LCD widescreen TV for monitor

[psychohack]

I am building a massive MAME in a Dynamo Showcase cabinet. I am considering ditching the 39" CRT and going with a 40" + widescreen 1080p HD TV. This way I could watch movies, run windows (without it looking like crap etc. Keeping the crappy old authentic arcade looking low res is not really as important to me as making it more versitile. Also, I like the crisp look of a new LCD over the old fuzzy low res look of a CRT arcade monitor. Does anyone have any suggestions or reasons I should not do this, or why it won't work? I thought it would be nice to use this as an actual computer setup and to watch movies or whatever etc. since I have so much money in it already.

Also, if I do this should I try to find a TV with DVI input, or will a standard VGA input give me the same native resolution of the TV at 1920x1080 (1080p).

Thanks

[mrserv0n]

I used to have my CP hooked to a 42"sony plasma, IMHO the 25" CGA arcade monitor STILL looks better for the arcade games. And I don't mean centipede, even the newer ones. Something about that 15hz and low res that truly makes the games look nice.

I had mine hooked up through DVI 1920 res. never tried vga. There is no 1080 tv without HDMI you just run DVI to HDMI

[psychohack]

Does this mean I cannot get 1920x1080 using the DVI or VGA input?

[genesim]

It is so dumb because DVI is very capable of high res.   HDMI is just another case of making people trade up their cables.

Whats worse is that upconvert DVD players generally have the 5.1 digital optical either having problems like periodically dropping out, or you get an annoying "nag" about how you aren't using the HDMI audio.    I HATE that.

The end result is that everyone has to switch their amps over to an HDMI capable one to get digital surround as opposed to having the digital optical or coax that those same suppliers were saying was so great!

[psychohack]

So that means no native resolution with DVI or VGA?? Will I need a DVI to HDMI converter or something, or an HDMI out video card? I am not sure why they would put DVI or VGA connectors on the TV's if you cannot get max resolution when hooking up a computer?? That makes no sense.

[BORIStheBLADE]

HDMI-DVI is a simple little adapter. Both are digital, Hdmi just had audio and video while DVI is just video.

[hillbilly]

VGA should work fine on most Tv's for high resolution. I have my 37" LCD running a pc at 1920x1080 and it works fine. check the specs on the tv for max settings under vga some might only to be able to go up to 1360x768 same applies for DVI

[xmenxmen]

The idea sound great, but I am not sure how often one would use it to watch movies or dvd if it also has a cp.  Also, with a widescreen, you will either have to play the games at a stretch mode or with bars. 

Definitely an options if you don't mind the looks. 

Most 1080i set will allow 1360x768 and 1080p set will do 1920x1080.  When using dvi (hdmi) most 1080i will also allow 1920x1080, but not 1:1 mapping.  Picture will also be a bit blurry too, but okay for movies and some games.

[Katana Man]

Honestly, I don't understand why we are seeing PC monitors that are 16:9 widescreen.  With computers, we read alot, therefore 4:3 is a better choice since there is less scrolling than with a 16:9 widescreen.   Some people say, "With a widescreen, you can put 2 pages side by side." Well anyone who's tried it will tell you it's insanely inefficient since you have to manually position and size the 2 pages next to eachother.  Whereas if you are running dual 4:3 monitors, you just double click the title bar and it instantly fills the screen.   In other words, 4:3 monitors are much more efficient for organizing what you are reading.  As for games, well, the great majority are designed to fit 4:3.  A very small minority can be set for 16:9 or wider. I plan on watching movies on my TV, and rarely on a computer.

Widescreens might be a good solution for some of you, but personally, I want a big 4:3 LCD monitor.  I think the biggest right now is 22"