HDTV for GT4

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well to be honest, it is basically a timeline styled graph. Yes some of the relevence is innane, like who would use a coax for there video game system... well lets see... people who don't have a good tv... kids that get stuck with their parents old bedroom tv for there game room... maybe even the guy who hides in his garage to get away from his wife.

Sure none of these people have much of a choice, which is why I had to put up the graph. Sure this may force them to consider saving and extra few bucks, maybe for a new tv.

or lets just say, you have a good tv but it only has one set of inputs, and you have a vcr and a game system or a dvd, and you knowingly want to connect them to the compsite input on the tv, but to save yourself $15, you connect the game or dvd player to the vcr which already uses those ports, instead of buying an A/B switch.

I'm sure nobody here, at least in this thread, is one of the unlucky 60% of the world that doesn't have a HDTV, but yet I just include them for the fact it only takes me a couple of minutes to give an idea to them, that and I tend to be long winded an over do things.

BUT, I will continue to give advice on connections, if anyone needs it, and I will attempt to help troubleshoot anyones setup issues.

I can remeber a time when I searched and searched for an answer all over the internet and couldn't find it because I was a statistic that was not supported, Then I asked someone on a message board, pertaining somewhat to my question, and within 2 days I had the answer to my problem, and it saved me $650. not too shabby.
 
the Interceptor
Sorry mate, I've read all your posts but I don't really get what you're on about. :dunce:
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To be honest, If youwere going to a store to buy an HDTV, you could probably just print out my posts, and by looking at the box or a website the has info on the tv's, probably make an educated decision on buying a tv to fit your needs... sure just buying the most expensive one should probably do just fine, But If I spend that much on anything, I prefer it to be able to make left turns.
 
What I don't understand is this:
wonderpill
here is a quick map to help you understand:

|source| + |1| + |2| + |3| + |4| + |5| = |picture on screen|

1= RF connection (standard Coax)
2= Composite connection (Red,White & Yellow Cables)
3= S-video connection (that funny looking plug {requires audio connection too})
4= Component Video (RED, Blue & Green {also requires separate audio})
4= VGA or RGB type Video (requires encoder and audio)
5= DVI/HDMI connection (dvi Requires separate audio, HDMI includes it.)
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I see this as kind of a map which connection is the worst (1) and which is best (5). But you seem to add them all and you say that the PS2s signal has to go through all of these steps to become a picture on your screen. How does that work?
wonderpill
So if you have an RF connection, it has to go in 1 then 2 then 3 then 4 then 5 then the picture generates, shortcutting to the generator provides the least amount of signal degredation.
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If you have an RF connection, the signal has to go through composite, S-video, component and VGA / RGB?

Sorry, I don't get it! Maybe I'm too stupid for this, but could you explain that again? :guilty:

Cheers,
the Interceptor
 
ok look at it this way... Horsepower loss... I will explain it in car terms...

The power at your wheels is going to be alot less due to transitions of power and friction. the more parts in between the source and the end are the reasons for the problem.

If you look at the signal as 400 bhp at the crank, you will lose power from mechanical things, assume the engine works 100% efficiency, you are guaranteed to lose power in the transmission, in the gears, in the axle, in the wheels and in the tires... and probably end up with around 280 hp at the ground.

Removing some of these parts and driving the wheels directly from the crank you would still have around 380 hp.

HD signals in there nature are meant to be transfered through the least amount of connections, if you use something lower on the graph, like coax or composite, Those signals have to go through a bunch of different connections... I guess you can look at it as math.

these are made up numbers for bandwidth:

Coax = 59 bits
Composite= 127 bits
S-Video= 479 bits
Component =1600 bits
HDMI/DVI= 1800 bits

for coax to meet the standards for upconversion it must be multiplied to reach 480, that is ~8X multiplication. at the same time you multiply the good you multiply the bad.

same goes for all the others below 480, s-video is close enough not to need multiplication.

The other BIG factor which I stupidly forgot to mention, is the fact that all of the signals below Component are considered ANALOG signals, which must be converted to digital. Think of it as taking a digital picture of the the best analog connection with a camera, and then that is what you see. you actually can prove this by doing exactly that, take your digital camera and take a picture of your tv screen. those wierd lines and things are your true resolution. doing this with an lcd tv will show you NO SCANLINES, but may show you the flaws in the depth of field... but blah blah blah...

If you need me to keep explaining, I'm sure I can find something else that you can refer to as a comparison, but more likely, if you don't get it by now, you will need someone to physically show you.
 
Nonono, that part was clear from the beginning on. What I don't understand is when I connect my Playstation by RF, why does the signal go through composite, S-video, component and RGB/VGA? Those connection types have nothing to do with RF, so why mention them?

I do understand the issue in terms of quality you lose from the source to the screen when using a specific type of connection. But I don't think it's like a chain where the signal passes all the superior types of connections when you use the worst one. That is what I don't understand.

Cheers,
the Interceptor
 
Think of it as a hallway with many doors, coax is really far away, and has to go through all of those door to get to the picture, where component only has to go through a couple, remembers the scene in alice in wonderland where she keeps opening the doors to find out the one she needs to go through is way too small, If she had just been the right size to start with there only would have been one door.


Sorry... all the parts the signal goes are required to create a picture, and using the the better connection eliminates work that the tv must do and puts the burden on the source.
 
i was looking at the different diret view CRT tvs that arou available and noticed that they all support 1920x1080 resolution.. would it be possible to connect these to a computer and use them as a primary monitor?? ofcourse i wouldnt sit right infront of it but a few feet away.

