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Dick Smith 40" (101.5cm) Full HD LED LCD TV $328 Delivered @ DSE
40" (101.5cm) Screen Size
Full HD 1920 x 1080 Resolution
Record HDTV to USB
HDMI x 3, USB x 1, VGA x 1, Headphone In/Out
Dick Smith 40" (101.5cm) Full HD LED LCD TV $328 Delivered @ DSE
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To Dick Smith, "Full HD 1920 x 1080" does NOT mean 1080p. I made the mistake of assuming this, and now have my computer plugged in to a 42" DSE TV running at 1920x1080 30Hz (1080i). Only now do I know that the cheaper TVs actually miss out on really really basic features, like 1080p, or the ability to disable overscan. Disabling overscan on my DSE TV is almost impossible, it relies on a software workaround that doesn't work with Intel onboard graphics. The TV presents itself to the computer as a Mitac MTC26T42, for which you can google and see all of the issues people have.
Bottom line, I will never waste my time and money buying a DSE TV again, and I'm so angry about this that I will post this comment again and again whenever I get a chance
because of D-sub ? or you using DVI to HDMI?
HDMI to HDMI! Part of the problem is that the EDID information seems to be incorrect, it presents with a native resolution of 720p even though the panel is clearly 1920x1080. 1080p results in very poor scaling with lots of artifacts. 1080i is better but with overscan. For nVidia, you need to use ToastyX's CRU to remove the extension block to disable the overscan. The picture is then perfectly sharp, albeit at 30Hz. 60hz will display with artifacts that look like some bad rescaling is being done by the TV. With Intel HD graphics, I was unable to fix the overscan
I would have thought you could have returned it as it's not working as intended?
Read very carefully - nowhere does it advertise "1080p". It does do 60hz…but only at 720p. It does do 1920x1080, but only at 30Hz/interlaced. I just assumed that 1080p with direct pixel mapping (no overscan) was such a basic, elementary feature thst there was no way it wouldn't be able to do it. Although some people would consider "full HD" to imply 1080p there is justification for using "full HD" to refer to a pixel count of 1920x1080 irrespective of interlacing. The term itself is not well defined. Like many, I mistakenly assumed it meant 1080p.
I notice that the specs for this particular TV say "Progressive scan: no" so that is one indication. But they also say "Widescreen: no" and "USB port: no" even though it is clearly widescreen and is advertised as "Records HDTV to USB", so there's no way to know what items in the specs list are actually correct.
papagoose, thanks for posting, but can you explain to a dummy like me what the real world impact would be?
Is the impact only when you have a PC plugged in? Or is there an impact with a media player plugged in? Or a USB drive plugged in?
Sorry for the dumb questions…
Not dumb questions. This mainly concerns users who want to use a media centre PC with the TV. The consequences are
a) motion appears jerky, image is crisp, or else
b) image is fuzzy, motion is smooth
c) either way, the edges of the picture are chopped off, which means missing parts of movies at best, and at worst buttons (like minimise, close, start) are hidden off the sides of the screen. If you're lucky with your hardware, you can use complex workaround to restore the picture. If you're unlucky, there's nothing you can do.If the TV actually supported some basic features, none of this would be a problem. If you're buying a TV, you need to check
- does it support 1080p from a computer?
- can you disable overscan?
I used to have the same problem as you on my 32" Soniq. Couldn't get 1366x768 (native) @60hz from HDMI or VGA input if my life depended on it. Tried all sorts of programs that would force weird refresh rates but nada. Had to settle on 1280x720 and then nvidia drivers to scale it full screen. It was a PIA and wouldn't want anyone to go through that.
Having said that, I'm fairly certain that this DSE 40" will work fine 1080p 50/60hz.
My $299 el cheapo 40" LCD does 1080p @ 50/60hz fine with no over/underscan. Even if it did there's options in the scaler to fix the v/h positions and scale. It's the Akai AK40LE that got 100+ upvotes on this site a few months ago. For a bargain bin TV it's been amazing. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/121897?page=1
This DSE looks identical to the Akai (minus the badge) and has identical specs to my Akai, which has identical specs to the Polariod 40", Soniq 40" and a few others, which can do 1080p 50/60hz, record to USB, 3x HDMI, VGA so on and so forth.
