Sony NSX-32GT1 (32" / 1080p / 60Hz / LED) as a computer monitor?

[essential]

Sony 32" 1080p 60Hz LED-LCD Internet HDTV (NSX-32GT1)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16889252117

I've seen this on sale a couple times for $420, next time it goes on sale I plan to buy one and use it as a computer monitor assuming no one has very good reasons why I shouldn't.

Is there anything I'm missing as to why this would be a bad choice?

32" for $400/$500 is relatively cheap, it probably has something better than a TN panel, it's 1080p (not 720p), and its got a built in tuner so I'm assuming I could have a PiP with live local TV. The Google TV part is a bonus, but I doubt I'd use it much.

The primary function of the monitor would be web browsing, email, photoshop, etc, I don't really play games, and the ones I do play are small games like Plants vs. Zombies and World of Goo.

Good idea / bad idea? Feedback is appreciated! Thanks.

 

[marino.DV]

well the price makes it a great deal so....

 

[zCypher]

I say go for it. Depends on you though. I have a regular 23.5 inch screen and it still feels massive but I'm sitting right in front of it, so yeah. If I had wireless keyboard and mouse, I think a screen like the one you're looking at would be awesome.

 

[essential]

well the price makes it a great deal so....

It's not just a price issue for me, if someone said HDTV's typically looked horrible for text or something, that would make a big difference, but thanks for the comment.

I say go for it. Depends on you though. I have a regular 23.5 inch screen and it still feels massive but I'm sitting right in front of it, so yeah. If I had wireless keyboard and mouse, I think a screen like the one you're looking at would be awesome.

That's kind of my thinking, and the fact it's more versatile than a normal monitor also makes me feel better. I'll probably pull the trigger, just hope it goes on sale again soon.

Thanks.

 

[Ghiedo27]

Unless you're plan on really using it as a TV I think you'd be happier with a quality 24" to 27" monitor. That's even more likely if you view a lot of text or use Photoshop for productivity and need the color accuracy.

On the other hand, if you prefer to sit back from the screen and want a larger surface to work with then that TV would be a great choice- especially if you mount it on the wall. Just keep in mind the difference in distance you're going to be sitting from the display. You know best of all where you like to sit. Just keep that in mind.

 

[snuuggles]

I personally use an old 32" 720p tv as a monitor - for games it's great, for text the resolution is obviously a problem... 1080p would solve that.

However, I tried a couple of 40" and 46" 1080p TVs last year, and the *worst* one was the sony... it didn't have perfect 1-to-1 pixel mapping, meaning *everything* was blurry.

CNET even noted this weirdness in thier review:

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/sony-kdl-46v5100/4505-6482_7-33485092-2.html?tag=rvwBody

"PC: We were surprised to find that the V5100 couldn't resolve every detail of 1,920x1,080-pixel sources via HDMI and VGA, failing to deliver the full vertical resolution according to DisplayMate. PC sources still looked relatively crisp nonetheless, but not as good as on the XBR9, for example."

They are wrong about the "relatively crisp" though, it was unusable.

I know it's a completely different model, but it definitely scared me away from Sony as a brand, I mean, what the hell?!

 

[daddy-o]

Only a few TV's actually have 4:4:4 chroma subsampling, which is a requirement for good text display of a PC image. And when you cross reference 4:4:4 with low input lag, you get an even small number of available solutions. Right now, it comes down to getting an IPS LG via panel lottery.

If text is a priority at all, I would get a PC monitor. I've been through about 7 32" LCD's, and I found the text marginal on the best, and unusable on the worst.

 

[essential]

I'd still like to get this TV, but now i've got to be more cautious based on some comments. I might try and get it at a local Best Buy even though it'll cost more money just so I can return it if there is an issue with text, etc.

I can't find out online if it's got pixel mapping, and I just assumed it had and IPS panel since it was originally a $900 TV.

I wonder if I brought my laptop with HDMI out if they'd let me hook it up to the TV on display at Best Buy to see how it looked. Hmmm.

 

[darkewaffle]

I've got a 32inch Sony Bravia hooked up to my HTPC and my consoles, and I use it as the monitor for the HTPC fairly often. I've been really happy with it, but there's been some little problems. Whenever I first set it up I had overscan issues which was fixed easily enough and I also had a problem with the audio not being output to the correct device, which again was easy to fix.

The only recurring issue I've had is I can't play games in full screen. At any resolution in windowed mode they come out fine, but in full screen mode everything goes to hell, especially any text which becomes completely unreadable, and the game itself comes out looking jagged sometimes, like its taking a low res and simply 'blowing it up'.

My HTPC runs on an Nvidia GT240 GPU, so if you're going to be using an Nvidia card I would at least keep an eye out for that. I've done some searching for a resolution sporadically and have run into a handful of other reports of problems running games full screen on Nvidia, but I don't know if that's specific to using a TV somehow or not. I know the system can display it correctly lol as the problem doesn't occur 100% of the time, but I haven't found any settings that influence it yet.

All in all really happy with it and I can just play games in windowed mode at full resolution without much trouble, but it is a bit annoying.