HDTV Gaming, HDMI worth it?

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Devnull

[H]F Junkie
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I have a Philips 30" Widescreen CRT HDTV & an 800XT PE. I've been playing some oblivion on the TV via component out. It took an awful lot of tweaking in powerstrip and in the tv's menu to get the colors to look about the same as my monitor. I also am using a tweaked 1280x720 resolution for best performance, 1776x1000 and 1920x1080 also work but with some slowdowns.


The graphics look very good, but also in a certain way not quite as sharp as I would expect. The text ingame is readable in the menus and the dialogue, but the inventory sceen isn't very readable. Ofcourse out of game there is no way I could use this TV for say reading the hardforums without a custom font.

What I am wondering is if I could expect clearer text and crisper graphics with a DVI->HDMI adaptor. I only have 1 DVI so I would have to hook up my LCD monitor in the old analog vga fashion to use HDMI on the TV.
 
caboosemoose said:
Are you sure you're currently using component and not S-Video or composite?
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I wouldn't say "component" if I wasn't certain. I believe in using the properly terminology for the proper thing.
 
You might see some benefits going to an DVI/HDMI connection, however the sharpness/clarity issue may be a limitation of the CRT itself, not the connection. Most direct-view CRT HDTVs don't deliver the best picture quality in these areas.
 
You should wait to buy a TV with HDMI. Most TVs available now support HDMI 1.0 specification; however, I read an article recently on 1up.com(I believe) that the PS3 will support HDMI spec. 1.3. I do not know if these are backwards compatible so I would wait. you never know, there might come a HDMI 1.0 to 1.3 adapter or HDMI 1.3 to DVI-HDCP adapter.
 
yoshi9784 said:
You should wait to buy a TV with HDMI. Most TVs available now support HDMI 1.0 specification; however, I read an article recently on 1up.com(I believe) that the PS3 will support HDMI spec. 1.3. I do not know if these are backwards compatible so I would wait. you never know, there might come a HDMI 1.0 to 1.3 adapter or HDMI 1.3 to DVI-HDCP adapter.
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My computer isn't going to be outputting anything with HDCP, so why does it matter? I am sure that stuff will not last long anyways ;)



I also do suspect it's more of a limitation of the TV itself, but I've heard from some that DVI/HDMI is so much better as far as the picture and the geometry goes so I don't know.
 
i used my pc on my 32" samsung lcd a while ago via vga which i suppose is the same a component, i could surf anysite without difficulty reading, it may be your tv......or check what the native resolution of your TV, you always usually get a crisper picture using the native resolution, yours will most likely be 1360x768, i get mixed up the resolution might be 1366x768, give it a try, the 1000i and 1080i wont be very readable at all for browsing, youll get a monster headache from it, trust me!
 
On games the hdmi is very nice, however for me, I just got me 37" and still tweaking away, I use VGA to surf.

picture0297fl.jpg
 
Rash said:
i used my pc on my 32" samsung lcd a while ago via vga which i suppose is the same a component, i could surf anysite without difficulty reading, it may be your tv......or check what the native resolution of your TV, you always usually get a crisper picture using the native resolution, yours will most likely be 1360x768, i get mixed up the resolution might be 1366x768, give it a try, the 1000i and 1080i wont be very readable at all for browsing, youll get a monster headache from it, trust me!
Click to expand...


Well it's a CRT, but if it has a preferred resolution it would probably be 1920x1080 because it's a 1080i TV. Any further ideas on how to improve the quality for some gaming appreciated.
 
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