blackacidevil
Gawd
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2004
- Messages
- 744
After dreaming of big displays, but not wanting to:
A: Fork over huge cash for Dell's 30-incher...
B: Fork over cash for a videocard upgrade to power the Dell 30-incher's native rez...
C: Go for the Dell 27-incher...
D: Import a Westy LVM-37W3 37-incher from the USA...
I decided to go with the Sharp Aquos LC-32D62U 32" 1080p HDTV.
http://www.sharp.ca/products/index.asp?cat=30&id=683&mod=specs&f=
Luckily I have a friend who works for FutureShop who managed to knock 300 bucks off its price for me ($999 from $1299).
This model is virtually identical to the GP1U "Gaming" series of the same size, except for a couple minor things.
-No "Vyper-Drive".
-No DVI input.
-2 HDMI inputs (GP1U has 3)
Its size is impressive - definitely something your friends will drool over. Below is a comparison shot to my former displays..
L-R: Aquos 32" (1920x1080) --> Acer 22" (1680x1050) --> Dell 19" Trinitron (1600x1200)
Initial setup was easy. Since the D62U lacks a DVI port, I had to use a DVI-->HDMI cable (although a DVI-HDMI adapter would probably work just as well.) Powered on my comp, selected INPUT4 (HDMI) from the remote, and voila, it worked.
SETTINGS:
Sharp REALLY needs to do a better job calibrating their displays if my TV is any indication. Backlight and brightness were on max, and with this thing, it lit up the room. I had to go into the TV's Display Options and turn things down and tweak things.
I read somewhere (I think here on [H]) that somebody wanted to know about the pixel shape - they had heard they were "round" and wanted someone to verify this. Well, they look round to me. Weird. The camera shot isnt the greatest, but even getting up close and looking with the naked eye shows a similar pattern. They definitely arent square...
PERFORMANCE:
With a native rez of 1920x1080, a high-end card is the way to go. You don't need to blow money away on an Ultra or SLI setup, but last gen's mid-range should be the bare minimum to use.
I myself am running a Sapphire Radeon X1950Pro 512mb PCI-e, and even some games running maxxed settings can cause some grief.
Before I get into the games, I would like to point out that this monitor sucks displaying red text on a dark background. I've tweaked all sorts of settings to try to correct this, but to no avail. If anyone with this series TV knows a fix, please share.
SETUP AND GAMES:
HL2 - Lost Coast (1920x1080 / all graphic settings on high / 6X MSAA / 16X AF / HDR)
Doom 3 (High Quality / AA on / altered DoomConfig.cfg to run @ 1920x1080 with 105 FOV)
BioShock
And a shot of my fave stress-reliever, Wolf:ET
PICS AND TRAILERS:
(Pics and trailers are natively 1920x1080)
IN CONCLUSION:
Honestly, my camera doesn't do the pictures justice. It's an older model Canon digital that doesnt offer a lot of different settings - its pretty generic. I tried to keep a steady hand as best I could.
This is an excellent monitor/HDTV for games and movies, however, it's only OK for general computer usage. My main gripe is the red text issue - I've so far found no workaround, and while it's annoying, I can live with it. But it does take away points in my book.
I give it 8/10.
A: Fork over huge cash for Dell's 30-incher...
B: Fork over cash for a videocard upgrade to power the Dell 30-incher's native rez...
C: Go for the Dell 27-incher...
D: Import a Westy LVM-37W3 37-incher from the USA...
I decided to go with the Sharp Aquos LC-32D62U 32" 1080p HDTV.
http://www.sharp.ca/products/index.asp?cat=30&id=683&mod=specs&f=
Luckily I have a friend who works for FutureShop who managed to knock 300 bucks off its price for me ($999 from $1299).
This model is virtually identical to the GP1U "Gaming" series of the same size, except for a couple minor things.
-No "Vyper-Drive".
-No DVI input.
-2 HDMI inputs (GP1U has 3)
Its size is impressive - definitely something your friends will drool over. Below is a comparison shot to my former displays..
L-R: Aquos 32" (1920x1080) --> Acer 22" (1680x1050) --> Dell 19" Trinitron (1600x1200)
Initial setup was easy. Since the D62U lacks a DVI port, I had to use a DVI-->HDMI cable (although a DVI-HDMI adapter would probably work just as well.) Powered on my comp, selected INPUT4 (HDMI) from the remote, and voila, it worked.
SETTINGS:
Sharp REALLY needs to do a better job calibrating their displays if my TV is any indication. Backlight and brightness were on max, and with this thing, it lit up the room. I had to go into the TV's Display Options and turn things down and tweak things.
I read somewhere (I think here on [H]) that somebody wanted to know about the pixel shape - they had heard they were "round" and wanted someone to verify this. Well, they look round to me. Weird. The camera shot isnt the greatest, but even getting up close and looking with the naked eye shows a similar pattern. They definitely arent square...
PERFORMANCE:
With a native rez of 1920x1080, a high-end card is the way to go. You don't need to blow money away on an Ultra or SLI setup, but last gen's mid-range should be the bare minimum to use.
I myself am running a Sapphire Radeon X1950Pro 512mb PCI-e, and even some games running maxxed settings can cause some grief.
Before I get into the games, I would like to point out that this monitor sucks displaying red text on a dark background. I've tweaked all sorts of settings to try to correct this, but to no avail. If anyone with this series TV knows a fix, please share.
SETUP AND GAMES:
HL2 - Lost Coast (1920x1080 / all graphic settings on high / 6X MSAA / 16X AF / HDR)
Doom 3 (High Quality / AA on / altered DoomConfig.cfg to run @ 1920x1080 with 105 FOV)
BioShock
And a shot of my fave stress-reliever, Wolf:ET
PICS AND TRAILERS:
(Pics and trailers are natively 1920x1080)
IN CONCLUSION:
Honestly, my camera doesn't do the pictures justice. It's an older model Canon digital that doesnt offer a lot of different settings - its pretty generic. I tried to keep a steady hand as best I could.
This is an excellent monitor/HDTV for games and movies, however, it's only OK for general computer usage. My main gripe is the red text issue - I've so far found no workaround, and while it's annoying, I can live with it. But it does take away points in my book.
I give it 8/10.