LCD Tv as Computer monitor

[Shifte]

I had a few questions about what to look for in a LCD tv to use as a monitor. My goal is to hook up 22 or < LCD monitor, to be used as secondary, and 32 or < LCD tv to be used as primary. Xbox 360, wii, computer, Cable box, and dvd player will be needed to be hooked up all at once. What dpi should i be looking for? i heard 720 is better than 1080 for games to prevent some ghosting issues, how about Resolution recommended 1366 x 768 or 1920 x 1080 ? Response Time? Aspect Ratio? Im so lost

Cost is not a huge issue but hoping to spend no more than 1000 ish. I would prefer 400-600 range, but id like to have something that will last quiet a while.

Aside from basic net surfing i also do some media encoding, editing and video capture,

Current GFX card is Nvidia 260 will more than likely SLI when i purchase my LCD, (Would have to wont i?)

Also what other things should i look at? i currently run 4gigs ram but was looking to upgrade that as well.

Any help you guys can offer would be much appreciated. I was last here when i purchased my last system and all the help that was provided was amazing very pleased with the input and the adjustments i made at your suggestions

 

[Shifte]

Anyone?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Well I'm definitely more of a front projection guy, but I can take a stab at some of that.

When you write <, do you mean less than or greater than? (I've seen it both ways in people's writing)

Since the computer is one of the sources, I would say that 1080p would be a very good idea, especially for text. If you're sitting relatively close to the displays, a lower resolution on a pretty big "monitor" like that is going to not look so hot.

Regarding the ghosting issue, I don't remember hearing that. I believe the degree of ghosting for a display would be independent of the resolution (there could be displays with crappy ghosting that are either resolution or displays with very little ghosting at either resolution).

For aspect ratio, you're going to be looking at primarily 16:9 displays for this size. Some computer monitors are 16:10, but those don't tend to get into the 32" range.

Do you have the 22" already, or is that included in your total price as well?

As for SLI, not necessarily needed. It's going to depend on what games you want to play and at what resolution. There have been some very extensive reviews from the main Anandtech site recently regarding SLI / Crossfire performance that you can check out. Especially if you were to get a 720p (768p?) monitor, SLI would probably be overkill for most games.

 

[Shifte]

Sorry about that, I meant greater than, to clarify i am looking to run a 22 in or greater monitor as secondary and 32 in or greater tv as primary.

A little history, Funds never allowed me to venture beyond games running at Min requirements (meaning every thing i played was forced to be low settings) after 5 years of planning i was finally able to purchase my first self built rig, mid to high end has shown me what ive been missing all these years, since funds are increasing, i began to build my "super setup" where i will be able to enjoy all things multimedia from the confort of my desk, (console games, computer games, browsing, video editing, dvd movies, and HD TV)

Just looking on some places to start, What sort of things should i be looking for when purchasing a TV to use as a monitor? anyone do this currently? or do i just plunk the cash down and pick up a monitor instead?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Considering the amount of sources you want to hook up, I think a TV is a valid choice.

Have you used dual monitors before? I'm wondering if you'd be better off buying a higher quality single display vs. getting two cheaper displays. Do you have an existing monitor that you could use as a second rather than splitting your current display budget?

 

[Shifte]

My current display is an aging 19in dell widescreen, The secondary monitor will be purchaced first, with the tv to follow a month or less after. I have used dual screens before, (Was ages ago with 2 17in CRT's) But loved the freedom it allowed me as i am a bit of an insane multi tasker

Id be willing to use my 19in as my secondary however, my girlfriends computer has an 17 crt that no longer fits on her desk *she has to use the keyboard on her lap* and was just looking to upgrade my system further and give her the 19in as for what she uses it for (mainly pictures email and browsing) it still is top notch

Also, Thank you so much for your help thus far

 

[vi edit]

Why not just get one or two of these?

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-...&qid=1236780520&sr=8-1

1080p LCD with an HD Tuner built in.

You can get them all the way up to 25" or 26". I've got a 20" version getting delivered tomorrow for around $220. It's going into a dual panel display setup with an existing 20" LCD. The LCD will be my primary, the Samsung 200HD will be the secondard with an extended desktop when I want the real estate or working as a TV when I want to watch TV.

I've got a cheapie tuner in my desktop right now, but I can't do full screen HD with it. It just gets juddery as hell and is unwatchable. So it was either spend $100+ on a decent tuner or just spend another $100 and get a second HDTV display. I like option 2 better.

EDIT

I wouldn't want to use the big screen as the primary. From what I can tell, most LCD TV's are set to run at the fixed 1080p resolution which is 1920×1080. On a 32" display that would be pretty big.

 

[Shifte]

thank you all for the replies, I am going to look a few things over tonight and post again if i have any more questions i might just swap to 1 26in tv and a 22-24in monitor

but thank you all for your input