Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

It's hard to compare the blacks to my laptop screen, I can't explain why. I noticed it more when I watch movies on the wife's TV in the bedroom. It's a 2-3 year old Sony Bravia 32" LCD 1080. I just love how with the lights off, the blacks look completely black, they blend in with the darkness and you can't even see the edge of the tv. But with this element they just seem like a dark gray.

I don't use the speakers on the TV. I only did for one week until I bought a 2.1 set. Then I had to buy another because the bass didn't have any controls and the Mrs. started getting pissy with everything vibrating.

$400 audio system - I just can't justify spending that much when I can't even imagine the benefits right now. Does a decent soundcard make a different with a $50 2.1 speaker system?

http://www.elementelectronics.com/2011/12/elefw264/?model_number=ELEFW264

This is definitely the right tv. I found the model number, Manufacturing date is Sept 2011.

I assume you've already tried playing around with the HDTV settings? The instruction manual makes no mention of what settings are available.

Have you had any issues with PC input? Stretching, black borders, screen tearing, stuttering/judder etc.?

JT! Wrote:It's hard to compare the blacks to my laptop screen, I can't explain why.

Well that's helpful. Just put an image of a checkerboard pattern or a black screen up on both.

JT! Wrote:I noticed it more when I watch movies on the wife's TV in the bedroom. It's a 2-3 year old Sony Bravia 32" LCD 1080. I just love how with the lights off, the blacks look completely black, they blend in with the darkness and you can't even see the edge of the tv. But with this element they just seem like a dark gray.

Sounds fairly normal. This is just one of the many benefits that spending extra on a good hdtv gets you. Sony uses S-PVA panels which have very good contrast ratios.

JT! Wrote:I don't use the speakers on the TV. I only did for one week until I bought a 2.1 set. Then I had to buy another because the bass didn't have any controls and the Mrs. started getting pissy with everything vibrating.

So the one you linked is what you're using right now correct? How do you have it hooked up?

JT! Wrote:$400 audio system - I just can't justify spending that much when I can't even imagine the benefits right now. Does a decent soundcard make a different with a $50 2.1 speaker system?

If you were willing to spend $350 for slightly better video why aren't you willing to spend $350 for dramatically better audio?

And yes it does. Although obviously not as much as it would with good speakers.

Pc input as in HDMI or VGA? I've only ever used HDMI. I've had issues but only from my laptop and not from the PS3 and other connected devices.

I'll look into the laptop screen v tv screen.

I have my laptop conected to the TV via HDMI and then the 2.1 speakers are conected to the TV via the 35mm jack.

I guess the audio thing goes abck to what I was saying about ignorance is bliss. Right now I have no issues with the audio but issues with the display. WGHD is more appealing to me than better sound right now.

If buying a $15 2nd hand audio card would create noticeably better sound on my 2.1 system I'm certainly up for that!

JT! Wrote:Pc input as in HDMI or VGA?

As in connecting your pc to the hdtv and using it as a display.

JT! Wrote:I've had issues but only from my laptop and not from the PS3 and other connected devices.

What issues did the laptop have with HDTV output?

JT! Wrote:I have my laptop conected to the TV via HDMI and then the 2.1 speakers are conected to the TV via the 35mm jack.

So the TV has 3.5mm output? That's pretty rare.

Or did you mean to say that it's connected to the laptop not the TV?

JT! Wrote:WGHD is more appealing to me than better sound right now.

And completely unaffordable on your budget.

JT! Wrote:If buying a $15 2nd hand audio card would create noticeably better sound on my 2.1 system I'm certainly up for that!

That would require connecting it to your desktop but yes.

Well right now I have my lapotop connected to the TV via HDMI. When I get my desktop built it'll be the same.

Issues I had before was the contrast was really high and had problems with overscan. Resolved both of them after a while. Also took me a while to learn I needed to turn the sharpness down to make text look decent too.

No the speakers are connected to the TV's headphone 3.5mm output. I thought all TV's had one of those. I have them connected to the TV so that everything else connected will use the speakers too.

3.5mm jacks aren't exactly uncommon on TVs. The one currently in my room even has two, for both input and output.

Out of all the TVs I've hooked up for friends and at work I've never seen one with 3.5mm output. Not one. I'm willing to bet that while some TVs have it, it is still uncommon in low budget models. Dual RCA is more common for analog output in consumer A/V equipment and HDTVs.

3.5mm input on the other hand is very common.

Oh also I was helping my sister buy her first HDTV recently. She wanted a $200-300 TV. I must have looked at 2 dozen models from major brands. After a narrowed the list down a bit I started looking at the I/O options and out of the half dozen remaining models I'm pretty sure none of them had 3.5mm output. So yeah. I don't think it's as common as you think. Not that it's hard to connect 3.5mm TRS to dual RCA considering all you need is a $3 adapter.

@JT!

Well to take advantage of the superior DAC circuits in an audio card the speakers will obviously need to be hooked up to that audio card, not the TV. This might pose an issue for your setup. What other devices do you have hooked up to the HDTV?

Good WQHD (2560 x 1440) monitors start at around $600. Still far outside your price range.

Well I use the TV as an actual TV for over the air channels and a ps3.

Well if you buy the audio card and hook up the speakers to it you'll have to rely on the TVs integrated audio for TV stations and the PS3. In exchange you'll get noticeably clearer audio with PC sources.

The only solution to beef up audio quality for all sources is to build a proper stereo setup. Preamp, power amp, and speakers. And yeah that's going to cost you. You can't get good audio out of small cheaply made transducers and amps made using cheap materials and watered down designs. It's just not possible.

Does your TV have spdif (digital) audio output?

Well, I could get a digital tuner and switch to superior pc gaming!

spdif as in optical? No.