Well, that's an interesting outlook on things. True, HDMI may or may not be that much better than component, but I guess it's a must for Sony, what with their idea of DRM and stuff.

As for me, I think I can afford to live with my 29 inch Toshiba CRT HDTV (model 29JZ9UES). It's got what I require dead-on, namely 720p and 1080i resolution. When that Xbox 360 is within reach, I'll be ready to swap out my PS2 with the 360 in place.

Wow, been too busy with work lately, totally forgot to check here often. Well, if you want to compare it with the Sony (model KV-DB29M61 I presume?), I'd say the Toshiba looks better in terms of clarity. On the other hand, the Sony seems to have better colour, if I'm purely judging using a PS2 (Tekken 5 in particular).

As for Philips? Let's just say I'm not too big of a fan, since I have a bad experience with Philips beforehand. That's not to say it doesn't look nice, though.


Whoops, my bad. I'm aware that no single company gets to say anything regarding a format standard. After all, DRM is a genuine concern on the PC side of things, hence MS. What I meant to say, was that DRM is one of the reasons Sony is taking it slow with Blu-ray.

Piracy notwithstanding, Sony (along with Blu-ray) is going to royally screw millions of early HDTV adopters, myself included. Unless Blu-ray (and HD-DVD) is going to bleed my AV senses to submission compared to standard DVDs, I'm not plunking down my money on it just yet.

I'm using the Toshiba 29JZ9UES as mentioned in my earlier post. It's capable of 480p, 576p, 720p and 1080i. I use it mainly for gaming on my Xbox and PS2. Will plunk down some cash on a 360 when the time is right. For the record, I paid RM1899 for it.

Wow, there are such cables that actually work? I got myself a VGA to component cable from Lowyat before, and....it doesn't work. I only get distorted images and funky colours. According to the shop attendant, the cable was supposed to be used for projectors only.

Would you mind telling me where you bought yours, and the brand (if any) and price as well? I would really like to permanently use my HDTV as a monitor for gaming.

Well, as long as you're using component input, you'll see some improvement in colour. I was using a Sony WEGA (non-HD) for gaming before I got my Toshiba. The difference is most apparent in the colour, but not necessarily in other areas (texture, lighting, polygon lines, etc).

But if your TV is HD capable, some games will see a tremendous increase in visual quality. Tekken 4 in particular looks amazing when run in 480p. But not too many PS2 games support progressive scan. Try comparing Resident Evil 4 running in composite, S-Video and component. You should be able to see the difference!