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5150Joker
Supreme [H]ardness
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- Aug 1, 2005
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Details:
» HDTV monitor (no built-in TV tuner of any type)
» 37" flat-panel LCD screen (measured diagonally)
» 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
» 1920 x 1080 pixels
» ultra-fast pixel response time (8 ms and 8 bit Super MVA panel made by Chi-Mei)
» 1000:1 contrast ratio
» 176°(H) x 176°(V) viewing angle
» Picture-in-Picture for 2 video sources (inset)
» built-in stereo speakers (10 watts x 2, plus a 10-watt woofer)
» remote control
» 6 A/V inputs, including:
1 composite video
1 S-video
2 component video (accepts 1080i/720p/480p/480i signals)
2 DVI digital video inputs (accepts signals up to 1080p)
1 HDMI digital audio/video input (accepts signals up to 1080p)
» PC input: analog RGB (D-Sub 15-pin accepts signals up to 1080p)
» detachable stand (stand "footprint" is 23-1/8"W x 7-3/4"D)
» wall-mountable (bracket not included)
» 37-1/4"W x 23-7/8"H x 4-7/8"D (26"H x 7-3/4"D on stand)
» weight: 43 lbs. (without stand)
UPDATE: Thanks to Claudione314 we now have a FAQ:
FAQ for the Westinghouse LVM-37w3 1080p LCD Monitor
Scroll down to see the answers to these most frequently asked questions:
Where should I buy this monitor?
What is a good price?
What kind of desk do I need?
Can I wall mount it?
What inputs does this monitor have?
Is there any ghosting/blurring on this monitor?
Is this monitor too big? Too small?
Is this monitor good for general PC use?
Is this monitor good for PC games?
Whats all this stuff about the PS3 handshaking issue?
What is the difference between models? (w1, w2, w3)
What do numbers such as 480, 720, and 1080 mean?
How will normal TV look on this monitor?
How will ________ look on this monitor?
Where should I buy this monitor?
Retailers are best in terms of return policy, service, warranty, etc., but you wont find this monitor at BestBuy or CircuitCity unless in special circumstances. Mwave.com and Newegg.com are among the best online vendors that carry it, but they have no return policy and if its DOA you must ship it back to Westinghouse at your expense. A reputable e-tailer with a return policy is Crutchfield.com, but they do not carry the 37w3 right now. They still sell the 42 version, though.
What is a good price?
Usually around $1100-1200 and that may or may not include shipping. Best deal right now is $999 + S&H. In the past there have been deals as low as $979 shipped and even $799 on Black Friday. Know that the 37w3 performs at least on par with most $1500-ish brand 37 LCDs. I got it for $1199 shipped (with return policy) and it was a good deal.
What kind of desk do I need?
Do NOT sit a $1000+ monitor on a flimsy plastic or thin wooden desk. Many people on this thread got the Ikea Jerker and its perfect. If youre a college student, the desk in your room is most likely okay, as dorm furniture is usually thick and resistant. Any wooden desk thats at least an inch thick will most likely have no problems. I wouldnt even try plastic and light aluminum.
Can I wall mount it?
Of course! There are many good brackets, and Westinghouse sells their own: the MT80 and the MT150 can both mount the 37w3. People on this thread like tilting mounting brackets from Monoprice.com, that are high quality and relatively inexpensive.
What inputs does this monitor have?
The 37w3 has the following inputs:
l 1 S-video
l 1 composite
l 1 HDMI: 1080p
l 2 DVI: 1080p (+ RCA audio)
l 1 VGA analog D-Sub: 1080p (+ audio jack)
l 2 component: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i (also 1080p for Xbox 360 games)
The HD inputs accept true 1080p signals instead of just upscaling them to 1080p, which is quite good. Not all 1080p TVs will accept full-HD 1080p signals, but this monitor does.
Is there any ghosting/blurring on this monitor?
8 milliseconds is acceptable for gaming. 10-12 ms is usually too high, and 6 ms and below is perfect. Only a small number of people have had problems with an 8 ms response time. Most users report no ghosting or minimal ghosting. Under Windows theres minor page tearing while moving open windows around.
Is this monitor too big? Too small?
It really depends on your intended use and viewing distance. The 37w3 is usually not a good living room screen and best fits a bedroom or an office.
See this chart: http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/learningcenter/home/tv_faq.html#2
Or this, for experts: http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html
For the 37w3, computer use from 3-4 feet is just fine, but the text is sharp even from a foot away. For console gaming, TV, HDTV, DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-Ray movies7 or 8 feet is optimal.
