Against Tom's advice, I'm still thinking TV over monitor

[SyntaxSocialist]

I've heard a lot about the advantages of buying a monitor over a TV for gaming (better response time, etc.), but I feel like I'm in a bit of a unique situation.

The difficulty is that I want my display to serve as both an up-close display (3-4 ft) AND as an across-the-room display (10-11 ft) for watching shows/movies/multiplayer gaming. If I just wanted an up-close display I would be fine with a 24-27" screen. If it was only going to be for across the room, I might do a 40-45" (or whatever my budget would permit). But monitors bigger than 27-32" tend to be out of my price range.

The other thing I'm stuck on is just how important specs like frequency and response time are. I mean, could I really tell the difference between 60Hz and 120Hz? Between 5ms and 6.5 or 8.5 ms (b-w)?

I went to an electronics store today to do some pricing and look at displays up close and personal, and I have to admit that while I still think a 27" screen could suffice for across the room, it wouldn't be great. I also found the TVs far more impressive in both price and specs. Here's what I found:

Insignia 39" LED HDTV
1080p
120Hz
6.5ms response time (b-w)
$350
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/insignia-insignia-39-1080p-120hz-led-tv-ns-39e480a13-ns-39e480a13/10214808.aspx?path=f3ec14ffe63cc13b33d699dccf9ec3e2en02

Insignia 32" LED HDTV
1080p
60Hz
6.5ms response time (b-w)
$280
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/insignia-insignia-32-1080p-60hz-led-hdtv-ns-32e440a13-ns-32e440a13/10190004.aspx?path=b4dddfb6bcb85306595323300eaccc1fen02

Thoughts? (I've got a Radeon HD 7950 and am looking to play at 1080p, maybe even a little higher.)

 

[stiega]

Response time is huge for gaming. I'm used to a 23" computer screen. A friend of mine thought it would be cool to hook my computer up to a 27" TV.......bad idea. The response time made the biggest difference in the world. after 30 min we couldn't take it anymore and had to switch it back. Do yourself a favor. listen to Tom.

 

[SyntaxSocialist]

Response time is huge for gaming. I'm used to a 23" computer screen. A friend of mine thought it would be cool to hook my computer up to a 27" TV.......bad idea. The response time made the biggest difference in the world. after 30 min we couldn't take it anymore and had to switch it back. Do yourself a favor. listen to Tom.

Ok but the difference between 5ms (which was the slowest response time recommended to me) and 6.5ms can't be that big a deal, can it? And it will depend on the TV. What was the TV's frequency and response time?

I'm thinking of buying my display (TV or monitor) from a retail store rather than online retail. That way I can maybe try out a TV, see how it looks and feels, and if it's no good, I can take it back within 14-30 days without hassle.

 

[spawnkiller]

i know somebody that used to game on a 60 inch samsung and have lag from the screen (in fact about 60-120ms estimated response time in lag compensation of some game like Guitar hero) and it's good for WOW or anything that doesn't need any rapid response from yours like any PVP (as wow can tolerate some lag and still be playable) but in Lol, it's the difference for a kill or being killed (and in any FPS for sure too)

So for gaming anything over 10ms (and it's really a max as 5- is my choice if possible) don't expect to be able to game and be good as the screen will never show what's really happening now, it'll always be late...

I suggest a Monitor like 22-24 inch for gaming and a separate larger TV for other things...

EDIT: his samsung claim a 2ms but that's on screen itself, the interface have some input lag so any TV will be in the 60+ms range...

 

[SyntaxSocialist]

iknowhowtofix:

Why not have both a computer monitor and a TV? You can get a 22" 1080p TN panel for less than $100 any day of the week. I had my computer connected to both a TV and monitor for years.

In an ideal world that is probably what I'd do, but I lack both space and budget. I'm a minimalist, and whatever screen I get is going to serve both purposes. That's just how it's going to be in the space I have to work with. What I'll probably end up doing is going for a smaller screen (i.e.: big-ish monitor) and lessening the space between the screen and the seating.

spawnkiller:

his samsung claim a 2ms but that's on screen itself, the interface have some input lag so any TV will be in the 60+ms range...

It really sounds like I should just swallow the pill for the higher price per square inch for monitor real estate and suck it up re: sitting across the room. Part of why I'm still hesitant is because how superior the TV displays were to the monitor displays in the electronics store. All the monitors seemed grainy and w/ poor colour accuracy. The sales rep said it was because they were all on VGA, being fed crappy video, and had been tweaked by hands-on shoppers. I don't know, though. I'm still on the fence.

 

[aramisathei]

Also note what inputs support which ranges/frequencies.
I have a 120hz 55" tv, but it only supports 60hz on HDMI.
Still, I use it for most controller-enabled Steam games (such as Borderlands 2) and don't have any real issues.
Not as snappy as on my gaming monitors, but works just fine for kicking back for a lazy afternoon in the living room.

In short, if you're going for casual gaming, a tv can work fine.
If you do a lot of PVP/MMO gaming, or suffer from motion sickness and things like that, then like stated above you'll probably want a more responsive monitor.

 

[SyntaxSocialist]

Also note what inputs support which ranges/frequencies.
I have a 120hz 55" tv, but it only supports 60hz on HDMI.
Still, I use it for most controller-enabled Steam games (such as Borderlands 2) and don't have any real issues.
Not as snappy as on my gaming monitors, but works just fine for kicking back for a lazy afternoon in the living room.

In short, if you're going for casual gaming, a tv can work fine.
If you do a lot of PVP/MMO gaming, or suffer from motion sickness and things like that, then like stated above you'll probably want a more responsive monitor.

See, I think that's really where a lot is getting lost in translation. I'm building a rig for high-end gaming (in terms of graphics, etc.), but I'm a casual gamer. I obviously plan to get more into it in the very near future, but I've gotten used to playing games on minimum settings with a trackpad on a 13" screen using a (now) 5 year old bottom-of-the-line macbook. The original half-life gives this baby a hard time, even on minimum settings

I'm not going to be very nit-picky, I feel.

 

[SyntaxSocialist]

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