32ins LCD Test & Xbox 360

[admin_exported]

I was reading the supertest of the 32in LCD TV's & noticed several will accept a 1080p signal at 24fps. I am in a small room so the largest size I can go to is 32in but want 1080p for films & playing on the Xbox 360. Will these TV's with the ability to accept 1080p/24fps signals, accept a 1080p signal from a 360 without any issues.

Currently there is only 1 true 1080p 32in TV on the market, the Sharp Aquos with prices ranging from £750 up though my budget won't stretch this far.

Can anyone help??

 

[Clare Newsome]

If you're willing to wait a month, true 1080p/24fps 32in sets due
from a host of big names from March, which means prices will start to
come down (and judging by Sharp's recent form, I wouldn't suggest
splurging on that Aquos anyway).
First up will be Samsung - due to be bringing in the first of its new sets to us next week, so expect a review shortly...

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

XBOX 360 gives a 720p signal I thought?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks a lot Clare, good to hear that other manufacturers are finally bringing in smaller size full 1080p sets & thanks for the advice on the Sharp. I will keep an eye out for the reviews in the mag.

 

[Anonymous]

I am currently using the 360 on 720p but quite a few friends have upgraded to full 1080p via HDMI & have noticed quite a big improvement, hence the reason for looking to change.

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

So can the 360 output 1080p?

 

[professorhat]

Absolutely. I think on the older machines (before HDMI), this had to be done using the VGA connection lead. Obviously those lucky enough to have an HDMI XBox can use this.

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

I have a new Arcade version, 175 power brick, new benq drive (still too loud) and a HDMI port.

I thought the 360 was only 720p and the PS3 could do 1080p right?

 

[NigelF]

Hi Clare,

This is a fantastic news as I am still holding back on buying LE46F86 so if Samsung will be launching new sets pretty soon then I will wait for reviews of new sets. Any idea on model number sizes? etc. I am particularly interested in 46 or 52 inch and want the absolutely best to splash my savings.

With reference to your earlier comment, were u able to get any details from Panasonic on the availability of new models?

 

[Anonymous]

The Elite, Arcade & newer Premium's have 1080p output via HDMI. The older machines have 1080p output (this was included in a system update a while back, though you can only get this via VGA or Component hook up to a 1080p TV or monitor

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

Thanks for that. In that case i must be remembering reading that nearly all 360 games are 720p and that most software companies will not aorry about releasing 1080p games....

 

[Clare Newsome]

[quote user="NigelF"]
Hi Clare,

This is a fantastic news as I am still holding back on buying LE46F86 so if Samsung will be launching new sets pretty soon then I will wait for reviews of new sets. Any idea on model number sizes? etc. I am particularly interested in 46 or 52 inch and want the absolutely best to splash my savings.

With reference to your earlier comment, were u able to get any details from Panasonic on the availability of new models?

[/quote]

More details of Samsung 2008 ranges here .

Panasonic details still officially embargoed until March 1st (when we'll have all the info up here), but there is a preview here (though European models do differ - I can confirm there are 37in plasmas, for example) and news of some UK-specific Freesat sets here.

We're also working on a 'who's doing what, when' guide to the year's TVs for our May issue, out April 3rd, by which time we will have seen some of the new models and have a much better idea of real-world specs and pricing.

 

[NigelF]

Saw the Samsung post, so that means only the 450 series will be available next week which doesn't go above 40" and 5 series will be only available in April. I am particularly interested in 6 and 7 series which is a long shot October, Can't wait till then.

So going to order LE46F86 tonight !

 

[Clare Newsome]

Only the flagship 650s are October - some are earlier than that. In fact we've been told one could be landing in our test room as early as next week, which would indicate a March/April launch.

However, the F86 is a Supertest winning set with a Full HD spec, and with recent price cuts is even better value.

 

[NigelF]

Thanks for a speedy response, I was excited about the internet connectivity in new sets, I am not sure if I should wait or not. My heart say go get the LE46F86 but common sense say wait for a better specs set which can handle fast moving sports well.

I am in a delimma! Will wait till next week to see which sets you get and review.

I already bought Sony P3020 based on Feb super test for my bedroom which will be fed with SD source only so not too worry about 24p or 1080p.

 

[professorhat]

[quote user="Nick_Shepherd"]
Thanks for that. In that case i must be remembering reading that nearly all 360 games are 720p and that most software companies will not aorry about releasing 1080p games....
[/quote]

That's true enough for both systems - a lot of XBox games say 1080p output on the back, but in fact this means the XBox will upscale them to 1080p if set to output at this level. Most retail PS3 games (at the moment) are also 720p. However, at least with the PS3 ones, if it says 1080p on the back, it means true 1080p, not upscaled 1080p. I think the majority of true 1080p games on both consoles are the ones you can download from the XBox Marketplace or PS3 Store.

Oh, I read in an article way back, the reason most games are 720p on both systems is developers were having trouble outputting at that resolution and keeping the games frame rate up. So expect more native 1080p games to come out once the guys have got a better handle on the consoles.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a Panasonic TH-42PZ85B arriving next week (gloating!) and would like to know if I'll be able to use the PC VGA port for 1080p with my non-HDMI Xbox 360? I already have a decent VGA & phono monster lead. I may be missing a trick but the reason I ask is that the TH-42PZ85B manual (online) only describes the VGA port under PC Setup and mentions 640x480! But no mention of 1080p over this for any input incl. a games console.

 

[professorhat]

Unfortunately, looking at the manual online and also looking at some other forums, it looks like this is true, although not quite as bad as you originally thought. The manual says on page 39 that it will switch depending on the signal to either VGA (640x480), WVGA (852x480), XGA (1,024x768) or WXGA (1,366x768). So the best you can get from this is 720p therefore.

The other bad news is, the component input is only capable of 1080i, not 1080p (see page 54 of the manual for this), so even hooking up with a component cable won't get you this.

However - don't be too down heartened! At the moment, there are extremely few games on the Xbox 360 which are actually true 1080p games (see this list). The vast majority, including basically all the popular ones, are 720p but are upscaled by the Xbox to be 1080p. So, in reality, you're only losing out on some upscaling rather than any true detail.

My advice, use your existing VGA cable, set the Xbox to be 720p and I'm pretty sure it will still look incredible on your new TV.

 

[Anonymous]

Okay thanks for that, that's better than expected. You're also spot on - I'll sit a little further back and should still be pretty wowed.