HDTV's as a monitor?!

[SrKneecap]

I guess I've been out of loop for a while, but since I last bought my 21 inch CRT 3 years ago I was not impressed with LCDs for gaming (ghosting, lag, whathaveyou).

Have I missed the timeframe on the Westinghouse LVM-37W3? I notice an SE version on the 'egg, but I'm afraid of their 'TV' return policy (or lack thereof). Has there been a popular model to replace this beast recently? (Sharp 'gaming' models perhaps?)

GAMING and general surfing only, no need for graphics work, editing, etc. 37 inches on a computer desk just sounds sweet. :thumbsup:

EDIT Title adjustment to make it clear I plan to use an HDTV as a PC monitor.

Thanks!

 

[thejez]

37 inches on the desk would not be cool IMO... the dot pitch on TVs usually isnt all that hot so it'd be like looking through a screen.... you're supposed be sitting a few feet way at least for them to look right...

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: thejez
37 inches on the desk would not be cool IMO... the dot pitch on TVs usually isnt all that hot so it'd be like looking through a screen.... you're supposed be sitting a few feet way at least for them to look right...

Sitting approximately 3.5 metres away from my 42" Panasonic Plasma HDTV hooked up via DVI to HDMI cable.

At 1920x1080, games are just amazing. Blows a monitor out of the water imo.

 

[thejez]

Originally posted by: Elcs

Originally posted by: thejez
37 inches on the desk would not be cool IMO... the dot pitch on TVs usually isnt all that hot so it'd be like looking through a screen.... you're supposed be sitting a few feet way at least for them to look right...

Sitting approximately 3.5 metres away from my 42" Panasonic Plasma HDTV hooked up via DVI to HDMI cable.

At 1920x1080, games are just amazing. Blows a monitor out of the water imo.

you're 11 feet away! That's proving my point. Try putting that thing 1 foot from your face (like monitors on your desk are) and have a go...

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: thejez

Originally posted by: Elcs

Originally posted by: thejez
37 inches on the desk would not be cool IMO... the dot pitch on TVs usually isnt all that hot so it'd be like looking through a screen.... you're supposed be sitting a few feet way at least for them to look right...

Sitting approximately 3.5 metres away from my 42" Panasonic Plasma HDTV hooked up via DVI to HDMI cable.

At 1920x1080, games are just amazing. Blows a monitor out of the water imo.

you're 11 feet away! That's proving my point. Try putting that thing 1 foot from your face (like monitors on your desk are) and have a go...

Defeats the object.

you'd not shove your face an inch from a monitor.

Be realistic. At 11 feet away, you are a "perfect viewing distance" away from a 42" display unit. 1-2 foot, you are perfect distance from the average 17" Office LCD.

Nowhere in the OP did he/she suggest that they were going to sit 1 foot away from their proposed idea for a 37" screen.

 

[SrKneecap]

Actually, I was planning on sitting 2-3 feet away, tops. Based on my experience with my brother's 42 inch Sharp, sitting more than 4 feet away makes font very difficult to read at 1080p.

Anyone have experience with monitors of this size? 32 inch would probably be large enough, but the 37inch Westy has some favorable reviews as well.

 

[DaveBC]

Originally posted by: SrKneecap
Actually, I was planning on sitting 2-3 feet away, tops. Based on my experience with my brother's 42 inch Sharp, sitting more than 4 feet away makes font very difficult to read at 1080p.

Anyone have experience with monitors of this size? 32 inch would probably be large enough, but the 37inch Westy has some favorable reviews as well.

I use a 32 Westy. Will never go back to monitor. Will consider 1080p soon.

Edit: BTW I sit about 3 feet from screen. Love games on the big screen.

 

[DSF]

I don't think I'd be very comfortable sitting 2-3 feet away from a screen that size, but to each his own.

 

[thejez]

Originally posted by: Elcs

Originally posted by: thejez

Originally posted by: Elcs

Originally posted by: thejez
37 inches on the desk would not be cool IMO... the dot pitch on TVs usually isnt all that hot so it'd be like looking through a screen.... you're supposed be sitting a few feet way at least for them to look right...

Sitting approximately 3.5 metres away from my 42" Panasonic Plasma HDTV hooked up via DVI to HDMI cable.

At 1920x1080, games are just amazing. Blows a monitor out of the water imo.

you're 11 feet away! That's proving my point. Try putting that thing 1 foot from your face (like monitors on your desk are) and have a go...

Defeats the object.

you'd not shove your face an inch from a monitor.

Be realistic. At 11 feet away, you are a "perfect viewing distance" away from a 42" display unit. 1-2 foot, you are perfect distance from the average 17" Office LCD.

Nowhere in the OP did he/she suggest that they were going to sit 1 foot away from their proposed idea for a 37" screen.

yes he did say that in his OP

37 inches on a computer desk just sounds sweet

 

[onlyCOpunk]

3 feet away from a 26" LCD and I'm loving, I don't have to squint at the monitor or anything.

 

[SirFelixCat]

I own the 37" Westy and have it hooked up to my gf's rig. She loves it. The fonts are crisp and WoW looks great.

The only gripe I have about it, personally, is that there is some apparent "smearing" when turning quickly, in game.

Other than that, search for the Westy thread...good info in there!

 

[SrKneecap]

Originally posted by: SirFelixCat
The only gripe I have about it, personally, is that there is some apparent "smearing" when turning quickly, in game.

