[djkher]

Originally Posted by fine69

Can my laptop act as a media player here? I wonder whether there's a port on my laptop for HDMI cable connection.

Currently I use my laptop to play BR/BD-rips on my other LCD TV using the VGA cable.

There are two ways to playback media using laptop:
1) Directly connect laptop to TV. TV acts as a monitor
-Using HDMI : Ideally a HDMI connection is perfect as it can send video/audio using a single cable. It will also provide HDCP for playing back original Blu-Ray content (Read: Real 'original Blu-Ray' NOT the blu-ray rips).
-Using VGA : If your laptop has only VGA output even then you can connect your TV as monitor. But in this case you will lose the HDCP feature( No playback of original Blu-ray content, though the rips with content protection removed should work fine). Also audio cannot be passed on the same cable and you will have to connect your HT/Speakers using a separate connection.

+ves
The playback capability depends on your laptop rather than TV. The laptop should be much more capable to playback several formats using your favorite media player

-ves
You lose the single cable convinience for audio/video if you are using VGA. If you are using HDMI there is absolutely no issue

2) Make your laptop a media server (DLNA)
Here you only need the TV and laptop to be connected to the same network (router). You will need to host a media server on your laptop. The most straightforward is the Media server provided by Windows 7. There are several other alternatives like Twonky server etc.You also define the media libraries for the content you want to playback.
Once the server is setup, open the DLNA mode in your TV and browse the media server. Here you can play the content that you shared in the media server

+ves
Laptop and TV need not be near each other. Laptop can connect wirelessly to the router. As long as the TV and Laptop are on the same network there's no issue.

-ves
The actual playback capability depends on what your TV can handle. For example my Pana Plasma cannot playback MKV correctly in this fashion.

The first scenario is the best atleast for me (I use HDMI out to my Pana Plasma using my Dell XPS 15) and it provides an awesome hassle-free experience.

[khoj]

Should be possible if the s/w in the tv supports the HDD. I have been playing Full HD movies on my plasma panel via a SD card as my tv does not recognize the external hard drive.

Originally Posted by Gandhi

Just out of curiocity, can't the TV (I mean TV's media player) play HD movies directly from a HDD?

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by fine69

Can my laptop act as a media player here? I wonder whether there's a port on my laptop for HDMI cable connection.

Yaa you can use your laptop via either HDMI or VGA. Only thing is, laptop would not have remote.

Originally Posted by Gandhi

Just out of curiocity, can't the TV (I mean TV's media player) play HD movies directly from a HDD?

If TVs media player works for HD file that you have then no need to get anything else.

Issue is, TVs Media Player is limited in most TVs. For example, it cant handle high bitrate files and even most expensive TVs would ignore HD sound and you process only Core DTS / Dolby.

[fine69]

@djkher & @netfreakbombay - Thanks for the information. My laptop does have a limitation that when I play high quality movies on it, it starts to skip frames, audio/video sync is lost etc. Hence I doubt whether just changing the output from the laptop to TV would make any difference as the video would still not play flawlessly.

I think I'd either upgrade one of my laptops configuration to play high quality movies and include the support for HDMI port. Unless the upgrade costs more than a blu-ray player this makes sense.

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by fine69

Thanks Its comforting to know that we didn't goof up. BTW this x-reality picture engine, is it better than most other LED TV's picture qualities?

Nice choice. Cousin has it and I watched some 3D film on it, wow! ( PS3 connected to it).

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

i'm not sure, but i guess if you convert Blu-ray into DVD you'll lose quality. we got the HT too (DAV-DZ840K) when we got the BRAVIA and we opted against getting a Blu-Ray HT since we don't intend to invest on Blu-ray media (for now)

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

You need a Media player that will play these HD files and give output on HDMI to TV. If you have Home Theater, this HDMI output would go to HT.

Media players cost 2k onwards, HD player would cost around 5k.

Recently bought oPlay Mini for 3.6k

[doctorque]

Originally Posted by fine69

@djkher & @netfreakbombay - Thanks for the information. My laptop does have a limitation that when I play high quality movies on it, it starts to skip frames, audio/video sync is lost etc. Hence I doubt whether just changing the output from the laptop to TV would make any difference as the video would still not play flawlessly.

I think I'd either upgrade one of my laptops configuration to play high quality movies and include the support for HDMI port. Unless the upgrade costs more than a blu-ray player this makes sense.

Nice to see more than a few people using EX520's.. As you rightly mentioned it is comforting to know that more people are choosing the same. After numerous visits to electronics stores across the city and comparing the Sony / Samsung / LG LED's, finally settled for a 46" EX520.

It gets connected to my WD Live Tv Hub and my DVD player via the hdmi cable and i have some insane visuals in front of me as i can get my .mkv files in their full glory.

Do share stuff for better usage of the EX520..

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by fine69

Can my laptop act as a media player here? I wonder whether there's a port on my laptop for HDMI cable connection.

Currently I use my laptop to play BR/BD-rips on my other LCD TV using the VGA cable.

Many current laptops come with an HDMI port, no idea whether the low cost ones have them. In case there is a HDMI port then it connects directly to TV, else you are left with the VGA port (I have seen a VGA to HDMI adapter) for video and have to route sound separately.

[Styler]

Originally Posted by doctorque

Nice to see more than a few people using EX520's.. As you rightly mentioned it is comforting to know that more people are choosing the same. After numerous visits to electronics stores across the city and comparing the Sony / Samsung / LG LED's, finally settled for a 46" EX520.

It gets connected to my WD Live Tv Hub and my DVD player via the hdmi cable and i have some insane visuals in front of me as i can get my .mkv files in their full glory.

