OT: Monitoring ~ HDTV vs. Computer LCD

Nathan_Shane wrote on 7/3/2007, 11:12 AM
Okay, I'm scratching my head here about options for monitoring video under Vegas.

My current computer LCD is a 22" widescreen (1680 x 1050 pixels)
A 32" LCD HDTV is 720p (1366 x 768 pixels)

The 32" HDTV is working with quite a smaller image size overall - but stretched across a much larger 32" widescreen surface. So am I right in thinking that my 22" LCD monitor will actually look more sharp and accurate than the 32" HDTV? I mean, am I thinking correctly about this...that computer LCD's will always look better than HDTV, or am I thinking wrongly.

And I guess the whole 32" HDTV thing changes even more when you consider the pixel ratio of HDV DVD's which would be scaled down to 1366 x 768, which I think would actually provide a much sharper image from being scaled down.

Comments

rs170a wrote on 7/3/2007, 12:00 PM
...am I thinking correctly about this...

Your thinking is correct.
Unfortunately manufacturers are, IMO, pulling a fast one on a lot of consumers :-(
Here's an example. The IT department at my workplace just bought a 42" HDTV set (can't remember if it was plasma or LCD) and then wondered why a 1600 x 1200 computer signal looked so bad on it. After alll, it's HDTV, isn't it?
It took going out to the internet to discover that this HDTV set was only 1377 x 768) as this information wasn't in the manual anywhere.
Here in Canada, 1080p HDTVs (1920 x 1080) are starting to show up but there aren't too many of them around yet.
It's this reason why I (along with a lot of other Vegas users) went with a Dell 2407 as my computer monitor. It's an HDTV-ready set (no tuners) that doubles as a LCD computer monitor.

Mike
StormMarc wrote on 7/3/2007, 2:08 PM
I plan on using a 24 LCD monitor as well for video preview but what is the best way to get your signal to it so that it is an accurate monitor? I'm upgrading my computer right now so I want to make sure I buy the right gear.

Thanks,

Marc
rs170a wrote on 7/3/2007, 3:52 PM
As long as you have a dual-head video card, you can have an LCD monitor set up as a secondary display in Vegas.
In Vegas 7:
Options - Preferences - Preview Device.
Select Windows Secondary Display.

Look up "Secondary Windows Display" in the Vegas online help for more info.

Note: an LCD monitor is not an accurate judge of colour for anything destined for a standard video display (i.e. CRT). Use an external video monitor for this purpose.

Mike