http://www.amazon.com/Coby-TFTV1212-12-Inc...US/ref=pd_cp__1
http://www.amazon.com/Coby-TFTV1212-Widesc...U/ref=pd_cp_e_1

I'm considering buying this TV for a new build, but I have my doubts to whether or not the resolution is really 1280x800.

You may notice that there are 2 different pictures for what should be the same tv in 2 colors. The Coby TFTV 1212 is not listed anywhere on the coby site. There is a similar model, the Coby TFTV 1022, a 10.2" which is most definitely 800x480 res and somehow more expensive than the 1212. I have spent hours searching for more information on this tv, and every single source points to it being 1280x800. Now I know 1280x800 isn't unheard of for this size, a lot of 11-13" laptop screens feature this resolution, but for 99-109 dollars? Hrmm... Also no one advertises it as an HDTV, nor does it included component or hdmi connectors. It does say it can take up to a 1080i signal though, who knows from where though. For 110 dollars, I think I'm gonna just find a site with a decent return policy and pray. But if anyone out there has better internet sleuthing skills than me can find anything like a manual, datasheets, information on the lcd panel specifics, etc. I'd greatly appreciate it.

If it turns out to be for real, this could a good cheap way into 720p for a lot of people. For me though, I plan to just throw it on top of a 3m overhead projector I have lying around, and upgrade the bulb to a 150W ceramic if I like how it looks. So obviously I'm looking for the most resolution I can fit on it, which is probably something like 13" diagonal.

Sine it has Vga inputs then if the native resolution is 1280x800 then that is how it can be called a HD monitor.

And I guess it is saying that with an OTA Hd signal it will output a 1080i Hd signal through the built in Atsc tuner.

Here's a site claiming it has a 1280x800 native resolution.
http://www.jr.com/coby/pe/CBY_TFTV1212BLK/

Seems like you can get it for $99 with free shipping from a lot of online stores right now.

I LIKE IT!

Concern:
1. "AV Input jacks for connection with your media players, DVR/VCRs, and Video game consoles." is stated. Which is probably only Composite Connection. Manual shows S-Video, Composite, and VGA

2. FFC problems. Somebody let us know if you buy it.

Hmm here is an answer to concern #1 http://www.cobyusa.com/files/manuals/TFTV1212_MN.pdf

Awesome find Sdubb, thanks for the reply. That manual answered all the questions I had about it. I'm really busy right now with a new job, as well as trying to find a new apartment that's more conveniently located to my new job, so I don't know how long it will take me to get a proper build going, but I will probably pick this tv up later this week.

Well I bought one i guess we will find out about ffc issues.

Hope to see by the end of the week or early next week

I will let everybody know.

Actually you can thank SAW he found it I just posted it

A Hero Appears! I'm actually more concerned about the picture quality, which should be good over vga at least, as long as the colors aren't totally whack. According to the manual, it has limited tint/color controls. That and how much stuff will work with 1280x800 resolution. Most all ffc issues can be worked around though.

Well if using a computer or laptop there should be no problem at all. Since you will be able to set the resolution without any problems.

Right, my graphics card will do 1280x800 out no problem. I'm mainly interested in how this thing handles 720p through the vga. For instance, does it do black bars on 720p sources? Or does it stretch them? Not a big concern of mine, since I use a pc for dvd/videos and ps2 through dscaler. But it would be a big plus if it could take a 360 properly, or a ps3 with a component->vga transcoder. We'll find out soon though it seems.

saw429, did you get your Coby yet?
Any updates - stripping, performance, FFC issues?

TIA!

Pics of tear down process

Back w/ base off


front of lcd


lcd removed control boards behind it


the lcd in its frame still


back of lcd


front of lcd


pic of control


pic of control


So in conclusion there is no ffc issue. nice

The GOOD.... TV 720p 1080i looks really good, remote, and epg. connections of composite (yellow red white) s-video, and vga (rgb)

The BAD... VGA pic quality was not the best, not many options to play with to adjust the pic. Side by side the coby next to my 15.4 laptop it didnt look as sharp and looked a bit to orange for me. no component(red blue green) no HDMI or DVI but im planning on getting a hdfury for about $50 for hdmi

I think its a good buy for just a hundred bucks i can use my same box set up, not move anything or buy anything else going from a 15" 4:3 1024x768 to a 12.1" 1280x720 720p i will just need to make a new LCD frame to hold the smaller lcd, i will have the a longer throw with the smaller screen. Cant wait to test it in the projector.

Looks like you managed a good score there! The white balance may be fixable, it may be the backlight (Which you won't use in a projector anyway.) It cousle be the driver, too. Of course you might be able to fix it with your video card driver settings, if it's jus the VGA.

Very nice!

Yep, I am waiting for the pics. Need a LCD and this seems good.
I could find no mention of the response or contrast ratio for this panel.

Ok, need an opinion from the gurus. Posting in this thread, as I think the discussion
is relevant here.

I am a newbie who got the optics from someone who parted out his PJ.
So I have a Beseler 18" lens, and fresnels cut to fit a 15" (non-widescreen) LCD.
I managed to kill a nice LG-Philips 15" XGA LCD and need to find another one :-(

I could either go with this Coby LCD or I found someone selling
a Magnavox 15MF227B/27. Both are around the $100 ballpark.

So this is where I am -

Coby TFTV1212 - nice, small size, which the Beseler likes. Native 720p. No HDMI. PJ box can be smaller.

Magnavox 15MF227B/27 - No FFC issue as per the database, nice 500:1 contrast ratio, HDMI. Native XGA 1024x768.
The larger screen would catch more light. As it is 15" diag, hope the Beseler can do even lighting into the corners too.
I could not find any build with this lcd, but someone added it to the compatibility db.

