Korean Job Discussion Forums

[KoreanAmbition]

I am considering buying a larger TV, and my choices are obviously LCD and Plasma. How do they both compare when using the internet on them, or watching movies off my laptop.

I figure regular movies from a disc which are played on my laptop will be quite similar no matter what type of TV i choose.

However, I figure the LCD is closer to a regular computer monitor so surfing the net should be great on it, but I'm not so sure if Plasma tvs will let me surf the net. Also, what about downloaded movies? Once again, the LCD tv will be fine, but where does the Plasma stand.

Because plasma tv's are cheaper, I'm leaning towards a plasma, but I care about BOTH the aforementioned capabilities.

Any of your personal experiences would be appreciated.

Thanks

[blackjack]

Get a divx player. 230,000 won I get a standalone player has a 500 gig hard drive that can play nearly everthing i throw at it (apart from h264). It can have direct internet access, it has wifi that can stream from your laptop. supports 5.1

Has it's downsides interface is buggy, no h264, can't connect via usb and play at the same time (it does have a couple of slave usb ports that so you can plug a thumb drive or external and play of them).

also because we are in korea we get the korean version (no hdmi, just dvi and optical)

there are a couple of different players mine's a mvix 780hd

[blackjack]

damn I didn't really read your question at all did I sorry

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]

If i were you, and i was going to drop that much coin on a TV and wanted to use it as a computer monitor as well. Id be taking my laptop to the store, connecting it to the Tv and seeing for myself.

All the advice in the world aint worth much til you see for yourself and can compare things side by side.

As for watching movies etc they will be fine. Just make sure your getting good quality movies. I wonder more about being able to read text on the monitor when surfing the net - that will be the big issue.

Bare in mind, the quality of the picture from PC to one of these TVs will not be as good as an actual computer designed LCD.
The resolutions, the refresh rates will not be as good as a standard 22" computer LCD screen.

[bassexpander]

Even at 1920x1080, a larger TV (as in 40" or larger) doesn't do that great at computer images. Smaller TVs, like a 32" are better, but they still don't look like a real computer monitor. This is because there's more to do with a picture than just resolution. There is also color information. I may have the numbers wrong, but a regular LCD or Plasma is like 8 or 10 bit, and a computer monitor is 16 bit (I think). So you only get half of the color information.

Movies currently only output around 8 to 10 bits as it is, so up to now, there hasn't been a reason for TV monitors to do more. This is changing. The marketing name for TVs which will do more are to be called, "Deep Color" capable, if memory serves.

To broadcast color at that level is currently beyond our TV infrastructure's ability. Blu-ray will be capable of deep color when it comes.

[KoreanAmbition]

Let me offer more info.

I want the plasma because quite simply I get more screen size for my dollar.

I asked about the laptop because I want to download movies and play them off my laptop instead of burning them onto a dvd. Is there any other way to get around this issue that I'm not aware of?

I will likely sell the plasma tv in 2 years so I won't be getting a blue ray dvd player and starting a movie collection.

The only reason I asked about surfing the net on the plasma was so that I could set up my lesson plans from my couch instead of my office.

Any new opinions are welcome.

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]

im still sitting with what i said, but ill add this.

the dvd thing. You can, as i do, download a movie - actually a bunch of movies - in .avi (xvid or divx) format and burn them to a DVD-RW as they are, burn them as a data disc. Most likely your DVD Player will recognise them and you dont need to screw around with converting., Plus you get about 6 or 7 movies to one disc and can keep using it over and over again.

This is what i do and its so simple - youll need a dvd player that plays divx. Itll have the divx logo on your dvd player most likely.

Why cant you just sit on your couch and work from your laptop screen? Itll probably be easier than messing with cables etc and probably straining your eyes too.

[KoreanAmbition]

Kiwi,

Thanks for the info about the divx and avi file stuff. I'm not that good with computer tech stuff so that was helpful.

Right now I don't have a dvd player because I hadn't decided what to do about a tv, and wasn't sure if I would just play movies off my laptop.

You're right, I probably won't even use the plasma tv for computer-related functions. I was just bored and thought I might.

The main reason I want a plasma tv is just to watch some movies and also CSI on one of the 2 english tv channels I get.

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]

well if u buy the TV, get the sales clerk to throw you in a dvd player that plays divx - theyre cheap.....really cheap. so to get one for free shouldnt be a big deal.