Gaijin

Adjust your set so it looks good to you. All the correct settings in the world won't help you if you don't like the picture. I know some people who like the brightness cranked up so high black looks gray. But they don't like it any other way. Personally, I like things a bit darker than brighter. DVD's and SD TV show their limitations on HD sets. Especially at 37" and larger screen sizes. 40+ and you're sure to notice the imperfections. An old tube will hide it (not to mention people watched widescreen movies in like a 4-5" high window on their 4:3 sets so they didn't really notice it. It's like if you needed glasses and suddenly have them and now can "see the world around you", except you now realize that SD looked like crap...you just couldn't tell (nothing wrong with SD on an old tube). Certain DVD's will look great upscaled...a crappy transfer upscaled will probably look worse. Keep in mind, a crappy transfer is a crappy transfer..upscaling isn't magic. It won't make a crappy DVD look into a great one. The PS3 with HDMI and the Toshiba HD DVD players (along with some Panasonic and Sony upscaling regular DVD players are among the best there is to upscale regular DVD's. The 360's upscaling is...well, it upscales. ESPN on HD doesn't look fabulous on your set? It should. HD broadcasts and Blu-ray/HD DVD look great on their intended sets. Especially video such as live sports, concerts, and certain TV shows such as sitcoms and certain movies shot on HD video. Film looks like film should look. You might want to try a calibration disc or with HD Net's test patterns (assuming you have HD feeds). Westinghouse is kind of hit and miss on their sets...most of the low cost LCD panels are kinda washed out, have slower refresh rates, etc. WHen it comes to LCD TV's in particular, I tend to stay with Sony Bravias, Panasonics, Sharp Aquos', certain Samsungs, and surprisingly...Vizio for the price. Not a whole lot you can do with your set if the contrast just doesn't look right no matter what setting it's on, though you may want to turn down the backlight if your blacks look gray...if there's no difference between 1 and 100 something may indeed be wrong. You can use certain DVD's if you don't have a calibration disc, like Star Wars Episode III. It's better than nothing. Some games will have test bars as well, you can use those to adjust your settings. Hopefully, your set keeps individual settings for different inputs. You might want to calibrate separately for games, DVD's, HD TV, SD TV, etc. Some panels don't surprisingly and you're stuck with changing things all the time. If you can't see the dead pixels unless you're an inch or two away, I really wouldn't worry about it. It's a 40" TV...you probably will be pretty far away from it most of the time. Unless your display looks like swiss cheese with many dead pixels, I say you should be ok.

Least you still put your old consoles to use...all my older stuff is now 'archived' in my spare office room closet.

If that's true about the 65nm's being manufactured in July, you won't see them in stores till late Aug/ early Sept. most probably.

Interesting look at the hows and whys 360's fail. http://kotaku.com/gaming/japan-explains/wh...-out-286202.php I want them to take one with the new heat sink installed apart to see how well it helps.

The hardware in the current Elite is the same as a Core and Premium. Only thing is the HDD. You'd have to wait for a hardware revision otherwise it's pretty much luck of the draw to get one that might not fail.

That would be cool.

Welcome to being a 360 owner! Seriously...take the sucker back. If they don't take it back, you can deal with the MS warranty and get a shiny new...refurb. Honestly, I would hold off on new 360 purchases until the new chip models are released. Hopefully they'll be a tad more reliable. Here's a question for everyone: What number 360 are you on?

I actually went through 1 and 2 again a few months ago..might go through 3 again end of this year to freshen up. Port Ops I just finished a couple months ago so it's still fresh in the mind.

Oh yeah.

Most cable and sat operators HD feeds are low bitrate. Any of the HD discs be it Blu-ray or HD DVD will look better than broadcast HD (all things being equal such as source material). Both POTC are terrific looking. Also, it was a crappy film but 'Crank' ranks up there as one of the most jaw dropping HD I've seen . Definitely at least rent for pic quality. Planet Earth is a must buy, and Deja Vu was also great.