Out of curiosity, how old was the TV? 1080p 50/60hz is a staple of even the cheapest sets these days.
EDIT - (deleted this one and merged two comments, as I didn't realise they were both part of the same thread.)
Mine was a 42" DSE branded TV purchased in January this year! So not this exact model. I can only speak to my experience with the 42" one. I fixed the overscan by using an nVidia card, but am stuck with 1080i.
My caution is that like you, I assumed that in 2014 there wouldn't be any LCD TVs that wouldn't support 1080p. I would hope that anyone who does think about purchasing this TV checks carefully that it is capable of whatever they need from it. Certainly Dick Smith doesn't do any favours by claiming "full HD" which is exactly how mine was described.
If you can't disable overscan, try this, I found it completely by accident for my Soniq 32" and 42" TVs: I had to go into Aspect Ratio settings from the main menu and set it to 'Just Scan'. It ONLY worked from the main settings menu, not from the Aspect Ratio button.
After I'd selected it the first time from the menu, it was able to be selected from the remote control button.
I don't know if this DSE TV will be similar, but it's worth a try. There was nothing in the manual about it. If I hadn't found it, I probably would have returned the TV as it wasn't any use as a computer monitor otherwise.
If it doesn't work for the DSE TV, it's well worth calling the support number in the instruction manual (if it has one) as they have access to codes that may not be listed. A TV technician once showed me how to access the hidden set-up menu on my old TV, and from that menu I was able to adjust overscan settings, and even set it up as a mirror image.
I've checked all the menus, including the hidden factory menu. There didn't appear to be any setting in the TV. Unfortunately nobody seems to have a solution for this same problem with other Mitac MTC26T42 displays.
Some users, including myself, fix the problem in software by overriding the EDID. I found that this worked with my nVidia GPU. However, I wanted to reduce power consumption by using the on-board Intel graphics. Unfortunately I was unable to find any way to disable overscan with the Intel graphics. This doesn't bode well for anyone who is unable to use a separate GPU eg. An Intel NUC.
EDIT: I'll add that you can run '1080p' over VGA/D-Sub. But this being an analog signal, the image quality is degraded somewhat
Have you tried contacting the manufacturer of the TV? It's worth a shot. Soniq were VERY helpful when I called them. DSE wouldn't make the TVs themselves so probably outsource support to AWA or Quatius or somewhere.
I've run 1080p over VGA many times and didn't notice any quality difference between it and DVI. I expected the difference to be like night and day, so was very surprised. But results may vary of course between monitors/GPUs/cables etc. Not sure if VGA could handle higher frame rates, but cheaper TVs can probably only handle 60Hz anyway.
VESA Mount?
Looks like a good deal.
How does this TV compare to VIANO 47" Full HD LED $398 @ BigW? https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/143197
Planning to buy an LED TV near 50" and less than $500.
go to a shop like JB HIFI and watch tvs standing side by side to see the difference in quality between different tv's.
Ive gone from Soniq to Sony like this and can not imagine ever going back just because its cheap. TO watch those horrible washed out colours daily, ughhh, never again.
hell, you can get a car for 500$ but would you want to drive it daily?
Good luck with your purchase!
TVs are often set up very poorly in shops and when you buy them. My brother's Sony looked pretty terrible with default settings when he first purchased it, and he was very disappointed. It didn't look as good as my Soniq. My Soniq had been fine-tuned though. It looked awful out of the box too. But after some fine-tuning, they both looked fantastic.
omg. are you serious?
would be awesome if you could explain this fine tuning process you describe.
"The bitter taste of poor quality lingers long after the initial sweetness of a cheap price."
Hi guys,
In my experience I have found that RGB always provides a better picture than HDMI and that's what I always use.
Could someone please tell me if this TV provides a sharp picture through RBG at 1920x1080?
Thanks in advance :)
Wifi?