[geeks] 1080P LCD HDTVs for use as monitor?

[nate at portents.com]

> On 12 Mar 2009, at 21:24, Patrick Giagnocavo wrote:
>
>> Right now Costco has 2x 40" 1080P "Sceptre" brand HDTVs as a "two
>> pack"
>> for $1099.99 .
>
> Okay this is all just opinion and based on the fact I've never heard
> of Sceptre and their website looks like it was designed by a 5-year
> old in 1997 ;) Hey, they might make good quality stuff, but I don't
> know that so I can't assume they do. A quick scan of reviews on NewEgg
> revealed some people having issues wit htheir LCD TVs too. it would be
> wise to do research before you sink 1100 buks on them...

Sceptre has been around for a while, they're based in CA and used to
primarily make computer monitors.  Kind of a mid-range maker (I've seen
worse, I've seen better).

A little over two years ago I bought a Sceptre X37SV-Komodo 37" LCD HDTV
(native res 1360x768 on the panel, also handles 1080p) for $600 from
Microcenter after researching TVs for a year.  I went in to buy the 42"
Sceptre that had a Faroudja scaler, but after looking at them side-by-side
for a while at a 10 foot distance (the distance from my TV to my couch), I
decided to save the $300 and go with the 37" despite it's lower specs (at
the time $600 was an excellent price).

There are a few minor firmware bugs that made me wish the firmware was
updatable - my PC running Linux is hooked up to the VGA input, and the
EDID information includes 1360x768 60Hz so I get full res which is nice,
but often when switching to that input the "VGA/PC" text overlay stays in
the upper left of the screen until I go into and out of the TV's menu to
clear it, whereas normally it's supposed to go away on it's own after 5
seconds.  Also if I boot/reboot the PC while on the VGA/PC input once in a
while the rapid resolution changes (PC text mode to SVGA to native res)
during boot cause the TV to stop displaying an image until I power cycle
it, but that happens only once every six months or so.

The remote could be a little better designed in the sense that the SD
inputs are grouped onto one button and the VGA and HD inputs are on
another, so you have to hit one of those buttons to cycle through those
input groups, whereas I'd much rather dedicated buttons for each input.

Overall I'm happy though for the money I've paid, despite the quirks.  I
spent some time tweaking the video with a variety of test sources (I don't
use the speakers built into the TV so I can't comment on them), and I like
the results.  Is it a Sony Bravia?  No, but then I didn't pay Sony Bravia
prices.  I'm happy with the way SD and HD material from a variety of
sources looks.

As always YMMV, and a good place to go to get (probably too much)
information on things like TVs is http://www.avsforum.com

- Nate