What Screen for the Mac Mini?

[Lupine Lacuna]

Will be used for watching downloaded films, some iplayer, will be only screen in the house, general media centre. Should it be a TV or a computer monitor?

[Gordy]

I would get a proper computer one as tv's tend to be not as good. However if it's your only screen in the house I would get a TV. What's your budget and what size are you wanting?

[Lupine Lacuna]

Bear ind mind we almost never watch TV and wont bother with a licence. Only downloaded stuff really.

Budget max 500 quid. Size not too big??? (is that specific enough?)

[pauldarkside]

Bear ind mind we almost never watch TV and wont bother with a licence. Only downloaded stuff really.

Budget max 500 quid. Size not too big??? (is that specific enough?)

How big is too big? 28, 32, 40 inches? Are you going to be viewing from a distance or up close and personal? From the sound of it, you might be more suited to getting a TV rather than a monitor but it's not clear which would be appropriate.

[Lupine Lacuna]

Hi Paul, why do you say that? (TV more than monitor).

I think definately bigger than 30 inches but probably closer to that than 40 inches. As I my girlfriends parents have a 42 and it looks kinda excessive. Though having said that, what about something like this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-LE40...ref=pd_cp_ce_4

What sort of features should I be looking for? We're never going to be playing blu rays or even DVD's, most likely.

[Lupine Lacuna]

The other thought I just had is: presumably i dont want too big unless the quality is high? For example, I watch standard encoded say, 700mb films, are they going to look really bad on a biggish screen?

[pauldarkside]

Hi Paul, why do you say that? (TV more than monitor).

Media Centre usage, only screen and your budget - 500 quid doesn't stretch far enough for really big screen monitors.

I think definately bigger than 30 inches but probably closer to that than 40 inches. As I my girlfriends parents have a 42 and it looks kinda excessive. Though having said that, what about something like this?

You're definitely looking at a TV screen then. I haven't got any personal recommendations but what you suggested looks okay. You'll not need to worry about sharing features or built in web stuff as that'd be handled by the PC - just make sure you've got the appropriate connection on both device and screen. The rest, well that depends on what you might want to do with it.

[pauldarkside]

The other thought I just had is: presumably i dont want too big unless the quality is high? For example, I watch standard encoded say, 700mb films, are they going to look really bad on a biggish screen?

You can only do so much with scaling, try taking a GIF and scale it up, it'll look pixelated. That old SD content doesn't look great when scaled to Full HD. At 720p it's not so harsh. You could, perhaps, lower your Media PC's desktop resolution when playing SD and have the screen adjust accordingly, using its scaling options to improve results. Or just move to HD content and make the most of those pixels.