Is this monitor good for general PC use?
This monitor was clearly designed for PC use and gaming due to its high but not insane resolution. Video cards a couple generations old (say, upwards of ATi 9800 and nVidia FX5700) can manage 1920x1080 resolution. That allows you to have two documents side-by-side at 100% zoom. If your eyesight is not the best and/or if you plan to use this for a living room media center, you may want to look at 720p models instead, as they will provide bigger text.
Is this monitor good for PC games?
Its perfect at 1920x1080 from 3-4 feet away. Even 1280x720 it looks decent enough (but not under Windows). Of course, you need a good video card to play newer games at 1080p. An nVidia GeForce 8800GTS (around $350) will play all current games at 1080p and details maxed out, including Oblivion and FEAR. An 8800GTX ($500+) should also let you play the upcoming Crysis. SLI configurations may even be overkill for now. Budget gamers shouldnt expect to get 1920x1080 from their cards. You should never go below a 7800 or X1900 if you want that resolution at decent frame rates.
Whats all this stuff about the PS3 handshaking issue?
Its a problem with the PS3, not the monitor. The HDMI copy protection system embedded in the PS3 makes the picture on screen flicker every couple of seconds, which is of course unacceptable. This happens on several monitors and TVs.
See this video: http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4212161.html
Thankfully, the 1.8 firmware on recent 37-w3 models have solved this, but Sony is still expected to patch the issue on their hardware. If your monitor has firmware 1.8 or more recent, you shouldnt have a problem.
What is the difference between models? (w1, w2, w3)
LVM-37w1 1080p, 12ms response time, gray bezel, NTSC tuner (no HDTV tuner)
LVM-37w2 720p, 8ms response time, black-gray bezel, NTSC+HDTV tuners
LVM-37w3 1080p, 8ms response time, black-gray bezel, no tuner
All three have the same contrast, brightness, viewing angles, speakers, etc. The w1 is a normal TV with HD capability. The w2 is a pure HDTV, best choice for TV buffs but not for computer/gaming. The w3 is just a monitor and the best overall, but it requires an external tuner for TV. The w2 and the w3 look identical and differ only in resolution. Sometimes you see the w1 at BestBuy, but chances are theyll have it connected to a crappy source to make you buy Sonys and Samsungs, so take that into account.
What do numbers such as 480, 720, and 1080 mean?
Its the vertical lines of resolution. You know how computer monitors some time ago were set at 800x600 or 1024x768...? Well, 600 and 768 are the vertical lines. It means theres 600 or 768 pixels one on top of the other. The 37w3 is 1080p, which means its resolution is 1920x1080. The p means progressive, so in 480p there are physically 480 vertical rows of pixels and theyre all filled. The i means interlaced, so 480i actually has only 270 lines, which are then filled in an interlaced way to display a higher-res signal.
How will normal TV look on this monitor?
It depends on your expectations. Surely worse than HD, but... duh! Seriously: it looks on par with other LCD or plasma HD screens, which were not designed for SD in the first place. Solution: sit 7-8 feet away and SDTV looks almost as good as on any old tube TV.
How will ________ look on this monitor?
l Standard TV is 480i, which is the lowest-quality source commonly used today. On a 1080p TV it looks blurry and not well defined, but sit farther (7-8 feet) and its more than acceptable.
l DVDs are 480p. With a good upscaler they will look great. Good upscalers are Oppo products, some Sonys and Toshibas, and the built-in DVD player in the Xbox 360.
l Consoles such as PS2, Xbox, and Wii output a 480p signal that doesnt look too great, but good enough when viewed from a distance (at least 6-7 feet) and certainly much better than they would on an old tube TV.
l HD broadcasts are either 720p or 1080i and will look stellar on this monitor. When you sit 6-7 feet away for TV use as you should, 720p and 1080i look practically alikeboth awesome.
l HD DVD and Blu-Ray are either 1080i or 1080p and will of course look best. However, since this is a relatively small monitor for 1080p, dont expect a huge picture quality increase. It will look much better than regular DVD and youll go WOW!, but on a 60 TV youd go WTF-WOW!! The cheapest solution for HD DVD is the $189 HD DVD player add-on for Xbox 360, which works great through VGA and can also be connected to your PC.
l Xbox 360 and PS3 can stream a 1080p signal. Its default for the PS3 through HDMI, and it requires the November 2006 update for the Xbox 360 through VGA or component (best to get Monster cables or other high-quality stuff: no sense in going cheap with a 1080p thing on your hands). No issues are reported with 360 use. For PS3 use, see the respective section.
