Be Excellent To Each Other

Im thinking of getting a new monitor, and was wondering, if I were to connect a PS3 to it (HDMI to DVI for instance) would I be able to watch blu rays if the monitor isnt HDCP enabled?

Also, with regards monitors, is it best to get a full hd one, or will a 1680 x 1050 suffice?

thanks

Coke and whores.

Seriously.

short answer... Get hdcp. There is an 'analogue hole' but that's not for polite conversation

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Oth ... ctId=34736

this looks decent for the cash, no?

I don't know what HDCP is, but if you get a 1680 x 1050 ratio is normally 16:10 cf 16:9 (may be the wrong way round), either way it means you get a black bar top and bottom when watching xbox (and I guess ps3?). don't know if this is an issue? May not even occur on the ps3.

im not so worried about black bars.

chances are I wont use it for BluRay from the PS3, but its nice to know for like an extra £5 im covered in the future.

just ordered a nicer looking all black Acer one with 3 years wrty but same features

hi def copy protection or summink. Stops things that folks've paid for playing nicely together and showing films they have bought, to discourage piracy.

My Acer turned up this morning. I was a bit annoyed after seeing that Aria one for £15 less, especially because the Acer's VGA only, but then I remembered that it's 16:9, 1920x1080, 23" and the laptop that's being connected to it is VGA only anyway.

Edit: It's that V233Hb that Aria do, actually, except mine was £118 with free delivery from Oyyy. And Oyyy don't seem to have it anymore.

The HDCP 'output' on my TV went wrong the other month. My Sky HD stopped working, my PS3 stopped working and my 360 wouldn't play DVDs.

It's fucking shit, and it should have been shot at birth.

Jeesus, so if I have a HD tv without HDCP, I can't watch HD on certain devices? Surely the copy protection should come from the dvd player, not the tv?

Using a HDMI cable. And I think "certain devices" is "all devices".

It's on both.

HDCP has to work on both ends. If the display won't pass the HDCP handshake with the device, the device will refuse to output anything.

Particularly as the security on Bluray has been either totally or mostly cracked since the format launched, so no actual pirates are doing the digital capture of the 1080p signal that HDCP was designed to prevent.

All Blurays, certainly. Not everything over HDMI though; note that 360 games still work on your TV. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a HD set-top-box somewhere that didn't use HDCP, although clearly (from your experience) Sky does.

I don't know if there are any firmware hacks for Bluray players that turn off HDCP. Might be.

Also, HDCP can apply to DVI too. Some older HDTVs that lack HDMI ports implement HDCP on their DVI ports, and you can use a HDMI-DVI cable to get playback then. Similarly, some montors have HDCP on their DVI ports; that becomes important if you are using a Bluray drive in your PC, because that will demand a HDCP capable port too.

Ah yes. I took 'watch' to mean 'watch a film'.

I puirchased the DVI 22'' 1600 x 1050 version for £113.
I think monitors work best at their natuive resolution, and i doubt ill be hammering games at 1080p really. so..compromise on full HD, but otherwise a decent deal I think.

All of that, yes - I didn't realise I'd ordered a 23" until after the fact, but think 1680x1050 is a bit low for a 22" (I have one at work). Shame about that extra " then, eh?

Mine won't be used for games or TV/movie watching either, the intention is to set up my old laptop with broken LCD as an office-type jobby in the desperate hope that might encourage me to do some coding at home, instead of vegetating in front of the TV every day. I already have a keyboard, mouse, and printer, so with the monitor I'm set.

Apart from not having a desk to mount it all on.

I'm not very good at this am I?

i understood that resolution was pretty standard for a 22''

if it sucks, ill return it.

can the pee-ess-tree not do component? Analogue connection = no HDCP

Yeah, that's what I run it on now.

Win.

Oh it's entirely standard, I just think it's a bit low - but I'm a coder, so I like vertical real-estate. It's fine for nearly all other uses.

A 16:9 monitor is jolly weird and as I suspected, 1920x1080 is the same "a bit low" at 23" as I think of 1680x1050 on 22". Tut, however will I cope?

sounds good to me

Most new panels (2009 models) are 16:9 now. I reckon panel manufacturers are going for economy of scale and unifying their TV and monitor divisions.

You're looking at 1900x1080 for bigger models and 1280x720 for smaller in the future I reckon

That's why my (at home) desk is rocking a 26" at 1920x1200 and a 22" portrait at 1050x1600. When you see scrollbars, it's time to break it out into a new class.

The piece of hardware I never regret buying:
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=9406