I’m trying to decide what TV I should buy to sacrifice to the PS3 god. Hopefully there is some knowledgeable people here to help. I have written a blog entry on my site about it. Check it out, vote and join the discussion. Thanks!
rascal had a good thread on this last year. of course, that’s a lifetime in HDTVs.
Great thread idea. I’m due for a new TV one of these days. When the hell is Taiwan gonna get it’s shit together and go HD though?
Can I throw in a wild card?
Sunfar is selling an Esonic 42in 1080p model for NT$29,888 - isunfar.com.tw/product/featu … seq=272793
They also have a slightly more expensive model from the same company, but it doesn’t appear to be any pricing for it on the website - isunfar.com.tw/product/produ … seq=272785
I have no experience of this brand, but I figured it’s a good deal, although it only has a one year warranty. Their website can be found here - esonic.com.tw/esonic/index.php?lang=en
Friend of mine got this BenQ - isunfar.com.tw/product/produ … Seq=272319 and he’s very happy with it, although it’s a fair bit more expensive.
Actually, having looked at the Esonic website, it appears as if Sunfar is trying to pull a fast one, as the cheap model isn’t 1080p… nice one, I guess you can trust 3C stores here as much as anywhere else in the world…
For the price of the Sammy, you can get something like this shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0E&ROWNO=1 with some extra goodies thrown in for good measure.
If you don’t really care about the brand, then Carrefour will have a Bluesky 37in 1080p set on sale from tomorrow for NT$34800 with 3 HDMI ports and some other goodies. Again, not sure if it’s any good or not.
I found the 37in BenQ on sale, but it looks like it’s not available from most places any more, so this is from the local version of Ebay - goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?11080221602150
Still, a very good price and it seems to be new, in the box, unless it’s bricks 
This one is also cheaper than the Sammy, albeit not by much shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … E&ROWNO=29
Oh I like that 37" Chimei! I might have to add that one to the contest. Thanks for those links!
I am seriously considering that Chimei 37" but so far I can find little info on it. Even their website doesn’t list that model yet. Should I be concerned? The only thing that bothers me about the TV is that it is still HDMI 1.2 and not the new 1.3. Has anyone had experience with Chimei?
Doesn’t Chimei make the panels for Benq? Which is a good thing.
Well, which version of 1.3 are you looking at? As there are four…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Defin … e#Versions
I think the only downside would be that it doesn’t support Deep Color which I think the PS3 does.
The other stuff is audio related and not a big deal, as you’d only get stereo sound from your TV and since the panel is limited to 1920x1200, the resolution issues are not a concern either.
There are some more details here - monday.com.tw/gdsale/gdsale.asp?gdid=999700
I’m not sure where you saw it was only HDMI 1.2 though, I can’t seem to find that anywhere.
Found a slightly better price as well sh1.yahoo.edyna.com/dfd/item.asp?item_id=458354
It has two HDMI ports, but no-one seems to list what type of ports they arem, but as it appears to be a new model, I’d presume it’d have support for 1.3.
This might be an option otherwise - dfd.com.tw/dfd/item.asp?item_id=457781 but again, I’m not sure what type of HDMI ports it has.
Here is my thread but it’s probably a bit dated by now.
Just a few generel comments:
- You don’t need Full-HD (1920x1080 resolution) for a 37" TV (and certainly not for a 32"), the screen is not that big that you will notice a difference to HD-Ready (1280x720 or 1366x768) unless you squezze your nose onto the screen
- The Chimei is NTSC and 110V only, i.e. no PAL and no 230V - something to consider if you have PAL source material or may move in future to a country where PAL and/or 230V are standard
Technical specs for the TL-37S2100D are in the manual of the 2000 model that you can find on their Chinese website.
NOTE: According to the manual under supported video formats via HDMI input (page 44) 1920x1080 is not included.
1920x1080@60Hz is however supported via the PC/VGA input. Thus check how your X-Box connects to the TV.
Rascal, that’s a different model and know how quickly these guys change spec, that might not be the same for the 2100 model. And he’s got a PS3, not an Xbox 
He’s specifically looking for a 1080p panel as he’s got a PS3 and want to use it at that resolution, so what he needs or not is actually not important, as that is what he wants so…
Chimei makes panels for loads of companies, but I really don’t know of they’re any good, but I guess they ought to be decent.
What is a different model? We are talking about the Chimei TL-37S2100D, right? So download the manual from the site I linked by clicking the PDF icon as it clearly includes the TL-37S2100D, too.
