Testing out HD on my new LCD

[Big A]

Just got into the HD market and want to test out my new screen. I don't have Sky HD or HD DVD player, what is the cheapest and easiest way to test HD on the TV?

Any help would be great.

[pubjoe]

Use your PC. Your TV should have either a VGA or DVI input, so you might need a converter (couple of quid on ebay).

Download some HD demos and check that they play alright on your PC first, if 1080 stuff is juttery, try 720p. If you don't have broadband, buy a couple of DVDs off ebay that someone else has filled with their downloads. Only MAKE SURE you DON'T pay more than a pound or two at most, as anyone charging more than cost for burnt DVDs is really taking the ****!

Better yet, download the BBC planet earth series using bittorrent if you have broadband. I don't think this is dodgy because, as a TV licence payer, you've already paid for it, and the BBC air their HD stuff free for anyone who has the equipment anyway.

Just been watching it on my new set. ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING!

Another fantastic free HD clip is Elephant's Dream - An open source CGi short movie. This looks incredible, rendered in native 1080p, it is about the best example of HD available anywhere. ...Just don't ask what the plot is about!!

P.S. Mediaplayer Classic is the best player to use... search for it on sourceforge.net

[Big A]

Originally Posted by pubjoe

Use your PC. Your TV should have either a VGA or DVI input, so you might need a converter (couple of quid on ebay).

Download some HD demos and check that they play alright on your PC first, if 1080 stuff is juttery, try 720p. If you don't have broadband, buy a couple of DVDs off ebay that someone else has filled with their downloads. Only MAKE SURE you DON'T pay more than a pound or two at most, as anyone charging more than cost for burnt DVDs is really taking the ****!

Better yet, download the BBC planet earth series using bittorrent if you have broadband. I don't think this is dodgy because, as a TV licence payer, you've already paid for it, and the BBC air their HD stuff free for anyone who has the equipment anyway.

Just been watching it on my new set. ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING!

Another fantastic free HD clip is Elephant's Dream - An open source CGi short movie. This looks incredible, rendered in native 1080p, it is about the best example of HD available anywhere. ...Just don't ask what the plot is about!!

P.S. Mediaplayer Classic is the best player to use... search for it on sourceforge.net

Thanks Pubjoe

I have downloaded mediaplayer and the elephants dream the footage is a little jumpy though, is this likely to be becuase my pc is too slow?

I also have some trailers downloaded from Daves Trailor pages, these are .mov but play fine.

My LCD (Samsung LE23R71BX) apprently doesn't have DVI so can i use a DVI-HDMI cable? apprently not all TVs work with these cables. Alternatively i assume it comes with a VGA socket so i could just go VGA to VGA right?

as you can prbably tell, i'm a little confused

[Big A]

Ok, purchased a DVI-HDMI cable and although the Nvidia control centre (GeForce 6600) notices the HDTV (labelled as Samsung) the LCD doesn't show a thing ???!?!

Is there anything i can try? i'm kind of lost

[Oenone]

Originally Posted by pubjoe

Better yet, download the BBC planet earth series using bittorrent if you have broadband. I don't think this is dodgy because, as a TV licence payer, you've already paid for it, and the BBC air their HD stuff free for anyone who has the equipment anyway.

Almost! The problem with bittorent is that you have to distribute as well. The TV licence only covers reception.

If you download it off usenet though then that's OK