HDTV as monitor

silverf0x

silverf0x

silverf0x

Associate
Joined
7 Feb 2011
Posts
140
Location
Edinburgh
Does anyone have experiences of using an HDTV as a monitor?

I was going through some settings on my 40" Samsung and it displays 1920x1080 @ 60Hz through HDMI and VGA.

Obviously it is a large screen, but I was wondering if anyone can share their experiences of general usage, office work, emails, and PC gaming.

There are HDTVs that offer 100Hz and 200Hz refresh rates. I'm pretty sure I saw some Samsung TV with a 0.01ms response time, but I may have misread that.
 
I'm pretty sure these TVs with 100Hz+ "refresh" rates only offer this as an output, using "clever" algorithm to transition between input frames. The input is still limited to 60Hz (unless of course it is a 3D TV, where you may find 120Hz input).

40" at 1080p is going to be impossible to use unless you're doing it from a fair distance.
 
The biggest problem HDTV's have is how legible the text will be at the tv's native resolution. For example I run an HDTV as a monitor in my office, it 32 inch, it's an LG 32LH3000 and I hand picked it out because once setup the text was as good as any computer monitor I have seen. Previously I have tried my other HDTV which is a Toshiba 37X3030D 37 inch set which was poor because text, even at it's native resolution was soft and hard to read if you werent sat on top of it. Fine for gaming though.

imo the largest you can go is 32 inch if you are going to be sat in front of it desk wise. The 37 inch was too big to be sat at the desk with it and the further away it got the less legible it became.
 
im sat in front of my sony 40 inch w4000 3 ft away,text is great, no glassed needed not like on my 22inch samsung monitor on the pc downstairs..for gaming its great,play il2 and wings of prey and its so immersive,ive been using it now for 2 years and have never ever regretted it.
 
THC_SsSsSnake said:
im sat in front of my sony 40 inch w4000 3 ft away,text is great, no glassed needed not like on my 22inch samsung monitor on the pc downstairs..for gaming its great,play il2 and wings of prey and its so immersive,ive been using it now for 2 years and have never ever regretted it.
Click to expand...

Yup. I have a 42" LG (42LD690) on my desk and it's great. It is quite a deep desk granted, so I'm maybe 4' away.

I tried a cheaper model (LD450) and it did suffer from the blurry text Liquid mentioned.
 
With a 1080i TV you'd have to use it at 720p as 1080i only has a refresh rate of 30Hz (not the full 60) as it does each row alternately.
If you're wanting to use a TV as a monitor have a look here. Scroll down to the table under "Choosing Your Screen Resolution" and that shows the distances at which your eyes can make out a single pixel. Any closer and you will be able to see individual pixels which isn't ideal although for PC use isn't anywhere near as vital as for a TV.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom