Anyone using HDTV as primary monitor?

Hi, just wondered if anyone is using a 1920x1080p HDTV as a PC monitor and if so, could they leave some comments as to how it compares to a 'normal' PC screen? Eg is a 42" display a bit overwhelming at close range? How far away do you have to be for it to be useable for gaming or 'normal' apps?

Just thinking that TVs & monitors appear to be converging in terms of specification, but having 'native' resolution Full HD might be better in terms of watching HD Content...?

Or am I talking crap LOL? :rolleyes:

All I know is that in general TVs aren't good monitors and vice versa.

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Originally Posted by Ciber

All I know is that in general TVs aren't good monitors and vice versa.

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Maybe on a regular tv, but an HDTV which has a resolution of equal to or higher than most TFTs that is not the case.

I have a 50" 720p screen, which I use to browser the contents on the HTPC hard drives, or grab HD trailers, and it's totally fine from about 4' away. You just get used to it, I've had my HD screen for 18 months now, and i don't find it at all overwhelming.

CRT TVs did make dreadful monitors however modern HD TVs now use squarepixels and very similar technology to computer screens so i would have thought using a HDTV for a monitor would be fine. My university lecturer hooked the 47" one we have in our theatre up to his computer and it did has some issues which i think may have been down to a lack of ram or slow CPU.

For gaming, you better have a decent graphics card cuz its a pretty hig resolution and distance wise i would have though the same distance to as if you where watching the TV on your sofa.

I sometimes connect up my main pc to a Sharp LC42XD1E HD TV (for playing games) and I have to admit it is pretty good. At first you will find it quite overwhelming, but as Skinleech said your eyes eventually get used to it. Also you will need to a very good graphics card (as Biscuit said) if you want play games at the full resolution. (1920*1080). Something like an 8800 series graphics would be fine.

If I had a choice I would take the sharp lcd tv into my room and use it permanently as a pc monitor :), but I don’t think other members of my household would appreciate that.

In terms of distance I normally sit a bit less then a 1 metre away (when playing a game). It depends on what you are doing, if you are playing games you can sit further away, if you are browsing the net then you would want to sit much closer.

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Originally Posted by shadowmaster

Also you will need to a very good graphics card (as Biscuit said) if you want play games at the full resolution. (1920*1080). Something like an 8800 series graphics would be fine.

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as for GTS' the 320mb one might struggle and i think even the 640 one might have problems with settings cranked up. I reckon a GTX might be neccisary for full on graphics

Thanks for everyone's input. With reference to those who mentioned the hefty GPU required by HDTV specs: I doubt my current setup will run recent games at that resolution very smoothly but hopefully upgrading down the line will help. However, I was considering the monitor alternatives (eg 30") which run to 2560x1600 - I doubt I would be able to afford anything that could do that res justice for quite a while! And the best compromise res for those monitors is 1280x800 which seems to defeat the object a bit... Not to mention scaling of 1980x1080p HDTV might end up looking awkward.

For the price of a Dell or Samsung 30" monitor you can get a 42" HDTV or 3 (or more) 19/20" monitors.

Personally I'd prefer just the one screen - I know people swear by multiscreen setups but getting the idea past the missus might be difficult :rolleyes: Not to mention the issue of bezels and wiring and desk space. Did look at Matrox 3Head2go but then you're looking at driving a 3840x1024 display! Maybe it'd work nicely with 8 cores & 4 GPUs :eek: