Monitor vs TV

[Narj]

Hi all,

I'm currently using an NEC 24WMGX3 which is awesome, but I've recently started hooking the PC up to my 42" Samsung Plasma for gaming.

This is great for games but my TV is a bit old; text doesn't look amazingly sharp. I don't know if this is because I'm having to use a DVI->HDMI adapter or what.

So: would I be wasting my time if I wanted to buy a new LCD TV to use for PC gaming at 1920x1080? Are the more recent TVs just as sharp as a monitor if you plug the PC in nowadays, or should I just go for a bigger monitor?

I'd appreciate hearing from others who have done the same.

Cheers!

 

[Axeia]

TVs usually apply a ******** of extra filtering to 'improve' the image quality which for things like text isn't a good thing Also, at 42" you have the same amount of pixels (1920x1080) as on some 15.4" laptop screens.. so basically you're looking at the exact same thing, just bigger - which as you can imagine doesn't improve sharpness.

Are there TVs that display a 'computer image' quite nicely? Yes. For gaming you're better off using a bigger monitor however.
DVI -> HDMI is completely free of quality loss, they're electrically the same (HDMI is basically single link DVI + Audio) so there is no 'conversion' step going on degrading the quality of the image.

 

[whitecrook]

Is your tv a 1080p native panel ? Yiu wont get sharpness at anything other than native res.

Also your tv might be overscanning which will degrade the quality.

 

[Narj]

Thanks guys!

The TV is native 1080p but text looks so much crisper at 1280x720 tbh. One thing I notice is that it doesn't quite fill up the entire screen like a TV picture would, so perhaps there's some fiddling I need to do in CCC?

Obviously I've been quite spoilt with the NEC which is the best monitor I've ever used, but it'd be nice if I can get the picture on the existing TV to look better!

 

[Guest2]

Are the more recent TVs just as sharp as a monitor if you plug the PC in nowadays, or should I just go for a bigger monitor?

I'd appreciate hearing from others who have done the same.

Cheers!

Dont think there is a tv that does 2560 x 1440 resolution - though there might be, doubt it will be £400 though

I had a 32" Samsung which I used as a monitor for a bit, it had poor text quality, ghosting, bad colours. On the plus side it was big and only £350

It was supposed to be one of the best tv's to use as a monitor too

In short, get a tv if you want to watch tv/movies. Get a monitor if you need sharp text, better quality but smaller size

I had a Dell U2711 which was fantastic apart from the horrible antiglare coating and the fact it developed a fault with the panel. I sent it back, got a refund and now have a Hazro from here - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-013-HO

Couldnt be happier

Maybe a Panasonic full HD plasma would be good though?

 

[Narj]

In short, get a tv if you want to watch tv/movies. Get a monitor if you need sharp text, better quality but smaller size

I had a Dell U2711 which was fantastic apart from the horrible antiglare coating and the fact it developed a fault with the panel. I sent it back, got a refund and now have a Hazro from here - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-013-HO

Couldnt be happier

Maybe a Panasonic full HD plasma would be good though?

Thanks for that, I think I'll scrap the idea and just look at getting a larger monitor in that case (I never thought I'd want anything above 24" and I'm guessing something that matches what I have now in terms of quality is going to be pricey ).