"HDTV Ready TV" but no HDMI input? AND what's the best 2.1 speakers for telly?

imeatingchips

Hi

I have a few q's (started out writing this post with only one!) which I hope someone can answer. Any help, info or links would really be appreciated.

1) I just bought this "HDTV Ready" tv :

Hyundai ImageQuest 32" LCD-TV HQL320WR, 16:9, 1366x768, PIP.

- http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=313394

I think I messed up and picked a bad one cos there's no HDMI input on it. Was I ripped or how do I pass in the HD content?

2) I was going to buy some new speakers for the TV too. I live in an open plan apartment so can't have wires running all over the place. I was hoping to get either (I think these my only two options?) :

some virtual surround ones (saw one yamaha one for about 800 squid - but, no can do)

or even some good 2 or 2.1 ones

I would prefer small-ish ones that could fit on the big glass stand I have rather than the big tall floor standing ones. have 200 - 300 to spend on them (might be able to stretch this a tiny bit more)

3) One last question, *should* you hook up half-decent pc speakers to ur telly or is that just stupid?

GrumPy

You connect hd via the VGA connection, dunno bout the speakers though.

YoYOPowder

imeatingchips wrote:

Hi

I have a few q's (started out writing this post with only one!) which I hope someone can answer. Any help, info or links would really be appreciated.

1) I just bought this "HDTV Ready" tv :

Hyundai ImageQuest 32" LCD-TV HQL320WR, 16:9, 1366x768, PIP.

- http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=313394

I think I messed up and picked a bad one cos there's no HDMI input on it. Was I ripped or how do I pass in the HD content?

QUOTE]

I hate to tell you but this was a bad deal and Im not sure how you'll go about changing it. It is not HDTV ready, but they didn't say it was 'HD Ready', to get this you must meet a certain criteria, HDMI or DVI 1366x768 etc. they said it was 'HDTV Ready' and I guess that could mean anything. I'd be furious and demanding my money back. The specs are pretty poor 23ms response is bad and vital to LCD's and a good PQ, brightness is not that great and it's not an SPVA panel. I emailed Komplett before about them saying things were HD Ready, needless to say I got no reply. If you are within one month try get it swapped out or exchanged, there are much better options at similar money!!

imeatingchips

I don't have any hdtv things yet (was going to get the ps3 when it comes out) but do u reckon it'd with a vga output or do any other hdtv devices out at the mo come with that output?

If so, then i spose it's not TOO bad.

imeatingchips

Damn, was afraid that was the case. Wish I had've asked here first!!!

Thanks for the info, YoYo.

brav

Well I think it is HDTV ready, it has 2 forms of hdtv input, the vga and component. I assume the component is the hdtv not the video, and 2 stereo.

1 x VGA input ( 15 PIN HD D-Sub (HD-15) )

1 x component video input ( RCA phono x 3 )

plus res of 1366 x 768 is def HD

YoYOPowder

brav wrote:

Well I think it is HDTV ready, it has 2 forms of hdtv input, the vga and component. I assume the component is the hdtv not the video, and 2 stereo.

1 x VGA input ( 15 PIN HD D-Sub (HD-15) )

1 x component video input ( RCA phono x 3 )

plus res of 1366 x 768 is def HD

Well if you mean he will get a picture from a HD source, well if it has those outputs, yeah, but you will notice inferior picture, hence the reasoning why these dont meet the 'HD Ready' specifications. Which I think in essence is what he is talking about.

GrumPy

Connect a 360 to it and set it to 720p, or 1080i, if it displays, and looks great, well then it's hd

Smoggy

sneaky , calling things HDTV ready .. way to close to HD Ready and easy to get confused to the untrained eye!

big_moe

that tv is whats known as HD Compatable, HD ready means HDMI. u can connect component and get 720p. panasonic has a home cinema system with wireless rear speakers if thats any use.. other wise any basic sony or panasonic dvd homecinema will do the trick sound wise!

imeatingchips

Irish GrumPy wrote:

Connect a 360 to it and set it to 720p, or 1080i, if it displays, and looks great, well then it's hd

right, according to wikipedia 720p is 1280 x 720
and 1080i is 1920 x 1080.

So id have to shoose 720p as this tv can do 1366 x 768? is there a name (like 720p) for 1366 x 768 or is it an odd resolution for a tv to come in?

imeatingchips

big_moe wrote:

...u can connect component and get 720p...

I always thought scart was the best around (i.e. before hdmi came out)!

So I'd defo be better off using composite wires (that's the red, white and yellow wires)?

brav

imeatingchips wrote:

So id have to shoose 720p as this tv can do 1366 x 768? is there a name (like 720p) for 1366 x 768 or is it an odd resolution for a tv to come in?

If you do connect a 360 to it using a vga cable, the highest display option you can choose in the options on the 360 is 1366x768, so it will look great.

imeatingchips wrote:

So I'd defo be better off using composite wires (that's the red, white and yellow wires)?

no, the ones I thinkyour thinking about are the red/white for stereo, and yellow for video.
Scart is better than these esp with RGB.

The components are often red, green and blue wires and carry the signals seperate for better quality, but not as good as hdmi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component_Video

big_moe

i know it can get confusing because composite and component sound very similar.

component can carry high def at 720p. composite is crap in comparison. its even worse than scart. scart is great for video machines/crap dvd players etc.. a decent dvd player should have component connections, use them.

also u have to tell the dvd player to output progressive (the p in 720p means progressive) via the component in the menu, otherwise it will output interlaced (565i means interlaced) picture.

if u get a really decent dvd player it will have hdmi, then use that (if u can, which u cant with that tv)

if u go into this issue too much you are gonna drive yourself crazy... look for a tv with 2X HDMI, component and a few scarts (with rbg thru the scarts) and your sorted..

i swear by panasonic so my view is a little biased but the new panny lcds are excellent for the money.

moe

imeatingchips

yeah, it's a bit confusing alright! Thanks for your replies - they gave me a starting point for looking things up on the oul interweb. Think I have a fair idea now of what the craic is with it all.

thanks again.

PixelTrawler

you can view 1080i through component too...

afterall the 360 has no hdmi interface... its only HD output cable is the component cable or high res through the vga cable...

but... the issue is HDCP... ( do you have a dvi port? ) which is only works through the HDMI / DVI port... but thats not kicking in til 2010 apart from windows vista. The short story here is if you connect a player to the tv and your tv doesnt support HDCP the picture will be downsized to a low res - even if the tv can do HD

read more here

also when tvs are advertised as having 1366 x 768 this is just their native res... they can still do 720p and 1080i just fine... normally

Sparky

You will get HD alright, but its all in analog Y/Pb/Br.
If in any case this would be considered an old method of getting HD as everything is moving towards digital (DVI-HDMI)