what to look for in a sceen for HTPC

A

anferne85

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Feb 15, 2011
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Im a HTPC newb.

If i was buying a new TV to be used as a HTPC screen which will play movies and high FPS games, what should i be looking for ?

what is the best value for money type of screen setup that will allow a user to play high fps games and do all the other HTPC things well (must be 32" or more in size) ?
 
well, this is a double edged sword.

the fastest screen would be plasma, but a plasma isn't as bright as an LED LCD and also has issues with image retention (which is noticeable since a windows desktop doesn't move much). plasma will offer better blacks and motion response time.

LED LCD screen come at 120hz, but your output will still be 60hz from the pc. the benefits of the led lcd will be brighter more vivid picture, no image retention, but the picture wont be as smooth as plasma.

also, plasma's really suck if your watching it in the day time with the sun shining in the room.
 
OK.. im not too fussed about the extra picture quality of LCD over plasma, more concerned about price and the ability to not get any blurring on the screen.

I hear the burn in is only an issue with old plasmas and none of the new ones have this problem...

Why cant i just buy a $400 36" plasma tv from my local electronics store and use that as a monitor, will that work ? for games and movies ?

Why is a Viewsonic 32" plasma tv ~$400 Cheaper than a 27" dell monitor ~$500 ? will the do pretty much the same thing for HTPCs ?
 
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i never mentioned anything about burn-in. image retention is not burn-in, as it will go away on it's own after a few seconds or minutes.

yes, you can buy any 1080p tv and plug it in via HDMI at 1920x1080 resolution and it will work.

a viewsonic 32" plasma is only 1920x1080 resolution, where a 27" dell is $2560x1400 resolution and is $800. the difference is in the clarity of the text if you are going to be working on the screen.
 
I would also look closely at the televisions input lag if you are planning on using a TV for PC gaming. Most TV's do some sort of post processing to the image before it is displayed and in many situations this can greatly increase input lag. Just something else to consider.
 
I'd be careful on the cheap plasmas. My work has a couple plasmas running displays to show off products, the oldest ones were the most expensive and have no signs of burn in/image retention. The newer ones show image retention very quickly, 10 min of having the start bar on screen and when you change screens the start bar is still there for another 10 min before it fades. I don't know why, maybe its because it was a fairly cheap plasma.

Personally I would recommend a lcd, they are pretty close to plasmas where it counts now days.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys...

an LCD is def the go for me after doing some more research . I was also told to look at the MHz of the screen 100mhz being something that helps with motion blur.
 
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