Topic: All about Generic LCDs - Promacs, Union, Matrix, Fukuda, Pensonic & etc.

[xjoshx]

Any experience?sister company daw ito ng nextbase.Hindi ko makita sa net yung specs,and pics eh.Meron din itong 32" version @44K,Meron itong white/black color variations.Pls post yung meron na.Thanks in advance.

[techdude]

4:3.  Not widescreen.  While I have not tested it, there are lots of other 20" LCD at comparable or cheaper prices.  The white casing looks cool though...

[paolorenzo]

37" is 64k only.  Very basic unit.  1 HDMI, 1 component, 1 composite, 1 TV tuner.  Tempting, considering the price.

These no-name brands should put their reputation on the line, and offer a 2 or 3 year warranty.  Sigurado, sales will sky rocket.

[agwe]

@xjoshx

why not try the samsung 940mg (available in complink) 

i checked out the skyworth and it looks good but the resolution is only 800x600 (same with the toshiba 20" and the samsung 20" 4x3), the 940mg has better resolution, has component inputs, dvi and vga ports. and it's just 20,900!

just my 2 cents.

or if you can wait. . which i'm doing . .. wait till the end of the year, maybe your 30k can buy you a decent 26 widescreen with hdmi ports

[paolorenzo]

LCD TV na rin ba yung Samsung 940mg?  LCD Monitor lang yata?

Or is the 20" Skyworth also just a monitor?

[agwe]

it's already an lcdtv.  it's hdtv ready, has component inputs. built in tv tuner

[New_comer]

37" is 64k only.  Very basic unit.  1 HDMI, 1 component, 1 composite, 1 TV tuner.  Tempting, considering the price.

These no-name brands should put their reputation on the line, and offer a 2 or 3 year warranty.  Sigurado, sales will sky rocket.

It seems Skyworth uses Philips technology in its LCD designs...

http://www.nxp.com/news/content/file_1221.html

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PRODUCT NEWS FROM PHILIPS
February 23, 2006

Philips single-chip LCD TV solution adopted by Skyworth

The TDA15500 single-chip solution with the TV505 reference design enables Skyworth to strengthen its competency in the global LCD TV market

Shanghai, China, February 23, 2006 - Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) today announced that Skyworth's newly shipped LCD TV, 8T84 series, have adopted Philips' TDA15500 single-chip solution with it's TV505 reference design for mainstream and mid level LCD TV with screen size from 15 to 26 inches. The solution along with the reference design offers Skyworth the opportunity to shorten the development time and lower the manufacturing costs so that it can deliver feature-rich and affordable LCD TVs to its international and domestic customers.

The booming LCD TV market and the demanding consumers' requirements have significantly boosted the change of the television world. According to Ministry of Information Industry of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese domestic LCD TV market will reach approximately 4 million units by 2006. Philips' industry-leading single-chip LCD TV solution enables Skyworth to seize this considerable market opportunity and gain stronger competency in the global market.

"For more than 10 years, Philips has been our partner for best in class TV solutions," said Zhou Tong, General Manager, Strategic Cooperate Department, Skyworth. "Now with the severe competition in LCD TV arena, by leveraging Philips single-chip LCD TV solution and benefiting from their experience in TV market, we are able to rapidly develop locally designed LCD TVs. Philips' technology support teams provide great added value and allow for very efficient design processes.

"As the leading provider of LCD TV solutions, Philips is committed to bringing LCD TV solutions that help China customers to differentiate their products in the competitive global marketplace," said Alun Jones, Marketing Director of BU Home, Greater China, Philips Semiconductors. "The industries first single-chip LCD TV solution and reference design are ideal examples of how Philips develops advanced solutions to help manufacturers develop LCD TVs with lower cost and enhanced quality and features."

Philips' single-chip LCD TV solution offers functions such as IF decoding, Audio/Video decoding, picture quality improvement, De-interlacing, Scaling, and Sound processing in a single package. The use of the single chip also helps to significantly reduce the number of components used, hence lowering the total system cost. Partners using Philips single-chip LCD TV solutions can also benefit from the use of Philips' extensive product field-testing laboratories in Eindhoven.

Availability
Skyworth's LCD TVs based on Philips' TDA15500 single-chip LCD TV solution and TV505 reference design is now available.

