Sharp Aquos LC-32GP1U - UK launch?

USS_Enterprise

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I've been looking for a Decent HDTV that's not too big for PC Use(gaming and general web browsing and the like.) and watching Mainly SD signals, but probably to be used for HD signals after a while.

So, I came across the Sharp Aquos LC-32GP1U. It seems to meet all my requirements. 1920x1080 panel resolution, dedicated DVI Port(I think this supports a 1080p signal, not sure what refresh rate it gives though), and plenty of inputs. Problem is, It doesn't seem to be launched in the UK yet, does anyone have any details on if and when it's getting launched over here?

Also, does anyone have any advice about wither it's suitable in the first place, or any alternatives if it's not launched in the UK at all. :eek:
 
I asked Sharp UK about it when it launched in the US. They have no plans at all to bring this model to the UK & said they weren't even aware of Sharp 32" TVs with 1920x1080.

Not a great loss though - this set seems to suffer a lot of the cloudy screen & vertical banding issues. More info over on the avsforum if you are still interested.
 
Ah, that's somewhat annoying. :( I know this is going a bit beyond the scope of my title, but can anyone suggest a decent 32" HDTV with a native resolution of 1920x1080p? Seeing as I'm using this as PC monitor I feel that it's worth it.
 
can anyone suggest a decent 32" HDTV with a native resolution of 1920x1080p?

I don't think that there is one in the UK market. Choices are:
  • 37" if you want a TV with 1920x1080
  • 26" or 32" TV with 1366x768
  • 24"-27" proper computer monitor (which will be 16:10 1920x1200)
  • 30" monitor at 2560x1600
 
Hmm, I'm reluctant to go for a 37" because it might be too big for PC use when I'm only sat a few feet away. Would this be a problem?

Also I don't want to go for a 30" PC monitor because I wanted to use it as a TV as well as a monitor. :confused:
 
Pixels per square inch by screen size & res:

16:9 HDTV

32"
1366x768 - 2399
1920x1080 - 4742

37"
1024x720 - 1261 (for plasma, rectangular pixels)
1920x1080 - 3547

40"
1366x768 - 1535
1920x1080 - 3035

42"
1024x768 - 1044 (for plasma, rectangular pixels)
1920x1080 - 2753​
16:10 Monitors

24"
1920x1200 - 8900

25.5"
1920x1200 - 7883

30"
2560x1600 - 10126​

4:3 TV & Monitor

20" (viewable on 21" CRT)
720x576 - 2158
1280x960 - 6642
1600x1200 - 9993
2048x1536 - 17004​


Right now I sit approx. 0.5m from my 21" CRT. The minimum res I find comfortable is 1280x960. When I'm working or browsing I prefer 1600x1200. With an LCD screen I could double my view distance to 1m & for that I think the 1080p 37" would just about be viable, but only for playing games.

A handful of PC monitors have composite, s-video or component inputs so you can hook up a freeview/satellite box etc. However the monitors that let you do this tend to suck at scaling and deinterlacing i.e. expect the TV image to be fairly low quality.
 
So that means that getting an all round screen for PC gaming, Web Browsing and (HD)TV isn't much of an option. What if I got a 30" PC LCD, and ran my TV stuff though the PC? That way the PC would do all the scaleing/deinterlaceing. Could that work?
 
Unfortunately the way things are you do have to accept at least one significant compromise...

You may find you can use a 37" just fine for everything! If not you could get a cheap 19"-22" 2nd monitor just for browsing, using Word etc. There is a lot of subjective personal preference involved here.

If you are not overly concerned about input lag check out the Dell 2707WFP & the Samsung 275T (personally I ruled out these screens due to 40ms+ reported input lag) Some more info about lag here:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=612503

re: 30" 2560x1600 - it is possible to have the PC do the scaling of TV/film but it is a lot of scaling to do & the image quality will suffer as a result.

The 30" monitors only support 1280x800 or 2560x1600. Nvidia graphics card drivers will let you scale games. For example you play the game rendering at 1680x1050, but the graphics card can scale this up & output 2560x1600 which the monitor can use. (This is not the same as rendering the game in 2560x1200)

N.B. Scaling games in the Nvidia drivers doesn't take away much performance & the image quality is actually pretty good.

Also note that you cannot connect games consoles direct to these 2560x1600 monitors. You could go through a video capture card in the PC, but the lag makes it pointless!

Hardforum is the best place for info & discussion on monitors:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1017391
http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=78
 
Would the PC doing the image processing really cause that much lag?

For refrence my system spec is:

Core 2 Duo E6600 CPU
2GB 800MHz DDR2 RAM
GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB

How much lag would running SDTV/HDTV/game consoles though a capture card, then my PC and out into say a 2560x1600 monitor actually cause?
 
I don't know the specific numbers for lag via capture card (sorry) It would probably vary with make & model etc

However the issue is not the speed of the PC - it's the capture card & the method of getting from the console to the screen.

I believe part (all?) of the problem is that there are multiple frame buffers in the whole chain: console, capture card, gfx card and monitor

Have a search on hardforum for more accurate info about this
 
Okay, I'll search Hardforum.