Do share stuff for better usage of the EX520..

I find attaching a Media Player like the WD Live too clumsy with too many cables.

My Panasonic TV has no cable or Media Player Installed. You cannot see any cables, it has 3 cables going in (HDMI-Tata Sky, Power and LAN)

All my 4 TB of media including MKV files can be browsed played directly from my windows PC lying in the other room through DLNA. The TV Remote can browse, play, rewind, forward, all my media files, and I can also play Youtube Videos and Shoutcast Internet Radios.

Styler

[IronH4WK]

does anybody know (or had tried) how to connect to a network share drive from BRAVIA (KDL-40EX520 or similar)? now that i've the WiFi dongle i would like to watch movies over the network rather than plug in a pen drive every time.

anybody?

[Styler]

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

does anybody know (or had tried) how to connect to a network share drive from BRAVIA (KDL-40EX520 or similar)? now that i've the WiFi dongle i would like to watch movies over the network rather than plug in a pen drive every time.

anybody?

Check if your TV supports DLNA, which most probably it should.
Then you need to run a DLNA server on the PC. This is built into Windows Media Player in Windows 7, or else you can install a DLNA Server like Serviio or PS3 Media Player. Just google for these. Once you have installed these you will be able to browse your media and play it on the TV through the network.
Styler

[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by Styler

Check if your TV supports DLNA, which most probably it should.
Then you need to run a DLNA server on the PC. This is built into Windows Media Player in Windows 7, or else you can install a DLNA Server like Serviio or PS3 Media Player. Just google for these. Once you have installed these you will be able to browse your media and play it on the TV through the network.
Styler

yes, it does support DLNA. how do i get it on Windows Media Player? i got Windows 7 x64 Ultimate.

EDIT: got it from ze Internet

[mandheers]

OT, but anyone considering buying this:

Limited Edition: Vu Technologies' Crystal-Studded LED TV | Luxpresso.com

[ashish22]

So after days of speculations and having gone through numerous debates of active vs passive 3D, i finally took the plunge and bought myself the LG 55LW5700 LED 3D tv for my bedroom HT setup. I have upgraded from another LG which is a 47" LCD 47LH35FR. Till date the LG LCD served me flawlessly and i was pretty happy with its overall performance. It will continue to serve as a secondary display in another room. My only grudges were the black levels and the juddering in fast paced action scenes. Thus i wanted to upgrade to something better and which comes equipped with all the latest technical specs.

Speaking of the latest technology i definitely wanted to have the 3D capability in my next TV. Now there are two types of 3D technologies available in the market i.e. active 3D and passive 3D. Though i'm thrilled with the experience which 3D is capable of but i was always apprehensive with its practical usage since me and my wife had a very uncomfortable experience while watching Avatar 3D in theaters. The experience was wonderful but the viewing comfort was equally awful. So one thing was absolutely clear in my mind that i will only go for the 3D if its worthy enough to be played in our bedrooms with long hours of viewing otherwise i will simply drop the 3D factor out of the equation.

One of the biggest reason i went for LG is because this is the only company amongst the big brands which provides passive 3D. All the other brands such as Sony, Samsung and panasonic they all have active 3D technology. Now active 3D has slightly better outright picture quality compared to passive 3D but then its practical usage is almost Zilch. It made my head dizzy and heavy within the 2-3 minutes of the usage and i simply hated the comfort of active 3D glasses. They are heavy, expensive to buy, needs battery recharging and induce flicker. Flicker is one of the biggest factor responsible for the headaches and dizziness.
Compare this to passive 3D glasses which have none of these disadvantages. Infact they are much cheaper to buy, extremely lightweight, flicker free and requires no recharging. And to top it all me and wifey experienced no headaches or dizziness at all even after long hours of viewing. The picture quality was also decent enough to be thoroughly enjoyed and the pure 3D experience is almost as good as the active 3D and you will be hard pressed to tell the significant difference.

So i finally took the decision to buy the 55" LG 55LW5700 LED tv which comes equipped with almost all the latest technical specs and passive 3D. I bought this over the LW6500 since it was turning out to be much more expensive and the factors differentiating it from the LW5700 were not at all significant. There were only two major differences i.e. refresh rate of 240hz instead of 120hz in LW5700 and the dynamic Contrast Ratio. The bump in the refresh rate will hardly make any difference in passive 3D and dynamic CR is something which i think is an over hyped concept in the display market. Thus my final decision was stuck on 55LW5700.

The tv was installed on last sunday and i'm still getting used to its features. I also viewed some 3D content and the experience was fascinating. I'll try to post its review soon once i'm completely through with its features and picture quality. Shall post the thorough list of negatives and positives then.

[mjumrani]

Originally Posted by ashish22

So after days of speculations and having gone through numerous debates of active vs passive 3D, i finally took the plunge and bought myself the LG 55LW5700 LED 3D ---- Shall post the thorough list of negatives and positives then.

Congrats on the buy mate.

Have a few queries I'd like to ask, if its alright.

1. Was 3D the sole deciding factor?
3. Did you compare LG and Samsung panels? If yes, then what are your views on that?

[Ford5]

Originally Posted by Aroy

else you are left with the VGA port (I have seen a VGA to HDMI adapter)

Could you please tell me where you saw such an adapter? I searched a whole day and the only thing i found out was;

1. VGA is analog, HDMI is digital --> meaning conversion impossible

2. Converters which claimed to do analog to digital conversion were listed as above 100$, which is pointless.

My tv is the old crt type and my laptop has HDMI only. A VGA out and HDMI input would be a dream come true in my case..