Watching on computer. Should I get a HD FTA receiver?

[d55266]

Hi,

I'm thinking of getting a new receiver to replace my Coolsat 5000. Sonicview 8000 and Viewsat 9000 come to mind as the top of the line receivers.

The thing is that I use PC monitor to watch TV. It's a 22 inch with DVI input. I hook up my Coolsat to PC via a TV tuner card.

Does anyone have experience with hooking up HD receiver to large PC monitor? I know I need to either find a better TV card or find a receiver that has DVI output. My question is: is it worth it or is it a waste to use HD receiver on PC monitor?

Any input is greatly appreciate. Thanks in advance.

Peter.

 

[USDownlink]

Should I get a HD FTA receiver?

I'm thinking of getting a new receiver to replace my Coolsat 5000. Sonicview 8000 and Viewsat 9000 come to mind as the top of the line receivers.

...

My question is: is it worth it or is it a waste to use HD receiver on PC monitor?

Well, that depends on several considerations you didn't include. Would it bother you if images might be distorted by the PC-to-monitor path?

As it stands, there remains an underwhelming number of feeds in HD. In order to determine if an HD receiver would be superior to your current one, it would be helpful to know what additional you hope to receive. Those with HD receivers can tell you if it is common enough to warrant the expense.

Let's start with that. There are other issues here, most apparent of which is that many of us would disagree that Sonicview and Viewsat make a "top of the line" receiver. I would like to hear why you believe these are good receivers, as Viewsats typically have horrible blind scan capabilities.

 

[Radioguy41]

One other thing you didn't mention was the resolution of your monitor. Is it fully compatible with true HD (1080i/p)? HD comes in two resolutions, 720 and 1080i/p. 22 inch LCD's are 1680x1050 which is not capable of HD. A 17-19 inch LCD can do 720 (1280 pixels wide) and a 24 inch can do true HD at 1080p (1920 pixels wide), but not the 22 inch.

 

[Agonizing Fury]

One other thing you didn't mention was the resolution of your monitor. Is it fully compatible with true HD (1080i/p)? HD comes in two resolutions, 720 and 1080i/p. 22 inch LCD's are 1680x1050 which is not capable of HD. A 17-19 inch LCD can do 720 (1280 pixels wide) and a 24 inch can do true HD at 1080p (1920 pixels wide), but not the 22 inch.

1680x1050 is definately capable of HD resolutions, this is beyond the resolution required for 720p which is considered an HD resolution. What you should be aware of is that computer monitors are generally 16:10 aspect ratio, whereas an HD Tv is usally 16:9.

 

[Radioguy41]

720i/p is 1280x720 so on a 1680x1050 (22 inch) screen there are more pixels on the screen than in the signal therefore the picture will have to be filled and stretched to fit the screen resulting in less than true HD.

A 19 inch monitor is 1280x1024 and is fully capable of displaying a 1280x720 signal with no alterations.

1080i/p is 1920x1080 so on a 1680x1050 (22 inch) screen there are less pixels on the screen than in the signal therefore the picture will have to be compressed to fit the screen resulting in less than true HD.

A 24 inch monitor is 1920x1200 and is fully capable of displaying a 1920x1080 signal with no alterations.

The advs you see for the 22 inch monitor claim they can display HD and that is true, except they are not displaying it in full true HD, they're fudging the signal to fit the screen. In effect, they are displaying an HD signal, just not in full HD.

 

[Tron]

I use a 22 inch Samsung (220WM) to view my PC's HD output via DVI. 1080 looks very good, and on a monitor that size, I doubt that there is a visible difference between having the full 1080 vertical resolution and the scaled-down <1050 vertical resolution (<1050 due to the 16:10 ratio). However, I'm still on the lookout for good prices on a 24" in order to get a pixel-for-pixel display.

It should also be noted that most smaller LCD HDTVs (sub-32") have a 1280 x 720 native panel, unfortunately...

 

[d55266]

Wow, I really like this forum - so active and full of helpful persons. Thanks guys for your input.

The first thing I need to find out is whether it's possible to connect the HD receivers to monitor directly? Do they provide this kind of output? Or do I have to spend money to get a tv card that support HD to connect them together?

Let's say that I'll get a 24 inch monitor. Would the picture quality be that great, considering that I'd need to hook up via one of the above solutions?

I thought Sonicview 8000 and Viewsat 9000 were great because they are the latest models from those brands. What other models that you have in mind that can top these?

Thanks,
Peter.

 

[Tron]

Some of the newer 24" PC displays have HDMI, and if they still use DVI, you can use a DVI-HDMI adapter or cable. DVI, however, will not support audio (you'd have to hook the audio up separately).