About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 30.4 billion in 2005. With activities in the three interlocking domains of healthcare, lifestyle and technology and 159,200 employees in more than 60 countries, it has market leadership positions in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, color television sets, electric shavers, lighting and silicon system solutions. News from Philips is located at www.semiconductors.philips.com.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Would this news be good enough reason to plunge my hard-earned money into one? Their 37" model at 60K cash is really very tempting...

http://www.skyworth.com.hk/productsdetails.aspx?ID=13&PID=220

[gearhead]

saw this unit at western sta lucia for 64,950 less 6k pag cash. sino kaya distributor ng skyworth dito sa pinas? meron din kaya sa ambassador nito? for sure mas mura matatawaran sa kanila.

[New_comer]

I just can't wait anymore. The NBA finals is just around the corner, so this is a "must-do" proposition.

So for P64,450 at 0% 18 mos to pay, I took home the last 37" unit available at Anson's Makati last Sunday. The PWD8 plasma offer of LR is really just out of my reach.

Anyways, after a week of intense function testing with all gadgets that I have at the moment, here's what I observed:

1. Forget the sound. "Tunog lata" talaga. My 25" Wega can dish out a solid audio performance, maybe due to its deeper casing. The thin speaker boxes of the L88 just can't throw the level of bass or ooomph I need to enjoy it. Pero kung Wowowee lang o ordinary shows, pwede na. In a scale of 10, i'd give this a 6

2. Skycable TV is watchable. Not as crisp as the Wega, but good enough for casual viewing. BBC, ESPN, and Solar are good enough. HBO surprisingly has poorer quality. Malinaw pa ABS CBN. Bigyan ko lang ito siguro ng 7, compared to my Wega's 10

3. DVD performance is just fine. Protone at Platinum yung players ko. Colors are a bit muted compared to the Wega, but are rendered accurately. Nagduda nga ako sa greenish tint na nakikita do sa paligid ng Matrix Revolution fight scene ni Keanu with dozens of Mr. Smiths, pero nung tinignan ko sa PC PowerDVD, normal pala yun. O baka naman dahil p*ted lang mga bala ko. In Finding Nemo, very crisp and adequate, as with Eqilibrium. Patok ang rendition ng DVDng bala. Ni wala akong makita na lag, shadow or jaggies. Solid Bigyan ko ito ng 9.

4. DivX performance, watchable pero halatang halata ang mga compression artifacts, parang pang PC showing lang talaga mga files na iyon. Maybe it's because the 1 megapixel (1366 x768) screen can really highlight decompression imperfections. Parang sinasabi ng unit na wag mag play nga mas bababa sa 720x480 na video resolution. But given the fact na mapapanood na ito in a bigger screen, the only solution is to watch from farther away. I'd say 7 lang, but not the fault of the TV.

5. PC performance ROCKS! Well, at least sa 1024 x 768 resolution. Perfect ang colors. Nung mag play ako ng PowerDVD, mas smooth ang rendition ng lahat ng na play ko. Sa Matrix, what appeared as specks of green on the pavement of the fight scene, was rendered as smooth green aura sa PC. Pag nasa Nebuchadnezzar sila, back to natural tones. Pag nasa loob ng matrix, bumabalik yung green aura. Sa Pelikula nga siguro yun. But when I increased the resolution to 1280 x 768, may lumalabas na white shadowing sa mga desktop icon, di naman halata pag mga 6 ft ang layo, pero di perfect (pwede kayang ireklamo ito?). Di-nemo ko yung DOTA sa 1024 res, ang ganda ng kulay, kaya lang alas 2 na ng umaga, kaya di na namin nailaro ng anak ko. Sa mkv ng Elfen Lied, tinapos namin yung 13 episodes, ang sarap panoorin. Dapat yata mag media center PC ako para sa unit na ito. Liteon SOHW 1693 DVDRW on Powercolor ATi 9250 VGA/DVI run by Athlon 2100+ on ECS VTA3 mb yung ginamit ko. I'd give this a 9.

6. Di ko pa matest yung DVI performance, kasi wala akong pang-kabit sa HDMI in ng TV. Yun ngayon ang quest ko. Dito naman ako hihingi ng tulong sa inyo kung saan akom akakakuha ng DVI/HDMI adaptor at cable. Yung mura lang ha?


