Using LCD as part time monitor?

[de8212]

I currently have a dell 24" lcd. Nothing wrong with it but I sometimes wished it were bigger. Instead of just getting a bigger lcd I was kicking around the idea of just getting a tv lcd and occasionally using it.
So I would mainly just use the new lcd (~27" -32") for watching tv. Then when I wanted I could switch inputs to go to my pc and surf/game/watch videos.
One thing that confuses me is the resolution. 24" lcd is 1920x1200. A 32" lcd I see is 1366 x 768. So what does that affect, real life?

 

[madh83]

Should work pretty well, I've been using a setup similar to what you're planning to do for a while. It's a lot like having two monitors with different resolutions, and you will be able to assign different resolutions to each connection. The only issue that might come up is that a lot of dvd playback must be done in the main display. There are ways around it though, but do expect to do some messing around. I think Vista also does a better job with handling multiple displays than xp, what I have, too.

 

[leglez]

Thats what I am doing right now. I have my 24" Dell as my main monitor, and then I have a 32" Vizio right next to it that is hooked up to the computer, Xbox 360, and cable. It works just fine, my left screen is 1920 x 1200, and right is 1366 x 768

 

[Fayd]

could get a 1920x1080 32" LCD. i think sharp makes some.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: Fayd
could get a 1920x1080 32" LCD. i think sharp makes some.

:thumbsup:

 

[de8212]

Thanks everyone. I should have mentioned I'd like to keep this aroud ~600 so that sharp is probably a bit to much (1000 +)

Originally posted by: madh83
...The only issue that might come up is that a lot of dvd playback must be done in the main display. There are ways around it though, but do expect to do some messing around. I think Vista also does a better job with handling multiple displays than xp, what I have, too.

Not sure I totally understand this.

 

[de8212]

Originally posted by: leglez
Thats what I am doing right now. I have my 24" Dell as my main monitor, and then I have a 32" Vizio right next to it that is hooked up to the computer, Xbox 360, and cable. It works just fine, my left screen is 1920 x 1200, and right is 1366 x 768

What type of connection are you using? dvi > hdmi ?????

Do you watch regular cable (without a cable box)? How does it look?

 

[madh83]

I'm not sure if it's a technical flaw in XP, or something else, you might not run into it at all on Vista. Basically, when I started off and tried to playback a DVD on my TV(hooked up as a secondary monitor), there was no display, just a black screen with a normal dvd software like powerdvd or windvd. You could just set the tv as your main display to get around this or use theater mode, where the 2nd screen will just play teh full screen version of w/e video is playing on the 1st screen. There are other ways around it too, but it takes some time to configure the software.

Edit: Actually, I think this is only an issue if you use your video card to assist with decoding and de-interlacing. Otherwise it'll work fine in the secondary display.

 

[tylerw13]

Originally posted by: de8212
I currently have a dell 24" lcd. Nothing wrong with it but I sometimes wished it were bigger. Instead of just getting a bigger lcd I was kicking around the idea of just getting a tv lcd and occasionally using it.
So I would mainly just use the new lcd (~27" -32") for watching tv. Then when I wanted I could switch inputs to go to my pc and surf/game/watch videos.
One thing that confuses me is the resolution. 24" lcd is 1920x1200. A 32" lcd I see is 1366 x 768. So what does that affect, real life?

im using my 47" lcd 1080p tv for my main monitor for my pc...i love the thing, im using dvi to hdmi and it works great! just as a hint dont get a plazma to use as a computer montior or you will have images burned in to it...anyway do it it works great!!!