HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

[Jei]

Well I'm trying to get a part time job, and from the interview, they want me to be able to use 360/ps3/wii fluently. I don't own any of those machines, just wondering if these consoles are easy to figure out the first time I open them up? o_O;; What do you think... I don't want to buy a 360 just to learn how to use it... but I don't wanna be incompetence either.

Oh well... they're just a game console anyway. Maybe I'm over paranoid.

Another question... I haven't followed electronic stuff for a long while now... It's about time I should get a hold of HD TV I think.....
I'm wondering if HD TV can be used as monitor for PC too without any need of converter?
HD DVD, bluerays, all next gen consoles can be played on the same HD TV right?
I want a light waight HD TV I can carry around easily, nothing fancy, just 20-25''ish screen is good enough. (my old sony CRT was 200+ lb, was a night mare to get rid of)

[Murphie]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

What kind of job requires that you be fluent in console? (Working in a game store, I guess?)

I know nothing about HDTVs, but I know there are a few folks here that know quite a bit. There are also some threads from when the 360 and PS3 came out that might prove useful.

[Jei]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

I was interviewing with Gamespot. I'll be doing mainly capture game play footage and take screenshots for the reviewers to use. I'll have to do some video editing too if their editor gets too busy. That is, if I get the job.

[Feba]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

The wii interface was made for 6 year olds and grandmothers. If you can't figure it out, you're functionally retarded.

PS3 and 360 seem to be slightly more technical than that, but nowhere near Windows/Linux, or hell, even OSX, but I don't have any experience with them. You shouldn't need to worry too much about it.

As far as HDTVs, you might be better off getting a monitor and using it to play HD signals than vice versa. Go to radioshack and best buy and ask their employees, occasionally someone who actually knows something decides to work there- If you go to best buy, though, avoid Geek Squad like the plague.

[Jei]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

For HD devices, what out put connections do they use? Computer monitor will have those connections?

[Caspian]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

HD tv's use an HDMI connection. Not sure what the newest top of the line vid cards use, but the one I have doesnt have an HDMI, its a different pin setup that I don't know the name for. I do know its possible to use an HDTV as a computer monitor, but not sure what all is entailed in accomplishing that.

[Tekumel]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

Some plasmas & LCDs have a VGA connector. I know my Samsung 42" does; we plug our media center into that instead of having to deal with TV OUT.

And hell with HDMI, just look for component (Red/Green/Blue plugs). It's still HD, and seems to be a lot more common.

I've never seen a computer monitor with either HDMI or Component. I think you'd have to get either a TV tuner with those connections, or a video card with 'em. I haven't really looked around much on the subject though.

[Feba]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

Reading through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_ready may help you.

[jwalton]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

If you do buy an HDTV, I recommend LCD or Plasma. DLP's untold secret is the average 5000 hour lifespan of its projection lamp. If you use your TV 5 hours a day, you would end up having to replace the lamp in 3 years, and they cost around $300. Not cool.

LCD and Plasma have their tradeoffs. Plasma TVs have a lower lifespan than LCDs, but you're still getting the same lifespan as the average CRT television. Plasma gives you richer blacks due to how LCDs work, and overall better contrast ratio. On the other hand, LCDs give you a sharper picture, doesn't have possible screen burn-in to worry about (chance is really low on Plasma anyways), and consumes less power.

Make sure you pay close attention to the actual resolution capabilities of the HDTV you purchase. They're all marketed as 720p, 1080i, or 1080p capable, but as an example, my Samsung 720p LCD HDTV's native resolution is 1368x768. 720p is 1280x720 resolution... in other words, a 720p signal through component has to be stretched out to fit my LCD's screen. Because of this, I bought a VGA cable for my Xbox 360 since you have full control over resolution output with said cable, and having set its output to 1360x768, I can safely say that the picture quality improvement is tremendous due to the lack of stretching. A lot of Plasma 720p TVs are actually 1024x768, and so your 720p signal is losing a lot of pixels horizontally and being stretched vertically.

So yeah... make sure you do your research on each HDTV model before you spend that money. All the HDMI cables in the world won't mean a thing if your HDTV's capabilities won't allow you to experience what you should.

[Jei]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

360 let you choose resolution output? Neat... what resolutions do 360/ps3/wii support?

[InuTrunks]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

360: 480i/480p/720p/1080i/1080p
PS3: same
wii: 480i/480p

I'd say get a Samsung LCD about 32" honestly. Jei if you need help msg me on AIM, I'll be gald to help you (I worked as a TV person for 6 months, then sold Digitial Cameras/camcorders for 6months). So, pretty knowledgeable in the area of what to buy/what's too expensive.

i'm going outside for yardwork atm, but will be back in 2-3 hours.

