Using an LCDTV as your computer monitor: Yay or nay?

[CaseoftheEX]

Its tempting with all the sales on LCDTVs right now, to double it up as a comp. monitor and 360 display. But I was told by just about everyone that PC on LCDTV will always look blurry and crappy. So what do you guys think? I wouldnt mind just sticking to a comp. LCD but they are twice the price. And 24'-26'' monitors are rare to find in the city.

[soupey]

i use a 50" rear projection LCD with minimal blur on it, obviously not nearly as clear as the 17" lcd upstairs, but hell, 50" F.E.A.R. is always fun:D

[CaseoftheEX]

Originally posted by soupey
i use a 50" rear projection LCD with minimal blur on it, obviously not nearly as clear as the 17" lcd upstairs, but hell, 50" F.E.A.R. is always fun:D Hmm I hear windows text on LCDTV is awful, is that true?

[hussein]

I have a 17inch wide screen lcd that I used to use as a TV/comptuer screen and I think the text was very clear. If it has a VGA input or HDMI then you probably don't have anything to worry about. Worse case senario is that you don't like it and return it.

[soupey]

Originally posted by CaseoftheEX
Hmm I hear windows text on LCDTV is awful, is that true?

its decent enough to read, i can take pics later on,

however since its such a large screen its always nice to boost the text size....

i wouldnt recommend it as a regular use monitor of course...afterall i use it as a media center, not as my main desktop computer...ive heard good things about the true lcd panels that dell sells (which, from what ive heard, are made with samsung parts)

[kaput]

.

[CivicDXR]

52" DLP with HDMI input FTW...

Text in windows is fairly clear, very minimal blur...

http://members.shaw.ca/CivicDXR/comp2.jpg

Beyond Represent:
http://members.shaw.ca/CivicDXR/comp3.jpg

Nothing like surfing porn.... er.... playing a little Counter-Strike on a big LCD and surround sound...

[frostyda9]

My 1000 words. I use the TV as my primary computer monitor.


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/frostyDA9/IMG_0124rs.jpg

edit: and the requisite "Beyond" shot, which proves to be very hard to get a clear picture of

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/frostyDA9/IMG_0103.jpg

[slick2404]

^nice.

Theres a program, i think its called powerstrip or something to make pcs have the correct resolution for tvs

[soupey]

^with nvidia + ati drivers u can adjust for overscan by making ur own resolutions...i had to do it for my comp...

[zieg]

^ Yeah, I was just gonna say, you'd have to fix the resolution. But if you're sitting far away from the screen like that, I dont see the point. Think about the percentage of your field of vision it covers.

I have two 17" monitors side by side about 3 feet(?) from my face, both at 1280x1024. So they take up a fairly large percentage of my field of vision (but I dont have to turn my head) and they have a high enough resolution to fit a lot on them.

[hoamic11]

i'm running a samsung 26" LCD, use it as my primary monitor and tv, and it's great. Only problem could be that the oem specs maxs out the resolution @ 1360*768, but it still looks good.

i'll have to look into that powerstrip app.

[CaseoftheEX]

Originally posted by frostyda9
My 1000 words. I use the TV as my primary computer monitor.


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/frostyDA9/IMG_0124rs.jpg

edit: and the requisite "Beyond" shot, which proves to be very hard to get a clear picture of

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/frostyDA9/IMG_0103.jpg

thats a kick ass TV. But overpriced though for what you get.

[CaseoftheEX]

Originally posted by slick2404
^nice.

Theres a program, i think its called powerstrip or something to make pcs have the correct resolution for tvs

really? how do you go about applying it?

[JAYMEZ]

LCD FTW!!!

The only way to use a computer haha. Do it :thumbsup:

[tictactoe2004]

if you get a newer lcd that does 1080p or a samsung 1080p dlp either can display a PC resolution of 1920x1080 at 60fps. PC looks amazing on that, i'm hopefully picking up my 71" Samsung 1080p DLP next week, i'll post some pics once I get my PC running on it.

