I am an HDTV noob. Samsung TX-P3275H 32" HDTV

I had never even heard of tube HDTV's until a few days ago, I found an ad on my local craigslist for one that is in my price range and wanted to ask a few questions before I called the seller. I did a bit of research and found that this TV has a DVI input, now I have no idea what that is but I hear that there is a DVI to HDMI cable I can use to get HD broadcasting. My biggest question is will the DVI to HDMI cable get me 720p on my ps3? Sorry if my post is a bit confusing but...all this stuff is really confusing to me. Thanks for any help/advice, I appreciate it.

Yes that HDTV will accept 720p on its HD inputs. You could also use the component and audio cables between the PS3 and TV which would be cheaper.

Thank you for the quick reply. So are you saying that there isn't any need for me to get a DVI to HDMI cable to get a 720p display?

It should accept all HDTV formats over either Component Video or DVI.

I would recommend using 1080i, as I don't believe this set can display 720p directly, only 480i, 480p and 1080i, and must convert 720p to 1080i--it's not clear from the manual, though.

Keep in mind this is not a widescreen TV, so any HD signals will be displayed in a letterbox on screen--that will be a pretty small image on a 32" diagonal 4:3 screen.

It should accept all HDTV formats over either Component Video or DVI.

I would recommend using 1080i, as I don't believe this set can display 720p directly, only 480i, 480p and 1080i, and must convert 720p to 1080i--it's not clear from the manual, though.

Keep in mind this is not a widescreen TV, so any HD signals will be displayed in a letterbox on screen--that will be a pretty small image on a 32" diagonal 4:3 screen.

Yep, I will be using it for mostly gaming anyway. I know that there are a few types of DVI formats, which cable would I get to hook this TV up with the HDMI input on the back of my ps3? And I do think that you are correct as far as 720p goes, I believe its native resolution is 480i/p and 1080i.

Most places that sell HDMI cables also sell the necessary adapter (or an HDMI-to-DVI cable). I prefer the adapter, as it is less expensive and you will still have a usable HDMI cable if you ever get rid of your DVI set.

You want the standard all digital one--you have no need for DVI-A or any other variation.

Ok so it turns out that this TV does not have DVI but it does support 1080i through component cables. Will the ps3 still work with this TV?

Ok so it turns out that this TV does not have DVI but it does support 1080i through component cables. Will the ps3 still work with this TV?

Yes. Refer back to post #2.

So I got it set up, with the component cables and it looks great. There are some over scan issues that I was aware of beforehand with a few videogames so it's no big deal but something that I did not expect was the picture to sort of "bend around the edges". I guess that would be the best way to describe it, things toward the left and right side of the screen tend to get "squiggly". I have ordered a calibrator disc but I don't know if those are supposed to help with this issue or not.

This is one of the problems with CRT's and is unavoidable.

If you can get into the service menus, you ought to be able to adjust the horizontal/vertical size to eliminate overscan, just be aware it will no longer be optimum for viewing broadcast TV--you will probably have black edges or see the data lines.

I dont know if it was updated in a firmware update or not.

But afaik developers have to implement the feature for games to run in 1080i. If the game was made to be 720p only, your PS3 will convert it to 480p and not 1080i.
Assuming this tv is only 480p/1080i capable