viewing photos on HDTV ?
 

Hi,

What do you use to view photos on your TV ? I've been using a SanDisk
photo viewer, but it just outputs NTSC or PAL. I've ordered a Roku HD1000,
which supports 1080i via component output. It's actually a programmable Linux machine that can pay audio, video, pix from a wireless or Ethernet
connector.
www.rokulabs.com

I also tried a Samsung DVD player that resampling to 1080i, but it converted the photos to 720x480, then upsampling them to 1920x1080. The unit touted photo playback, but I'm expecting photos with transitions these days. The result was that the colors were MUCH better, especially black, than the SanDisk viewer, but the image was noticeably softer.

In the future, XBox 360 should cover HD photo display, but I haven't found any details on this.

Thanks,

Gints

What about PS3? It has HDMI and supports CD playback or even SACD playback behind a HD photo slideshow!

P.S HDMI is 100% digital!

That's why I'd rather wait for the Sony Playstation 3. (Also, I work for nVidia ...) I have a feeling that the XBox360 will probably have better wireless networking support , which will be cool. For such an advanced box, the Xbox doesn't seem to include 1080p support, from the fact sheet :

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox360/factsheet.htm

The Sony Playstation 3 should support 1080P, which will be very cool for
still images. I'm not even sure that 1080i photo playback will be better than 720p or even 480p, if there is flickering.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05...s_6124681.html

I would LOVE the PS3 dual screen capability if you can view image data
(histogram, EXIF, etc.) on one screen while viewing the image on the other.

My current TV only does 1080i and some sort of DVI (but not HDMI), but my next TV will definitely do 1080p. Playstation 3 won't be out for a while, so I'll use my Roku HD1000 for the next year or so.

Yikes! $300 for a HD photo viewer? What kind of TV are you running this to? I think a better solution would be to use a HTPC if your TV has a D-Sub or PC-DVI connection.

btw - Isn't the PS3 supposed to be $500? I hope that isn't true or they will lose quite a few sales to the less expensive XBOX 360.

Yeah, $300 for a photo viewer. My Sony WEGA 40" CRT has a DVI input, but
that hasn't worked with any DVI computer cables I've tried. The Sony manual says that the TV is NOT designed to accept input from a computer DVI. So, I have to do component output. Still investigating. The computer server is probably the way to go, but I haven't done all of that research, yet. Even so, my desktop computer isn't particularly portable.

I had a $25 SanDisk viewer , which was better than the crippled NTSC output of a Nikon D2H or D70 which uses the lower rez menu display for output.

Pinnacle Systems has a similar media viewing product for $300 , the Show Center 2000 :

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPa...56&Langue_ID=7

I feel your pain! I have a 34" Sony HD CRT and a 50" Sony HD LCD both with DVI ports but neither support computer input like the DVI and D-SUB ports of a Samsung DLP (or Panasonic LCD Rear Projection).

I can't think of a reason why Sony would not enable PC support! My next set is definitely going to be a Samsung DLP.

Does your set have a Memory Stick slot? I have a Memory Stick Pro slot but I have never tried any high resolution (8MP Canon 20D) pics.

Hey Tommy,

Apparently, HDMI is a path for those of us stuck with EIA-861 DTV inputs,
such as that on my Sony WEGA 40" CRT KV40XBR800.

http://www.sigmadesigns.com/support/DVI_HDMI.htm

Check out this line :
"Through the use of an adapter cable, HDMI is backwards compatible with equipment using DVI and the EIA-861 DTV profile."

I did try the DVI output of my Samsung HD841 DVD player, but the display on my SonyWEGA was jittery and light years away from the stellar quality I expected. Yuck. I'll reutrn this unit, although I'll miss the remote control features: on-remote jog shuttle and a 10-second instant replay button.
The Slide show capabilities of this player are underwhelming. All future
DVD players should have SmartFit functions to reduce black space, as well as automatic transitions and EXIF info viewing.

I tried the memory stick slot, but the Sony manual only allows JPEG images
made by Sony of a particular resolution. Plus, the TV doesn't accept Memory Sticks larger than 128 MB. I think this feature was intended for viewing
"still captures" from Sony camcorder. The SonyWEGA manual states that it will not accept images from any device that is not Sony. In short, this is a no go for me.

The Roku HD1000 looks the best in 480p mode, much better than the Samsung upsampling DVD player in 480p mode. Both are connected with
component cables, as my TV has two component inputs and one DVI input.

I too have a sony HD LCD screen but don't have the DVI problems. It has a memory stick input which allowed me to view the inlaws photos after their vacation (ahem...) which was of course a wonderful hour and a half. I believe that the Panasonics (hd lcd's) have even more options with an SD slot and a pcmcia slot available. The resolutions I was able to get using the tv as a monitor were varied dependent on the video card that I was hooking it up to, but I was finally able to get a nice workable resolution after upgrading to a ati9800 card. (for a mac)

Nick, which Sony HD LCD do you have? I know that the small ones have no problem with PC input (17" - 30") as their are very similar to computer LCD monitors. The LCD rear projection HDTVs by Sony (42" to 70") are the ones that are very picky about getting a working PC resolution.

btw - ATI cards are usually the best choice for unique resolutions and widescreen monitors. I run a 9800XT and have had a lot of success.

I own a JVC HD10 camcorder that doubles up as a digital still camera. When I presented my relatives with a photo slide show I shot and recorded the stills on mini DV tape and I hooked it up to an HDTV using the component video outputs.