Edit:

HDMI is only good for 1080p. If your TV can't do 1080p, (they are comming down in price, but still not "affordable"), you don't need HDMI

[jwalton]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

Correction: with Xbox 360, if you're using component cables, your range is 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. If you're using the VGA cable, you have 640x480, 848x480, 1024x768, 1280x720, 1280x768, 1280x1024, 1360x768, and 1920x1080. Basically covers the majority of resolutions available to the consumer, all in progressive scan of course. A recent firmware update also introduced the ability to adjust your IRE settings to three different levels through the VGA cable.

It's worth noting though regarding PS3 and Xbox 360, that all the games that will be graphically intensive will run in 720p, since the amount of resources needed to do 1080p is substantially higher. With that in mind, I recommend just getting a 720p HDTV, especially if you're getting one that isn't 50" or larger.

[InuTrunks]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

small correction

yes, the 360 can do 1080p though component , but the majority of tv's do not, and wno't ever support 1080p though that medium :D

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

If you're looking for an HDTV for both your work and your personal pleasure, my recommendation is either a Samsung or Sony. Sony is definitely the top quality in 1080p sets, but for their slightly lower price, Samsungs are worth it as well. I own a Samsung 50'' 1080p DLP HDTV, and while the quality isn't as crystal-clear perfect as one of the high-end Sony Bravias, I did get it for about $1,500 less.

Also while HDTV shopping, I highly recommend looking around for open-box deals. I managed to get my TV for only $1,130 (MSRP was $1,899.99 at the time) open box, the night before the Super Bowl while Circuit City was trying to clear out some of their inventory.

In addition, if you really want the best quality, PLAYSTATION 3 supports the new HDMI 1.3 spec which allows for higher quality picture and audio than current HDMI 1.2 spec. It's the only consumer electronic out there to support HDMI 1.3 at the moment so TVs supporting it are sparce, but if you have the money to spend, nearly every major manufacturer is supporting HDMI 1.3 in their 2007 releases, which are either out now or will be coming out in the next few months. If you do have some money to spare and aren't trying to minimize costs, I highly recommend an HDMI 1.3-enabled 1080p HDTV for Blu-ray Disc and PS3 use. In addition, PC-input is a standard in just about all Samsung HDTVs. My 23'' LCD has it and my 50'' DLP has it (although I don't use the 50'' for general PC use. That's far too big, so I only use it for PC gaming).

1080p is a must for PS3, IMO. More and more new games coming out are supporting 1080p (Ninja Gaiden Sigma, FolkLore, Ratchet and Clank Future, Devil May Cry 4 and Gran Turismo 5 being the next big ones), and the machine now supports 1080p upscaling for PlayStation and PS2 games, as well as DVDs. And once you get used to Blu-ray Disc at 1080p, it's nigh impossible to be comfortable with DVD (even at upscaled 1080p) afterwards. And if your job is to take screens and video for a review site, they'll probably want you to be able to take those screens at 1080p.

As for the learning curve with consoles, from my personal experience the Wii has been the easiest to learn (albeit the least intuitive), followed slightly by the PS3 (IMO, the PS3 is far easier to use, but from a general standpoint you do need to be more electronic savvy to get the best out of your setup), and the Xbox 360, which I found to be slightly less user-friendly in order to learn than the PS3 and slightly less intuitive in its interface. The Xcross Media Bar interface on the PS3 is all about simplicity and efficiency, but I personally think that the 360 Dashboard blades are a little less user-friendly (although I've spent much less time with the machine), and the Wii interface is just a cluster%*$# of unintuitiveness.

Pretty neat that you're applying with Gamespot though, Jei. I've always been interested in working for a gaming journalism website. What are the prerequisites for those kinds of jobs, anyhow?

[Jei]

Re: HD TV recommendation? xbox 360 learning curve?

Hey thanks for all the input. I'm getting quite a small screen 20-25'' so I think 720p should be enough. I don't want anything too large at the moment because I want to be ready to relocate again if I get a full time job. Really want a TV that's easy to carry around :D

Pai pai - I'm only applying for a part time "media capture" position so there wasn't much requirement. They want me to be familiar with games, with capturing device, with video editing software and have some experience with video camera. On top of that they want person with good eyes to choose the best angle for movie capture and screenshots.

I don't think I did very well during interview >.> Everyone told me to learn about the company, prepare to answer question like "why did you choose our company" or things like that. Instead I got question like, "how long have you been playing games? What is your favourite genre? Do you own any next gen consoles?" I said I only own PS2 at the moment and he sounded quite concern that I'll have to capture 360/PS3/wii games.

He also wanted to know my organization skill, how I deal with tight dead lines, how I manage to get multiple jobs done all with a very close dead line and he wanted me to tell my story how I deal with those things he asked. D: I wasn't well prepared for those questions so I had to try remember what I have done on the spot and kinda struggling to make sense out of my story on top of my not-so-good english skill. You get the picture D:

Knowing resolution options of those consoles will really come in handy. How do you set the resolution? Through the system options when you open them up? Can you reset resolution to lowest without having to connect to TV?