» HDTV monitor (no built-in TV tuner of any type)
» 37" flat-panel LCD screen (measured diagonally)
» 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
» 1920 x 1080 pixels
» ultra-fast pixel response time (8 ms and 8 bit Super MVA panel made by Chi-Mei)
» 1000:1 contrast ratio
» 176°(H) x 176°(V) viewing angle
» Picture-in-Picture for 2 video sources (inset)
» built-in stereo speakers (10 watts x 2, plus a 10-watt woofer)
» remote control
» 6 A/V inputs, including:
1 composite video
1 S-video
2 component video (accepts 1080i/720p/480p/480i signals)
2 DVI digital video inputs (accepts signals up to 1080p)
1 HDMI digital audio/video input (accepts signals up to 1080p)
» PC input: analog RGB (D-Sub 15-pin accepts signals up to 1080p)
» detachable stand (stand "footprint" is 23-1/8"W x 7-3/4"D)
» wall-mountable (bracket not included)
» 37-1/4"W x 23-7/8"H x 4-7/8"D (26"H x 7-3/4"D on stand)
» weight: 43 lbs. (without stand)
UPDATE: Thanks to Claudione314 we now have a FAQ:
FAQ for the Westinghouse LVM-37w3 1080p LCD Monitor
Scroll down to see the answers to these most frequently asked questions:
Where should I buy this monitor?
What is a good price?
What kind of desk do I need?
Can I wall mount it?
What inputs does this monitor have?
Is there any ghosting/blurring on this monitor?
Is this monitor too big? Too small?
Is this monitor good for general PC use?
Is this monitor good for PC games?
Whats all this stuff about the PS3 handshaking issue?
What is the difference between models? (w1, w2, w3)
What do numbers such as 480, 720, and 1080 mean?
How will normal TV look on this monitor?
How will ________ look on this monitor?
Where should I buy this monitor?
Retailers are best in terms of return policy, service, warranty, etc., but you wont find this monitor at BestBuy or CircuitCity unless in special circumstances. Mwave.com and Newegg.com are among the best online vendors that carry it, but they have no return policy and if its DOA you must ship it back to Westinghouse at your expense. A reputable e-tailer with a return policy is Crutchfield.com, but they do not carry the 37w3 right now. They still sell the 42 version, though.
What is a good price?
Usually around $1100-1200 and that may or may not include shipping. Best deal right now is $999 + S&H. In the past there have been deals as low as $979 shipped and even $799 on Black Friday. Know that the 37w3 performs at least on par with most $1500-ish brand 37 LCDs. I got it for $1199 shipped (with return policy) and it was a good deal.
What kind of desk do I need?
Do NOT sit a $1000+ monitor on a flimsy plastic or thin wooden desk. Many people on this thread got the Ikea Jerker and its perfect. If youre a college student, the desk in your room is most likely okay, as dorm furniture is usually thick and resistant. Any wooden desk thats at least an inch thick will most likely have no problems. I wouldnt even try plastic and light aluminum.
Can I wall mount it?
Of course! There are many good brackets, and Westinghouse sells their own: the MT80 and the MT150 can both mount the 37w3. People on this thread like tilting mounting brackets from Monoprice.com, that are high quality and relatively inexpensive.
What inputs does this monitor have?
The 37w3 has the following inputs:
l 1 S-video
l 1 composite
l 1 HDMI: 1080p
l 2 DVI: 1080p (+ RCA audio)
l 1 VGA analog D-Sub: 1080p (+ audio jack)
l 2 component: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i (also 1080p for Xbox 360 games)
The HD inputs accept true 1080p signals instead of just upscaling them to 1080p, which is quite good. Not all 1080p TVs will accept full-HD 1080p signals, but this monitor does.
Is there any ghosting/blurring on this monitor?
8 milliseconds is acceptable for gaming. 10-12 ms is usually too high, and 6 ms and below is perfect. Only a small number of people have had problems with an 8 ms response time. Most users report no ghosting or minimal ghosting. Under Windows theres minor page tearing while moving open windows around.
Is this monitor too big? Too small?
It really depends on your intended use and viewing distance. The 37w3 is usually not a good living room screen and best fits a bedroom or an office.
See this chart: http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/learningcenter/home/tv_faq.html#2
Or this, for experts: http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html
For the 37w3, computer use from 3-4 feet is just fine, but the text is sharp even from a foot away. For console gaming, TV, HDTV, DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-Ray movies7 or 8 feet is optimal.
Is this monitor good for general PC use?