Lev
 
Yes and no, If the video card you have supports dvi, and the tv you get supports it too, then sure. But any other way, using it as your primary... not a good idea, actually some have a vga connector on them to do just that, but anything less than those 2 options will not look clear enough to read text.
 
Well, the DVI thing is definatly a nice perk, But Since my TV didnt have a DVI IN I decided to use S-Video to make my TV my computer monitor, worked out fairly well, Depending on the TV though Text could be hard to read.
 
Okay question.. does the game display all menus in widescreen as well as the gameplay? In GT3, only in-game was widescreen supported..

Thanks,

Jay
 
WRX02Slowness
Okay question.. does the game display all menus in widescreen as well as the gameplay? In GT3, only in-game was widescreen supported..
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Yes and no. Only ingame is 480p/1080i, everything else it 480i. But if you set the display to 16:9 in display options, and set the TV to full/zoom/whatever they call it, then yes everything will be 16:9.
 
Well, this has certainly been a learning experience. A lot of useful info here.

Those of you looking for the Vdigi converter there is one up for bid on ebay right now: Vdigi VD-Z3
 
To elaborate on wonderpill's explaination...

Analog video is made up of Red, Green, and Blue channels, and also horizontal and vertical sync, also known as RGBHV.

RF = all signals going down one pipe, video and audio etc.

Composite = All video squished into one signal

S-Video = Luminence(black and white) and Chromanence(color) channels separated

Component = Red, Green, and Blue color separated, with sync on green

DVI and HDMI are all digital signals, where like wonderpill said, HDMI includes audio, DVI does not.
 
Gravity
Component = Red, Green, and Blue color separated, with sync on green
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If I may interrupt...

That's RGB, Component is 1x brigtness and 2x colour difference

Cheers,
the Interceptor
 
I've read all seven pages of this thread, but I'm still not quite sure if my LCD is suitable as a HDTV. I'm not quite up-to-date with HDTV yet.

I have a 19" Dell 1901FP LCD with DVI and VGA inputs. The max resolution is 1280x1024, min is 800x600. More monitor specs here.

Can I connect my PS2 to my LCD with a VDigi VD-Z3 VGA trancoder at 480p (if I've read right) and get better results than if I were just running it through a regular TV? Is there a way to take advantage of the DVI input?

Per a post on the VDigi forums, if my lowest resolution is 800x600, "the resolution will be force from 640 x 480 to 800x600". Is this bad?
 
can anyone gives suggestions for my to buy a TV?

i'm looking at prob less than CAD$1000 and around 27" - 32"
so far i only found one 26" that support 1080i... all others are either 480i only or way too big and expensive....

are there any tv that supports 480p but not 1080i (i assume that would be cheaper if such TV exists..)

Thanks so much!
 
I got a Olevia 27" from amazon for $999. After looking for a long time thats what i decided to get because lcd's last alot longer then any thing else, won't burn and the picture quality is still top knotch. If you want to go big get a projector. http://www.projectorcentral.com/

I'm gonna get the ps2 component video cable tonight to see if 1080i works. Hopefully a shop over here has one.

A good forum to check out is http://www.avsforum.com/
Also check amazon for reviews... www.amazon.com
 
I found out my monitor doesn't support 480i and have a vd-z3 I'm trying to use with gt4. Is there any way to run 480i on a tv for in-game menus and then switch to 480p by moving the component cable over to the vd-z3 connection on my monitor for the races?
 
k, i got a composite cable. and it runs fine. the 480p is working great in the menus. then when i join a race and it switches over to 1080i. i get a border around the game like 1 inch of black. and the screen has a slight but not bad shake to it. any clues?
 
i just turned on my playstatiion and set it back on 480P since im having troubles with hdtv. but on 480p there is about an inch of black on the bottom, left and right.
 
I think we all get the same thing on 1080i or any other mode for that matter, the game doesnt fill up the screen completely we all get the little border around the screen.
 
gannee2001
I found out my monitor doesn't support 480i and have a vd-z3 I'm trying to use with gt4. Is there any way to run 480i on a tv for in-game menus and then switch to 480p by moving the component cable over to the vd-z3 connection on my monitor for the races?
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No monitor supports 480i.

You should be OK if you get a Sony PlayStation 2 AV Adaptor and run the composite or S-Video connections out to a PSone LCD screen or TV or whatever, and plug your component cable into the Sony-type AV out and then off to your monitor.

Alternatively you can get a Redant VGA adaptor and use the Sony-type AV out to loop your component-to-VGA connection and flick the bypass switch to go from 480i to 480p or 1080i.
 
Mcklein
I think we all get the same thing on 1080i or any other mode for that matter, the game doesnt fill up the screen completely we all get the little border around the screen.
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do you get a slight shake when your running it on 1080i mode?
 
What do you mean no monitors support 480i? My HDTV will easily support 480i, 480p, and 1080i with each of the three sets of YPrPb jacks. It automatically switches when the signal changes. I have a Mitsubishi HDTV.

Also, I get a full picture in 1080i. No black borders of any sort. Also, no shaking, other than the minor interlacing effect.
 
Neurotik18
What do you mean no monitors support 480i? My HDTV will easily support 480i, 480p, and 1080i with each of the three sets of YPrPb jacks. It automatically switches when the signal changes. I have a Mitsubishi HDTV.

Also, I get a full picture in 1080i. No black borders of any sort. Also, no shaking, other than the minor interlacing effect.
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We are talking about a computer monitor combined with a component to VGA adaptor. If you know a computer monitor that supports 480i feel free to tell us. :dopey:
 
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