Best Gaming TV

[bergami]

Hi,

I am looking for advices about the television that I want to use ONLY to play and watch movies on my PC.

I am looking for:

-Full Hd
-40" ~ 46"
-120Hz
-2 or 5ms (or lowest as possible)
-Best color/image/contrast quality as possible
-Smart TV - No
-3D - No
-Bellow $800

Any tips?

Thank you

 

[JackBurton]

How far are you going to be sitting away from this thing since you'll be using it as a PC monitor? My friend has a 40" LCD for his PC monitor that he sits maybe 2 feet away from and IMO, 40" should be the max size for his distance. 46" would be out of the question as it would be way too big. And yes, in this case, there is such a thing as too big of a screen.

 

[bergami]

Hmm,It will be a bit longer than my arm

 

[Aikouka]

I'm curious why you want 120Hz. If I remember correctly, HDMI 1.4a doesn't actually support 1080p120, which means you'll actually be outputting 1080p60, and your monitor will interpolate frames (i.e. repeat them). Although, 120Hz seems to be rather common on monitors these days anyway.

I know you don't want 3D, but there is one interesting aspect to 3D that you might like if you're planning on using consoles: full-screen multi-player. By using existing 3D technology built into the TV and specialized glasses, a split-screen image is blown up to take up the full screen. The existing ability to separate left and right eyes is used, but instead of the left and right, it now splits player one and player two. All I have to do is buy these for my LG TV and it works out of the box. Note that LG's DualPlay isn't even a listed feature for my TV, but it doesn't actually matter. It could theoretically work with active TVs as well, but you would need glasses that are signaled properly to open and close both lenses instead of the individual sides.

 

[bergami]

I liked this one:

http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/UN40EH5000FXZA

But I don't know if this got a good color/image/contrast quality or really low response time.

I do not intend to play with consoles, only for PC.

What HDMI you say can support 120Hz?

Does this TV support it?

 

[mike5757]

There aren't any TVs that will take a 120Hz input. Only PC monitors. I also wouldn't recommend Samsung TVs for gaming since they have a long input delay. My Samsung TV has around a 6 frame delay in game mode compared to my computer LCD. (So probably at least 8 frames compared to a CRT). Although I got it down to 2-4 frames of delay by renaming the input to PC which turns of all of the post-processing features. Why game mode doesn't do this, I have no idea.

From what I've read, plasmas often have a shorter input delay. Although you could probably find an LCD with an acceptable delay if you find a site that measures it.

 

[Oyeve]

I recently got an LG 47LS4500 47" 120hz 1080p for under 600. Am loving it. Cheap, full HD and have no issues with games from PC or consoles.

 

[Childs]

I'm curious why you want 120Hz. If I remember correctly, HDMI 1.4a doesn't actually support 1080p120, which means you'll actually be outputting 1080p60, and your monitor will interpolate frames (i.e. repeat them). Although, 120Hz seems to be rather common on monitors these days anyway.

I know you don't want 3D, but there is one interesting aspect to 3D that you might like if you're planning on using consoles: full-screen multi-player. By using existing 3D technology built into the TV and specialized glasses, a split-screen image is blown up to take up the full screen. The existing ability to separate left and right eyes is used, but instead of the left and right, it now splits player one and player two. All I have to do is buy these for my LG TV and it works out of the box. Note that LG's DualPlay isn't even a listed feature for my TV, but it doesn't actually matter. It could theoretically work with active TVs as well, but you would need glasses that are signaled properly to open and close both lenses instead of the individual sides.

120Hz helps remove motion blur, and people like the soap opera effect. Its just frame interpolation on consumer TVs.

 

[Aikouka]

120Hz helps remove motion blur, and people like the soap opera effect. Its just frame interpolation on consumer TVs.

I know what it's for, and I don't actually mind 120Hz. I actually never turned 120Hz off on my LG 47LM4700; I notice it sometimes, but it doesn't stand out that much. Although, I think I saw 240Hz on a Samsung TV in Best Buy, and that just looked weird. The Avengers was playing on the TV, and I almost thought it was a behind the scenes video at first. I quickly realized that it was the actual movie, but it must have been displayed at a higher framerate.

 

[Oyeve]

120Hz helps remove motion blur, and people like the soap opera effect. Its just frame interpolation on consumer TVs.

My lg doesn't have the soap opera effect at 120mhz. I don't even think I can turn it off or on.

 

[bergami]

Let me know something, if I enable the V-Sync on a game, with a 120Hz TV my FPS will be limited to 120 or still to 60?

 

[BurnItDwn]

If it's primarily for gaming, would it perhaps make more sense to buy 3 20-24 inch displays and run in eyefinity?

