Ask Engadget: What's the best 40- to 50-inch HDTV with PC inputs?
By Darren Murph 
posted May 8th 2008 6:30PM
posted May 8th 2008 6:30PM
While we've already seen one particular Engadget HD reader reach out for assistance with finding a niche HDTV, this particular question just screams mainstream. Today's gamer is likely looking for a set that's multifaceted, and Sir Matthew here is no different: "I'm considering purchasing a 1080p HDTV in the 40- to 50-inch range for use with console gaming and possibly as a PC monitor. I've got about $2,500 to spend, but would prefer to keep it well under that if possible. I'm partial to LCD HDTVs, and whatever set I get must have a couple of HDMI ports and VGA / PC audio inputs."
Picking a TV that plays nice with PC resolutions (or PowerStrip) is crucial, so we'll go ahead and assume this fellow thinks overscan is simply unacceptable. If this here question reminded you of your own quandary, send over an email to ask at engadget dawt com with your inquiry enclosed -- if the robotic overlords manning our email systems deem it worthy, it'll show up in this space in due time.
I agree with Chris. The Samsung 1080p TVs are nice units at a good price, and you can pick up the 46" units from Amazon for well under your budget. World of Warcraft looks pretty nice on the LNT4665F.
I prefer the Samsung LN-T4661F (non-glossy) over the Samsung LN-T4665F (glossy). Tried the glossy in my living room and there was a lot of glare and reflection.
Samsung TVs overscan by default, but you can set them to "Just scan," which disable overscan, without entering the service menus. I have a 46" LCD and a 50" plasma and have been happy with both. Black levels on the plasma are better than the LCD.
I suspect that most of these recommendations are fine, but you want to make sure that you can adjust overscan without voiding your warranty. Many manufacturers say that your warranty is void if you use the service menu at all.
Westinghouse LCDs overscan less than Samsung displays by default, in my experience.
Olevia 747i
Olevia 747i LCD HDTV - 47" 1920x1080, 1080p Native, 1,600:1 Contrast Ratio, 8ms, HDMI, ATSC Tuner
$1199
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3065571&Sku=S452-4700
olevia is as good as a kick in the nuts
Get a Vizio.. Costco has them here in California.. they are nice. i had the LCD and Plazma versions and loved how they both had a VGA input. also great for the price.. plus if you get it from Costco they have their own warenty that is much better to deal with then lets say Best Buy or Circiut City..
At Costco last time i was there they had the 52'' HD with suround sounds speakers for $1,250
http://www.vizio.com/
I agree with Owen Birdi wish i bought a vizio but i bought a olevia cuz i was low on money at the time but i have no complaints cuz it works perfectly with my sony vaio at a good 1080 resolution
Nvidia has an option for non-monitor resolutions, including but not limited to Full-HD, you can also set whatever you like.
There is one thing I have to warn everyone though.
1920x1080 is nice and all but... there isn't a PC that will be able to run Crysis in Very High + AA + AF in 60 fps on average (I don't know any, if your PC can do it, I'm happy for you, no need to reply to this post). Be ready to sacrifice image quality unless your PC is powerful enough to run all games in 1920x1080 in high quality.
Another thing to consider - if you're playing in 1080p, get a decent 5.1 or 7.1 sound! I'd recommend some Creative Gigaworks S750 for $400 (approximate price in my country). But its an overkill for most users, you can get something cheaper if you aren't a hardcore gamer, 5.1 are usually less expensive, movies usually have 5.1 sound. 5 speakers + subwoofer.
As for the TV - as far as I know Sony (only latest generation) should be fine for most users. If you aren't willing to pay a premium for the "Sony" on the TV, you can browse some reviews, they have a lot of information. As for me, I've seen pretty decent Panasonic Full-HD plasma in a shop recently (decent for the price, 42 inches, $2000, compared to similar sony for $5000). The name was Panasonic TH-R42PY70. Didn't find any other cheap Full-HD models with a decent picture quality. But it only has 2 hmdi inputs.
In any case, don't be lazy! Visit the nearest shop with lots of HDTVs and take a look at them yourselves! This is the best way to see which ones you like and which ones you don't like! Pick the ones you like, write down their names and then search for their reviews online, and then find the best prices online and then... order! If you don't find anything interesting in the shop 1, proceed to shop 2, and then to shop 3 ect. Some day you'll find what you like xD
You need one with overscan disable. Recent Sharps, Sonys and Samsungs have this. Westinghouse displays don't even have the option to overscan, which sounds great but sucks on SDTV content. This means you need one that does 1080p native, because there are no non-overscan displays that are 768p or 720p.
You speak of a VGA input, but honestly you're better off using digital input. The best in this case is the Sharp, it has a DVI-M input, which can accept DVI input or VGA (with an adapter). Sonys have a VGA input, which isn't as good, but is better than nothing. On those, honestly you should use a DVI->HDMI adapter and hook it up digital instead of using the VGA.
All these will work, even down to the Westinghouses (which are quite cheap). But the Sonys, Sharps and Samsungs have a better picture. I'd go with the Sony honesty (I own a Sharp, BTW), as it has a better backlight than the Samsung or Sharp and thus works better as a regular TV. With any of these, you won't even need powerstrip, you just need to hook it up and it'll autodetect the refresh rates. Then just turn off overscan (it's off on the VGA input on the Sony by default) and you're there. Sadly, every company has a different name for no overscan. Sharp calls it 'dot-by-dot', Samsung calls it 'just scan'.
Will a DLP Projection 1080 HDTV work with the PC input?
Yes. I use my 50" DLP Samsung but really only use this to stream movies. The browsing experience is fine at a distance.
Recent ones will work. But you cannot turn off overscan on RPTVs, which makes them less suitable than flat panels for computer use.
You bet it will. I have a Sammy HLT-5087S LED DLP and it works like a champ via VGA or HDMI. Ridiculously glorious representation of colors... Closest to "standard" color reproduction in projection sets. You haven't lived until you've played HL2 in 1080P with AA turned on. It's what the 360/PS3 wish they could do. Best of all, Vanns.com has them for a very good price and free shipping.
40" Sony Bravia W3000, does EVERYTHING I have needed it to do, and more.
Does all resolutions (for PC), and if it doesn't officially support a resolution it still displays and resizes the display to show the full undistorted picture with black bars where the unused space is.
I had bought a Samsung, forget model and returned it. It had crap for PC resolution support. The only one it did support was 1920x1080. Good luck running the newest games at that resolution without upgrading your vid caard every 6 months. I run my Sony Bravia at 1360x720 for the PC resolution. Everything is readable, doesn't break websites and I didnt have to mess with the font sizes
If you have a flat, white wall, forget the little flat panel and pick up a projector like the Epson Home Cinema 1080 for an 11-foot diagonal. Mine works great with my PS3/Blu-Ray player, my Time Warner HD Cable, and both PCs and laptops. It has VGA inputs, but HDMI is basically DVI with a different connector, so a cheap DVI-to-HDMI adapter will let your PC, laptop, etc. drive it digitally at full resolution. And these 40" TVs others are talking about are the size of my Picture-in-Picture...
Light control is a serious issue for front-projectors, especially if you are projecting 10'+ images. For many people (like myself) the cost of putting up blackout curtains and such makes front projection not an option.
I'd rather be able to see the black parts than have a huge image I can't see them on.
I have a Vizio 42in LCD that I run Crysis on at full 1080i on medium settings with a dvi to hdmi, my nvidia video card makes sure that the size fits perfectly on my screen. It is awesome!!! HDTV was only 1300!!! Vizio got great reviews from PCWorld and did great in comparison tests against all the major brands. I think its the winner because of value and image quality.
Hiya, could someone clarify what overscan is... and is it a good thing or a bad thing to have? Sorry for the stupidity in advance
Hey Scump, I didn't know what overscan was until I bought my first HDTV a few months back. Plus as noted in another post, manufacturers give this feature different names. When the size of the video source doesn't fill your TV screen, overscan enlarges the picture to fill it up but cuts off either the top and bottom or sides of the image, depending on the difference between the source and your screen. Remember the last time you opted to play a wide-screen DVD movie in standard format on your standard TV? That's overscan (sometimes paired with pan and scan to keep the action centered).