(not that it makes any difference)
Many people just want it because the marketing guys told them so. 
Anyhow, nothing wrong with wanting that, just saying it isn’t necessary and regardless if he has a PS3 that outputs 1080p since TVs with lower resolution would just downscale the picture. The decision will be his of course.
Ok, fair call on the manual, which by the way can be found here - chimei.com.tw/upload/pdf/S系列_37S2000D.pdf
The TL-37S2100D seems to feature a higher (dynamic?) contrast ratio than the TL-37S2000D, a faster response time (6.5ms vs 8ms) and that all important 1080p resolution. I’d say the reason why 1080p isn’t included, is because all of the other models are only 720p, but I’m sure that the 1080p model will do 1080p over HDMI, as what would the point be of a 1080p panel otherwise?
I have a PS3 which will run through HDMI. The TV is for my small bedroom and I will be sitting about 2 meters max from the screen, so I will be pretty close.
I want 1080P not only for bragging rights, but also for future proofing. I talked to the CHIMEI people and I confirmed that it is Full HD through HDMI, the other version is the one that is for PC only. The shop owners are the ones that told me that it is 1.2 spec.
I have games and Blu-Ray movies and I want to take full advantage of what I have. The TV I have now is a 10 year old tube set that runs 480I and boy do I hate it!
I bought the Chimei tonight and it will be delivered Monday, so I’ll let you all know my findings then. Thanks for the feedback and you can continue this thread for others that are looking.
You can also follow my adventures on my site http://www.frostfox.com/blog!
Well, it does state 1920x1080 via VGA specifically for the 2100D but not for the HDMI input, so I am doubtful. But since Frost asked them and they said it is supported it might actually be an error in the manual. Wouldn’t bet on that though.
(Sorry for sounding negative, but I am just suspicous when it comes to verbal statements, based on my experience.)
Exactly. Fact is when the high-res (>1280x720) TVs came out virtually none supported a 1:1 pixel mapping at first, then only interlaced (“i” instead of “p”) but the marketing guys would just tell you “more is always better, so buy our product and not that of the competition”. As long as they didn’t claim the TV was HD-Ready or Full-HD but “just” HD they weren’t even lying.
Technically it was not a problem either as the TV just upscales as they still do from low(er) resolution sources like CATV and non-HD DVDs.
Even today some TVs still have restrictions (1920x1080 may only supported either via VGA or HDMI but not both, or 1920x1080 via HDMI is for video only, not for PC signals etc.), so always check the manual for compability with your source equipment. In particular if you need 50Hz compability, many sets here are made for the local market and may only support 60Hz signals. And 24p support might also be useful if you are into Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.
@Frost, congrats on your purchase and please let us know what you think of the set.
Yeah, you’re right that there’s a lot of confusion and the cheaper makes are “dodgy” to say the least.
However, if you’d end up buying something that doesn’t meet the said specifications, you can still return it, even in Taiwan that’s so by law.
And boy are you wrong when it comes to manuals always being right, having been working in the IT field for a very long time now, I can tell that half of the crap in manuals are generally off on several points. I guess if you buy Japanese electronics, this issue isn’t as common, but when it comes from stuff from this island, it really hold true.
But I guess we’ll have to wait and see what he reports back 
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]Yeah, you’re right that there’s a lot of confusion and the cheaper makes are “dodgy” to say the least.
However, if you’d end up buying something that doesn’t meet the said specifications, you can still return it, even in Taiwan that’s so by law.
And boy are you wrong when it comes to manuals always being right, having been working in the IT field for a very long time now, I can tell that half of the crap in manuals are generally off on several points. I guess if you buy Japanese electronics, this issue isn’t as common, but when it comes from stuff from this island, it really hold true.[/quote]
I didn’t say manuals are always right, I said I trust them more than some verbal statement because the latter is worth nothing when you want to exchange a product. Like trying to prove that the sales guy really said 1920x1080 is supported via HDMI.
If the manual says it has this and that function but it actually doesn’t you have at least something black on white in your hands.
Well tomorrow is the day. I’ll let you know my findings.
I’m sorry I even bought an HDTV, actually. Until the cable TV here offers an HDTV signal, it’s a waste of money for me.
True, the cable TV quality here sucks. Only few channels have a strong signal that provides a good, watchable quality (usually those that I don’t watch).
But if you watch a lot of DVDs or hook up a PC the picture can look really good.