Or perhaps a 30 inch display with higher resolution? (if they have dropped down to 800ish territory?)

Of course those options would be inferior for movies ....

 

[Aikouka]

My lg doesn't have the soap opera effect at 120mhz. I don't even think I can turn it off or on.

The LS isn't much different from the LM as I think the only difference is 3D. If that's the case, I believe it should turn off if you disable the SmartMotion feature.

 

[Oyeve]

The LS isn't much different from the LM as I think the only difference is 3D. If that's the case, I believe it should turn off if you disable the SmartMotion feature.

It has TruMotion. And most of the time the setting is not selectable. Sometimes it is. I have no idea when or how it get selectable.

 

[SSJBen]

If you really want the best gaming HDTV (not monitor), your only real choice is a a plasma TV.

The Panasonic P50ST50 (50", so 4" more than what you want but it shouldn't be an issue for you) is an amazing TV for its price. It's going to be cheaper than any 46" LED TV you get from Samsung/LG/Sony.

Picture quality will be better without a hint of a doubt. But most importantly? Virtually no input lag, exactly what you want. No stupid 120hz interpolation tech, no soap opera feel. It's the visual on the screen, your hands on the controller and you.

If you don't mind the higher power consumption (pssh, really? your PC being on 24/7 consumes more power anyways), plasma is the way to go. Trust me, it's how console games should be played. Or PC, if you fancy.

 

[Childs]

If you really want the best gaming HDTV (not monitor), your only real choice is a a plasma TV.

The Panasonic P50ST50 (50", so 4" more than what you want but it shouldn't be an issue for you) is an amazing TV for its price. It's going to be cheaper than any 46" LED TV you get from Samsung/LG/Sony.

Picture quality will be better without a hint of a doubt. But most importantly? Virtually no input lag, exactly what you want. No stupid 120hz interpolation tech, no soap opera feel. It's the visual on the screen, your hands on the controller and you.

If you don't mind the higher power consumption (pssh, really? your PC being on 24/7 consumes more power anyways), plasma is the way to go. Trust me, it's how console games should be played. Or PC, if you fancy.

The only problem with plasma is image retention. I had burn in on my first ST50, and I get temporary IR on the replacement set. And I mean burn in. Ran slides for a week and the IR never went away.

 

[giantpandaman2]

Any 120 hz LCD TV will not be good for games. They use interpolation to get to 120hz which introduces a monstrous amount of input lag.

Plasmas will best for games, but they have moderate image retention problems. That level of risk will vary along with your gaming habits.

Console players don't notice lag as much because they play against other console players relatively slow controllers rather than mice. Against computer opponents in any multiplayer FPS you will get crushed due to the lag. It'd be like going into a motorcycle race with a scooter. Doesn't matter how good a driver you are, you're not going to do well with a scooter.

If you want true 120hz gaming, your only option is TN Monitors or the Catleap Monitors with overdrive. TN Monitors have all sorts of color/contrast issues. The Catleaps are no longer cheap. $700+ for the 27" 120hz capable monitors. The $350 ones are not 120hz capable.

 

[boomhower]

I prefer plasma for gaming. I bought a panny plasma last year and have had not retention issues after more hours than I care to count of MW3 and BLOP2.

 

[purbeast0]

i did a lot of research before i purchased mine because i wanted the least possible input lag. i ended up going with a panasonic st50 and am extremely happy with my purchase.

 

[SSJBen]

The only problem with plasma is image retention. I had burn in on my first ST50, and I get temporary IR on the replacement set. And I mean burn in. Ran slides for a week and the IR never went away.

How did you manage to get IR? I play fighting games and action adventure games most of the time (you know these games has their HUD on like 80% of the time) yet I haven't got any IR after a year of heavy usage — anywhere between 3-5 hours a day, not counting movies.

I have an older LG (forgot the model) Plasma from 2007 as well. It was used to run Bloomberg and plenty of other TV channels where they have their logo on the side a lot and THAT hasn't even got IR until today.

 

[mshan]

I would agree with Jack Burton above.

I've used a 37 inch Westinghouse LVM37w3 as my desktop computer for years and it seems like perfect diagonal for sitting maybe 4 feet away.

40 inches might also work, but 46 inches or above is probably a bit much for such a close viewing distance.

 

[Childs]

How did you manage to get IR? I play fighting games and action adventure games most of the time (you know these games has their HUD on like 80% of the time) yet I haven't got any IR after a year of heavy usage — anywhere between 3-5 hours a day, not counting movies.

I have an older LG (forgot the model) Plasma from 2007 as well. It was used to run Bloomberg and plenty of other TV channels where they have their logo on the side a lot and THAT hasn't even got IR until today.

Windows Media Center screensaver. I actually made a video about it awhile ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlpJWy4s25w