LCD - LED T.V for pc gaming monitor?

[Karnyge]

Hey all,
hope this is the right place to post this, I'm looking at getting a new monitor, I'm into gaming FPS and mmo/strat I've been looking around for a 30" monitor (currently have a 24" love it but want more landscape), the best I could find was the Dell u3011 ($1700.00AU over here) which has a number of good reviews and user feedback, the input lag is unnoticeable and the price is not a problem for me. I was also looking at the possibility of maybe getting an LCD or LED HDTV instead, maybe around the 42" mark how would this compare to the dell, they seem to be a hell of a lot cheaper so I could save some money and get some more hardware, obviously I would have to research a low input lag tv with a game mode or something along those lines, but are TV's viable as good gaming pc monitor say something like this http://panasonic.net/avc/viera/asia2011/product/e30_lcd_spec.html

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

 

[AnUnusedUsername]

The basic problem with a TV as a monitor (besides input lag) is that TVs have really low resolutions for the sizes they are produced at. A 30'' monitor has a resolution of 2560x1600, a TV, whether it's 30'' or 70'', only has a resolution of 1920x1080. With a TV, you get more screen area, but less "space" on the screen. If you sit close to a TV that you're using as a monitor, you'd likely notice everything looking a bit pixelated, because there's not very many pixels to display the image with compared to a computer monitor. If you position the screen as you would a TV, however, it probably won't be as noticeable.

Basically, if you sit at a desk with the monitor directly in front of you, a TV isn't the best choice. If you sit a few feet back from the monitor, a TV could possibly work, assuming you can find one without much input lag and a decent response time. Most TVs have significant input lag, because they try to fiddle with the signal to make it look better.

 

[ubercake]

That Dell 30" monitor is higher resolution. There are almost 98% additional pixels making up the image on the Dell 30" monitor you mentioned compared to any 1080p TV. This means you'll be able to have a wider and taller field of view when playing games. This is a major advantage especially in a first-person shooter where most of your multi-player opponents are using a measly 1080p monitor (what I use) or less. We basically only see 67% of what you see in the vertical direction and 75% of what you see in a horizontal direction if you are using the higher res 2560x1600 Dell monitor. This higher resolution also gives you a major advantage when picking out targets along the horizon. Can you tell I wish I had one of these?

On the other hand, 98% more pixels puts that much more of a demand on your video card. Your video card has to process almost double the pixels, so you better have the video card(s) to run at that resolution.

 

[Karnyge]

thanks for the info, I'm leaning towards the dell, but now also looking at the u2711 same features slightly lower res and lower price tag, maybe even the ZR30W with the lower input lag, here in australia the ZR30W is 2300 bucks.... like 1k more than what the price is in the States, I've been reading a lot in the last few days and there is the odd person that recommends just getting a led 120hz tv something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889102539, but mmm just can't make my mind up.

And on top of all that there is also the choice of a good 27" 120hz lcd like http://www.samsung.com/au/consumer/pc-peripherals/monitor/3d-monitor/LS27A950DS/XY/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&returnurl=
this particular screen has really thin bezels which could be good potential for a eyefinity setup, atm I'm running a single 6950 gb, getting a second shortly.

 

[ubercake]

120Hz for a 3D monitor usually refers to the capability of the input rate as well as the speed of the output, whereas 120Hz with respect to the TV is the output refresh rate of the processed image with input remaining at 60Hz.

That Samsung 120Hz monitor would provide an even smoother gaming experience in 2D as well. Consider any TV to only have the 60Hz input no matter if it says 120Hz or 240Hz or more.

The drawback to the 120Hz monitor, though, is you give up the advantage of the higher resolution as these are all 1080p.

If I wanted to spend some money on a monitor and all the choices above were real possibilities, I'd go with the 2560x1600 option first, then the 120Hz monitor option second. But, like I said, it depends on your video card. Can your video card run between 60fps and 120fps or more with what you're playing on your current video card? Or can your current video card smoothly run the games you want to play at 2560x1600?

What kind of video card(s) are you running with?

 

[Karnyge]

currently I'm running a single 6950 2gb and can run everything I through at it on maxed out graphics, getting a second one very shortly, just hanging out until october (because I'm leaving for work for a few months) to see if the ati 7 series cards come out if so I will sell my 6950 and get two 7 series cards maybe even see how bd is (that's if it gets released too, long overdue)

 

[ubercake]

You are a prime candidate for the 2560x1600 or 120Hz monitor option or...

You'll get great performance out of a 1080p TV (as I am with my 60Hz 1080p monitor and 2 580s), but you won't have either advantage mentioned above. On the other hand, you could consider the 3x1080p Eyefinity route (5760x1080)? Wouldn't give you the height of the 2560x1600, but will definitely give you even greater width.

All for less than the single 2560x1600 monitor, three of these bad mamma-jammas side-by-side in Eyefinity would be nice:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001487

What is your budget for the screen(s)?

 

[Karnyge]

well the price I can get the u3011 is $1500 so probably around that sort of mark

 

[Karnyge]

ended up getting the dell u3011 for 1400 delivered, down from 1700 so I'm fairly happy with the price, although I have seen it for sale at 1189, but meh, still a good deal imo

 

[ubercake]

Nice. You'll have a blast with that thing.

 

[jerrymas]

I was looking around for a tv monitor and I found this website http://www.***/cheap-led-tv-deals, which I thought was pretty sweet but it only has 32" LED tv's which I believe can be used as monitors. I don't know a whole lot about this stuff, I'm a beginner but I've been really happy with my purchase, I got the 32" Haier. I'm curious what brands you guys find the most reliable and trustworthy?