Buying an LCD TV as monitor

LiamC

LiamC

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What I want to do is use an LCD TV as a monitor. I already use my 37" Samsung as a monitor and it works like a charm. I'm thinking of replacing my 19" 5:4 910T with a TV

Why? Glad you asked.

More screen real estate.
My eyesight isn't what it used to be, so a 1900x1200 22" isn't a great idea, but a TV with 1680 x 1050 is.
The only 22" LCD that isn't a TN panel is the Lenovo L220X (S-IPS I think), and it's $900. And it's 1900x1200.
Samsung make a LA22A450 TV, 22" 1680 x 1050 and it's an MVA panel. And it's $480. It has an analogue tuner, but I'm not going to be using it as a TV anyway so I don't give a rats... It does have D-SUB and HDMI, and I have a DVI to HDMI converter courtesy of ATi so what's not to like.
I would like a bigger screen, but I simply don't have room for anything bigger...


Can anybody think of any downside to my left of field idea?
 
S

Stereodude

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Why not a 1920x1200 24" or 26" non TN panel? They can't be much if any bigger than the 22" Samsung TV.
 
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Stereodude

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One more thing... How did you determine that the LA22A450 has a MVA panel? It does not have a 178 / 178 degree viewing angle which would be characteristic of a non TN panel.
 
LiamC

LiamC

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You were right SD. I checked the dimensions of the Dell 2408WFP and it is pretty much the same size.
 
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Stereodude

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What about putting a much larger TV further away?

Here's my 24" vs. my 52"





The wide angle of the camera exagerated the size difference between them a bit... From where I'm sitting they take up about the same FOV.
 
MaxBurn

MaxBurn

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Monitors are 100% personal preference as far as I am concerned, get what you like big or small etc.

As far as using a TV for a monitor the only advice is check out its "PC mode" and see how friendly it is. In using my LN32A550 I found the PC mode was a pain to find and enable but the thing didn't have a good picture without it. Could be not as easy as plugging in HDMI cables. After a long time finding and enabling PC mode on the monitor (The quick setup and users manual was wrong, AVS forum set me straight) and then disabling the 10% under scan automatically turned on in my video card because the thing rightly detected a TV display device and then wrongly assumed it had over scan, life is good. But those first couple nights fiddling around in menus everywhere and researching on the net sucked and gave a pretty bad first impression.

LCD TV's are purpose built to be TV's and the PC stuff is basically an afterthought, make sure it's there and works as you expect.
 
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