Loewe PLA5303 information needed!

[TheRetroCarrot]

One of these TVs came up locally, I was interested because it appears to be a widescreen 480p display, 60hz and component inputs. It apparently does 1080i as well. I've been looking for a 480p display for Dreamcast, Original Xbox, Gamecube, etc.

Is there any red flags that would make this unsuitable for this purpose, or does it seem like a pretty cool display?

The only information I can find on it seems to be this service manual:
https://ia804503.us.archive.org/15/item ... _LOEWE.pdf

[bobrocks95]

Looks cool to me. It supports 50Hz as well oddly enough (assuming it's a US display). 1080i and 480p are both explicitly mentioned in the service manual. I also saw mention of both RGB and YPbPr for 480p sources, separate from the mention of VGA, so maybe the RCA jacks allow RGB as well?

[TheRetroCarrot]

Ya it's NA, I'm in Canada. One thing I'm unsure of is if it just supports 480p over VGA, or 1080i over VGA or component, or vice versa. The section on the menu options says VGA 480p, HD RGB 1080i, HD RGB 480p. And if it's only 480p over VGA what would be the simplest way to convert component signals over without a bunch of added latency, I really haven't run anything VGA outside of computer monitors. My entire setup is component cables at the moment, so I'd likely want to run the same here.

Might actually be a cool display for PS3, 360, Switch as well since they all run everything at such sub 720p resolutions and poor framerates...

I can't find a single bit of information outside that manual ha. It's a couple hour drive otherwise I'd just go check it out, it's not free either but cheap enough if it's something neat.

[bobrocks95]

I would expect the VGA input to support 480p and the component input to support 480p and 1080i. The inputs section explicitly says it supports YPbPr component, and there's that separate "DVD Player 480p" input option that would definitely be YPbPr.

I think the only potential concern is if it does any Sony HD CRT shenanigans where it has lag and tries to upconvert stuff to 1080i. I forget how much of that you can turn off on the Sony sets.

[TheRetroCarrot]

Ya that's a bit scary. I do know for sure some Loewe sets only did 480p through VGA, but nothing in this service manual makes me think that. If it comes to that I guess a Beharbros Garo Lite seems like the most affordable quality option for transcoding, though it costs as much as the TV haha.

I do see it has this upconversion setting in the service menu, by default set to automatic. That might be promising.

[TheRetroCarrot]

Well I decided to take a gamble and pick it up Thursday. So I'll have some photos and updates once I test a million things.