"Smearing" you say? Is that similar to "ghosting"? I honestly haven't had much experience with gaming on LCD's, but these monstrous 'monitors' are giving me some hope.

 

[SolMiester]

Originally posted by: thejez

Originally posted by: Elcs

Originally posted by: thejez
37 inches on the desk would not be cool IMO... the dot pitch on TVs usually isnt all that hot so it'd be like looking through a screen.... you're supposed be sitting a few feet way at least for them to look right...

Sitting approximately 3.5 metres away from my 42" Panasonic Plasma HDTV hooked up via DVI to HDMI cable.

At 1920x1080, games are just amazing. Blows a monitor out of the water imo.

you're 11 feet away! That's proving my point. Try putting that thing 1 foot from your face (like monitors on your desk are) and have a go...[/q]

You sit with your face 1 foot from the monitor???, are you blind???

I am at least 1 metre away.

 

[Insomniator]

I don't know; a 24 incher at 1920x1200 looks much sharper than a 30+ inch 1080p set connected to the computer. I'll take IQ over size anyday..

 

[kylebisme]

So would you take a 1920x1200 monitor at 17" over one at 24" as well? The smaller one would look much sharper yet.

 

[Insomniator]

Good point; maybe I should say size to a limit...

Although a 1920x1200 17 would probably look really really really nice...

 

[SrKneecap]

Insomniator, I totally agree with you that IQ is king for certain tasks... image editing, CAD stuff, WORK related things. After seeing how good a 46" at 1080p from 3 ft away looks, I don't think the pixel size of a 32-37 will be an issue.

... Of course, it's kinda silly to argue without seeing it first-hand. That's why I asked. =)

 

[taltamir]

pfft... nothing compares to setting up a home theatre with an HD projector and plugging your computer to that...

Sit at the couch with wireless mouse and keyboard and play on a 150 inch screen...

Two years ago I bought my first projector, a sanyo Z2 720p projector for 950$... now I am looking into buying a new one and building myself a custom screen (custom screen parts should cost under 300$... and will look better then simply projecting on a white wall)

 

[Pez D Spencer]

I'd still pick a 22 or 24 inch LCD any day over a big ass TV. When I'm gaming I like to sit really close to the monitor (about 18 inches away), so it blocks out my peripheral vision. I get a really immersive experience like that.

 

[taltamir]

play in a closed room... your peripheral is attracted primarily by motion so you should be able to focus the same...

 

[paesan]

Originally posted by: taltamir
pfft... nothing compares to setting up a home theatre with an HD projector and plugging your computer to that...

Sit at the couch with wireless mouse and keyboard and play on a 150 inch screen...

Two years ago I bought my first projector, a sanyo Z2 720p projector for 950$... now I am looking into buying a new one and building myself a custom screen (custom screen parts should cost under 300$... and will look better then simply projecting on a white wall)

That is exactly what I do. I am using a 61" 1080p dlp and have the same setup. I pull out the table, setup the wireless mouse and keyboard and am good to go. The picture is very sharp. Remember I am not using a pc lcd monitor so there is not any degrading of the picture with this size screen (dlp). I sit about 10' away. Ever try surfing the net on a screen this big? I have and it is a clear as any small lcd pc monitor. Remember this is a 1080p resolution. Wow, 150" now that is huge. My next purchase is a 1080p HD projector.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: SrKneecap
I guess I've been out of loop for a while, but since I last bought my 21 inch CRT 3 years ago I was not impressed with LCDs for gaming (ghosting, lag, whathaveyou).

Have I missed the timeframe on the Westinghouse LVM-37W3? I notice an SE version on the 'egg, but I'm afraid of their 'TV' return policy (or lack thereof). Has there been a popular model to replace this beast recently? (Sharp 'gaming' models perhaps?)

GAMING and general surfing only, no need for graphics work, editing, etc. 37 inches on a computer desk just sounds sweet. :thumbsup:

EDIT Title adjustment to make it clear I plan to use an HDTV as a PC monitor.

Thanks!

I use a Westy W4207 42" 720p HD monitor. And I'm never going back

The refresh rate on your CRT will most likely be much faster. I gave up the frame rates for the screen size. I sit 6-7 feet away. My 'understanding' is that you generally want to be 3X the screen height away from the monitor.

Calibration is the key. Research optimal HD monitor screen settongs from the AVS Forum and experiment with Win appearance settings until you find a combination that suits you.

 

[superbooga]

People who complain about pixel pitch are missing the point. Given the same resolution and quality, a display viewed at a certain distance will almost certainly look better than a display half the size viewed at half the distance.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Originally posted by: Elcs

Originally posted by: thejez
37 inches on the desk would not be cool IMO... the dot pitch on TVs usually isnt all that hot so it'd be like looking through a screen.... you're supposed be sitting a few feet way at least for them to look right...

Sitting approximately 3.5 metres away from my 42" Panasonic Plasma HDTV hooked up via DVI to HDMI cable.

At 1920x1080, games are just amazing. Blows a monitor out of the water imo.

Unless you just bought that Panasonic in the last few weeks and it is the TH-42PZ77U, you are only looking at a 720p picture....


That said, games look great on my Sharp 46" D92U LCD... I normally sit about 4 feet away (otherwise I need to twist my neck to see the sides of the screen...)

 

[AzN]

I wouldn't do anything less than 1080p and the smallest TV you can find. 720p is too small and blocky especially anything over 32".

Everyone loves Westinghouse 37" 1080p TV.