PC Monitor Vs HD TV

mr. nails

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 14, 2003
Messages
287
maybe i'm missing something, but why would u purchase a new pc monitor over a new hd tv? monitors cost about 2x more than tvs and tvs do the exact same thing if not even better? lol, i'm trying to find out wtf i'm missing, but are unable to see why. sure, i've got the dell 2407, but bought that when it 1st came out and it did great. fast forward to today looking @ all these new tvs coming out they look great and hella cheaper compared to a pc monitor equivalent.
 
Not many TVs display PC inputs correctly. Yes even if you feed 1080p through HDMI to 1080p TV.

I just tried a friends 2 month old Samsung plasma. As a PC screen, dissapointing. Don't get me wrong, video and pictures, media center stuff work great (Win 7RC fresh install, didn't have much to mess with) though reading text on it was painful (plasma generally is worse in this department than LCD) Without zooming through the browser, it's not readable from 2-3 feet. There's always the lag issue, though his plasma didn't have much, even with Game Mode OFF. Also, feeding 1080p through a HD4890s HDMI port did not fill the entire screen. There was about 5% black bars on each side, TVs zoom options weren't too helpful, and I could not find the optimized HDTV resolutions and or overscan options in Win7 ATI drivers.
 
Overscan and text sharpness are only a problem with SOME TV's, not all. It is not an inherent problem with either LCD or Plasma. My Panasonic has options for the amount of overscan (5% and none) under most modes. 720P is the only one that suffers as even with it set to none, it still zooms a bit.

Also, TV's are post processing beasts. It can be hard to turn everything off. For example, on mine, perfect text sharpness is achived via DVI->HDMI with a setting of 0%. But 0% doesn't look right over component, so you have different settings for each input.

Also from most of the lower cost LCD's I've seen, the ones that aren't IPS panels (LG, Panasonic), are still pretty good compared to a regular TN panel. Input lag is really the only major concern left. I've found there's none or very little measurable lag on my 42" plasma, but some LCD's are terrible for this.
 
I have both hooked up to my computer. I only use the TV to watch videos, I use the monitor for everything else (Internet, photo editing, games, work).

TVs can be hard to get the proper viewing distance on. I find my 37" too big for my desk and too small from the couch.

They only really tend to overlap around the 32" TV vs 28" LCD monitor area. You can go either way on these. If you are shopping this area you probably won't see huge savings going with the TV, but there are some really nice ones to consider.

30" 25x16 monitors are completely different.

This should get even more interesting if some nice 3840x2160 TVs have hookups for computers in the next couple of years.
 
im using a tv as a monitor [lg37lh]

fwiw / it took a little getting used to...

but here's the catch, im gaming at 37" and 1080p

browsing and normal computing is well past acceptable / is text as sharp as my 2407wfp? no... but the gaming between the two is a no brainer

the tv wins hands down

that being said / if i didnt game, id have a normal pc monitor - say probably a 24" which to me, is the magic mix of size and resolution

and trust me ive ran the gamut, ive had every monitor from 19 wides clear up to the 30in 2560x1600 beast

projectors of 720 and 1080p etc at over 100"

ive settled on a my perfect mix of size and resolution and sharpness [and practicality] - my lg 37" lcd tv/monitor
 
I'm using a 22" LCD for general use and a 42" Plasma (5ft away) for games and movies.
The 42" TV is much more immersive and has no lag issues.
 
Using a 40". I'm about 4 to 4.5 ft from it. Wish LG would put out their new local dimming display in a 37" size. The Panasonic local dimming prototype was apparently 37", so maybe a Panasonic next for me (if they've sorted out their text issue...)
 
I have a Samsung LE32B650T2W and use it as my main monitor since my old Dell 2405FPW has manifested some brown hues to in the middle and the sides of the screen. I needed a new monitor, but needed one with plenty on inputs and was originally looking at the HP LP2475W, but for the same price i could have bought a 32" Samsung LE32B550. So i looked into getting an HDTV instead. Finally decided on the 650 for an extra £100 which has a superior screen (imo) and far better features to the 550.

Took a bit of configuring but the picture quality surpasses the Dell by a massive margin. Input lag is the same if not slightly less than the Dell.

The samsung bypasses all video processing if you set it to PC mode so lag isnt an issue and picture quality is outstanding over HDMI/DVI
 
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