Hi. just made this account because Im thinking of buying a new monitor and computer.

Im thinking of buying a huge monitor instead of a TV. I want a monitor with high resolution, what I wanna know is, must it be hdtv compatible to be able to play hd material, or is high resolution enough?
I have been looking at Samsung 30" LCD Syncmaster 305T. Will it be able to play 1080p? (res 2560 x 1600)
Or can you recommend any other?

Or, should I buy a TV?
If I did, what equippment do I need to be able to play downloaded hdfilms on my TV?

What is the role of the monitor?

Any 1080P content on that monitor above will either be letterboxed or else needs to be interpolated (blurry) or else upscaled (VPU intensive). If you focus is computer high res for 2D or somthing then get the Samsung it's a nice monitor, otherwise for gaming and video playback a native 1920x1080 30-32" monitor would be a better approach IMO.

Okey.
damn why must tft monitors be so unflexible with res. better with ctr.
I think I will get a 19" monitor then, and buy a TV also.

still, what equipment do I need?

Sorry don't understand the question.

The 19" monitor won't give you a better resolution (just a better pixel pitch), you could buy a nice sweet 32" 1080P monitor like the Sharp Aquos which would be OK even for text, just not great for "very up close" work, but should be awesome for most other general uses in both PC and TV.

Personally I use a CRT for my up close work, my laptop for my text and quick work, and 2 HDTVs (one CRT one Projector) for my main Television viewing in the living room (LCD plus old CRT in Bedrooms).

So the question, I guess, is what is it you mean by equipment?

Yeah... Just save yourself the hassle and get a TV.

I now understand why you are tagged: graphic gorilla.

no. I will get one 19" for closeup work and gaming.
and I will get a 32-37" fullhdtv are you recommending sharp aquos series?

what I mean with equipment is, what cables do I need to link my graphiccard (8800GTS) to my TV. do I use the second dvi port, or will I need special eq?

hdtv port perhaps. lol.

thanks for your help.

If you want to watch Blu-Ray movies on a computer monitor, that monitor needs to have an HDMI port that supports HDCP (copy protection). If don't have this you have to use a HDMI-to-DVI cable which will make the Blu-Ray player down convert its content to 480p. Some cable/satellite boxes with HDMI might start doing this as well.

Any monitor that does 1920x1200 or higher can play 1080p content at full resolution.

If you want to watch downloaded video content on your TV you will need a HTPC, a console (XB360 and PS3 support media sharing), or a specialized media sharing box.

I don't recommend any TV if you're just going to get a Tv, I just wanted to give you an idea of the Aquos as an example of the small format HDTV, I would recommend above 40" as a TV, but the 37" models are ok.

As for the connection, if the TV has a DVI that's good, but most are either VGA or HDMI, so then you chose which dongle you want to use. IMO if you can free up an HDMI port use the VGA, but if you're going to pass protected content across it, then used the DVI-HDMI dongle.

"
If you want to watch downloaded video content on your TV you will need a HTPC, a console (XB360 and PS3 support media sharing), or a specialized media sharing box.
"
Cant I get full hd if I use a dvi-hdmi cable?

this is confusing..

Yes. The only issue is if you need HDCP and the CARD doesn't send it, but in your case the 8800GTS does have HDCP over DVI, and yes the dongle will pass along that handshake.

You should have few problems, other than the niggling issues that affect everyone and are usually fixed in driver updates.

thanks