PS3 With a Viewsonic VA2226w

[D3v0ur3r]

I should be able to hook my PS3 up to this Monitor http://www.viewsonic.com/products/lcddisplays/valueseries/VA2226w/index.htm

with a HDMI to DVI cable shouldn't I? & what would be my maximum PS3 resolution then?

 

[Arwin]

Basically, if a screen supports HDCP, then you can HDMI->DVI connect this thing. Best option is to get HDMI cable with a HDMI->DVI converter imho, as you can still also easily use that as an HDMI cable for an LCD tv (it's what I use).

As for the max resolution, that's tricky. I was able to run 1920x1080 on my Samsung 225BW (this Viewsonic looks like it may have a 226BW panel?), but it does show a 'non-optimal resolution' message that you have to click away using a button on the display. You can set the message to transparent, but it can still be annoying. It looks awesome though!

You won't really know how it turns out until someone has tried, really, so you'll have to look around for someone who's tested it, or ask if you can test it yourself (I know someone here just brought his PS3 to a store to test).

 

[D3v0ur3r]

So you use your PS3 with a Samsung 225BW & you can also use it for HDTV as well? Is that with 1080p or lower?

Edit: Btw I read you can turn off that non-optimal resolution message in the controls.

 

[Arwin]

Most of the time my PS3 is on my LCD TV using HDMI (also a Samsung, a 1366x768p LE32N71), but sometimes I run it on my Samsung 225BW also with an HDMI cable and a simple and cheap HDMI-to-DVI conversion plug.

On my monitor, I couldn't turn it off. If you've found somewhere that you can, let me know.

 

[D3v0ur3r]

Here is a review of this Monitor. http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=467

It just mentions you can turn off the message in the monitor options. I have a friend with a different VS monitor & youcan do this. No idea about the Samsung being able to do this though.

Edit: So when you have the PS3 hooked up to the Monitor, what is the output resolution?

 

[Arwin]

Here is a review of this Monitor. http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=467

It just mentions you can turn off the message in the monitor options.

Looks promising. I'd definitely test it. So I really set the PS3 to 1920x1080p, and the screen also confirms that it is receiving a 1920x1080p signal. Apart from the message, it seems to have no issue displaying the signal, and it just rescales that 1920x1080p to its native 1680x1050, which looks very good.

 

[D3v0ur3r]

Awesome. Sounds promising then.

 

[D3v0ur3r]

Well I think I may get this Monitor rather then the Viewsonic. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...d2200&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1188560797509

 

[Koin0p]

Basically, if a screen supports HDCP, then you can HDMI->DVI connect this thing. Best option is to get HDMI cable with a HDMI->DVI converter imho, as you can still also easily use that as an HDMI cable for an LCD tv (it's what I use).

As for the max resolution, that's tricky. I was able to run 1920x1080 on my Samsung 225BW (this Viewsonic looks like it may have a 226BW panel?), but it does show a 'non-optimal resolution' message that you have to click away using a button on the display. You can set the message to transparent, but it can still be annoying. It looks awesome though!

You won't really know how it turns out until someone has tried, really, so you'll have to look around for someone who's tested it, or ask if you can test it yourself (I know someone here just brought his PS3 to a store to test).

Arwin,

How exactly did you get your 225BW to display a 1080 image without going off screen? I've tried doing that with my 360 at 1920x1080 and via my cable box with no luck. The 360 image goes way off screen (draws larger than the viewable area) and the cable box causes the monitor to post an out of sync message and will only display an image if it's set to 720p. All reports point to this monitor not having any internal scaler which will down scale higher than what the monitor supports.

Thanks for your input,

Koin0p

 

[Arwin]

Arwin,

How exactly did you get your 225BW to display a 1080 image without going off screen? I've tried doing that with my 360 at 1920x1080 and via my cable box with no luck. The 360 image goes way off screen (draws larger than the viewable area) and the cable box causes the monitor to post an out of sync message and will only display an image if it's set to 720p. All reports point to this monitor not having any internal scaler which will down scale higher than what the monitor supports.

Thanks for your input,

Koin0p

I can't use 1920x1080p on my 360 either, but I don't have HDMI on my 360. I connect my PS3 through HDMI->DVI-D, which makes all the difference, it seems. The monitor complains a bit that this is a non-optimal resolution, but then it displays and scales it no problem.

 

[infinity4]

Get a monitor that supports correct aspect ratio (16:9 aspect fill).

