How well do TVs work as monitors?

[stuman74]

Would they work well enough for teenagers? I was looking at getting two of these for my kids so they can connect to their computers as well as have the ability to watch tv by just changing the input. These Insignia units are going to be on sale for Black Friday for $80 each.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/insignia...&skuId=9844485


For comparison, their current monitors are these Dell's:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/popupproductdetail.aspx?sku=320-1750

Thanks!

 

[Virgorising]

Would they work well enough for teenagers? I was looking at getting two of these for my kids so they can connect to their computers as well as have the ability to watch tv by just changing the input. These Insignia units are going to be on sale for Black Friday for $80 each.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/insignia...&skuId=9844485


For comparison, their current monitors are these Dell's:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/popupproductdetail.aspx?sku=320-1750

Thanks!

Eighty dollars?????? O M G.

Wow. I think yours is a very clever, true lite bulb moment (LED) idea!

I have an older 37" Insignia, never had a problem, tho it is LCD, not LED and it could be more energy efficient, forget it weigh a lot, but it's made way better than I expected and with excellent features and all the connectivity options anyone can want.

I see no reason for you not to go forward with this idea, cept, maybe check the wattage to determine if it's way higher than a dedicated 24" monitor for computers.:biggrin: I go with Acer screens, cause for me, most bang for my buck, but no way $80!!!

 

[Imaginer]

TV connected computer displays work well since the introduction of 1080p units, but bear in mind that some TVs need some adjustment to sizing from the PC HDMI input, either from the TV end or from the graphics driver end (overscan options). Otherwise, the computer display will be cut off around the edges or you will have a bit of empty space if it is underscanned.

Also of note, since these are at 24 inches, you have to have a setup to accommodate the viewing distance. You can watch TV on those from a good distance but to work with the computer displayed on the TV, you have to be as close as what one would be with typically sized monitors.

The PC monitors work without any of these issues.

A nice thing about what you posted, it is very cheap and can double as a solitary TV, or a very cheap monitor with speakers. Well suited if your entertainment and work space needs to be compact (while still maintaining the ability to have a connected "desktop" class powered computer).

 

[Virgorising]

TV connected computer displays work well since the introduction of 1080p units, but bear in mind that some TVs need some adjustment to sizing from the PC HDMI input, either from the TV end or from the graphics driver end (overscan options). Otherwise, the computer display will be cut off around the edges or you will have a bit of empty space if it is underscanned.

Also of note, since these are at 24 inches, you have to have a setup to accommodate the viewing distance. You can watch TV on those from a good distance but to work with the computer displayed on the TV, you have to be as close as what one would be with typically sized monitors.

The PC monitors work without any of these issues.

A nice thing about what you posted, it is very cheap and can double as a solitary TV, or a very cheap monitor with speakers. Well suited if your entertainment and work space needs to be compact (while still maintaining the ability to have a connected "desktop" class powered computer).

Brilliant!

PS, these TVs have all connectivity, so maybe he doesn't have to even use its HDMI. I use one HDMI port to connect my too big to use as PC monitor Insignia to my DVD player.

Specs: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/insignia...specifications

Wow, this thing weighs 8.4 pounds. Way more than a 24' PC screen, but still, not bad. Plus, it's Energy Star.

 

[Alamat]

Been using a Panny 32" 1080p LCD for more than 2 years now and everything is fine and dandy. Though at times, I'd like a bigger screen with 120hz thingy just to see if its better or not.

 

[Wall Street]

It should be noted that some TVs, particularly newer '120 Hz' TVs, can introduce quite a bit of input lag. This doesn't matter for video which is one way content, but can be noticeable when interactive computer content like games.

 

[imagoon]

It will work but I personally consider 1080p to low of a resolution for computer use.

 

[RaistlinZ]

^^ Yeah, especially on large TV's. Even 1080p on a 27" monitor bugs the heck outta me.

 

[JeffMD]

1080p to low? Not even. The working world uses much lower resolutions.

I use a 1080p 32 tv that I specially selected for my computer monitor. The key is finding a tv where you can manually disable all the filters that TVs use to clean up noisy motion images and ruin the sharp text of a windows desktop.

 

[imagoon]

1080p to low? Not even. The working world uses much lower resolutions.

Yes, to low. I have never owned anything (other than a TV) with less than 1200 vertical lines except when 480 / 600 / 768 was cutting edge back in the 90's. TV is and has always been a step backwards. 4k might finally change that.

 

[Skott]

I pc game on the LG 39LN5300 TV and its nice. Great for watching TV and movies as well. Text reading isnt so great though.

 

[antisober]

My computer is hooked up to my 50" LED (hdmi). Works great. Especially if you have a 120hz tv.

 

[DarkRipper]

1080p to low? Not even. The working world uses much lower resolutions.

I use a 1080p 32 tv that I specially selected for my computer monitor. The key is finding a tv where you can manually disable all the filters that TVs use to clean up noisy motion images and ruin the sharp text of a windows desktop.

Agreed, I hated gaming on a TV till I got my Sony Bravia. I have a high end Asus 27" monitor and I use the TV instead for the sheer size.

