HDTV as monitor??

[munchlaxkid]

title.

I've been with this crappy hp 19-inch monitor (absolutely terrible for gaming) for a while now, so i'm in the market for a new monitor/display, and I've started looking around at HDTVs.

I want to get a 32" HDTV so i can use it for my gaming pc, but also for my consoles (wii/ps3)

however, is it worth the extra money to buy one?

when running at 1080p, how do HDTVs compare to 1080p monitors?

I honestly could care less about image quality, but i really just care about running at high resolutions (bigger screens).

does anyone else out there use one as a monitor?

thanks for any feedback.

 

[SieB]

I use a 47" [font="Verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans"]LG [/font]47LW450U HDTV @1080p and it's just as good as any monitor I have seen.

A low end TV isn't going to look as good as a good monitor but a good mid to high range TV is just as good or even better.

 

[Terrifictez85]

I use my LG 32LD450 as my monitor and wouldn't go back. Wireless keyboard and mouse on the table, sit back relax and pwn noobs. Ahhhh the easy life

 

[jonnyfgm]

it all depends on the distance from the screen you're gonna be.

At 1080p you should be 2.5x the screen size away from the screen, if you're going to be under this its gonna look bad, if you're going to be over it it will look good.

If its just for gaming i think its good, for other general PC use, i generally find the colour balance is a bit off on most tvs and stuff looks odd

 

[fraghappy245]

a few mates use tv's as monitors and some like it some don't some have had issues getting the resolution and scale correct i have seen many games being played and i think my 24inch 1080p monitor connected to my gtx580 hdmi port looks a million times better why not get a true monitor at say 24-27inch with hdmi and then you can use your consoles too but thats just my opinion

 

[Rastalovich]

Aaaargh !

 

[Resonance]

Just get a 24-27" monitor that has HDMI and plug your console into that. 24-27" is ideal for single-player gaming, or just buy two and dual screen. Epic.

 

[Mrboxfacetramp]

HDTV's are fine for monitors as long as you get a decent one that will not be worse than a mid-ranged monitor

 

[munchlaxkid]

Thanks for the replies.

from what i can see, LG seems like a good brand.

what are some other good brands?

i'm looking at these two:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889102667

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889112058

i've never heard of the 2nd one's brand before.

could anyone give me some suggestions?

 

[KING_OF_SAND]

TVs are not meant to play fast passed games. The response time even on a good TV is around 9ms which will cause TONS of ghosting while gaming.

 

[SieB]

The response time even on a good TV is around 9ms which will cause TONS of ghosting while gaming.

Sorry, not true at all, my TV has no ghosting. I went from a 24" monitor with a 2ms response time and I can't even tell a difference. Most "good" TVs have a Game or PC mode that cuts the response time right down.

Do your research on TVs before you buy one because not all TVs have a low response time in PC and game mode, anything at 25ms and below is fine. I did a hell of a lot of research before buying my TV and a lot of research on input lag, one of the best places to check a particular model is the AVS forums, it's like the OC3D for TVs.

Just search the model number

http://www.avforums.com/

or the American version for American model TVs

http://www.avsforum.com/

 

[Rastalovich]

You can get some decent ones. Comparable to alot of monitors. I'd take a 30" quality monitor over ANY tv.

If you're just gaming though, it's all relative. It's also hard to compare unless you have a quality monitor right next to the tv you want to use. Same goes for comparing monitors.

Downside is, many of the 1080 monitors over the last so many years are tv-standard displays, which is why they're so cheap. The tvs have "pixel mushing" technology and so on to disguise alot of their inadequacies. Work well for films and fast paced games.

 

[Big WigglyStyle]

The only issue you will have with using a TV as a monitor is text might come across as harder to read as pixel density will be less so depending on how close you are to your t.v you may see pixelaltion in text and some other things. I.E a 32" screen in 1080p has a pixel density of 69PPI (pixels per inch) where a 23" monitor or t.v with the same resolution will have a pixel density of 95 PPI (a rather large difference)