Most wide-screen TV's also give you the option to stretch a standard video source, which makes everybody look fatter and is great for the ego if you've packed on a few pounds.
Here's a link to a lot of great info about HDTV's. The graphics at the bottom of this article's page demonstrate the methods of dealing with different aspect ratios. Here they call overscan "Zoom or Enlarge":
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-7608_7-1016109-4.html?tag=tnav
Thanks for the help there, I completly understand ye. Much better than the wiki deffinition lol.
Dudes westinghouse supports 1080p from my pc thru VGA
I would go with the Panasonic Th50PZ85U, Its right at 2500 but its a plasma. It has deep black level and the PC input is DVI. I would recommend and would stand behind the decision.
I'm using a 42" Samsung 4665F (1080p, 60hz and I'm porting my XBox360, PS3, computer (HDMI-DVI converter came with my video card) and cable box all to the TV and using an optical audio cable form the TV to my surround sound receiver. If I wanna use it as my PC monitor, I just switch the Input, go to sound options on my windows machine and set "HDMI digital audio" as default and it works great. As far as I know, any Samsung made within the last year or so should work just fine as a monitor and a general gaming TV.
I don't exactly have a "comparison" as I only have one. However, I have been really happy with my Samsung LCD, and would recommend that brand. Like with anything, the more you spend the better you get. *Shrug*
Hey - you should see my eeepc on a 47" VISIO!
Love it!
Well, I bought a Samsung 6 series 40" LCD 1080p 120Hz.
$1556 and free shipping from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-LN40A650-40-inch-1080p-120Hz/dp/B0014175NE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1210293145&sr=8-1
Every feature you could want for $1000 less than you were expecting to pay. Be sure to get a DVI-HDMI cable/adapter, though.
he said he needs a VGA connector, though. Not a DVA.
The 42" Vizio VS42L has a great picture, 1080p, 2 HDMI, 2 component, s--video, 2 composite and an VGA connector. I bought one at Costco a few weeks ago for $999, couldn't be happier. Hooked up laptop and updated the video driver and 1920x 1080 works great.
WESTHINGHOUSE!!! REAL CHEAP and decent quality. 1080p
and no warranty
I agree with the Samsung vote, but was disappointed that I couldn't do a split screen with my PIP enabled 50" Samsung because you can't split with the HDMI input and anything else.
I have a 37" Sharp Aquos that I used for a 1080p monitor for my computer. It was great. Since last summer, they've released some newer ones that are lighter and better.
At first, I didn't think I was going to get it because it doesn't have a VGA or DVI input but a DVI to HDMI cable did the job beautifully. Even before calibrating it, it looked great.
I can't recommend them highly enough.
Uh, I think my 50" Pioneer Kuro makes a great display! It has many inputs and great resolution. =P
Video is easy, but what about audio? What video card actually combines the audio in your computer and outputs it through a HDMI cable? That's where it just gets messy for both desktops and laptops.
Sony kdg40-w3000 is nice, 3 hdmi imputs, awesome contrast ratio, vga imput and 1080p, it looks wonderful as a monitor and gaming tv. movies and high def stuff looks great
Audio was easy too.. mini to mini cable to connect from the computer to a connection right next to the vga input
I have a Sony Bravia 40D3000 and it is awesome. I plugged in my 360 first with component, later with hdmi and it is amazing the dashboard looks way better (compared to my 26 inch samsung only scales up to 1080i though) and of course the native resolution is 1920x1080. I connected my MacBook to it in 1920x1080 res. Looks good but wit the MacBook's gpu it gives a little lag sometimes. currently i have only 3 cables plugged in to the tv: 2 hdmi cables with sound of course and the power cable
I've got a Panasonic Viera 42" that's a bit older (2005), but it's got a VGA port on the front panel, which makes access very easy (no fiddling around at the back). There's also standard RCA audio connecters, so a $5 cable solves that.
The PC mode is excellent, and resolution up to 1280x768 runs perfectly off my MacBook (haven't tried higher because the MacBook doesn't support it).
I have a 40" Samsung LNT4061F, and I've been having a problem with PC input. Using a VGA cable, it displays 1024x768, 1280x1024, and even 1600x1200 without a hiccup, but when I try any of the TV's native 16:9 formats, the TV goes blank and says "Mode not supported." The PC's video card is an ATI Radeon AIW 9600XT, and the 16:9 resolutions are listed in the video settings as supported modes, and the TV is supposed to support them as well. I've tried it on two different laptops (also over VGA), with the same results. Has anyone else had this problem, and know what I can do to resolve the issue?
I'm looking to buy a Toshiba Tablet and they only have VGA output, I don't want to lose out on all that screen real estate! Aside from this issue, the TV is gorgeous and fulfills all my other needs.
i have the Sharp LC42XL2E, and connectting it to my PC via DVI->HDMI cable with 1080p resolution works just perfect. In the dot by dot mode you can switch off overscan in 1080p mode and the picture quality is brilliant!
Playing Crysis in FullHD on that one just Rocks!!
I have a 64 series Sharp Aquos display, and it works great.
42" @ $1250 CAD so not a bad deal either. Works on all resolutions, has been used as either primary or secondary.
Just... don't expect to do a whole lot of text.
My Samsung le40f86bd plays very well @1080p with my 8600GTS. Beautiful for MythTV and for browsing the light fantastic from 6 feet.
You might want to look at the new line of LG plasma and LCD displays. They are priced right and look much better than a Sony. They all have PC inputs as well as at least 2 HDMI inputs. They have also done a great job of ramping up the quality of their displays in the last few years, and being the largest producer of flat panel display in the world does not hurt.
I have a 42" Hyundai (yes, hyundai) plasma EDTV connected to my HTPC at 1280 x 720 and the image is sharp and outstanding! Viewing OTA HD is much clearer than any expensive HDTV I have seen. The PDP is by LG and I got it for only $200.
My Westinghouse 1080p 42" LCDhas served very nicely. I'm looking to upgrade to 55+ at some point. Watch out, a lot of TVs don't actually play well with computers. Some have very limited resolution support.
I think LED TVs could the future of picture quality.
It has better response time and contrast compared to LCDs, as well as, being able make finer resolutions compared to Plasma.
But the main problem now for LEDs is it's shorter display life.
If this problem is solved, maybe in the next few year LEDs will take over the TV market.
Sorry to disappoint you guys...
The Sony 46" Bravia XBR.. and I'll tell ya why! The last 10+ years I've been fooling with pc to tv.. trying different software like tvtool and always hoping for better drivers... usually scaling was always the issue. No more with this XBR.. it auto scales any resolution to fit the screen. I'm using dvi/hdmi. Didn't even have the need to use a vga cable. Max res is 1920x1080 ... I was just playing Oblivion at 1920x1080 with everything maxed(8800gt) and it was a thing of beauty. Also The motion enhancer option also really does something to really make the framerates even smoother. Also desktop and internet really are great.. and even if things are too small at 1920x1080 just lower the res.. the tv does the rest of the work. Grab yourself a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and an hdmi/dvi cable kick back on the couch and enjoy!
I recently purchased a Hitachi 50" plazma. it handles the 1080p via hdmi or the vga plug. It's on sale for around 1800 at Circuit City. I got mine for 3000 at christmas. there are other 50" plazmas and lcds at walmart in the same range. what sold me on this one was the swivel base, my lighting varries depending on the time of day and this thing has a power swivel that I can turn it away from the glare spots with the remote control. very handy for gamers like me, nothing sucks worse than a bright glare when you are trying to see details in a dimly lit slasher.
there are lots of companies in the 40 - 50'' segment both LCD & Plasma.It is better to choose full HD with switching response time 3ns, I personally prefer PHILIPS 42" Model 42PFL9532 or 47" Model 47PFL9532. If money is not a problem go for PHILIPS ''AUREA" Model 42PFL9900D
What about using a Black Magic Designs Intensity or Intensity Pro PCI-e Card to provide direct HDMI output from your PC? - http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity