Overscan on LCD?

I am getting ready to purchase my first LCD which does not have a pc input (vga). On my Samsung DLP overscan was horrible. It was 720p and I was way below that (think it was something like 1124x660) to be able to view the full desktop when I used DVI to HDMI cable. When using vga I was able to use 720p resolution but it would leave a noticeable border but it was way better than the other solution. I didn't want to mess with powerstrip. Do LCDs suffer from the same overscan issues?

Depends on the LCD.

But really, overscan isn't an issue per se. It's quite normal in terms of how a TV dislpays a picture. Thats why you have to enter those custom resolutions sometimes.

I had a similar problem with a friend's Samsung DLP TV and even on my Samsung HDTV, look for the resolution settings and set it to Auto-Adjust (or something like that) just switch between the choices. Make sure you set on your PC the maximum resolution, and then make the changes on the TV.

It's really just on the TV settings. I will look at mine when I get home and let you know what settings I used.... if I remember

Overscan on TV's is left over from tube's. Before the fancy digital and HD televisions (when an analogue CRT gun would draw the picture) the engineers that designed the sets couldn't make the guns form straight vertical edges on the side. So all of your televisions broadcasts are designed for a 5% overscan.

Toshiba LCD's (only one I can think of off the top of my head) have a mode in them called "Natural." Since the LCD is a little smarter than an old tube TV you can do a 1:1 pixel mapping at 1080p. I know the HL167 series (available 42" and up) have this, as well as their LX177. For monitor use those might be a good place to start. Most places are really discounting the HL's right now to make room for new product.

I was just looking at that Toshiba HL167 42" model. It says that it cannot accept 1080p through the HDMI, it has a max of 1080i. Yet it has the resolution of 1080p. Is it truly 1080p if it doesn't do progressive? Why do they have it like that?

i had to fool around with powerstrip before i could get 1920x1080 with no overscan.

on my viewsonic 37" LCD TV there is ZERO overscan, the pixels are lined up EXACALY, both VGA, DVI and HDMI ports.

on my 47" CRT rear projection the overscan is so bad i cant even see the start button

The generation before the 42HL167 (I can't recall the model number) it was a full 1080p TV, but the HDMI would only accept 1080i. So the TV itself converted everything to 1080p after the signal reached the set. I'm pretty sure that the HL167's are "FullHD1080P" or however that branding goes. They should display a full 1920x1080 without issue. I'll doube check that though.

Also, the HL167 does have a VGA connection. So it'd be a great bet for a monitor.

I am looking into the HL167 and it looks great. I was reading that the VGA connection will only go up to 1024x768. Anyone have any idea if this is true. Either way if DVI to HDMI works at 1920x1080 then I will definitely be a happy camper. Thanks for the input fellas and I think as soon as the refund for my EEE pc gets processed I will buy the Toshiba.