[eblend]

Originally posted by tictactoe2004
if you get a newer lcd that does 1080p or a samsung 1080p dlp either can display a PC resolution of 1920x1080 at 60fps. PC looks amazing on that, i'm hopefully picking up my 71" Samsung 1080p DLP next week, i'll post some pics once I get my PC running on it.

there is the 71" 1080p samsung dlp at costco for something like 4-5 grand. Don't remember exactly. If thats the same one you looking at check out costco might be cheaper

[tictactoe2004]

im getting it for $4400 tax in with a free dvd player, but thanks though :)

[kevie88]

I'm saving for a 1080p projector, GTR2 will look AMAZING on a 110" screen :D

[frostyda9]

Originally posted by CaseoftheEX


thats a kick ass TV. But overpriced though for what you get.

meh. Every TV goes through a massive depreciation within months of you buying it, so it's not someting I'd worry about. If you think it's overpriced now, imagine the people that paid $1000 more than it costs now 6-8 months ago.

edit - as for the screen resolution, I learned to not use my DVI-HDMI cable, but just to use a plain old VGA cable. At 1360X768 everything is now displayed in the proper aspect ratio and nothing needs to be adjusted with 3rd party software.

[hoamic11]

^+1, that's what i'm doing and it looks great, much better than when i used the hdmi output. But maybe it's because of my poor/old video card

[tictactoe2004]

thats why I want the 71 inch samsung dlp, because it accepts 1920x1080 through the vga input as well.

[soupey]

Originally posted by CaseoftheEX


really? how do you go about applying it?


u dont need powerstrip unless ur using drivers that dont have the option to set up ur own custom resolutions to get rid of "overscan".

newer nvidia and geforce drivers have overscan correction features....jus go thru the driver properties til u find it...its not too hard to figure out...

powerstrip is like the OLD way of dealing with overscan before gfx companies figured out that alota ppl were using their comps for media centers...(tv's etc)...i think powerstrip only has a few extra options that are truly worth noting, but the main features like fixing over/under-scan, and gamma/brightness/contrast settings can ALL be adjusted from your regular drivers....so again, there is no use for powerstrip if thats all ur looking to do...but if u need to mess around with more detailed properties...then u might want to look at it...

[dino_martini]

How do you get a LCD tv to be your computer monitor? Do you guys use Windows Media Center?

[soupey]

u get an lcd monitor that can take DVI-D in or get a video card that can do high def output

[spike98]

I have a 50" Samsung DLP that i use as a monitor for my PC. I use the VGA input and it is clear is day. Like crystal clear. Nothing like surfing beyond while laying on the couch with a hockey game in PIP!

[soupey]

alright i got around to taking a pic of it, i used flash so that i could eliminate camera blur altogether, so the screen looks dimmer than it actually is, but thats the clarity i get out of it...u can also see the slight overscan (it can be adjusted to get no clipped out areas, but since its an lcd projection theres a slight skew to the screen, so if u do that u get a tiny sliver of underscan...since i use this for mostly games/movies...i'd rather have no empty areas of underscan, and a lil overscan was never an issue)...there's 50" of screen...

ftp://igsta.sytes.net/beyond/lcdprojtv.jpg


no flash on this pic...tried to get as close as possible with my camera...

ftp://igsta.sytes.net/beyond/lcdprojtvclose.jpg

[hoamic11]

Originally posted by dino_martini
How do you get a LCD tv to be your computer monitor? Do you guys use Windows Media Center?

there's quite a fit lcd's now that have a pci input as well hdmi/s-video and what not, so it's pretty easy

[grocko]

What about using an S-Video cable from a laptop? I'm planning on buying a new TV and the laptop has a S-Video connection on it...will that work?

[QuasarCav]

Originally posted by grocko
What about using an S-Video cable from a laptop? I'm planning on buying a new TV and the laptop has a S-Video connection on it...will that work?


Yes

[Whitetiger]

That's awesome

[soupey]

Originally posted by grocko
What about using an S-Video cable from a laptop? I'm planning on buying a new TV and the laptop has a S-Video connection on it...will that work?

will work but dont expect much for clarity

[Whitetiger]

I concur with that, it's so hard to see details with a laptop S-vid to TV setup.


Originally posted by soupey


will work but dont expect much for clarity