HDTV As A Computer Monitor?

[f0xh0und]

Yeah, it's been done. By me and a lot of people. I currently use a 26" LCD HDTV (made by the same manufacturer as the one I want to get for my room) as my computer monitor for my HTPC (Home Theater PC) (it's just a standard PC I use to watch TV shows I download and movies I... backup... yeah. It works fine, but I'm not on that all the time. I really don't even use it to surf the web, check email, process words, etc. I wish I could use it for PC gaming, but most computer games use keyboards instead of controllers, and it only has a crappy, little Intel Celeron D 331 processor and a cheap, old Nvidia GeForce 6600GT inside a PCI-E X4 slot (X16-sized).

So, my question is: What kind of quality should I expect up close (~3' (feet) away) with a smaller HDTV (specifically, an Olevia LT23HVX 23" LCD HDTV (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16889022001) over D-SUB, as opposed to ~10' away over DVI (which, as I said earlier, looks fine to me)?

[bird603568]

you can get higher res from a monitor. dont quote me on this but i think hidef is 12somthing x 1080

[lordfoul]

The quality will be very high indeed with that paticular monitor, though its too bad it hasn't any dvi. You can get up to 30" LCD Monitors at up to 2560x1600 resolutions, but your video quality even in HD won't be any better they're for games which can really take advantage of the space and maintain dpi.

[f0xh0und]

you can get higher res from a monitor. dont quote me on this but i think hidef is 12somthing x 1080

i think you're thinking of 1280x1080 which, on a computer monitor, is progressive (i.e., 1080p). although, unless that's your computer monitor's native resolution (which it's probably not on a tiny computer monitor), it's going to look like crap, because scaling ain't that great (especially on lcds).

anyway, 1366x768 (1280x720, 720p) is pretty high res to me. i think my question has more to do with color, pixel pitch, etc. i just want to know what factors make a computer monitor different from an HDTV.

[bird603568]

oh well i run 1400x1050 on my laptop so it would be lower res for me but i guess it would make a ok monitor. for me i would be looking for at least 1600x1200 for a 26" display

[tobey]

1366x768 is a pretty low resolution for a 23" display. What does that mean to you? Those pixels will be freakin' huge at the distance you want to use it at.

If you don't want your eyes to blow up, you should probably get a real monitor.

[tadpole256]

You'll definately want to get a real monitor, and you'll probably be able to get a real monitor that is Larger for less money. If you are overly concerned about desktop space, you can just throw a tuner card into your box. I looked at the idea of using an HDTV as a monitor when I was at home (I have a 60" HDTV), and I thought it's be amazing to have a huge desktop, but the resolution sucks.

It might be neat to play WoW or something like that on the giant screen, I have not had the chance to try that, but over all, not worth it in my opinion.

[pdesigns]

well i have a 22" widescreen LCD (viewsonic) and it's pretty high res -- 1480x1050. digital as well. works great.

[bird603568]

heres a 24" lcd screen on newegg its almost 700$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824009061

personally i would save the money and go for 2 smaller dual screens

[masherscf]

I have a 21 inch CRT that can display about 1500p. Most of the time I run it at 1200p.

[f0xh0und]

I have a 21 inch CRT that can display about 1500p. Most of the time I run it at 1200p.

I have a 19" CRT computer monitor right now. It's big, heavy, extremely hot (temperature-wise), and it hurts my eyes sometimes (even at 75-100Hz). Not to mention, when I boot up I can't seem to see the BIOS, because the screen position is off-centered. One of the biggest things that ticks me off about CRT computer monitors, believe it or not, is the fact that, sometimes, you have to set the screen position. What's up with that!? It's so archaic and pointless. Geez. I'd like to be able to buy something and have it just work! You know what I mean?

[bird603568]

I have a 19" CRT computer monitor right now. It's big, heavy, extremely hot (temperature-wise), and it hurts my eyes sometimes (even at 75-100Hz). Not to mention, when I boot up I can't seem to see the BIOS, because the screen position is off-centered. One of the biggest things that ticks me off about CRT computer monitors, believe it or not, is the fact that, sometimes, you have to set the screen position. What's up with that!? It's so archaic and pointless. Geez. I'd like to be able to buy something and have it just work! You know what I mean?

can you also see fluorcent lights flicker?