Jake Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 My 50" Panasonic plasma TV is being delivered tomorrow. I'd like to be able to use it as a (PC) gaming monitor for FarCry2 etc but I want it at 1080P not some lower screen resolution that you'd get by using the VGA connection. Am I right in thinking I can use a DVI to HDMI cable if I have the right Graphics Card in my PC? What about audio? How's that going to work? HDMI is audio and video but DVI is just video, isn't it? Also, is my nVidia GeForce 8600 GT card up to the task or will I need to upgrade? (Not sure it's worth spending hundreds on a new GFX card for this) Anyone on here have any experience of this kinda thing? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 I'm using a 42" plasma as a monitor through a DVI connection - in fact Lin's in there now browsing holiday sites on the web. The sound is input into a dedicated PC audio input socket on the TV. My plasmas native resolution is 1024x1024 so the PC runs on it at 1024x768. With the right gfx card I could run it at 1600x1024 or similar to take advantage of the widescreen. What improvement would you achieve running the screen at ????x1080? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted October 26, 2008 Author Share Posted October 26, 2008 What improvement would you achieve running the screen at ????x1080?1920x1080 is the screen's native resolution. With no resizing required things should look perfect. We have a PC at work that uses two 1080p 46" plasmas with the desktop spread over both screens and it works really well. The picture is very sharp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 DVI to HDMI connection is the way forward, the PC will recognise it proporly i use HDMI to HDMI on my vaio mediacenter and the PC is forever not recognising the TV so restarts required etc. your gfx card might be ok, but if you want it to game well in that resolution you will probably need an upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 1920x1080 is the screen's native resolution. With no resizing required things should look perfect. We have a PC at work that uses two 1080p 46" plasmas with the desktop spread over both screens and it works really well. The picture is very sharp.Ah right. Thanks for the explanation. Now to see if I can persuade that Lin we need a new tele. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbasupra Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 i use HDMI to HDMI on my vaio mediacenter and the PC is forever not recognising the TV so restarts required etc. i use HDMI to HDMI aswell however i have had no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelfill Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 I have used DVI to HDMI at full 1080p resolution, however I did notice both on my Sony tele and Steph's parents' Toshiba tele that the VGA input is limited to 1024x768 no problems at all with detection, just showed up as a 2nd monitor, and displayed nicely. I didn't try pushing too hard with the graphics as it's just a laptop. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted October 26, 2008 Author Share Posted October 26, 2008 I did notice both on my Sony tele and Steph's parents' Toshiba tele that the VGA input is limited to 1024x768 Quite. I think they're all like that. Which is why I don't want to use the VGA connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonB Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Quite. I think they're all like that. Which is why I don't want to use the VGA connection. Some are, some aren't. We've got a Samsung LCD at work (one of those Scarlet ones) that we're driving at 1920x1080 through the VGA connector. It looks pretty good actually, but DVI-HDMI is definitely the better way of doing it. On the plasma you just have to be careful not to leave it showing a high contrast static image for too long or you'll get burn in - temporary in most cases but permanent if you left it for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 I used to run 1920x1024 widescreen as a monitor using dvi and it worked well as a pc monitor, that was on lcd technology though. Although plasmas are much better than they were, as Simon says, be careful of screen burn in. DVI-HDMI should be much sharper than vga. I think (not 100%) you run the sound separately i.e. if you've got a separate sound system that's best or maybe a separate external input into the tv can be used (not absolutely sure though, I've never used build in tv sound system). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 VGA Has no limit in screen resolution. DVI and HDMI are ment to be better for less interference, although I cant tell the difference. I would invest in a decent sound card HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl0s Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Also, is my nVidia GeForce 8600 GT card up to the task or will I need to upgrade? (Not sure it's worth spending hundreds on a new GFX card for this) Anyone on here have any experience of this kinda thing? Cheers I have an nVidia GeForce 8600GT and I run 1920x1080 on my monitor, so you should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted October 26, 2008 Author Share Posted October 26, 2008 Cheers Carl, You're using DVI-to-HDMI? And it works well enough? What are you doing about audio? Using a separate feed, as suggested by others above? Any recommendations on HDMI cables? (Ones to avoid/get, where to buy, etc) -------------------- Edit: I just realised you aren't talking about to a TV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Any recommendations on HDMI cables? (Ones to avoid/get, where to buy, etc) Cheapest one you can find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelfill Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 I managed to get hold of a monster 5m HDMI-HDMI cable a while back from Maplin, for a ridiculously low price £5 as they were clearing stock, the quality was fantastic so I would recommend the cable, but not at the retail price coupled to a Monster HDMI-DVI adapter I got from ebay it works a treat. full 1920x1080 on the tv as a second output from the DVI on the laptop to the HDMI on the tv. I have a surround sound amp so the audio went through that, I'm not sure how you would hook it up to the TV directly as HDMI carries audio as well so I wouldn't expect the TV to have an additional input for audio? It's annoying that the TV can obviously cope with the 1920x1080 signal,but won't take it in through the HD15 connector Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl0s Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Cheers Carl, You're using DVI-to-HDMI? And it works well enough? What are you doing about audio? Using a separate feed, as suggested by others above? Any recommendations on HDMI cables? (Ones to avoid/get, where to buy, etc) -------------------- Edit: I just realised you aren't talking about to a TV Yup, I'm using a 26" LCD monitor. I think a DVI to HDMI should do nicely though. In terms of brand etc. I would expect it to be much like a USB cable, in that it pretty much just works if it's got the right label on it, so I wouldn't go spending double money on a gold plated or extra thick one or anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Quality of picture is not related to the quality of the cable. With digital signals the cable makes absolutely no difference so as Michael says go for the cheapest of the cheap. As for the audio i'm not really sure. An all in one solution would be this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1080P-VGA-Audio-to-HDMI-Converter-Adapter-PC-HDTV-HDCP_W0QQitemZ360095972133QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item360095972133&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 But i can't be sure how good it would be. This one looks even better. Can use Digital audio.... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DVI-and-Toslink-or-Coax-SPDIF-Audio-to-HDMI-Converter_W0QQitemZ330273260505QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item330273260505&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl0s Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Oops. I made a booboo. I am actually running at WUXGA (1920 x 1200). So, although technically your graphics card is capable of even higher resolutions than you need, I can't exactly confirm that it supports the exact resolution you want. I'd be quite surprised if it didn't though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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