Text issues on LCD TV as PC Display

[nickCR]

Hello All,

So I finally got an LCD TV 42" for my computer monitor. It has an IPS panel so the speed and all that is good compared to the other panels.

Text looks perfect on the TV when it's black on white or something of sorts but when it's black on gray or a tiny gray line it has a very light white halo border on the text and makes it hard to see. This isn't specific to text but anything that is on a gray background.

Normally on a LCD Monitor this effect can be eliminated with just Phase feature.

I have fiddled around with the TV settings for quite a while now and have not managed to correct this. I did notice if I turn the gamma all the up it goes away but I'm not sure that's a valid solution.

I'm running Win 7 x64 with a 8800GTS 512 (HDCP Compliant) on a L42U30 Panasonic 42" LCD 1080p TV.

I have ensure that overscan is setup correctly at 0%.

Also on a separate note I was planning on buying a better video card anyway so that I could support 3 displays. Most of the modern video cards have a HDMI (mini-HDMI) output. Will this improve the resolution?

Thanks in advance!

 

[hafa]

Try this:

Right click on desktop>select "personalize" at the bottom of the contextual menu. Click on "Display" on the bottom left of the window, click on "Adjust ClearType text" on the middle left of the window. Check "Turn on cleartype" if it's unchecked, click next and follow the wizard. If it's already checked, click next and follow the wizard. You may need to run the wizard several times to achieve the desired results.

 

[nickCR]

The true type font thing is nice but it didn't fix the problem because like I said it's not specific to just Text. However it did make it a little easier to read. Seems like it's a problem with the calibration.

 

[nickCR]

Seems like the lighting in the room also has an affect on the TV ... probably because the display is much bigger than my monitors so it's affected differently.

I did pull the TV a little closer, made about 100 adjustments in different modes and finally enabled a featured called Video NR (Noise Reducer). Seems that feature did the trick and removed most if not all those white lines.. Strange but true..

 

[nickCR]

Would a newer video card with HDMI output provide a clearer image?

The image just isn't as sharp as I was hoping. I have a 52" Samsung 1080p connected to an older computer with a decent video card for XBMC and in Windows XP the image is CRYSTAL clear.

Is this Panasonic just not going to be good as a PC Display?

 

[hafa]

What type of cable are you currently using to connect to the monitor (VGA, DVI, HDMI)?

 

[nickCR]

Thanks for your reply. The monitor is dvi 2 vga. The tv is dvi 2 hdmi.

 

[hafa]

Thanks for your reply. The monitor is dvi 2 vga. The tv is dvi 2 hdmi.

Please clarify. Are you using a DVI cable?

 

[nickCR]

Yes. It goes out of the computer as DVI and into the the TV as HDMI. It's an amazon basics DVI to HDMI cable no converter.

 

[hafa]

DVI to HDMI is fine; as long as you're not using the VGA, you're getting the best signal.

A new video card may or may not make a difference; any change will likely be subtle at best. As you're planning on upgrading for other reasons however, you'll have the opportunity to determine that after the new card is installed.

 

[MIAHALLEN]

Have you played around with your brightness and backlighting settings?

 

[nickCR]

DVI to HDMI is fine; as long as you're not using the VGA, you're getting the best signal.

Nope DVI it is.

A new video card may or may not make a difference; any change will likely be subtle at best. As you're planning on upgrading for other reasons however, you'll have the opportunity to determine that after the new card is installed.

Ok that makes sense. Besides I've tested the display with a HTPC which is perfect on a Samsung 52" 1080p on this display and the HTPC looks the same as my computer does unfortunately.

Have you played around with your brightness and backlighting settings?

Yes I have noticed that turning up the brightness and contrast to 100 makes the white borders mostly fade away, however they are still there and at those settings the greys look washed out.

It's so frustrating

 

[Pinky]

I did notice some minor issues when using a 8800gtz with a dvi-->hdmi adapter on my HTPC years ago. Sounds like a similar setup to yours. Things were okay but not super crisp. Issue was something in the line scanning as I could see horizontal lines crawling up the screen every now and then, but had to be pretty close to see them. But the symptoms you're experiencing could be the result of the same issue I had, except yours are being observed from a slightly greater distance...

There's a lot of calibration settings in the nview control panel. I think I ended up getting the best results setting the display output as a 60hz TV 1080p with no frills.

Ideally hmdi-->hdmi would be best since it's a pretty bomb proof connection method and standard, which wouldn't require anything special of the video card. Right now it's doing some interpolation before sending the signal so the TV is getting what it requires. With hdmi-->hdmi the standards used eliminate that 'confusion' for the video card.

 

[nickCR]

Thanks Pinky for your help. I really wish it was that, but I've brought my HTPC up from my living room where I have it attached to a Samsung 52" TV and it's perfect there. When connected to this display it's providing the same symptoms as my PC. I know the conversion is not perfect. I have hit a few forums about this and no one really has any suggestions, but one guy with a IPS panel said he had the same problem. So I would prefer to sell and old 720p that I have put this 42" in my room and buy two 24-26" monitors.

 

[hafa]

Right now it's doing some interpolation before sending the signal so the TV is getting what it requires. With hdmi-->hdmi the standards used eliminate that 'confusion' for the video card.

"HDMI is backward-compatible with single-link Digital Visual Interface digital video (DVI-D or DVI-I, but not DVI-A). No signal conversion is required when an adapter or asymmetric cable is used, and consequently no loss in video quality occurs." Source

Please see page 154 of the HDMI specification (v1.3 is available for download for free via link to your email after form submission) for video pinouts for DVI-HMDI cables; it's essentially a one-to-one link; no interpolation occurs.

Thanks Pinky for your help. I really wish it was that, but I've brought my HTPC up from my living room where I have it attached to a Samsung 52" TV and it's perfect there. When connected to this display it's providing the same symptoms as my PC. I know the conversion is not perfect. I have hit a few forums about this and no one really has any suggestions, but one guy with a IPS panel said he had the same problem. So I would prefer to sell and old 720p that I have put this 42" in my room and buy two 24-26" monitors.

LCD TVs have a wide variance in terms of display of text from a PC. Some, like the SHARP LC32LE700UN 32" 1080P do very well, while others, such as the L42U30 Panasonic do not. Without seeing it first, it's the luck of the draw...

 

[nickCR]

Hafa,

Thanks for your answers and support to this thread. I guess my Panny is going to end up in the bedroom and i'll get a couple nice monitors instead.

Is it worth buying the really high res monitors? I have enough problems seeing text at 1920 x 1080.

Regards,

Nick

 

[hafa]

I'd say that 1920 x 1080 is the sweet spot right now in terms of value and availability. Keep in mind that at any given resolution, the larger the visible area, the larger the text will appear.

 

[nickCR]

Any suggestions for a 24" or should I post in another area?

 

[nickCR]

Is a 27" Monitor too much surface area to scan which will result in my head moving around a lot? I don't want to do that obviously.

My monitors are 2-3 feet away from me.

Also are IPS/MVA panels worth the extra money or they more of a gimic right now?

 

[hafa]

Is a 27" Monitor too much surface area to scan which will result in my head moving around a lot? I don't want to do that obviously.

My monitors are 2-3 feet away from me.

At 3' away, a 27" would be fine. If you've two of them, you'll be turning your head from one to the other; this may not be an issue, depending on what you're doing. FWIW, my 32" is 3' away and is ideal.

Also are IPS/MVA panels worth the extra money or they more of a gimic right now?

It all depends on what you're doing with them. If exact color reproduction is critical, such as in medicine or professional graphics design, then they're worth it. For just about any other use, a TFT is fine.