Oh, I'm not exacly an expert in this, So forgive me if I'm completely wrong about this. But what about useing a hardware upscaler and running my consoles/Satalite and comptuer though it and pluging that into the TV?
 
Scalers have been looked into extensively as well!

They will always add at least a little lag, but some scalers have game modes & are helpful particularly if you want to run very old low res games on some HDTVs:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=558125

The usefulness depends on the exact combination of TV, scaler & game.

Generally though you want as little image processing & as few frame buffers as you can get away with, so if you're starting with modern consoles (PS3 & 360) you can already run 720p & 1080p so the external scaler is pointless!


Forget external scalers going to 2560x1600 - they don't do this at all! Gefen are maybe going to make one, but don't expect good image quality from it. The cheap Gefen scalers are similar in quality to the internal scalers that come with mid range TVs
 
Well, the only current gen console I do have is a Wii, and that only displays at 480i. Most of my gaming is done on my PC. So it just outputs at some res and gets upscaled my my video card like you said. And a second or so lag on TV shouldn't matter so much...
 
Get the Wii component cable & it will output 480p. It won't be a problem.

To get the lag issue in perspective: an average lag of 40ms-50ms (most TVs) is going to go unnoticed most of the time for a lot of people. Though quite a few people complain about 16m-33ms monitors

It's just some people are more aware of the issue, and if you are also having to contend with online game lag as well it can become critical.
 
Well, The Dell 3007 WFP for example has a responce time of 8ms. So PC gameing just stright from my PC to my monitor should be pretty snappy, and I can use my PC to play DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-Ray content. And lag is pretty much a non-issue for Satalite TV, Not being interactive and all.

The only Problem is the 480p signal from my Wii. Well, I can play it just fine on my 26" CRT TV right now. So could going though a capture card though my PC and out via my graphics card really cause more than 40ms of lag? I know that it all depends on the capture card I use, but in general could it lag that much?
 
PC gameing just stright from my PC to my monitor should be pretty snappy, and I can use my PC to play DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-Ray content. And lag is pretty much a non-issue for Satalite TV, Not being interactive and all.

Yes!

One extra warning if you use specifically Nvidia 8800GTX or 8800GTS - they only support HDCP on single link DVI (up to 1920x1200) Remembering that the 3007WFP will only accept 1280x800 or 2560x1600, you would be stuck with 1280x800 for HDCP protected BluRay/HD-DVD. The driver scaling upto 2560x1200 won't work in this case because it is a dual link resolution (the extra 12 pins on the dvi connector, not a 2nd cable as people often wrongly think) & the HDCP content won't pass.
This is a mess up by Nvidia & doesn't affect other dual link gfx cards

If you want 2560x1600 with HDCP check the list below for suitable gfx cards shown in bright green:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1071342


So could going though a capture card though my PC and out via my graphics card really cause more than 40ms of lag? I know that it all depends on the capture card I use, but in general could it lag that much?

Yes - if each part of the video component chain is using only a single frame buffer that is 4 frames delay:
At 60Hz 1 frame = 16.7ms, x4 = 66.8ms
At 50Hz 1 frame = 20ms, x4 = 80ms

You need v-sync switched on between the gfx card & monitor, so add another frame delay for that. And I think the capture cards actually require at least 2-3 frames in which to operate, bringing the total to 6-7 frames delay i.e. 100ms-140ms. Over 1/10s! Anybody will find that a problem
 
Id really recommend a 37" 1080P native HDTV if possible, my friend bought one for the same purposes as yourself. Its gorgeous for using as a PC monitor, the size is spot on. Games look SUPERB id highly recommend one. Dont go messing around with PC inputs it just isnt worth it!

I went for a more expensive route and got a Television AND a high end monitor for my pc. Im personally using a 30" Dell 3007WFP ( 2560 x 1600 res ) and a 32" HDTV ( 1366 x 768 res ) and i can definately say 1366 x 768 wouldnt be sufficient for me if it was a primary monitor. However i also have my dell ;)

My tv and monitor are both hooked up to my pc but i mainly use my tv for games and some films.
 
Okay, would a 37" at 1920x1080 be sutible for web brosweing and such?
If the lag would be too much just routing my Wii though my PC would cause too much problem.

And as for HDCP, well I plan to use Linux so I don't think that HDCP will be a problem.
 
Okay, would a 37" at 1920x1080 be sutible for web brosweing and such?

It will definitely work. You would probably want to adjust the brightness & contrast down & then see if it is comfortable at your normal viewing distance.

Only you can say if it works well enough for you to live with.

Maybe go to John Lewis or somewhere like that & get them to set up a laptop to one of the TVs for you to try it out
 
Hmm, Okay then. For now at least... 37" 1080p HDTV it is. Probably cheaper than a 30" LCD at 2560x1600 anyway. :)

I know that this is going far, far beyond the original scope of this thread. But does anyone have some starting suggestions for a good 1080p 37" HDTV? Please note that my budget isn't very high, so as cheap as possible would be nice. And DVI inputs would be a plus although I could deal with a DVI -> HDMI cable.

Thanks again for all your help everyone. :clap:
 

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