 

[alangrift]

Yeah it is worth it I have it set up for me and it works fine.

 

[FrankSchwab]

Like half a dozen people prior, I have a 32" 1080p TV hooked up as my main monitor on my desk at work. Had to work the menus to get a good PC picture, but once I did I love it.

Anyway, a 32" works great - I can be further from the display, my older eyes can read everything without squinting, I can work with two other people in my office and give everyone a good view of the screen, and I can set my text editor to use an 8-point font and it's still readable meaning that my code window doesn't take up the whole screen.

If I were doing it today, I'd get the Seiki 39" 4K for $500 if my Video card could drive it. For coding or similar tasks, it should give you the equivalent of 4 HDTV's in a single monitor (just don't hit that "maximize" control in Windows). I'd be willing to give up overlapping windows, multiple monitors, and take pure tiling with that kind of resolution.

And for those p*ssies who whine that "HDTV isn't high enough resolution" or "it's a step backwards", you can kiss my ADM-3A adjusted eyes.

 

[imagoon]

And for those p*ssies who whine that "HDTV isn't high enough resolution" or "it's a step backwards", you can kiss my ADM-3A adjusted eyes.

I'm sorry you are jealous about something like that. 1080p is too small and step backward. If you can't see it, that is fine and get what works for you. Telling us to "kiss your ADM-3A adjusted eyes" and calling us "p*ssies" is simply poor form and makes you sound bitter. I'm sorry if the fact I can still see 20/20 without glasses in my mid 30's offends you.

 

[Red Squirrel]

You wont really get much benefit from it, unless you need it very big such as a public display or something in a NOC etc... you do not gain more pixel real estate by going with a TV, you are better off with multiple smaller monitors. Size does not really matter, it's all about pixel real estate so you can have more stuff open at same time, or see more of something (ex: spreadsheets, coding etc)

Now once 4k TVs come out (at an obtainable price) I can see it being beneficial if they make small enough 4k TVs like 32" or smaller.

 

[Soundmanred]

"1080p is too low"
"size doesn't matter"
LOL
I'll take my 65" with 23" submonitor while sitting on my couch over sitting at a desk with a higher resolution monitor anyday.

 

[lakedude]

A 1080p TV will work just fine as a monitor, depending on what you expect.

Before the days of high def a TV was a very poor choice for a monitor due to the low resolution available at the time. Moving pictures and organic still photos looked okay but text was just unreadable.

Now with the availablity of cheap 1080p TVs, a TV makes a perfectly acceptable monitor. Of course a real monitor with an even higher resolution would be even better but for $80 that TV is going to be hard to beat.

I ran a computer monitor at 600 by 800 for years, 1080p is much better than that!

 

[KAZANI]

My current desktop display is a 68cm TV/monitor with 1080p@60Hz and it's great. I've also tested PC use on a cheap 80cm 1080p@50Hz TV and that's good too (albeit encumbered by counter-intuitive and downright nonsensical configuration modes, which reek of obscene techno-cartel greed). Modern TVs are perfectly able to serve the personal computing needs of 99% of the population. Stop pimping overconsumerism in people's household economic governance, and let them move past the antiquated, one-way flow of information that television represents. Full HD resolution is good enough for most people, the technology is affordable, so...oh, but, listen...some "20/20 eyescore 30something" is making a damn hypochondriac fuss about sand in his retina.

 

[imagoon]

My current desktop display is a 68cm TV/monitor with 1080p@60Hz and it's great. I've also tested PC use on a cheap 80cm 1080p@50Hz TV and that's good too (albeit encumbered by counter-intuitive and downright nonsensical configuration modes, which reek of obscene techno-cartel greed). Modern TVs are perfectly able to serve the personal computing needs of 99% of the population. Stop pimping overconsumerism in people's household economic governance, and let them move past the antiquated, one-way flow of information that television represents. Full HD resolution is good enough for most people, the technology is affordable, so...oh, but, listen...some "20/20 eyescore 30something" is making a damn hypochondriac fuss about sand in his retina.

What? Very little of that makes sense. Great that a low def 1080p works for you. That affects my opinion how again?

 

[JumBie]

I've used 55", 50", 40" and 27" LED and LCD tv's for the past 4 years for PC gaming. I can tell you that it was great. Never really noticed an actual problem with input lag or anything. In fact my gaming improved when playing on a bigger screen. Then I moved over to a 27"LED computer monitor and I can tell you I missed the size of the bigger tv's nothing compares to playing battlefield or starcraft 2 on a big screen tv, 1080p was just fine.

 

[Conroe]

I've never had a TV that widows could turn off like it can a monitor. They just say no signal, most with a all blue screen.

 

[Wall Street]

I've never had a TV that widows could turn off like it can a monitor. They just say no signal, most with a all blue screen.

I have an older Westinghouse TV hooked up to my PC via DVI as my second monitor (I mirror my main monitor display). It sleeps when the computer goes to sleep just like the monitor. There is a setting that allows this in the menu.

 

[Throckmorton]

Best is to get a TV with 4:4:4 color, otherwise the color data will be lower resolution

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1381724/official-4-4-4-chroma-subsampling-thread