keving
05-27-2003, 04:29 PM
I have a Philips PP559352 wide hi-def TV, and I'm trying to sort out an input-sharing issue. On this TV, there are 2 inputs that will do 1080i or 480p: input 4 (which is capable of RGBHV or YPbPr, both over RCA, via a menu selection) or input 5 (over a HD15 VGA cable, also capable of RGBHV or YPbPr via a menu selection).
Input 5
I went out and bought a HD15 male-to-male cable to connect the VGA port of my notebook computer the VGA port on input 5. Right off the bat things weren't working. I don't recall if it had any color, but I remember that things weren't lining up horizontally. Looks like as you went further down the picture from top to bottom, lines were getting shifted further to the right.
I took a look at VGA specs, and the VGA port on the back of my computer should be outputting RBGHV to begin with, so I saw no need to adjust the 'color space setting', as Philips called it, from RGBHV to YPbPr. I did anyway, just to see what it did, and, as I suspected, it didn't correct the problem.
Input 4
This one behaves as I would expect. I have 3 different devices that I can use on it (HDTV set-top decoder, Progressive Scan DVD player, X-box) and the TV does a good job of automatically detecting what I have plugged into input 4 and setting itself up to work with that device. They all look very nice.
The only problem is, I have to do the cable swap for these three devices if I want to do 480p or 1080i (depending on the device). If I don't want to do cable swapping, then I have to leave some of the devices on the other various 480i inputs of the TV. I'd obviously prefer to have them all use input 4, but I don't want to swap cables.
So far I have only come across one component (YPbPR) switchbox that has at least 3 inputs and is in a reasonable price range, but it lacks audio connectors. I found another one that has 4 inputs, WITH audio AND an IR remote control, but the price is insane. So, if I don't want to spend 1/3 of the price of the TV on a switch box ALONE, it looks like I'm resigned to having 2 boxes - one for audio, and one for video (the audio one would be eliminated when I eventually get a home theatre receiver).
So, if I were to get a pair of plain-jane COMPOSITE switchboxes, would that take care of it? Or should I actually buy a component switchbox for video. The difference in price between a composite box and a component box is fairly significant.
If anyone can offer any insight into either situation, it would be MOST appreciated.
/<
Input 5
I went out and bought a HD15 male-to-male cable to connect the VGA port of my notebook computer the VGA port on input 5. Right off the bat things weren't working. I don't recall if it had any color, but I remember that things weren't lining up horizontally. Looks like as you went further down the picture from top to bottom, lines were getting shifted further to the right.
I took a look at VGA specs, and the VGA port on the back of my computer should be outputting RBGHV to begin with, so I saw no need to adjust the 'color space setting', as Philips called it, from RGBHV to YPbPr. I did anyway, just to see what it did, and, as I suspected, it didn't correct the problem.
Input 4
This one behaves as I would expect. I have 3 different devices that I can use on it (HDTV set-top decoder, Progressive Scan DVD player, X-box) and the TV does a good job of automatically detecting what I have plugged into input 4 and setting itself up to work with that device. They all look very nice.
The only problem is, I have to do the cable swap for these three devices if I want to do 480p or 1080i (depending on the device). If I don't want to do cable swapping, then I have to leave some of the devices on the other various 480i inputs of the TV. I'd obviously prefer to have them all use input 4, but I don't want to swap cables.
So far I have only come across one component (YPbPR) switchbox that has at least 3 inputs and is in a reasonable price range, but it lacks audio connectors. I found another one that has 4 inputs, WITH audio AND an IR remote control, but the price is insane. So, if I don't want to spend 1/3 of the price of the TV on a switch box ALONE, it looks like I'm resigned to having 2 boxes - one for audio, and one for video (the audio one would be eliminated when I eventually get a home theatre receiver).
So, if I were to get a pair of plain-jane COMPOSITE switchboxes, would that take care of it? Or should I actually buy a component switchbox for video. The difference in price between a composite box and a component box is fairly significant.
If anyone can offer any insight into either situation, it would be MOST appreciated.
/<