I have a 32" LCD panny in my bedroom as well. I sit as close as 4 feet away when at the edge of my bed, or as far as 10. The 32 I thought was too big at first in the store, but it actually turned out great. Keep in mind, with the LCD, you don't have 20 inches of tube sticking out the back and the panel can go that much closer to the wall. It only bugs me on some of the older analog upconverted stations my cable company runs thorugh their digital feed, but to be honest, like you I had a 20" tube in the bedroom before and they never looked that great to begin with. Anything HD, DVD, and even many of the SD stations looks great, even at that short distance. NOT as great as 7-8 feet but it's not a deal breaker. Like you I was eyeing a 26" at first but am actually glad I went with the 32. I do haqve a lil more options in that I can sit much further back, but it's actually quite nice. The Pannys are known to make SD stations quite good, something I hadn't expected. It's the closest to a tube as you're going to get at that size. I felt the same way...and decided that the 32" Panny deal I got was too good to pass up and in a couple years I'll upgrade it and retire that one to the guest or computer/office room. The stop gap TV I bought is performing better than I expected it to though. I'm pleased. Heck, you could get even a cheap Vizio 26 or 32 (they're actually not that bad at all and the prices are steals) to mimimize the initial investment.

Since the old one is closed, time for a new one. Was waiting for Apollo Leader to restart one but these couldn't wait. New Screenshots of Lair:

After playing the Gran Turismo HD demo I feel confident in GT's visuals.

Most people changed their tune about MGS4's gameplay after seeing last night's demo.

1.9 Update out. Custom backgrounds are here finally: Sorry for the poor dark picture..used my phone to get a quick pic. The full list • Ability to rearrange games on the XMB • Option menu now includes "eject disk" • Press triangle to eject games/CDs/movies in the XMB • XMB backgrounds • Change the folder classification • Emoticons • Change CD output to 44.1/88.2/176.4kHz • Force 24Hz output for Blu-ray over HDMI • Change PS3 video settings in-game • "Bit Mapping" in the "Music Setting" • Save AVCHD type animations from a Memory Stick • Change settings like upscaling while playing PS and PS2 games • Add bookmarks • Web browser security function in the browser's tool section • Avatar moves during audio visual chat

Castlevania Symphony of the Night appeared on the PSN today, playable for both PS3 and PSP. Not a bad deal for $9.99

That would be. We can dream.

I'm hoping Katamari will make it's way back to the PS3 because, honestly, I doubt the majority of 360 owners in the US would even bother.

Saw it last night. Loved it. Will definitely pick this up on Blu-ray this year.

TV tuner coming for PSP slim.

Here's an odd one: there will be a Megazone 23 game for the PS3 in Japan. Import friendly of course. Expect to see it at TGS. And a shot of Soul Caliber IV for PS3 as well: Why the butt shot I do not know, but I guess it makes fans happy.

PS3 can only upscale DVD's through HDMI. There aren't any players that do otherwise. Some 360 owners used to swear they saw upscaled DVD's through component when MS added scaling over VGA but they obviously didn't know what they were talking about. Games can upscale through component but DVD movies will only be upscaled through HDMI. HDMI to DVI will work on most televisions, there are a few that are finicky though. You can get HD from component up to 1080i with games and Blu-ray discs. With DVD's you will only get up to 480p. With HDMI, you can get up to 1080p with games, Blu-ray, and get upscaled DVD's. It's really a matter of whether you have a true 1080p set mostly. As far as audio...HDMI will get you more including 7.1 on soome games and uncompressed audio on Blu-ray discs (freakin' unreal). OPtical will get you 2 channel and 5.1. Amazon has the $499 60 Gig with the Bluetooth remote for free, as well as a copy of Resident Evil Apocalypse, plus the free 5 discs from the BDA. Best deal right now. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=U...;pf_rd_i=468642

Ah, a fellow Lords fan.

It upscales very nicely. I was impressed after the update.

i Warm after how long? Mine will get a lil warm there after watching a movie or something but no warmer than my old PS2 and Xbox did. In fact, my newer slim PS2 gets warmer on the top than that even with the external power. Heck of a lot cooler than 360. The power is in there area though. As long as the vented air coming out is unblocked on the right and rear, you should be fine.