Work for the Big Screen
Discussion
So for some years now I have been looking at my digital images on my computer screen - pretty much exclusively. I almost never print. Often the way I view the images is via the "My Pictures" screen saver...
So I wanted to bring that experience out of the study and into the lounge to make it a communual one.
Cue a 50" Plasma TV (LG. HD ready) and a Media Center PC (Evesham eBox) that will go on the wireless LAN. The plan is that I can browse the net on the big screen, view digi piccies and video from elsewhere on the network, play MP3s etc as well as use it as a television: I'm will also use it to replace my old TV and DVD player too - audio output will be directed to my stereo (I have a very old, but very, very good amp and speaker combination). I plug Sky+ into that little lot as well - so its going to be a rare old game wiring it all up but I can do it.
The TV bit I'm completely confident will be great - so the unit will earn its crust doing that anyway. But is my attempt to bring computing (and photography) into the lounge going to work? I've decided to experiment but....
....Does anyone else do this - use a big screen? I'm trying to emulate what my old Dad did with his slide projector and 35mm slides - but in modern technology.
Any views on whether or not this is a satisfying group experience would be welcome. Any tips on making it one?
So I wanted to bring that experience out of the study and into the lounge to make it a communual one.
Cue a 50" Plasma TV (LG. HD ready) and a Media Center PC (Evesham eBox) that will go on the wireless LAN. The plan is that I can browse the net on the big screen, view digi piccies and video from elsewhere on the network, play MP3s etc as well as use it as a television: I'm will also use it to replace my old TV and DVD player too - audio output will be directed to my stereo (I have a very old, but very, very good amp and speaker combination). I plug Sky+ into that little lot as well - so its going to be a rare old game wiring it all up but I can do it.
The TV bit I'm completely confident will be great - so the unit will earn its crust doing that anyway. But is my attempt to bring computing (and photography) into the lounge going to work? I've decided to experiment but....
....Does anyone else do this - use a big screen? I'm trying to emulate what my old Dad did with his slide projector and 35mm slides - but in modern technology.
Any views on whether or not this is a satisfying group experience would be welcome. Any tips on making it one?
I've got a 32" plasma in the living room which I connect a laptop to for showing piccies. Looks great.
You've got the right idea, but only if as you say your plasma is HD ready - otherwise the resolution just wont be high enough for the pictures to look any good.
The TV will have an either an analogue or DVI pc input (or probably both) so wiring it up will be a doddle.
You've got the right idea, but only if as you say your plasma is HD ready - otherwise the resolution just wont be high enough for the pictures to look any good.
The TV will have an either an analogue or DVI pc input (or probably both) so wiring it up will be a doddle.
406tm said:
I play (view ) my pics on a big screen via my laptop and Panasonic projector. Very impressive.
Ahah. Do you use this facility in a communual way though?
I guess I will be trying to re-create (and improve upon) the atmosphere you get when passing a set of photographs (paper ones) around after a holiday or even, as my old Dad did, run a slide show. He used to "present" the slides by describing where they were and telling amusing stories about our adventures...that part is down to the quality of the "presenter", I know, but does the digital medium facilitate it in the same way as the old "slide show" did?
_dobbo_ said:
I've got a 32" plasma in the living room which I connect a laptop to for showing piccies. Looks great.
You've got the right idea, but only if as you say your plasma is HD ready - otherwise the resolution just wont be high enough for the pictures to look any good.
The TV will have an either an analogue or DVI pc input (or probably both) so wiring it up will be a doddle.
Cool. Yup the TV is "HD Ready" with a natural resolution of 1380x768 (or something like). It has a VGA port for the pooter as well as all the Scarts/Composites you can shake a stick at. I'm planning on going HDTV with Sky and using its HDMI port for that when it arrives next year. The picture quality was amazing via HDMI. I'm hoping it will be equally good via VGA.
it will be as good. PC's can provice much higher resolution signal than any current TV can possibly take. HDTV even if it hits 1080p (which it wont for a while yet) still wont match what a PC can output.
AS for the slideshow side of things - that's what I do - whack all the pictures on there and go through them as a group, works great the week after a party for example looking at the pics of what everyone got up to!
AS for the slideshow side of things - that's what I do - whack all the pictures on there and go through them as a group, works great the week after a party for example looking at the pics of what everyone got up to!
Don said:
I play (view ) my pics on a big screen via my laptop and Panasonic projector. Very impressive.
Ahah. Do you use this facility in a communual way though?
Oh yes, I leave it in Slideshow mode and everyone thinks it's great. Best of all, with the laptop, projector and screen I can show slideshows and DVD's in any room OR in the garden. We had a BBQ in the summer and rigged the screen up in the garden. We watched the DVD with about a dozen friends using the speakers from the surround sound moved outside. A couple of mates were so impresses they bought the same type of thing.
I've been looking into media PC's for a while and had come to the conclusion that the Elonex Atisan was going to be the best system, but had not seen the Evesham Ebox. I'll have a look at the spec now, cheers for that
Here's the Elonex box:
www.elonexshop.co.uk/artisan.htm
My 32" Sony LCD doesn't have HD or a VGA socket (I purchased it last year) so I need to know if the component connection is going to be any good, anyone tried it?
Here's the Elonex box:
www.elonexshop.co.uk/artisan.htm
My 32" Sony LCD doesn't have HD or a VGA socket (I purchased it last year) so I need to know if the component connection is going to be any good, anyone tried it?
NikB said:
I've been looking into media PC's for a while and had come to the conclusion that the Elonex Atisan was going to be the best system, but had not seen the Evesham Ebox. I'll have a look at the spec now, cheers for that
Here's the Elonex box:
www.elonexshop.co.uk/artisan.htm
My 32" Sony LCD doesn't have HD or a VGA socket (I purchased it last year) so I need to know if the component connection is going to be any good, anyone tried it?
They seem very similar. I hadn't found the Elonex one at the time I decided on the eBox. I went for it partly as it has that nice "brushed aluminium" front and I'd read a good review. I *really* fancied a "Hush" PC (very, very quiet) but they just weren't good value...this, of course, could change at any time...
_dobbo_ said:
I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure even with a decent progressive scan source you still aren't going to get as good a signal from component inputs as you will get from digital.
Sorry....
Yes. So I will be connecting the PC via the VGA port on the TV and accessing it at its native resolution. I presume HDMI output from *anything* will not be quite able to beat that in terms of picture quality?
This does mean that *sound* from the eBox will not be being piped to the TV - I will need to run its audio output to my stereo....or use a phono connector to the TVs audio-in. This is fine.
For now most TV I watch will be via Sky which is going to get connected up via a regular Scart cable. When the HD Sky comes along I'll patch that in via the HDMI port.
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