Anyone use an LG LN5300 for a PC monitor?

Hi all,

I am a big fan of using a tv as a pc monitor because of the way my apartment is set up. I currently use a lg 42" ccfl lcd tv and it looks great. I know that many people dislike using tvs as monitors due to the input lag and blown up pixels, but I believe if picking the right set you can really benefit from the bigger screen without sacrificing too much quality.

I ran into a thread over at AVS forum about this set and was curious if anyone uses this as a pc monitor and gaming? I heard people don't experience input lag from this set and was eyeing the 42" for pc gaming/movies/web browsing.

Here is the thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1466061/2013-lg-ln5300-led-hdtv-review


Also curious how picture quality compares with tranditional ccfl to edge-lit LED.

I am currently using the 39" and it is amazing! I am coming from a 27" 144hz monitor and wanted something bigger..I do not notice any input lag. It is great. Many forum members use the 5300s as monitors!

I got the 42 inch version - pretty happy with it. I'm pretty sure that it's an IPS panel (seems like 42 inches are binned to IPS panels) by the finger test. Input lag is minimal enough that I don't notice it. Make sure you set the input label to PC to enable 4:4:4 subsampling and you should be all set.

recoilfx said:

I got the 42 inch version - pretty happy with it. I'm pretty sure that it's an IPS panel (seems like 42 inches are binned to IPS panels) by the finger test. Input lag is minimal enough that I don't notice it. Make sure you set the input label to PC to enable 4:4:4 subsampling and you should be all set.

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Can you do me a favor and do a reaction test (at least an average of 10 times) with your 42" and with a normal lcd monitor and tell me the results?

the reaction test can be found at humanbenchmark.com

I have the 39" 5300 and it's amazing. Super thin bezel, it looks like a PC monitor and performs better in my opinion.

song414 said:

Can you do me a favor and do a reaction test (at least an average of 10 times) with your 42" and with a normal lcd monitor and tell me the results?

the reaction test can be found at humanbenchmark.com

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I seem to have a slower reaction time, 260-270ms on both my Cinema display and the LG. No noticeable difference.. ..

But I also did a comparison of a monitor vs tv .. looks like the LG is ~30ms slower than desktop lcds... weird, doesn't feel at all that slowl though

recoilfx said:

I seem to have a slower reaction time, 260-270ms on both my Cinema display and the LG. No noticeable difference.. ..

But I also did a comparison of a monitor vs tv .. looks like the LG is ~30ms slower than desktop lcds... weird, doesn't feel at all that slowl though

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. I am going to buy the TV in a couple days. Waiting for the price to drop a little bit. Btw thats a nice racing setup you got there.

hah thanks... It's a work in progress. i am actually a flight simmer, only have used that CSR-E wheel for max of 5 times so far hehe..

Might be out of your budget op but if you want to use a TV as a montor I can't recommend the Seiki 3840x2160 display enough. The 4x resolution is really nice for desktop work and the 30Hz is fine for video/desktop stuff. For games you can drop it down to 1080p and do 120hz. It has like 1 frame of input lag.

houkouonchi said:

Might be out of your budget op but if you want to use a TV as a montor I can't recommend the Seiki 3840x2160 display enough. The 4x resolution is really nice for desktop work and the 30Hz is fine for video/desktop stuff. For games you can drop it down to 1080p and do 120hz. It has like 1 frame of input lag.

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I've looked at the seiki 4k tv but I think it is just too big for my desk. I also dont like that its 30hz and gaming in 4k will require sli/xfire and that increases the cost exponentially.

Whats the point of buying a 4k tv to only game in 1080p?

recoilfx said:

hah thanks... It's a work in progress. i am actually a flight simmer, only have used that CSR-E wheel for max of 5 times so far hehe..

Click to expand...

How do you like it for Fight Sims? I've been thinking of pairing this with my Obutto R3volution.

I'm an FSX/FS9, P3D, XPX junkie. hahah

Bump. Want to buy it today.

Just got this one (39" model) a couple of days ago, Fry's had it for $299 on the 4th. I hadn't done any research but it turns out this is a great PC monitor. It has low input lag, does 1:1 pixel mapping, 4:4:4 subsampling (even over HDMI with audio), great blacks, looks great (bezels are only about half an inch), weighs about 20 lbs and has a decent set of inputs.

It has a semi-gloss finish so there are some reflections but not too bad. I would say the biggest weakness is a bit of gamma shifting when the viewing angle is off-center but this is isn't really noticeable unless you're looking for it and doesn't spoil the rest of it.

Here are my settings which closely match the monitor it's replacing, a Westinghouse LVM-37w3se:

Picture Mode: Expert1

Backlight: 60
Contrast: 96
Brightness: 50
H Sharpness: 10
V Sharpness: 10
Color: 58
Tint: G4

Expert control:
Dynamic contrast: Off
Color Gamut: Standard
Edge Enhancer: Off
Color Filter: Off
Gamma: 2.4
Color Temperature: Warm1
(rest of this page are defaults)

Under Option -> Input Label, remember to set your PC input label to "PC" to get 4:4:4 subsampling and 1:1 pixel mapping (other inputs have a "Just Scan" mode that also does 1:1 pixel mapping, but not 4:4:4 sub-sampling).

I had to use BatJoe's RGB Full Range toggler here to get the NVIDIA drivers to do full 0-255 range on the desktop and in games (for some reason they only expose that setting for videos in the control panel).

I'll ressurect this thread since it's pretty much about what I'm going to post about. I just bought a LG 39LN5300 today. I didn't have a lot of time to play around with the settings before leaving for work. I managed to look at a YT video and it looked very good. I havent hooked it up to tv cable yet. After seeing the YT video I'm betting its great as a tv. I played two battles in WoT to see how it looked in a game. The black is pretty black. More than it should be I'm thinking. Shady areas in the game were pretty dark. Shouldn't be like that. My 28" I-INC doesn't look so dark so I know that darkness in game is out of whack.

I had a very short amount of time to play around in settings today. I was under the impression Picture Mode should be set to Game Mode but I see here Blahman is using Expert1. A review I saw online had them using Expert1 as well. Is that a better setting for pc gaming than Game Mode? Up to now I heard you need to set the tv to Game Mode to get the best gaming experience. IIRC there is more than one setting where you set it to Game in the settings.

When I get home I'll play around with it some more. I'll try Blahman's settings and see how that looks. I have mine using a DVI to HDMI cord. I have a HDMI to HDMI cord as well I'm going to try. Supposedly the only difference is that one does audio and the other does not so it may not make a difference. Any tips or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

I tried Blahman's settings and it is definitely better but the blacks are still too black IMO. I'll keep trying though and see if I can get it better. Text is still pixelated and fuzzy up close. Sitting at 26" from monitor text is pixelated but sit back about 4 foot its looks fine. Thinking if you want to do work or surf net have a second pc LCD next to the 39LN5300 for that. Gaming on it its pretty decent. Not the best but pretty decent. Seen this tv priced regularly between $360-$400.

Note: Much of my comparison is to my 28" I-INC monitor in my sig below. Not exactly apple to apple but that is the monitor I'm trying to beat here or at least match performance wise.