Any Syntax Olevia owners out there?

Just got finished setting up the LT27HV. This is my pc/tv, as I've always used my old 21" for viewing tv.

First hooking up to PC. (Doesn't come with a dvi cable, unlike the Micro Center sales person who told me it did) So just using analog. I get video during boot of the text, which cuts back and forth alot on each screen change. As soon as windows loads, blue screen. And I don't mean BSOD, just the no video kind. So I figure I'm running at a rez/refresh thats not supported. Boot into safe mode, and it works at 800x600. Now booting into safe mode and saving your video settings is supposed to knock your normal windows settings down also, atleast it used to. Doesn't seem to anymore. So hooked up old monitor, set to 640x480 and 60 hrz. Connected the Olevia back up, and still blue screen in windows. Getting tired of disconnecting vga cables, and as I had a new Maxtor 250 HD I had been planning to switch to, I start up windows setup.

Windows reinstalled and the Olevia is working in windows. The screen is about 1-2" over to far to the left. Not to worried about it yet. Install windows updates. Install DX9b and boom, screen is dead center and looking nice. My video card refresh is still crap as no drivers loaded for my Radeon 9800 Pro. So load those, and then ..... My text is now kind of odd. Almost like the contrast is to high making some of the lettering fade out. Hard to explain, as its still freaking awesome looking but not as "soft" as it was before I loaded the drivers. Hoping maybe DVI cable will help fix this.

One note, I do reallllly wish I had the extra money for the 30". As 1280x720, wtf is that. I didn't even realize its not a supported PC resolution. The 30"'s 1280x768 would be highly preferred as right now I'm just doing 1024x768. So I can't even do the monitor's natural resolution.

Second note, there doesn't seem to be any kind of inf for this montior. Just shows as a pnp monitor in windows. No sign of a driver on the syntax website either. This is not the way to get the best performance out of your monitor syntax, write a freaking driver with refresh rates supported.

I'll be updating my comcast digital cable box to a newer HD box and will post results on it. Now time to test what I bought it for, gaming.

I'm pretty sure your ATI card supports 1280x720. Your "monitor" probably doesn't support this as a standard resolution. You probably need to use Powerstrip. I've heard of someone posting that they got 1280x720 via Powerstrip with this monitor; so I would think it's possible. Powerstrip is your friend.

With analog VGA try these timings:
1280x720p=1280,48,160,200,720,24,10,48,81000,2052

On my (non-syntax) 30" LCD I was unable to get 1:1 pixel mapping without Powerstrip via the VGA connector (I was successful with Powerstrip). However with a 9800 Pro via DVI, it automatically displayed NR (1280x768 in my case) the first time (which almost made me break down and cry after the suffering I had went through with my Nvidia card and the many hours I spent in Powerstrip). You might want to try DVI; you can get a DVI cable as cheap as $15ish if you just to try it out.

Once you see DVI @ 1:1 you'll never go back; this is the only way to run a LCD panel IMO.

Well I've had a little more time to tweak on the system. I defintely had planned to give powerstrip a try. If it can set my resolution to 1280x720 and I can play that in games I will be happiest man alive. I'll defintely be getting a DVI cable. Is a "dual dvi" cable actually different than any other dvi cable? Better? Supported?

I also turned on truetype, this helped quite a bit to clear up the text in windows and surfing around.

So far, I am truly loving this LCD. As I said earlier, this is mainly my PC monitor for gaming, etc. And it is doing an incredible job. So far Doom 3 and EvE Online look absolutely spectacular. EvE was already a beautiful game, but wow it is like cinematic now. I feel like I am inside Blade Runner. Also tried City of Hero's. Didn't look as good as on my old 21" HP. I think because of the size of the screen and low res, 1024x768 is low now lol, that it causes quite a few jaggies. I tried knocking my AA/AF to max in windows, but this caused everything to start doing the limbo. Basically looked like the pixels were vibrating. I think I had this same issue with my old monitor also so I never usually manually configure my D3D settings like this. I'll try it at a little more moderate setting.

(This is my first post on a forum ever. )



Just wanted to let folks know that there is a decent review on the Syntax LT30HV on Anandtech.


(Unfortunately I'm not allowed to post links yet, I'm too new.)

It notes the lack of drivers and the necessity of PowerStrip. It also gives good marks for the LCD in general based on features, color reproduction and gaming. The review is dated late in June.

To add to Ted's list of questions, I have the following:

1) Does the multiple "grid" display feature exist on the LT27HV ?

2) Does either unit accept the HD signal from satellite or Digital Cable?

3) And for those who have seen the actual displays sidebyside; Is the 30" (2.2"wider and 2.2" taller) screen worth the extra $300-400 in your opinion?

Syntax should be out with a 32" lcd this fall, so you might want to wait. This would be their second cut at it, so hopefully they will improve on some of the original mistakes... Stats are 1366 x 768 resolution, 800:1 contrast ratio, 550cd/m2 brightness and a 16ms response time.

ATI just put our their 4.8 drivers with HD support, including 1280x720, woot. About to install them and crossing fingers it works.

