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Thread: LCD Monitor/TV differences?

  1. #1
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    LCD Monitor/TV differences?

    As the title suggests what is the main difference?

    For similar money you get a larger TV so what's the downside?

    I'm after a monitor and my main use would be gaming so image quality is pretty key.

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    sneaks quietly away. schmunk's Avatar
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    LCD TVs = low resoultion.

    They're all 1366 x 768 or worse unless you pay ~ £1,300+, which will buy you a 37" 1920 x 1080.

    The £400 Dell 24" monitors have a resolution of 1920 x 1200 (i.e. a gnat's hair greater than the 1080p standard resolution) - but as you say, are a lot smaller...

    I'm waiting until 1080p becomes available in 32" TVs and cheaper, then I'll buy one.

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    finding nemo staffsMike's Avatar
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    TV's have much lower native resolutions only built to cope properly with tv images. Sure you can use pc's on them but it wont be very good.

    Monitors are built to use the higher resolutions that PC's demand for image quailty in games etc.. but then most monitors will not scale down TV images very well and generally look naff bar things like the the dell 2407wfp whichi think can do it quite well (but dont know). My 2007wfp looks ok using svideo and freeview but not perfect by any means.

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    I'm quite happy with a 32" LCD TV for most of my gaming. I like the large screen size and the low resolution combination. The screen size allows me sit back and relax and the lower resolution I can still read text from a distance. For entertainment use it's great. I havn't noticed any ghosting in games and the viewing angles are extremely wide. I don't need an insanely high spec PC to run 1360x768 which suits me just fine. I use AA to deal with jaggies and edge crawl and I am very happy with the resulting image quality. Information heavy games with lot's of text I prefer to use an LCD monitor and sit up close. Oblivion is a game that plays great an LCD TV and Galactic Civalizations II is a game that is better on an LCD monitor.

    The important thing with a TV setup is to put some distance between you and the screen. It's not a good idea to use a TV like you would a monitor because individual pixels are too large for close up viewing. 1360x768 is not a low resolution IMO and on my 22" CRT I would always play 1280x1024 or 1024x768 withh AA enabled.

    You will find you need to have a monitor in certain situations like booting into safe mode. My TV doesn't seem to support the resolution or refresh rate needed in this situation.

    I'm using an LG 32LX2R TV & single 8800GTS

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    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
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    Another common problem with LCT TVs is their lack of 1:1 pixel maping. Samsung panels are notorious for this. It means that even if you feed it a 1360x768 resolution desktop, it will not just display it, it sends it through it's image processors so you get scaling and overscan, which is useless for desktop PC use.

    It's not so bad if you are using it as a screen for an HTPC, you can usually deal with overscan on them (MediaPortal lets you calibrate the amount of overscan and the aspect ratio). Although you are still scaling things twice, once in software on the HTPC, and again in the TV. I'd put money on the software scaler being better quality, especially if you can use things like DScaler plugins etc.

    Oh, and my laptop had a resolution of 1200x800, so on a 30"+ 1360x768 isn't that great.

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    I have in all 6 monitors and one tv (3 at home plus laptop and 2 at school plus the tv). the tv is a 52" plasma with 1080p true resolution and my best monitor is a VX2245 with a max 1680x1050 resolution. The tv is not comparable to the monitor the monitor is brighter because it is lcd the monitor looks better because of the small screen size. the tv is great for multi player games on the ps3 or wii and watching films straight off of the computer its also allot more fun as I can just lay on my sofa with the wireless keyboard and not have to sit at a chair at a desk.
    my conclusion is this:
    relaxing with movies,music being priority then get a tv for fast paced shooting games or more personally orientated tasks then a monitor.

    Matt

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    Quote Originally Posted by Funkstar View Post
    Another common problem with LCT TVs is their lack of 1:1 pixel maping. Samsung panels are notorious for this. It means that even if you feed it a 1360x768 resolution desktop, it will not just display it, it sends it through it's image processors so you get scaling and overscan, which is useless for desktop PC use.


    I know this thread's a bit old, but can I just pipe in here - I'm running a new Samsung SM940BW via DVI, and my parents have a Sammy LCD TV in their kitchen. Both run at 1440x900, and both are perfectly 1:1. I've used various test charts and all sorts to check for moire patterns and they're just non-existent - so maybe the older Samsungs did this, but both the Samsungs I've used, both via DVI, reproduce the image perfectly.


    My housemate's 26" Bravia S series, on the other hand... What a nightmare. Can't even get it to show 1:1 resolution when feeding it a signal via DVI with the adapter resolution custom configured via powerstrip - utterly useless.
    I like ellipses...

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    it probably depends on the panel model.

    From what i've read, most people seem to have problems with 1360x768, which is also the most common resolution of HD screens. especially at 26" - 32"

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    Indeed. Bravias like many other flat panels run at 1366x768, which isn't a multiple of 8 - I've read of how some people overscan and run at 1368 or run at 1360 and have 3 pixels of black, but I've read many things written by many users who say they variously have more luck with nvidia cards than they do ATi cards.

    The Bravia HATES having anything except the EXACT resolution fed to it via HDMI, and it's becoming increasingly frustrating to find the specific resolution details (front/back porch, timings etc) because it's so bloody stubborn!
    I like ellipses...

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