 

[Koin0p]

I can't use 1920x1080p on my 360 either, but I don't have HDMI on my 360. I connect my PS3 through HDMI->DVI-D, which makes all the difference, it seems. The monitor complains a bit that this is a non-optimal resolution, but then it displays and scales it no problem.

Well that's certainly interesting. Mine does that same "non-optimal" message with my cable box set to 1080, but never kicks in and scales. So I guess it's possible your PS3 has something to do with it. A shame I can't get the same thing to happen with my 360 and cable box, but that's an upgrade for another day.

Speaking of HMDI, I'm using VGA with my 360 when I tried to set it to 1920x1080. So I'm not sure how the 225BW sees that resolution when compared to an HDMI cable connected and 1080p selected. I'll let you know how that goes since I'll be trading my first gen Premium 360 in for a Pro this month so that I can use HDMI.

 

[Koin0p]

Arwin,

First of all, thanks for your timely resonses to this topic. But I'm curious about something. Are you 100% sure the monitor is rescaling the image or could it be that your PS3 just kicks back to 720p when it can't display the image properly?

I don't doubt that you're getting a pic, but is there any way that you can show that the PS3 is in fact in 1080 once it appears to sync up? If so, can you post a pic?

Also, which HDMI>DVI cable are you using?

Thanks again,

Koin0p

 

[Arwin]

Oh, I'm 100% sure. The display reports the 1920x1080 resolution when you call up the OSD back up again. Besides, the difference between 1920x1080 and 1280x720 is hard to miss, this close up on this screen and with games like Blast Factor! (all those bouncing pixels ).

My camera sucks, but I still have some originals online as well, and you can probably see that it's definitely not 1280x720:

http://www.niwra.nl/ps3/225/P1010111.JPG (Tekken HD)
http://www.niwra.nl/ps3/225/P1010092.JPG (Blast Factor)

 

[Koin0p]

Oh, I'm 100% sure. The display reports the 1920x1080 resolution when you call up the OSD back up again. Besides, the difference between 1920x1080 and 1280x720 is hard to miss, this close up on this screen and with games like Blast Factor! (all those bouncing pixels ).

My camera sucks, but I still have some originals online as well, and you can probably see that it's definitely not 1280x720:

http://www.niwra.nl/ps3/225/P1010111.JPG (Tekken HD)
http://www.niwra.nl/ps3/225/P1010092.JPG (Blast Factor)

It's probably your camera as you said because the Teken shot doesn't look any better than the 720p stuff I've seen. But, the Blast Factor does look noticably better so I'd say you're a pretty lucky guy to get 1080.

BTW, you didn't answer my question about the HDMI->DVI cable you are using. Know any specifics about it by chance and where we might be able to locate one?

Koin0p

 

[FirewalkR]

Regarding aspect ratios and scaling, I have a Samsung 226BW (16:10, native 1680x1050) and what happens is the following:

At 1280x720, it scales up to fill the screen vertically *without* changing the aspect ratio, which means it looses a bit of the image in both sides.

At 1920x1080 it displays the "non-optimal resolution" message that can be ignored, and scales the image to 16:10, filling the screen without loosing any of the picture.

 

[FirewalkR]

Forgot to mention that said behaviour regards the PS3, i'm not sure what happens with the 360.

 

[Arwin]

It's probably your camera as you said because the Teken shot doesn't look any better than the 720p stuff I've seen. But, the Blast Factor does look noticably better so I'd say you're a pretty lucky guy to get 1080.

I bought a new camera, so the next time I hook up the PS3 to this screen, I'll make some better shots.

BTW, you didn't answer my question about the HDMI->DVI cable you are using. Know any specifics about it by chance and where we might be able to locate one?

Koin0p

I use a basic cheap HDMI cable, and a basic HDMI to DVI conversion plug. Actually all really simple stuff.

 

[Koin0p]

Well, today I swaped out my Premium 360 for a Pro and I can say 2 things without a shadow of a doubt -

1) HDMI kicks the crap out of VGA. The sharpness and color saturation freaking jumped right out at me.
2) The 225BW will scale 360 1080i to fit the screen just like the PS3 does with HDMI. BUT, there are visual artifacts on screen which make it not worth using. Besides, with the clarity and color improvements I gained from HDMI I can say that 720p is definately an acceptible alternative now. With VGA colors were more bland and the sharpness just wasn't there.

So there you have it. Depending on the device you have connected to the 225BW, you will get scaling from higher than the native 1680x1050 native res. But depending on the device you may not get ideal results.

 

[Arwin]

Why 1080i?