Magnavox Specs here.

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/mag...7-32435533.html

So, help me, someone!
TIA.

The 12" panel has better resolution, and will have a longe throw... What's not to like about it? I'd probably go with it for the resolution alone, though I suppose that it's possible that the throw will be somewhat TOO long with an 18" lens, there ought to be a way to move it further back.

I'd go for the 12" 1280X800.

Hmmm that's a new Magnavox to me. The one I thought you were gonna post was the one everybody was using there for awhile. It was 1024X768 but did not have a digital tuner or HDMI. Are you sure you posted the right one? Somebody was recently selling the one I am thinking of.

In any event whats more important to you resolution or connection? I think thats only a question you can answer.

Supraguy, thanks - that's what I needed to hear :-)
My throw is 12 to 13 feet, and I should get a 90" projection with this.

Yep, I know the usual Magnavox 15MF605T. Plenty of success stories.
That's what I was looking for when I found this Magnavox 15MF227B/27, which is
a 4:3 model with HDMI.

http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.p...=all&Id=460

My search also threw up another small panel TV - the Naxa NX-550 and NX-551, which are 720p, HDMI, 13.3" TV/DVD combo.

Wow, this looks like just what I was looking for, a 720p lcd thats not 17" and is cheap (I also don't need hdmi). I too am curious to see how it works in your projector and I would love pics .

This thing being essentially a laptop screen with a tuner, here I was guessing VGA would be the only thing it did right. When you had it hooked up with vga, did it do 1:1 mapping or did you have to set it to 720p or something besides 1280x800? The orange color you got was probably just the red push you often see on cheap LCD TVs. Anyways, I'm still watching this thread and really looking forward to some in-projector results.

Well my impatience got the best of me. One of these is now on it's way to my place. I will try to do a thorough review with photos when I get my hands on it, before stripping it down. I'm hoping the so-so colors are mainly the fault of a low color temp cheap backlight or some such, rather than something with the panel or control board. About a year ago I had bought a 10" 800x600 tv with plans of making it into a projector. The only inputs it had were a tuner, s-video, and composite. It also had bad color right out of the box, people looked orange, etc. But with enough tweaking of settings I got it looking decent. No vga and my computer wasn't liking it hooked up through s-video so I sold it to another LL member at a loss. Oh well.

Fantastic! I can't wait to hear your opinion on the panel

Well it arrived today. I ordered from Amazon (seller was J&R Electronics Inc) on wednesday at about noon. At 6pm I got an email that it shipped, and it arrived at about 5pm today (friday). Not bad for free shipping!

The actual TV's box:


In action (used as 2nd monitor over the vga):


Some random website:


A shot showing the difference in whites between this TV and my 24" mva panel (best display I've ever owned or seen). It's hard to see, but in addition to being a fraction of the brightness, the TV is a little more yellow. Cheap backlight I'm guessing.


Some 720p xvid. Due to my crappy camera, it looks more orange than it really is (skintones and stuff). The colors are actually pretty spot on, and I haven't bothered with any adjustments yet.


Byousoku 5 Centimeter blu-ray. Again my camera makes this a wasted effort. The art and details in this movie are second to none.


Verdict so far: Awesome. Easily worth twice what I paid. Saw had said the vga was not as sharp as his laptop, and I agree. BUT, the difference is only visible from a few inches away and I can only see it with text. It's like a very faint double image one pixel to the right. Probably actually pretty good for an lcd tv. I have off work today and the next, so I'm gonna try to put it through it's paces with some more content and with the other inputs. To anyone considering this TV: go for it. You won't regret it.

Sounds good! Now get and HD Fury so we can see what this thing can do with HDMI

Round Two: PS2 -> some crappy third-party s-video cable that's 20ft long and weighs 10 pounds -> Coby 12.1 LCD TV

Disclaimer: pictures taken with cheap camera and no tripod. The images look washed out sometimes, that's just the camera. Graininess is also the camera's fault, not enough light for it. In reality it's quite good, except a little dark. Again, this could probably be resolved with the various picture controls like contrast and sharpness, but I'm not gonna touch any of that stuff until it's in the PJ. Nothing really in the way of deinterlacing artifacts unless you're flipping through menus and the picture completely changes between fields, that's normal though.

Final Fantasy 12:


Same, menu:


Rogue Galaxy director's cut:


Same, menu:


Same, MIO-tan:


Same, load screen (text is clearly legible lol):


In conclusion, I was actually impressed with how it handled the PS2. A lot better than the Hannspree TV I was going to use before. Since I gotta wait until my flat-mates go to bed so I can steal the cable, next I'm going to try PS2 -> same cable -> PC (dscaler) -> VGA -> Coby. Should look better, but I doubt it will be obvious from photos of the screen. I'm having too much fun with this thing. I've been watching everything I own on it with my face about 6 inches from it trying to imagine it's actually 100 inches diagonal. I gotta get the rest of my stuff together and get a build of this thing up asap. I'm really liking it so far.

Round 3: PS2 w/ dscaler

Again, the moire and stuff ruins the effect. I had forgotten how good dscaler looks, I haven't used it in a while. The quality is night and day in person, not so much with photos, oh well. Much better than sending it straight to the tv. I would avoid using the analog inputs at all cost, use a computer for dvds and older systems with dscaler.

FF12 menu again, much more clear this time:


Rogue Galaxy again, brighter, better colors, clearer all around:


MIO♡


Persona 3 fes, this game scales the worst of any game I own. Needs some anti-aliasing or something:


.......


Remember kids, just say no to composite and s-video.