Monitor or TV?

ultrabiome

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Even with identical resolution settings, it is very likely that the TV will be missing a small but significant number of rows and columns, making the effective resolution less advertised. I have a 40" 1080p 120hz TV and this effect was obvious the first time I hooked my computer to it. The input lag was also noticeable right way, until I turned on "game mode" which eliminated almost all of the TV software that bogged it down. I did find that any old analog signal also introduced lag due to upscaling via software in the TV - my solution was to buy a $50 RCA to HDMI hardware based upconverter. I'm sure the upscaling isn't quite as pretty as some algorithms, but it didn't introduce any noticeable lag (ymmv) and I can play all of my old consoles on my TV without pulling out my hair due to input lag.

Monitors can come with native sound, and my 1080p 60hz computer monitor was bought to be both a primary display for my computer (has HDMI out) and a secondary display for my consoles (I'm married and can't always hog the TV). Sure, it doesn't have the extra resolution some newer monitors can have, but it works great for both my consoles and my computer. The computer sometimes thinks that the monitor should be the default sound output, but a simple properties flip with switch it back. If you don't have consoles or have some way to split off audio from HDMI signals, then don't worry about sound.

If you're not sitting too far way from this screen, I'd get a monitor of at least 1080p 20-30 inches and 60 Hz. Higher resolutions are great, but you've got to have the processing power to push it - same with higher frame rates (what do you plan on playing and what kind of PC specs are you looking at?). Higher resolution monitors have the added minus that since they aren't "standard" and statistically might have higher failure rates, or at least, harder to fix. However, higher resolution + larger screen can allow you to sit farther back without losing "effective resolution" (meaning resolution you'll actually see versus too small for you to notice, which is dependent on distance).
 

Phoenixmgs_v1legacy

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popa_qwerty said:
The panel is not the main cause of input lag. It is the image processor that most TVs use and all panels are not made evenly most small TV are not going to use a 1ms refresh rate panel because the TV main focus is not for recreating the image as best as possible but showing the best image that it can make.
You can turn off the image processing.
 

Dirty Hipsters

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ultrabiome said:
Even with identical resolution settings, it is very likely that the TV will be missing a small but significant number of rows and columns, making the effective resolution less advertised. I have a 40" 1080p 120hz TV and this effect was obvious the first time I hooked my computer to it. The input lag was also noticeable right way, until I turned on "game mode" which eliminated almost all of the TV software that bogged it down. I did find that any old analog signal also introduced lag due to upscaling via software in the TV - my solution was to buy a $50 RCA to HDMI hardware based upconverter. I'm sure the upscaling isn't quite as pretty as some algorithms, but it didn't introduce any noticeable lag (ymmv) and I can play all of my old consoles on my TV without pulling out my hair due to input lag.

Monitors can come with native sound, and my 1080p 60hz computer monitor was bought to be both a primary display for my computer (has HDMI out) and a secondary display for my consoles (I'm married and can't always hog the TV). Sure, it doesn't have the extra resolution some newer monitors can have, but it works great for both my consoles and my computer. The computer sometimes thinks that the monitor should be the default sound output, but a simple properties flip with switch it back. If you don't have consoles or have some way to split off audio from HDMI signals, then don't worry about sound.

If you're not sitting too far way from this screen, I'd get a monitor of at least 1080p 20-30 inches and 60 Hz. Higher resolutions are great, but you've got to have the processing power to push it - same with higher frame rates (what do you plan on playing and what kind of PC specs are you looking at?). Higher resolution monitors have the added minus that since they aren't "standard" and statistically might have higher failure rates, or at least, harder to fix. However, higher resolution + larger screen can allow you to sit farther back without losing "effective resolution" (meaning resolution you'll actually see versus too small for you to notice, which is dependent on distance).
Not sure about what my PC build is going to be yet but I'm going to be building it myself and I intend it to be fairly powerful. Basically I'm waiting for Witcher 3 to come out to figure out what the benchmarks are going to be to run that on ultra high settings. At the moment I have an old laptop that I'll be using which is basically a potato by this point (it's 5 years old and was $650 when I got it. It has admirably persevered for this long and has even been pretty decent at gaming, managing 80 fps in Bioshock Infinite) and I just got a PS4, which is what prompted me to want the new monitor/tv (I live with roommates and I'm sick of sharing the TV when I want to play bloodborne).

I'd like for the screen to probably be 32" if it's a monitor, and either 32" or 40" if it's a TV, and when gaming I'll probably be sitting about 3-4 feet away. Kind of an important thing for me would be the ability to look at the TV/monitor from multiple angles, not just straight on because I'd like to be able to watch netflix on it from my bed.
 

Dirty Hipsters

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Adam Jensen said:
Monitor, no contest. Why? Well, refresh rate, response time, resolution, pixel density, low power usage...
Here's the thing, a monitor the size I want is probably going to be roughly 3x the cost of a decent TV of the same size. If I'm going to be spending the extra money I want to make sure that it's not for something that's only marginally better.
 

Owyn_Merrilin

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Here's the actual difference between a TV and a monitor: A TV has a tuner (for OTA reception, and usually cable as well), while a monitor does not. Typically you pay less for a monitor than a TV of comparable quality, because that tuner not only requires additional hardware, but also licensing fees. Beyond that, it depends on the features of the individual unit.
 

asdfen

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now days the line between a tv and a monitor is so blured that they are interchangable. However most of the monitors still have finer dot pitch (pixels are closer to each other/more dense) to make the dots less noicables when person is sitting relativley close to the screen. Due to that monitors usually support higher resolutions comparing to tv of the same screen size. Also even in our day and age one can still experience issues displaying 1:1 signal coming from PC on TV as they are mostly designed for video signal and can get away with up/down scaling the picture as well as cutting bits of frame without anyone noticing but is noticable when displaying PC signal. Which then have to be fixed by battling video card drivers and TV settings if they can be fixed at all. Monitor on the other hand will work as intendd without tinkering in most of the cases.

other than that any todays tv is a monitor and vice versa.
 

aozgolo

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I prefer monitors due to the utility of them. Higher resolution in a smaller box, and one thing I don't think others have mentioned, multi-display. This admittedly usually has less impact in games unless you play multi-monitor, but for everything else, I find having 2 monitors to be a HUGE advantage, and it's something very hard to explain the utility of without experiencing it first-hand.

Monitors are designed for up-close interaction, and outside of gaming using monitors for other PC tasks is much less eye strain IMO. I would much prefer to have the high resolution up close to do activities such as going to the Escapist. ;-)

As far as price, sure you get what you pay for but you can actually buy decent monitors on the cheap, my current set-up is $200 for 2 21.5" monitors @ 1920x1080 which while far from top end, work very well and give me all the HD glory I want from my games.

The other thing to consider is your graphics card and games. Getting a 4K supported monitor for example is pointless if you don't have a supported GPU or games that can output to that resolution.
 

ultrabiome

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Dirty Hipsters said:
ultrabiome said:
Not sure about what my PC build is going to be yet but I'm going to be building it myself and I intend it to be fairly powerful. Basically I'm waiting for Witcher 3 to come out to figure out what the benchmarks are going to be to run that on ultra high settings. At the moment I have an old laptop that I'll be using which is basically a potato by this point (it's 5 years old and was $650 when I got it. It has admirably persevered for this long and has even been pretty decent at gaming, managing 80 fps in Bioshock Infinite) and I just got a PS4, which is what prompted me to want the new monitor/tv (I live with roommates and I'm sick of sharing the TV when I want to play bloodborne).

I'd like for the screen to probably be 32" if it's a monitor, and either 32" or 40" if it's a TV, and when gaming I'll probably be sitting about 3-4 feet away. Kind of an important thing for me would be the ability to look at the TV/monitor from multiple angles, not just straight on because I'd like to be able to watch netflix on it from my bed.
If you're going to be playing a PS4 on it and are going to be sitting 3-4 feet away, which is what I do when I play my PS3 on my computer monitor, then I would recommend a 1080p monitor with speakers, or at least audio out. Unless you know more about sound equipment than me and have a way to get HDMI to external speakers or use the PS4's optical sound output (edit: Maybe you can use the controller's audio out?). The PS4 only supports up to 1080p for gaming, and although your graphics card will support higher resolutions, you will sacrifice some graphical quality on the PS4 for upscaling or black bars or something if your monitor isn't 1080p. Also since 1080p is now the "standard" getting monitors outside this resolution will probably be more expensive and less stock to choose from. You might benefit more by getting a 120Hz monitor instead of higher resolutions, so you'll still get benefits from your awesome video card. I don't know, mine is 60 Hz - and I'm happy with it's performance.

Here's the other thing: at 3-4 feet, you probably won't want more than 30". 1080p at 30" and at that distance might even be too big, but larger monitors will just make the pixels bigger, and push more of the screen area outside of the center of your vision. Mine is only 22" and works just fine at that distance. Maybe not quite as grand as the TV, but just as clear (if not clearer) than my TV - plus the benefit of every pixel of 1080p. I would try to go to a store with a lot of monitors and TVs (Costco, hhgregg, Sears, even Target and Walmart) to see your options too - just know that the TVs in stores are rarely adjusted correctly for color. More for form factor, inputs, size comparison, general quality, etc. Just remember, you get what you pay for - you may want to pay a little more for a better brand (Samsung) with maybe a couple more inputs (I'd say 2 HDMI inputs are good - one for the PC always connected, and a second for switching to the PS4).

