PC gaming on a 42 inch or 47 inch 1080p?

[Corporate Thug]

I need to buy a new TV for my bedroom. I'm thinking about going 42 or 47 1080p. Just wondering if anyone here runs PC games on a screen this size @ 1900 X 1080 ? How does it look?

 

[CurseTheSky]

It depends how far away you'll be sitting. There are a number of charts around the Internet about screen size / resolution vs. viewing distance for HDTVs. If you're sitting relatively close, a 47" will probably look too grainy.

 

[iGas]

It looks fine on my 55" 1900x1080 120hz TV. I prefer siting on my comfy desk chair so the 28" 1900x1200 monitor is good enough for me.

 

[happy medium]

If you sitting 4 or 5+ feet away it will look great.

 

[Qbah]

Gaming on a 40" here, 1920x1080. My feet are almost touching the screen when I stretch my legs to play games and I find that distance the best. Hell, I even run my browser on it all the time (like right now typing this post) and it's very comfortable to use. I also have a 24" screen on my desk and I hardly use it tbh. The TV is just great for everything

 

[balane]

Sometimes I play on a 50" 1080p Plasma, it looks acceptable for gaming. I'm about 10' away. I definitely prefer my desktop though.

 

[RussianSensation]

I need to buy a new TV for my bedroom. I'm thinking about going 42 or 47 1080p. Just wondering if anyone here runs PC games on a screen this size @ 1900 X 1080 ? How does it look?

I love it. 37 @ 1920x1080 here. I imagine to run games on a 42/47 you will sit even farther. If you sit far enough, you won't even be able to tell the difference between 720P and 1080P. Generally, the difference is so minor, that'd you need > 50 inch screen if sitting far enough.

If you get a plasma screen, then it will be better than 99% of all LCDs out there, regardless of resolution, due to superior black levels, refresh rates and colors. Personally, I prefer the larger screen for gaming over larger resolutions if I have to choose between the 2. It just helps to immerse you into the game so much more.

I compare this to watching a movie in IMax at a movie theatre vs. at home. Sure you get superior pixel density and probably resolution on a 30 inch 2560x1600 monitor. But you can't compare IMAX experience to any LCD hehe

Basically it comes down to your preference - screen size vs. resolution.

 

[lopri]

Slightly off-topic, but I've got a new 120Hz Samsung LED TV (55") and it lags like hell in games and everything else. "Game Mode" helps but it still lags. I've hooked a PC and a PS3 and same for both. Is it supposed to be like this?

 

[RussianSensation]

It lags under both HDMI and DVI connections? When you say lags, are you talkin about ghosting/blur?

 

[lopri]

HDMI. Haven't tried DVI. By lags I mean command lags for joysticks and mice. I have a 120Hz LCD TV and that one doesn't lag. But this LED one lags so bad I can't play any game comfortably.

 

[Attic]

8-10' from the screen here on a 46" 1080P 60hz screen.

Any closer i'd want a smaller screen tbh.

As a note the new Sony Bravia's are having problems with nvidia drivers in fullscreen gaming over HDMI. To be more precise Sony TV's with the Hardware ID SNYEA01. From what i've seen it looks like the issue was introduced with a fairly recent driver, it remains on the latest betas.


In regards to the LED lag issue, I would check any processing the set may be doing on the video and turn off, if any, thing you find.

 

[railven]

HDMI. Haven't tried DVI. By lags I mean command lags for joysticks and mice. I have a 120Hz LCD TV and that one doesn't lag. But this LED one lags so bad I can't play any game comfortably.

Are you connected directly to your TV? Does anything else lag/not synch up, ie video from a cable box, audio from something else?

Is it everything that lags or just specific games? Could be a delay issue. You try disabling the 120mhz feature?


On topic: I use a 52" Sony Bravia XBR 4 and it looks great. Better than any console. I sit around 8ft away and run 1920x1080@120mhz (no ghosting/delay issues either.)

 

[RussianSensation]

I would try DVI. At monoprice, you can get a DVI cable for very cheap. It's worth the $5 to see if it resolves the problem.

 

[Corporate Thug]

so would a 120 hz TV be a requirement?

 

[RussianSensation]

so would a 120 hz TV be a requirement?

Not at all. But it's almost impossible to get any modern 2010 LCD today that's not 120hz at least in the sizes you are looking at.

 

[konakona]

Slightly off-topic, but I've got a new 120Hz Samsung LED TV (55") and it lags like hell in games and everything else. "Game Mode" helps but it still lags. I've hooked a PC and a PS3 and same for both. Is it supposed to be like this?

input lag most likely? are you gaming at the native res? be sure to turn off all extra post processing crap (which should be off for better IQ anyway).

some TVs have more input lag than others, no way to get around it. samsungs upper tier use PVA which are generally more input lag prone (some models seem perfectly fine though)

 

[Corporate Thug]

Not at all. But it's almost impossible to get any modern 2010 LCD today that's not 120hz at least in the sizes you are looking at.

Really? I'm not trying to break that bank and it seems almost all 42 sets in the ~$600 range are not 120 hz?

 

[RussianSensation]

Really? I'm not trying to break that bank and it seems almost all 42 sets in the ~$600 range are not 120 hz?

If you are only looking to spend $600 on a 42 inch LCD, you have to lower your expectations on such a low budget. Obviously it is going to be very hard to get any top brands such as Samsung or Sony for such a price to have 1080P + 120hz.

However, the budget brands will have these features at the sacrifice of image quality in other areas. Vizio 1080P 120hz for $640 and Insignia 1080P 120hz for $630.

I thought you were generally looking at mid-range sets at least. My bad then, it's much harder to find what you want at just $600.

If you are going to be using this mainly for TV and gaming (not browsing websites with static images), I'd recommend a Panasonic Plasma instead. The only reason I got an LCD over plasma is because I also serves me for general PC use. Otherwise, I would have purchased a plasma TV.

 

[konakona]

how does refresh rate work on plasmas exactly? Are plasmas free from input lag? I am all ears

 

[RussianSensation]

how does refresh rate work on plasmas exactly? Are plasmas free from input lag? I am all ears

I guess you have never watched sports on a Plasma TV compared to an LCD? It almost makes all LCDs irrelevant (not to mention the annoying pixels moving all over LCDs, called the "screen-door effect", which is absent on Plasmas).

Panasonic subdivides their plasma display panels into 10 sub-fields. Each sub-field is refreshed at a 60 Hz rate. 10 sub-fields refreshed at 60 Hz (10 x 60 = 600) produces a 600 Hz sub-field drive figure. The sub pixels of a plasma TV stay alight only for around 2ms when excited. Thus, to display a single frame for 1/60 seconds, the plasma panel excites the sub-pixels in pulses so as to keep all the pixels “bright” so that they can continuously display the desired frame. Thus, for example, a 60Hz plasma panel can have 10 pulses per frame, to display the image. Effectively, the screen is being refreshed 60Hz times 10 pulses/frame which gives us a value of 600Hz. Now when the displayed frame has to be changed to the next frame, the ultra-fast response times of the Plasma TV sub pixels [1 micro-second] enables an almost instantaneous transition to the next frame.

Is a 600 Hz sub-field drive better for fast motion? NO.

It neither helps nor hurts fast motion on a plasma display panel. While Plasma pixels stay lit for 2ms, they switch at 1 micro-second; thousands of times faster than the fastest LCD response time. Because of this speed difference, a plasma TV operates differently from a LCD TV and, therefore, does not produce the motion blur and jitter produced by a LCD display panel. Plasma TVs do NOT need 120 Hz refresh rates (or 240, 480, etc.,) to compensate for these motion artifacts because they do not produce these motion artifacts.

If you ask me, the big plasma brand such as Samsung and Panny are doing the whole 600hz advertising because a high hz number sells. However, any stock Plasma without "600hz" advertising has faster refresh rate than any LCD ever made.

At the core, the technology behind refresh rates between LCD and Plasma is completely different. You cannot compare 60Hz refresh rate on a plasma to an LCD. While 120Hz, 240Hz and 480Hz LCD technology has certainly come a long way in lowering these issues in LCD TVs, Plasma TVs still retain the upper hand over LCD TVs in this area.

Source.

Make no mistake, while LCDs are by far the predominant technology in displays, the only 2 areas where they are superior to Plasma are constrast ratio and power consumption. When it comes to image quality, no LCD TV (even backlit LED) can match any of the top plasmas (even from 2-3 years ago).

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

A 60hz LCD would be fine. I own a toshiba regza 42" 1080p LCD 60hz I game on in my living room. I also have another computer with a Dell 23". I personally enjoy gaming on the 42" better. Not as crisp a picture but you feel more immersed in the game. Playing oblivion and looking out on the horizon or looking up at the sky was just flat out awesome on the 42". No way you get the same with a smaller screen. I go back and forth between the two but usually enjoy the 42". Never had any ghosting or lag. You will not be disappointed.

 

[Corporate Thug]

If you are only looking to spend $600 on a 42 inch LCD, you have to lower your expectations on such a low budget. Obviously it is going to be very hard to get any top brands such as Samsung or Sony for such a price to have 1080P + 120hz.

However, the budget brands will have these features at the sacrifice of image quality in other areas. Vizio 1080P 120hz for $640 and Insignia 1080P 120hz for $630.

I thought you were generally looking at mid-range sets at least. My bad then, it's much harder to find what you want at just $600.

If you are going to be using this mainly for TV and gaming (not browsing websites with static images), I'd recommend a Panasonic Plasma instead. The only reason I got an LCD over plasma is because I also serves me for general PC use. Otherwise, I would have purchased a plasma TV.

Thanks for the recommendation Sensation! The budge is not fixed, if the right set comes along, I'd be willing to extend it
The problem is I have a 65 inch DLP about to burn out in the living room that has to be replaced with a 55 inch plasma, which is another nice $1500 kick in the check book.

So it looks like I should be looking into Plasmas as I will be doing VERY VERY little browsing /general PC usage.

 

[Zap]

Not at all. But it's almost impossible to get any modern 2010 LCD today that's not 120hz at least in the sizes you are looking at.

But... can those screens actually take 120Hz as an INPUT? By this I mean can you tell Windows to use a 120Hz refresh? My understanding is that most (but not all) still takes in at maximum a 60Hz refresh, and the extra bit is for taking in a 24Hz refresh and dividing that into 120Hz evenly so movies don't stutter.

 

[Pneumothorax]

When it comes to image quality, no LCD TV (even backlit LED) can match any of the top plasmas (even from 2-3 years ago).

I know it's geting Off-topic, but I agree. Nothing I've seen rivals my bro-in-law's 3 year old 60" Pio Elite Kuro. Sick of all the "uber POWER-SAVING/ULTRA-THIN LED backlit LCD's" that don't hold a candle to a TV I can't buy anymore! Back to the topic, I currently game on a 46" Sony LCD HDTV and watch TV/Movies on a 65" panny plasma. I occasionally game on the plasma, but since I play mostly RTS games with many fixed logos/stats on the screen I don't want to risk burn-in.(although the risk is miniscule)

 

[yh125d]

I game, watch movies, and browse web on a 52" DLP on my desk at about 30-36". Looks great. Though you have to realize it's definitely much less sharp than when I'm using my 24" 1080p at the same distance. It's worth it though