Random Home Entertainment Question

If this has found it's way to the wrong area or is just too damn dumb of a question, I apologize.

So - I have come across a free old LCD with NO HDMI inputs. 40" - about 8 yrs old. Works just fine. My question is, can I pick up an HD converter and actually get a better picture out of it? Or will I basically just be upgrading from my old concrete block of a 27" Sony and getting a slightly nicer analog TV? I feel as though I'm just getting a bit of an upgrade without full HD capabilities, but either way, I'm saying yes to a flatscreen, so it can't be that bad.

Thanks for any input.

Happy shaving and luxurious smokes to you all.

To be honest, there is not much of a discernable difference between HDMI and the good old AV cord. The big upside to the HDMI is that it is only one cord that transmits both the picture and sound.JMO

I would disagree with the above, especially with LCD's that have 720p and higher. But like you said, it's a free flatscreen. As long as it looks better take it :).

So it works just fine. The only problem is I had forgotten just how freakin loud the fans are on the old flat screen models. Oh well..... the price was right, and hardly notice the noise most of the time. :)

What inputs does this lcd have? Does it have component in? (RGB + RW audio)
As to whomever said there isn't Mich difference between the old av input and hdmi, try a 720p or better yet 1080p screen with media to match it. I can tell a give difference in my xbox360 and PS3 using hdmi over the red/white/yellow set up. Plus you won't get interference with hdmi, which is a plus.

From my own experience and from talking to people who deal with televisions for a living, most people can't notice the difference between 720P and 1080P until the tv gets into the 50" range. As far as picture quality on my 40", I notice little difference between HDMI and the component cables. I also don't use it to play video games either, but I would expect that the lag time would be lessened by using HDMI.
Also, from the description of the tv,it's probably 480P, making these argments somewhat moot.:p

From personal experience (I used to sell TV's and home audio stuff and still routinely hang out with my former coworkers who still work there), there won't be a huge difference between component and HDMI. Between composite (the red, white, & yellow cables) and component there is a huge difference. Size wise, for clarity and the whatnot between 720 & 1080, somewhere between 32" & 40" it becomes noticeable depending on the source and what you're used to seeing. The crazy thing is the digital cables, IME, have no real lag issues if they're under 3 Meters. The thing that gets most people is that if you're in to video games, everything that's not Plasma lags like a mothers. LCD is horrendous unless you've put out top dollar. The LED back lit stuff isn't atrocious, but there is noticeable lag, especially in something like, say, Gears or Halo online...