Most cost-effective 27" LCD for an HTPC

[nonoitall]

Okay, we're looking to get rid of our old 25" CRT and replace it with something a little nicer. It can be either an LCD monitor, or an LCD TV with DVI input, since its only input will come from an HTPC that we're also planning on buying at the same time. My preference is to have it be at least 27" diagonal (either 16:10 or 16:9) but the caveat is that the cabinet where our old TV is will only fit a TV/monitor about 27.5" wide, tops. So here are my contenders at the moment:

Hanns·G HG-281DPB Black 28" 3ms Widescreen LCD HDMI Monitor
Westinghouse LTV-27W6
SAMSUNG 275T

Obviously, I'd much rather go with one of the first two, given that they are within our budget. I heard that the first uses TN panels, the cheap, not-quite-so-good LCD technology. I'm not sure which technology the second one uses, and my research indicates that the third uses S-PVA, which I understand is supposed to be a good bit better than the cheaper stuff.

Probably the maximum viewing angle that we watch TV from would be about 90 degrees (45 degrees off-center) though we typically watch from no more than a 60 degree angle (30 degrees off-center). Would a TN panel really be that bad for those viewing angles? (I know it's probably a subjective question, but I just want a decent idea of what a handful of you guys think.) We're not going to use it for much of anything besides watching movies and TV. So what do you guys think of my contenders? Have any other TVs/monitors in mind that I should be looking at? Any insights? Thanks in advance.

 

[jaguarskx]

I haven't bought an HDTV yet and I've only been looking at 40"+ ones.

The problem with TN panels is not just viewing angles, but color accuracy as well. TN panels tends to be 6-bit instead of 8-bit panels like MVA/PVA and IPS panels. So they can really only produce 262k instead of 16.7 million colors.

From my research some TN panels claim to be "true 8-bit" panels, but 2-bit are used for dithering. Their math works out to be 6-bits for color + 2 bits for dithering = 8-bits. Sounds like faulty math to me.

The Samsung 275T would probably make a good monitor, but it lacks some inputs like HDMI if you plan on using it as a TV monitor as well.

 

[nonoitall]

I don't know. When I switch the display settings on my computer to 16-bit color (which should have an even worse palette than 6 bits per color, correct?) I honestly can't tell the difference for moving videos from 24-bit mode. On static images with gradients I can see the difference, but it's subtle enough that I wouldn't really notice if I wasn't looking for it. I don't know if it's an effective comparison or not though.

As far as the viewing angles go, would there be problems viewing at the angles I mentioned before on a TN panel? Is there a good way to tell what type of technology a TV/monitor uses if it's not mentioned in specs? I'm guessing that Westinghouse one is a TN, given the price?

Anything that supports DVI with HDCP should be fine for our uses, since our HTPC will doubtlessly have that type of output on it, and that's the only device we will connect directly to the TV/monitor.

 

[jaguarskx]

Using a CRT and adjusting from 16-but color to 24-bit color isn't really a good way simulate what a TN will look like because the CRT is still capable of displaying up to 16.7 million colors.

A TN panel can really only display 262k colors, but thru dithering, can reproduce the other 16 million with some quality loss.

The Westinghouse may or may or may not use a TN panel. To the best of my knowledge LCD HDTV uses MVA/PVA panels, or IPS panels at the higher end.

LCD HDTVs will cost less than a LCD monitor (within a certain size limitation). They are fabricated a bit differently and do not have there tighter tolerances computer LCD monitors requires.

 

[nonoitall]

Given our budget I think we'll try out the Westinghouse one then. People are rating it well, so hopefully it can't be all bad. Once we get it all hooked up, I'll be sure to report my findings about it. Thanks for your insights!

 

[MagicPants]

Viewing angles don't work like you would think they are more like viewing "half brights". It means the angle the monitor can be viewed with acceptable (not perfect) quality. For most monitors this means half(maybe even 1/4?) as bright, TN panels also lose a far bit of their color as well.

A viewing angle of 180 is impossible and 176 is quite good.

A viewing angle of "160" is really only good in the middle 100 degrees or so. A viewing angle of "176" tends to be good up to 150 degrees.