Connected to my pc via dvi now and dvd's, especially widescreens like LotR's look very good. Hope to get my cable box upgraded to HD this week as std tv is just so so.

I saw the 27 and 30 side by side. It was actually rather hard to tell which was bigger. The 27 was also setup better I think, as the brightness looked much better than the 30. Worth it or not... wasn't for me. Even though I would have liked 1280x768 natural support for pc. For HT, I defintely don't think its worth it. Now the 32" coming out, there is a little more size difference there and may be better unit also.

Congrats, Ted. Enjoy your new gadget!

Speaking of Syntax I read the following interview with Syntax's CEO -
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20040818PR202.html

A couple of interesting things come out of it - the 32" set will be priced at $1799 and a 37-inch LCD TV is coming this October and a 40-inch model in the first quarter of next year. The 37-inch LCD TV will be priced at US$2,799 and will have an 800:1 contrast ratio and a 12ms response time, whereas the 40-inch one will be priced at US$3,499.

Was surprise to see on in a store. Looked pretty good up against the competition.

Mike

Saw that one at Fry's too. Great price. Originally, at Frys it was adjusted rather poorly with the brighness set *way* too high giving it a washed out look. Bringing down the brighness, giving the contrast a slight boost, and toning down the color helped a lot.

There is still some issue with contrast ratio and viewing angle and maybe grayscale tracking (not as good as other comparable sets) but sitting next to the Panasonic, Toshiba, and both Sharp 26" sets, it didn't look too bad -- at roughly half the price of the others.

Paul

now that you have had it a while, can you update us on this tv? I am thinking of buying one, since the price has now hit oh bout 1K. Makes it a nice bedroom tv.

I notice a Syntax press release this week with MSRPs of the following: 27in - $1,299, 30in $1,599, 32in $1,999, and 37in $2,999.

I have seen the reduction reflected in the 27 inch prices and there is a $100 rebate now on that model to boot. I haven't noticed a reduction in prices on the 30 inch model or a rebate. Most sites list prices above $1,599. I am wanting a 30 inch but am willing to wait a few weeks for the price to drop a little. LCD prices seem to be dropping across the board this week.

BTW, I emailed Syntax and they told me that the 30 inch model would remain in the lineup until sometime next year.

Still waiting for that 37'' model to hit stores myself... and hoping the reviews are good.

Anyone have any guesses what up-converting a 720p signal to 1080p for the 37'' model will do to the picture quality?

Are you guys 27" owners, any feedback?

anyone seen this at a store?

I saw the 27' at a local Fry's but you could tell NOTHING because the signal they were feeding all their TVs was horrible. Every model in the store looked bad. I am amazed that they expect people to spend from $1,000 all the way up to $20,000 on a TV based on what was being shown.

I asked about the 30" but they said they did not carry that model.

I just got the 30" on Friday. So far so good.

I haven't yet gotten my iBook to do 1280x768 via VGA.

480p content looks fantastic. DVDs and games are super-duper sharp and beautiful.

I do, however, have one gripe. There are two component inputs: Y/Pb/Pr (480i, 480p, 1080i, 720p) and Y/Cb/Cr (480i).

If you plug a 480i source into Y/Pb/Pr, you get noise. That same 480i source plugged into Y/Cb/Cr is crystal clear. Syntax tech support claims that it's because all signals through Y/Pb/Pr go through a comb filter which results in 480i sources to appear noisy and garbled. They said that I should plug any 480i sources I have into Y/Cb/Cr and only plug progressive scan sources into Y/Pb/Pr.

That totally sucks. I use my Playstation 2 as my DVD player which is a progressive scan player, but most games for the PS2 are not progressive scan. So I have to keep my PS2 plugged into the Y/Cb/Cr input for games, then change the cable to Y/Pb/Pr when I want to watch a DVD or play a progressive scan game. Major suckage.

Other than that, the picture quality is surprisingly good, and the unit is very well made. Only one stuck pixel (blue) but I can live with that.

All that for only $1429, a $100 rebate, and $69 shipping (delivered next-day) from Amazon.com ($1398 total).

I'm a Syntax owner now!

Microcenter has a great price on the 30" Olevia this week. You can barely see it in their weekly ad scan on the web site, but the enlarge link leads to an old ad.

Can't wait to get it setup in the bedroom tonight.

$1000 for this seems like a total steal - running out to get mine now.

uh, where is it listed for 1K?

Check **************.

Microcenter is having a big sale. Pretty crazy price... shame 30'' is a bit too small for me

If Microcenter is selling the 30" for $1,000 I would be all over that. I paid $1,500 for mine and I consider that a real bargain. $1,000 is a no brainer. I wonder if they really mean the 27"???

I checked that, I don't see the 30" for 1K anywhere, checked the online add and FW.

Anyone have a link

I have looked at the 27" and find it poor compared to most other LCD's, wondering if the 30" is better. And, for 1K the 30" is a sweet deal indeed, just don't seem to find it for 1K.

The thread:
http://www.**************/forums/mess...=y&keyword1=TV

thanks!