7. Porma, it looks bigger than it really is. Ang lapad kasi ng bezel tapos yung side speakers pa.



So far, so good! Yung Warriors-Jazz kanina, ayos talaga, with my 2-12" Konzert 600W speakers and 450W Konzert sub bring us live inside that rowdy stadium. Napagalitan tuloy kami ni misis... Bigyan ko sya ng grade na 7 out of 10. Kung maayus-ayus yung sound nya, solid 8 sana. For roughly 52 thou (corrected against citibank paylite rates- wala namang 0% talaga diba), di na ako nakapag-rereklamo pa.

Pics ko pala ay nai-save ko sa kabilang computer ko, I post ko na lang later.

[gearhead]

saw this at western appliances, playing spiderman through HDMI. sa malapitan medyo noisy pero if i move back a little ok naman. kung wala ngang nakasulat sa price tag na 37" i would think it's a 40 incher. ang lapad kasi. P64,450 pero pag cash less 6,000 pa so around P58k na lang. presyong 32" ng ibang brand.

btw, have you tried tweaking it na ba? does it have a separate backlight control? thanks for the review nga pala.

[New_comer]

saw this at western appliances, playing spiderman through HDMI. sa malapitan medyo noisy pero if i move back a little ok naman. kung wala ngang nakasulat sa price tag na 37" i would think it's a 40 incher. ang lapad kasi. P64,450 pero pag cash less 6,000 pa so around P58k na lang. presyong 32" ng ibang brand.

btw, have you tried tweaking it na ba? does it have a separate backlight control? thanks for the review nga pala.

Tweaking as per cnet tips and tricks? opo. When I frst turned on the set, naka max out yung contrast. Binaba ko hanggang mga 45-55 lang depende sa palabas. Kung animation, mababa pa. Deactivate ko din lahat ng pic enhancement features like NR, edge enhancement saka black enhance.

Kung madumi yung analog signal, di na talaga kayang pagandahin. Booster na siguro kailangan ko, kasi naman 6 na TV na ikinabit ko sa isang cable source ko. Panay splitter at coupling na sa kahabaan, so tanggap ko na lang ang  hina ng signal sa LCD.

I played just a while ago yung Good, Bad and The Ugly, na DivX download ko. I noticed na kapag naka zoom mode or 16:9 size lang, may mga lumalabas na jaggies, particularly sa high contrast areas like the teeth to lips or boots on sand. Pero pag naka 4:3 wala na akong makita. I am seated just three feet away looking intentionally for imperfections. 20/20 pa pala ako, baka may magduda. But my son cannot see agad what I was noticing, unless i-replay ko nang paulit ulit.

Irregular din naman kasi ang pakita ng jaggies, minsan hindi ko ma-recreate. When I turned on the edge enhancement or the NR, lalong lumalabas. But then again, sa 4:3 kahit anung enhance setting ang i-on ko, walang jaggies na makita. I believe na ito'y epekto ng difference in resolution, na lumalabas na shortcoming sa upscaling capability ng TV at nasagad na yung 6ms response time nito. Pero sa casual viewer, hindi ito makikita.

Lumabas na din ang issue na low quality talaga ang mga generic DVD divx players ko. Inherently out of focus kasi yung Protone Divx DVD player, kahit sa Wega ko, kita na yun dati e. Wala sa pwesto yung red tint. Lalong lumabas ngayon sa LCD. Duon sa The Corrs unplugged, naka trail yung red tint outside of the outline of the body or face.

Time na din sigurong kumuha ako ng HDMI enabled DVD player na medyo high end para makaiwas sa focusing problems. For now, ikakabit ko ulit yung PC ko, tapos gagamitin ko na muna yung DivX-HDMI adapter cable na nabili ko sa Spectra sa Park square. Tignan ko ulit using pure digital video signal.

[gearhead]

Kung madumi yung analog signal, di na talaga kayang pagandahin. Booster na siguro kailangan ko, kasi naman 6 na TV na ikinabit ko sa isang cable source ko. Panay splitter at coupling na sa kahabaan, so tanggap ko na lang ang  hina ng signal sa LCD. 

me nabibili cable signal amplifiers sa mga hardware shops ng mall. kung sinisipag ka mas mura sa raon. meron mga 4 outs ok na siguro yun split mo na lang ang iba. pero meron din 8-outs i think.

