27" Monitor as TV: Bad Idea?

[GreenGhost]

I'm thinking of getting a 27" computer monitor that I would also use as a TV with a DirecTV receiver and blu-ray/DVD player. Is this a bad idea? I'd be considering monitors with HDMI connectors, without a tv tuner (Asus, Samsung, Viewsonic have monitors in the $300-$330 range).

Any other special requirement? Will I have scaling issues with the mix SD/HD channels?

Otherwise I'll get a 24" (probably better as a monitor) and be happy w/ Netflix (I don't get any OTA channels where I live).

Thanks,

gg

 

[Emulex]

yeah it's pretty bad. i just ditched my 28". if you use an xbox that does 1080i monitors don't de-interlace. volume control? turning it off from the bed/couch?

i'd get a TV with a proper remote with codes that are not unknown

 

[piasabird]

I think a 40" widescreen TV works as a better TV. Just connect it with HDMI. Monitors may tend to actually have a better image. You cant tell sometimes unless you put a TV next to a monitor.

One advantage to having a TV is often it can receive multiple inputs, and you can switch back and forth between Cable and Antenna, and Computer or Game console.

I thought a 40" TV was not that big in the store till I got it home. So it probably depends how big the room is and how far you are away from the screen. So maybe a 32" might be nice. One thing I noticed is the quality and the options increase as the screen size increases.

 

[funboy6942]

Not sure if this will help, but Im using a AOC (Tiger Direct) for about $250 as my tv and pc and have been happy with it since day one. 3 HDMI inputs and the norm for all the rest. It has a built in digital tuner that when hooked up to my cable tv picks up the digital stations and I get all the regular tv stations in HD without the need for a separate tuner or ota antenna. It also has 100,000:1 contrast ratio so the blacks look pretty good.

 

[0roo0roo]

27" is a computer monitor, get atleast a 40+
seriously, people use 30" monitors on their desks

I thought a 40" TV was not that big in the store till I got it home. So it probably depends how big the room is and how far you are away from the screen. So maybe a 32" might be nice. One thing I noticed is the quality and the options increase as the screen size increases.

did you just get it? that wears off fast. 40" 1080p visual range for best detail is actually rather close, in other words it is only good fro a very small room.

 

[legcramp]

Get a 32" non-TN panel television, I would HATE watching TV with the horrible viewing angles on a TN panel computer monitor.

 

[Modelworks]

Make sure it supports 1920x1080 native and has HDCP on the HDMI connections and it should work Something else to consider is if the manufacturer of the monitor will be recognized by the HDMI device. HDMI isn't just a connection that you plug and play and works on everything. Manufacturers have to code in special routines when they sell a consumer device that works around bugs in various display firmwares. If the display and player cannot agree to terms then you get no picture. It gets even more complicated with HDCP since the player verifies the displays connection is one that is listed internally to the current firmware.

Here is what it looks like to something like a media player when you connect hdmi. The SRM parts are where it is looking at the sig of the display, this display did not pass so HDCP content would not display.

hdmi_rua.c:408] [HDMI] about to hdmi_open chip 0 at 0x72
[hdmi.c:317] [HDMI] Selecting internal chip at I2C device address 0x72
[probe.c:364] [HDMI] select: Detected part: vendor 0x0010, device 802d, rev.0xf0 (Silicon Library)
[hdmi.c:194] [HDMI] ========================== creating pHDMI ==========================
[SLi.c:74] SLi13T Revision: 0.63, PHY 85 nm
[SLi.c:149] [HDMI] RESET PLL ---------------------------------------------------
[SLi.c:178] mode.b DDC timing setup from Intl clk: div=315 for a DDC clock of 23809 Hz
[hdmi_rua.c:423] [HDMI] Probing for HDMI chips on I2C bus.
[hdmi_rua.c:426] [HDMI] Found 0 HDMI chips on I2C bus.
[hdmi_rua.c:470] [HDMI] found 1 HDMI chip
[srm.c:57] hdmi_check_signature(0x7fb610, 40, 0x7fb608, 8)
SRM Data[00]: 80 00 00 01 00 00 00 2B
SRM Sig.[00]: D2 48 9E 49 D0 57 AE 31
SRM Sig.[08]: 5B 1A BC E0 0E 4F 6B 92
SRM Sig.[10]: A6 BA 03 3B 98 CC ED 4A
SRM Sig.[18]: 97 8F 5D D2 27 29 25 19
SRM Sig.[20]: A5 D5 F0 5D 5E 56 3D 0E
[hdmi_srm.c:208] Error: could not open HDCP SRM file "/cdrom/"
[34mOEM_STATUS_SYSTEM_POWER_ON[0m
dev_ctrl_hal_enable_video_output,343:
securesoho_ntsc_pal_get_inner[1482], NTSC

Manufacturers are more likely to have addressed HDMI issues with tv than they are pc monitors used as tv.

 

[Emulex]

hdcp was cracked you can buy devices to transfer your content from hdcp hdmi to no-hdcp hdmi or component.

 

[Modelworks]

hdcp was cracked you can buy devices to transfer your content from hdcp hdmi to no-hdcp hdmi or component.

While that is true there isn't anyone making devices to do it widely available and they are going to be very expensive. The processing power to decode streams requires FPGA or CPLD devices. In pc terms it takes a dual core @2.4ghz with about 1.5GB ram to decode 1080p content at full frame rate with the key known. Add to that the new keys being used in new devices and it becomes pointless to bother. I hope people were not seriously thinking that because the master key was known that they couldn't change it to another key for new releases and players.

 

[Emulex]

hdfury (1,2,3, and their chinese knockoffs) - they can change the key - just all the older devices would not work