Don't worry about acceptance angle - most TVs and monitors nowadays have pretty wide viewing angles. Never had an issue on either and my TV is like 4 years old now.
 

Bombiz

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Dirty Hipsters said:
Phoenixmgs said:
I'm not sure how big you want to go but a 32-inch TV works well as both a TV and monitor, 38-40 would probably be pushing it a bit. I guess the most important aspect will be the inputs/outputs you want and sound as well (since monitors have no speakers). Of course, the TV has a tuner as well but I'm guessing less and less people actually watch broadcast TV anymore.

popa_qwerty said:
It surprise me is that no one has brought up input lag most newer cheap TVs input lag is about 150ms which is bad but it can be helped with game-mode but if you are A competitive player I would go with a monitor.


You can use this site for more info on input Lag http://www.rtings.com/info/input-lag-tvs
Smaller TVs and monitors usually use the same kind of panels so input lag will be about the same on either. I'm guessing if the TC is considering using a TV as both a TV and computer monitor, they aren't looking to buy a big screen TV. Plus, monitors get really pricey as you get into average TV size territory.
If I get a monitor it'll probably be 32", if I get a TV it'll either be 32" or 40" depending on how I want to set up the room and what kind of TV I'm getting.
are you going for a single or dual monitor setup?
 

Dirty Hipsters

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Bombiz said:
Dirty Hipsters said:
Phoenixmgs said:
I'm not sure how big you want to go but a 32-inch TV works well as both a TV and monitor, 38-40 would probably be pushing it a bit. I guess the most important aspect will be the inputs/outputs you want and sound as well (since monitors have no speakers). Of course, the TV has a tuner as well but I'm guessing less and less people actually watch broadcast TV anymore.

popa_qwerty said:
It surprise me is that no one has brought up input lag most newer cheap TVs input lag is about 150ms which is bad but it can be helped with game-mode but if you are A competitive player I would go with a monitor.


You can use this site for more info on input Lag http://www.rtings.com/info/input-lag-tvs
Smaller TVs and monitors usually use the same kind of panels so input lag will be about the same on either. I'm guessing if the TC is considering using a TV as both a TV and computer monitor, they aren't looking to buy a big screen TV. Plus, monitors get really pricey as you get into average TV size territory.
If I get a monitor it'll probably be 32", if I get a TV it'll either be 32" or 40" depending on how I want to set up the room and what kind of TV I'm getting.
are you going for a single or dual monitor setup?
Probably a single monitor setup, don't think I have enough room right now for dual monitors unless they're rather small.
 

SoreWristed

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I'd say to go for the setup that your room will allow.

A tv get's useless if you're sitting right on it. Monitors become redundantly detailed when you're using it on the distance you'd normally place your tv.

Both are viable, it's just what will look better for your eyes. If you go for a TV, just use it with your computer at the distance a tv needs. and vice versa.
 

gorfias

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I have a buddy that got a 27" Asus monitor that is state of the art. He is seeing huge improvements in his kill rates in competitive gaming.

I do mostly single player. Even if I had the dough for his 27", I enjoy a 39" Vizio TV 1080P 120 Hz. It is huge and beautiful. It works for my need just fine.

I don't doubt it is not as good as his 27" but I enjoy its larger size and relative low cost.
 

Noobsaibot21

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If you dont mind 720p (maximum), can accommodate one (a big CRT) and can actually find one (extremely rare nowadays), I'd get an NEC XM-29 or NEC XM-37. The ultimate monitor for retro 240p stuff via RGB, will do 480p (Component/VGA) for that tricky 6th gen and will do 720p for PC gaming via VGA too (which is fine if you are not an elitist :p)
 

Qitz

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I'm currently using a TV hooked up to my PC and have been enjoying it a lot. Some people will note that there's some input lag but I've not noticed it enough for that to be a concern to me.

You may run into some problems as far as being able to read some text since you're sitting further from the screen than a monitor and a lot of games don't have text size options, especially if you use 2560 x 1440 (I think.)

I don't play anything competitive though. I mainly play against bots in MOBAs and have been playing Divinity: Original Sin and Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings so nothing that super-accuracy would demand.

Can't say I mind anything else as far as using a TV vs Monitor goes.