Time na din sigurong kumuha ako ng HDMI enabled DVD player na medyo high end para makaiwas sa focusing problems. For now, ikakabit ko ulit yung PC ko, tapos gagamitin ko na muna yung DivX-HDMI adapter cable na nabili ko sa Spectra sa Park square. Tignan ko ulit using pure digital video signal. 

get the pioneer dvd-696av. then let the player do the upconverting. baka sakali nga mas maganda  performance ng player na yan kesa internal upscaler ng tv. we'll wait for your feedback. salamat ulit.

[New_comer]

me nabibili cable signal amplifiers sa mga hardware shops ng mall. kung sinisipag ka mas mura sa raon. meron mga 4 outs ok na siguro yun split mo na lang ang iba. pero meron din 8-outs i think.

get the pioneer dvd-696av. then let the player do the upconverting. baka sakali nga mas maganda  performance ng player na yan kesa internal upscaler ng tv. we'll wait for your feedback. salamat ulit.

Thanks sa tips. Saan pala may 696? Matignan nga yan...

Hindi ako makasingit sa TV, palabas kasi Suns-Spurs ngayun. Susubukan ko sana yung DVI-HDMI capability ng LCD. So habang nag surf ako sa tabi nakita ko yung homepage ng Skyworth sa Pinas:



http://75.126.49.141/~techblur/main.php

Kaya pala Nextbase salesman yung nag-asikaso sa amin, tied up pala yung dalawa thru Techpoint-Binondo.

One more thing: Pag TV program lang, wala akong makitang jaggies. So malamang nga sa DivX players ko nagmumula yung distortion. Kada-download ko pa lang nga Donnie Darko saka We are Marshalls, sa DVI -HDMI ko i-play para makilatis ulit.

Ano po pala magandang pic hosting site? Wala palang attach function dito. Thanks

[New_comer]

Eto and ilang pics na kuha while playing videos via VGA. Elfen lied saka Equilibrium ito.













Ang mga susunod, full res pics so babagal po download ng konti:







Kanina ko lang po ito kinunan.

[New_comer]

Eto naman mga pics nung ikabit ko na yung PC ko sa DVI-HDMI cable na nabili ko nga kahapon.

Automatic na nag 480p resolution yung LCD without me clicking on anything. Comparing the pq of hdmi vs vga, mas blended yung background sa DVI using VLC PC player naman. Nawala yung vertical noise na halata kung sa vga ang format. Matrix reloaded saka Kill Bill 2 ang na-play ko. Dapat na nga yata akong kumuha ng hdmi o dvi capable na player para mapakinabangan ng todo itong panel. Napakaganda talaga pag VGA o HDMI-DVI kung ikumpara sa generic players.

Di sya kayang itulak ng generic dvd, not without any imperfections. A media center PC would do, pero gamit na gamit itong PC ko so manaka-naka ko lang maitulak sa hi-def condition yung LCD. Medyo complicado na ang mga koneksyon dahil ang audio ay kukunin na sa PC. Bibili pa ako ng mga audio extension connectors patungo sa ampli ko.

Here are the pics:

[New_comer]

The LCD is now on its 12th day of intense TV / DIVx operation. As in, pag may tao sa bahay mula pagkagising sa umaga hanggang katulugan ko sa gabi, andar sya.

So far, so good. No picture aberration whatsoever. Panay nga tweak ko sa Brightness and contrast as I've noticed na dapat talaga vivid pag umaga, para labanan ang ambient lighting. Sa papahapon o gabi, tatabangan ko naman dahil malakas ang sinag nya.

Nawala na din yung eye fatigue na naramdaman ko nung first days ng paglipat namin dito. Konting backlight pala ang teknik duon, so naglagay ako ng tig-200 na table lamp sa likuran, pangontra sa kurtinang puti na nakalagay na duon.

Very pleasant naman ang experience namin sa pag-play ng mga latest download ko na DivX. Donnie Darko, We are Marshall, saka Hot Fuzz ay very watchable as usual, me konting compression artifacts pero expected naman yun. Wala pa ulit akong ma-play na DVDng orig, kasi po'y lumalabas na yung marami sa mga p*ted na nakuha ko sa Makati Cinema square eh hindi naman pala talaga DVD. Parang DivX lang na ni-render as DVD. Alang kwenta. Saan kaya may orig...

