TV as monitor

[clerick]

I was thinking that with the newer TV's and HDMI that it might make sense to combine the TV and PC monitor in my fun room.  What I need to know is how would a game like AHII play on a TV serving as a monitor?  What would I need to consider?

Thanks!

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I was thinking that with the newer TV's and HDMI that it might make sense to combine the TV and PC monitor in my fun room.  What I need to know is how would a game like AHII play on a TV serving as a monitor?  What would I need to consider?

Thanks!

1) Even large tv:s only have full-hd resolution. Might become a problem if you sit close to the screen.
2) TV:s are not meant to be computer monitors. You might encounter mystical problems i.e. not able to set full resolution, image distortion and heavy input lag. Input lag means that when you move your mouse, the screen picture is actually 20-30ms behind to what actually happens in game. In practise if you aim a moving enemy in 1 spot, in reality he's already on another spot and you'll miss your shot. With AH this usually won't be a problem but on some FPS it's nightmare. If you enable any '100hz' etc. functions in the tv this increases input lag because the picture is getting processed before showing it on screen. Same thing with overdrive. Many TVs have 'gaming mode' setting which helps a little.

Other than that a flat screen tv should do fine as gaming display - as long as you connect with hdmi. VGA is a hit and miss.

[The Fugitive]

My sons uses a 38 inch LCD flat screen for his monitor. He plays CoD, WoW, and many other games on it. Picture looks crisp and clean. No blur, no delays from controls and such. He also watches tv with the "picture in picture" set up on it at the same time. 

[zack1234]

I have a Samsung Syncmaster TV/Monitor which is very nice, but there are issues with it

HDMI/DVI etc are very moody, it tries to reset to 24hrtz for no apparent reason using HDMI

I would if you can steer towards a dedicated monitor I presume it would be better suited to PCs

[clerick]

i appreciate the replies.  The reason I'm thinking TV is that i can get size for a lower cost and I don't have to install a tuner card into the PC. 

This is the only game I plan on it so i don't want to make it sound like i'm a hard core gamer looking for great clarity.  The monitor I'm playing now is only a 60Hz max running at a native 1680x1050.  How bad would a 1080p be in comparison to that? Since I'm mostly concerned with a cost effective and substantial upgrade in size, are there any good monitors out there to consider?

[CRYPTIC]

I've been playing on a 32in.for 4 years and have no problems. This is so old it doesn't have HDMI hook-up. I'm sure the newer TV's with HDMI work and look better.

[zack1234]

I use DVI on my Samsung and there is no problems at all it was HDMI which was setting refresh rate to 24 hertz, and DVI is same as HDMI but without sound I believe.

[Rob52240]

As long as your videocard can drive a large display easily you should be just fine.  The only potential issue i see is frame rate getting capped at 60.

[1Boner]

Some of the new tvs have "game mode" to deal with lag.

[BERN1]

My sons uses a 38 inch LCD flat screen for his monitor. He plays CoD, WoW, and many other games on it. Picture looks crisp and clean. No blur, no delays from controls and such. He also watches tv with the "picture in picture" set up on it at the same time. 

lookin to adopt another? 45 year old "kid" lookin for a parent like you

[ToeTag]

get a projector and a screen..  You can make it as large as a wall and it rolls up when not being used.  I have had a 109" monitor for years now.  It is not too expensive and great for game days and other special events.  get a max resolution of 1027 or better, high lumen count of 3000 or better and contrast as high as you can afford.  The last note to take is make sure your lamp life is better than 3000 hours.  If you run it in econo mode you should be able to do better than max life.  If you add extra fans you should be able to triple the lamp life.

[CRYPTIC]

If it's projection you like check this link out with 3 projections.http://nthusim.com/

[zack1234]

I would love to have a projector 

Our houses are not big enough in UK

[MrRiplEy[H]]

No blur, no delays from controls and such.

The tricky thing with input lag is that you can't see it at all unless you have a fast monitor in direct comparison. One good way to compare is to install a tube display or even a fast real monitor as 2nd monitor, then use clone display.

You'll see that when you move your mouse or game view, your tv will lag visibly behind to every movement. That's input lag.

[gyrene81]

i have a 32in led lcd tv hooked up to a pc that i watch netflix and dvd's on. it's a toshiba and it has a "gaming mode" that sets the response time to something in the range of ~2ms (supposedly) while playing video games "for short periods of time", according to the manual. i haven't tried it, but then i'm not gaming with it.

if you're going to buy one, get a full led backlit (not edge lit) 1080p 120-240hz, if you can afford it, especially if you're going to be gaming on it. you will probably be much happier with it than you would going cheap. i went cheap but i don't have more money than sense and my expectations aren't in fantasy land. also be aware that color adjustments might depend on which input you use, vga = video card controlled adjustments, hdmi = tv controlled adjustments.