one is that the Samsung will scale anywhere from 500:1 to 3000:1 depending on the source material. Therefore some media will look better than others. The Sharp on the other hand, has the same contrast ratio for ALL media.

Having said that, after testing the Aquos with Astro and the Xbox 360 my opinion is the Sharp works best for HD sources, even then the 360 exhibited some washed out colours at 1080i. As always, use your eyes as the judge.

Hmm. Better check your documentation. Maybe it doesn't support NTSC HD resolutions?

Strange. The specs show that 1080i is supported for NTSC and PAL. Maybe you could ask the support people?

To clarify:

GT4 has an option to play in 1080i, but all the menus will remain in 480p.

Technically if he's using 480p, his cables should already be component UNLESS he's actually on 480i.

Sounds like that's correct. I wonder what the issue would be...

Hmm. IINM your PS3 games will only come out in 1080i max, but for Xbox360 content (like games) you'll be able to play in 1080p.

Remember though, that the 1080p the 360 MAY output IINM may either be upscaled or native, so there's no guarantee on the actual superiority there. Otherwise, if you have HDMI, the PS3 is the way to go.

I can help you with that.

Both models run the older Pixel Plus.

My set, the 29PT940 (or something like that) run Pixel Plus 2. I've compared the two, and while Pixel Plus 2 is an upgrade over PP1, just using ANY form of the Pixel Plus technology will give you a visual boost, especially with Astro over S video.

Hope this helps!

Bro Zaakath, I'm biased towards the Philips simply because I've fallen in love with the colour and processing. I'm not sure if the Samsung has dynamic contrast, but a static contrast ratio would guarantee you the same image for all applications.

As always let your eyes be the judge.

cshaw77: yup it should still be Svideo.

This post has been edited by Lord_Ashe: Dec 5 2006, 11:09 AM

Happy to help. The dynamic contrast ratio means that you could be looking at anything from 500:1 to 4000:1 at any one time, which may be the cause of the inconsistency.