Are there any cheap HD monitors focr computers yet ?

discostewart

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I was about to buy the £200 19 ich Acer monitor from Amazon, when i came across an article that said that even if u buy an internal b;u-ray / hd drive when they come out you will not be able to view HD on most monitors currently available. Assuming this is ture I have aa question for the techies on here...

A) Are there any hd monitors currently availanle for a reasonable price? It is for my computer so Im not really bothered about these £900 LCD TV ones. If they are not available how long till they come out at a cheap @ £200ish price.

b) Is it worth waiting really or will the aforementioned Acer do me just fine? I do have 24mb broadband so i could in theory download hd stuff.
 
discostewart said:
........Im not really bothered about these £900 LCD TV ones. If they are not available how long till they come out at a cheap @ £200ish price.
QUOTE]

a year or 2 i wud guess
 
Dunno the answer to your main Q, but DABS have the cheap ACERs at even cheaper than £200 (~£180)

(I have a 2 year old 19" ACER 1911, and its still lovely today)
 
Dell are apparently just about to introduce an HDCP compliant DVI/HDMI display (not sure which) in the US for this very reason.
 
do you think it makes much difference or should i just stick with a normal monitor?

the only reason i was considering it is people keep telling me with 24mb broabdband that i could tream hi def channels
 
In order to watch Blu Ray and HD DVD Video/Movies on an LCD TV or Monitor you need to have 2 things.

One is having a digital conection such as DVI-D or HDMI.

And the other thing is that these conections need to support "HDCP".

The same way new Plasmas and LCDs have HDMI with HDCP, Monitors will need to have the same conections in order to be able to watch movies.

That doesnt mean you cant use Blu Ray and HD DVD drives completely though. You could still use them for data. Just not Video.

Current PC monitors only have DVI-D and DVI-I. None that I have seen support HDCP.

To stream HDTV you wont need HDCP as it will use analog conections such as Component. Also most HDTV material isnt encrypted with HDCP. Still not sure what way the UK will go with encryption, but you can bet anything that comes out in the form of HD DVD and Blu Ray will be.
 
I have had a 1600x1200 LCD with DVI on my Dell for the last 2 or 3 years, which is great, but not quite HD. At the time, they were selling a laptop with a higher resolution, but there haven't been desktop panels available in the same res. I read that there was some EU regulationb that made such high resolutions illegal (go figure!).

I've had a quick look, but can't find anything, but I'm pretty sure that it was a no go area for monitor manufacturers.

Now it looks different:

http://www.benq-eu.com/Products/LCD/index.cfm?product=435
 
thankyou everyone

if i am reading this right then i will be able to dwonload and watch streamed hd stuff (probably) it is just the bought stuff that is encoded iwont be able to use. so in theory i could download hd stuff fom a streamed tv site then save it to disk and watch on a blu rayplayer on my home entertainment system?
 
stevebrowne said:
I have had a 1600x1200 LCD with DVI on my Dell for the last 2 or 3 years, which is great, but not quite HD.

It is more than HD. A 1280x1024 4:3 display is sufficient to display the full resolution of a 1280x720 (aka 720p) HD source - such as ABC and Fox broadcast in the US!

1600x1200 is greater than this - so exceeds the basic HD requirements.

At the time, they were selling a laptop with a higher resolution, but there haven't been desktop panels available in the same res. I read that there was some EU regulationb that made such high resolutions illegal (go figure!).

I've had a quick look, but can't find anything, but I'm pretty sure that it was a no go area for monitor manufacturers.

Now it looks different:

http://www.benq-eu.com/Products/LCD/index.cfm?product=435

Dell certainly sell LCD panels similar to those that Apple use for their Cinema displays (though for less money, and with more inputs, though less stylishly packaged)

They do a 1600x1050ish 16:9 20" display and a significantly higher-res 24" display.
 
discostewart said:
do you think it makes much difference or should i just stick with a normal monitor?

the only reason i was considering it is people keep telling me with 24mb broabdband that i could tream hi def channels

You don't need HDCP to watch downloaded HD content - though this is of dubious legality.

You WILL need HDCP if you want to watch HD-DVD or BluRay on your PC - though this will also require an HDCP equipped video card.

Also - whilst 24Mbs sustained is enough for HD streaming - most ADSL/ADSL2 products sold are contended. This may mean you don't get a full 24Mbs continuously - and may get significantly less if you are sharing bandwith with others.
 

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