LCD TV, or LCD monitor for gaming?

Justinator

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Sep 14, 2011
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Whats better for gaming?

A small LCD HD TV or a regular monitor (suited for gaming of course).

Not looking to make this a highly technical thread but just to give an overall better option between the two.
 
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Justinator

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Sep 14, 2011
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Well that's what I thought but I've heard that once you go beyond 24" or maybe it was 27" a tv is no different????
 

Patrick Wolf

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Jan 5, 2005
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Well there's no clear answer here. They both have pros and cons so it's whatever works better for you.

Many TV's below 32" will have lower quality panels (poorer IQ) and usually aren't 1080p which is a must when using a TV as a monitor. Most monitors use cheap TN panels which are sometimes OK, but still can't compete with the IQ of IPS & PVA based displays which is what most TV"s 32"+ use. But there's plenty of affordable monitors with IPS panels.

A monitor offers better sharpness because of it's smaller size. That is until you get into the resolutions beyond 1080p where you get size and sharpness but at a pretty high cost both with the monitor and the PC hardware to push the extra pixels. TV's tend to have more input lag than monitors which might be an issue if you're really into online multiplayer.

A bigger screen is more immersive, there isn't any way around this. It's also much better for video, but sometimes a large display on a desk isn't viable. If this is a gaming only setup than a 23-24" monitor may be the way to go as both sharpness and lower input lag can affect gameplay, though usually to a minor degree. If you want more "wow" factor than a 32" HDTV is what you want. The 32LK450 would work well.
 

mfenn

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Jan 17, 2010
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Whats better for gaming?

A small LCD HD TV or a regular monitor (suited for gaming of course).

Not looking to make this a highly technical thread but just to give an overall better option between the two.

IMHO a TV should only be considered if you want something bigger than 24-27". Otherwise, a monitor is the way to go. A monitor will have less input lag and less hassle to set up than a TV (think about overscan).
 

Patrick Wolf

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Jan 5, 2005
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Most current TV's shouldn't have overscan issues. Just set the picture size to Just Scan, Screen Fit, ect. And if there are issues it's usually easy to fix in the GPU's control panel (especially with nvida).

Not sure which are the best HDTV monitors. I know LG and Vizio are popular. I'd avoid Panasonic due to very poor black level uniformity when sitting close. Samsung's work well, but have terrible input lag (turning off the "enhancements" helps some) and they have dynamic backlighting which can't be turned off in the normal settings.