This monitor was clearly designed for PC use and gaming due to its high but not insane resolution. Video cards a couple generations old (say, upwards of ATi 9800 and nVidia FX5700) can manage 1920x1080 resolution. That allows you to have two documents side-by-side at 100% zoom. If your eyesight is not the best and/or if you plan to use this for a living room media center, you may want to look at 720p models instead, as they will provide bigger text.
Is this monitor good for PC games?
Its perfect at 1920x1080 from 3-4 feet away. Even 1280x720 it looks decent enough (but not under Windows). Of course, you need a good video card to play newer games at 1080p. An nVidia GeForce 8800GTS (around $350) will play all current games at 1080p and details maxed out, including Oblivion and FEAR. An 8800GTX ($500+) should also let you play the upcoming Crysis. SLI configurations may even be overkill for now. Budget gamers shouldnt expect to get 1920x1080 from their cards. You should never go below a 7800 or X1900 if you want that resolution at decent frame rates.
Whats all this stuff about the PS3 handshaking issue?
Its a problem with the PS3, not the monitor. The HDMI copy protection system embedded in the PS3 makes the picture on screen flicker every couple of seconds, which is of course unacceptable. This happens on several monitors and TVs.
See this video: http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4212161.html
Thankfully, the 1.8 firmware on recent 37-w3 models have solved this, but Sony is still expected to patch the issue on their hardware. If your monitor has firmware 1.8 or more recent, you shouldnt have a problem.
What is the difference between models? (w1, w2, w3)
LVM-37w1 1080p, 12ms response time, gray bezel, NTSC tuner (no HDTV tuner)
LVM-37w2 720p, 8ms response time, black-gray bezel, NTSC+HDTV tuners
LVM-37w3 1080p, 8ms response time, black-gray bezel, no tuner
All three have the same contrast, brightness, viewing angles, speakers, etc. The w1 is a normal TV with HD capability. The w2 is a pure HDTV, best choice for TV buffs but not for computer/gaming. The w3 is just a monitor and the best overall, but it requires an external tuner for TV. The w2 and the w3 look identical and differ only in resolution. Sometimes you see the w1 at BestBuy, but chances are theyll have it connected to a crappy source to make you buy Sonys and Samsungs, so take that into account.
What do numbers such as 480, 720, and 1080 mean?
Its the vertical lines of resolution. You know how computer monitors some time ago were set at 800x600 or 1024x768...? Well, 600 and 768 are the vertical lines. It means theres 600 or 768 pixels one on top of the other. The 37w3 is 1080p, which means its resolution is 1920x1080. The p means progressive, so in 480p there are physically 480 vertical rows of pixels and theyre all filled. The i means interlaced, so 480i actually has only 270 lines, which are then filled in an interlaced way to display a higher-res signal.
How will normal TV look on this monitor?
It depends on your expectations. Surely worse than HD, but... duh! Seriously: it looks on par with other LCD or plasma HD screens, which were not designed for SD in the first place. Solution: sit 7-8 feet away and SDTV looks almost as good as on any old tube TV.
How will ________ look on this monitor?
l Standard TV is 480i, which is the lowest-quality source commonly used today. On a 1080p TV it looks blurry and not well defined, but sit farther (7-8 feet) and its more than acceptable.
l DVDs are 480p. With a good upscaler they will look great. Good upscalers are Oppo products, some Sonys and Toshibas, and the built-in DVD player in the Xbox 360.
l Consoles such as PS2, Xbox, and Wii output a 480p signal that doesnt look too great, but good enough when viewed from a distance (at least 6-7 feet) and certainly much better than they would on an old tube TV.
l HD broadcasts are either 720p or 1080i and will look stellar on this monitor. When you sit 6-7 feet away for TV use as you should, 720p and 1080i look practically alikeboth awesome.
l HD DVD and Blu-Ray are either 1080i or 1080p and will of course look best. However, since this is a relatively small monitor for 1080p, dont expect a huge picture quality increase. It will look much better than regular DVD and youll go WOW!, but on a 60 TV youd go WTF-WOW!! The cheapest solution for HD DVD is the $189 HD DVD player add-on for Xbox 360, which works great through VGA and can also be connected to your PC.
l Xbox 360 and PS3 can stream a 1080p signal. Its default for the PS3 through HDMI, and it requires the November 2006 update for the Xbox 360 through VGA or component (best to get Monster cables or other high-quality stuff: no sense in going cheap with a 1080p thing on your hands). No issues are reported with 360 use. For PS3 use, see the respective section.