One good trait na nakita ko sa kanya ay mabilis sya mag change channel, parang regular TV. Di tulad ng Samsung Plasma dito sa office na may 3 secs wait yata bago lumabas ang channel. Also, panay ang balik namin sa 4:3, Di kami matuwa talaga sa pag-punggok ng images pag mag 16:9 kami. Sa ilang chanel, ok lang ang zoom,dahil ayos pa rin ang proportion, di baleng matapyas ang topside ng image. Ayus din yung "picture Freeze" function nya, parang snapshot, kaya lang walang save feature so wala lang...

Again, I was tweaking about sa HDMI-DVI connection sa PC ko, I discovered na pwede ko palang i-upscale ang resolution to 720P or 1080i. Nandun sya sa settings nga ATI radeon tool options. Ang problema lang, lagpas sa screen yung images. Yung "My documents" icon ko di ko na makita. Sa ultimate analysis, hindi mo mapag-iba sa VGA ang dating nya. So after just three days, may buyer's remorse  na ako sa HDMI-DVI converter cable na nabili ko. Dapat pala yung 25ft na VGA cable na lang, para di na ko lipat ng lipat ng PC console ko... 

I'll post pics later pag na set ko na extended VGA cable ko.

[New_comer]

Ok, here's the VGA cable I bought at PC Gilmore for nearly 600 pesos. Nagtalo pa kami ng tindero dahil yung presyo sa website ay 450 lang. (Kuripot pa ako kuno... ) 25 ft male-male, na generic.



After installing it, napansin ko na may 2 steady noise banding mga 4" ang lapad sa upper and lower halves ng screen. Wala ito nung 6ft vga cable ang gamit ko. Di ko sya makuhanan ng picture for your appreciation, pero sa tingin ko naman, tolerable ang image from 6ft out. Pag lapitan, dun halatang halata na. How to remove that, I have no idea, pero saka na lang yan.

I then played Afro Samurai and after some tweaking sa ATI settings , the images came out just right. I also bought an 6m audio cable to link the LCD with the PC sound card, which proved just right. Walang audio noise or distortions. I could even channel it thru my amps for a theater-like reproduction.





I'm already nitpicking here, but if there is one anomaly that somewhat irritates me after two weeks of tv operation is this greenish tinge I always notice in the broad white areas of the images. The beard of Pai Mai in Kill Bill 2 had this tinge here and there that somehow distracts me from time to time. But this only appears when I use the generic DVD players, not when using the PC. Well, I guess in time, I have to unlearn from noticing that.

Other than that, I have no other issues to complain about the LCD. If I were to conclude on my observations, I'd say I've gotten hold of a PC monitor that pretends to be a TV/DVD panel. It's 4 x the size of a 19" WS monitor and cost just as much per square inch. A Bang for the Buck deal it truly is!

Thanks for reading!

[john5479]

sir nice review, max resolution pala nito is 1366×768, any chance you have hi def videos (720p) stored in your pc that you can use to test how it handles hd signals?

[techdude]

OT: Maybe fiddling with the tint or gamma values of your DVD player, you can undo the greenish bias..

[New_comer]

sir nice review, max resolution pala nito is 1366×768, any chance you have hi def videos (720p) stored in your pc that you can use to test how it handles hd signals?

Unfortunately, I don't have a clip with high def resolution. Maybe if you could share a torrent address of one, I'd be more than happy to dowload it and test its playability on the LCD. 

OT: Maybe fiddling with the tint or gamma values of your DVD player, you can undo the greenish bias..

I had. Sagad na to 0 yung sa player mismo. The LCD's hue control is disabled pala, so my only alternative is to reduce saturation. Pero tumatabang naman ang kulay. I guess it's already the panel's inability to properly interpret or upconvert the 480i signal it receives from the DVD. Compared to the VLC player via PC, night and day ang pagkakaiba. The PC can push this beast to resolve better than a generic dvd can.

[iceman90a]

considering the price and the size, this looks like a good buy.

[New_comer]

sir nice review, max resolution pala nito is 1366×768, any chance you have hi def videos (720p) stored in your pc that you can use to test how it handles hd signals?

I'm now trying to download 720p files from some of the torrent sites I frequent, but with the monstrous file sizes, it may take a week bago ako maka-isang pelikula. Saka napansin ko, malamya ang seeding ng mga ganitong file.

Luckily, last night I was able to extract a 7 minute trailer of Spiderman 3 in 720P, 108mb kaagad. Sa 17" PC monitor ko, lintek na ang detalye. Subukan kong i-DVI connection this weekend and see how it looks in the LCD.   

[gearhead]

I had. Sagad na to 0 yung sa player mismo. The LCD's hue control is disabled pala, so my only alternative is to reduce saturation. Pero tumatabang naman ang kulay. I guess it's already the panel's inability to properly interpret or upconvert the 480i signal it receives from the DVD. Compared to the VLC player via PC, night and day ang pagkakaiba. The PC can push this beast to resolve better than a generic dvd can.

bili-bili na kasi ng pio 696av. mas mura pero ok din (me USB port pa) is the philips dvp5965 upconverting player.

[New_comer]

bili-bili na kasi ng pio 696av. mas mura pero ok din (me USB port pa) is the philips dvp5965 upconverting player.

hehehe...

Sana nga, kaya lang napunta na sa matrikula...

Pag dumami OT, baka makakuha din ng isa nyan.

Yung Philips 5965, nasa P5990 ata, tapos wala akong makitang Pio 696, Pio 490 lang at P6.2K ata. Alin kaya ang mas ok? 

[van_xer]

sarap magDOTa nyan bro a!! 

ok yng size!

[New_comer]

sarap magDOTa nyan bro a!! 

ok yng size!

Nakakagigil nga eh! Pero di ako makasingit, as the LCD has taken over as our main TV. Palaging nakabukas, kung hindi NBA, Wowowee naman saka mga drama! 

[gearhead]

Yung Philips 5965, nasa P5990 ata, tapos wala akong makitang Pio 696, Pio 490 lang at P6.2K ata. Alin kaya ang mas ok? 

as from what i've been reading here, mukhang okay naman both these players for your 37" size. baka me makita ka pang bargain sa b&s section. sold na kasi yung dating naka-post na dv-490.

[New_comer]

sir nice review, max resolution pala nito is 1366×768, any chance you have hi def videos (720p) stored in your pc that you can use to test how it handles hd signals?

Sir, your wish is my command. Here they are:








My camera (Olympus C760) cannot do justice to the spectacular eye candy we are being treated with the 720P video rendition of Tokyo Drift. The 8 days it took to download the movie was well worth the wait. You could even discern the tiny hair out the earlobes nung bida. and thanks to the 9250 video card running out the 2700 Athlon PC, there were no artifacts nor distortions while playing via Classic Media Player.

Now, I don't know if I'll ever revert to 480P after witnessing such tremendous picture quality! I was really blown away by Hi-Def! Parang katabi mo lang yung mga characters, as if looking thru a window. That's how vivid the images were! Talagang nakakainip lang dahil ang taaagaaalll talaga mag-download... I wasn;t able to take pics of the trailer video in 720P of Happy Feet. It was equally, maybe even more impressive, in PQ. Now I have to wait another week or so para makumpleto ko naman ito. Pero ika nga, good things come to those who wait for long downloads... 

I hope magka HD telecast na tayo dito. That's the only way to make the most of the capabilities of this panel most of the time. Parang ayaw ko na tuloy mag-DivX... 

[New_comer]

as from what i've been reading here, mukhang okay naman both these players for your 37" size. baka me makita ka pang bargain sa b&s section. sold na kasi yung dating naka-post na dv-490.

I'd rather wait na lang duon sa ilalabas na 400V or 600V. Di  naman yata magtatagal, nandito na yung mas advance na DVD upscalers ng Pioneer. Pwede namang tiyagain ko na muna sa Athlon ko yung karamihang Divx na pinapanood namin. 

[New_comer]

After another week, I completed the download of "Happy Feet" in Hi-def.

Everyone in the house literally stopped whatever they were doing to marvel at the very crisp images being rendered thru the DVI-HDMI connection to my 2700 Athlon PC with ATI 9250 GC. The skin of the elephant seals are so realistically rendered, you can mistake them for being right there about to pop out of the screen. Same is true with the orcas and everything else.

But in my enjoyment watching the film, i forgot to setup my digicam. Sorry about that, I'll try to post pics later.