Question Using HDTVs as computer monitors ?

[MarsColonist]

I watched some Linus Tech Tips video a long time ago where they said there is some kind of problem with using an HDTV as a computer monitor in which it could give you problems with reading text, like in a typical Microsoft Word document you might be working on using a PC.

I think they said that a similarly large format "computer monitor" would not have this problem associated specifically with using an "HDTV" for PC monitor purposes.

Do any of you have some idea what they might have been referring to?

 

[BFG-9000]

It has to do with the pixel structure of the TV often not being in a straight line or the colors not being in the usual order for a monitor. For example here is the weird structure of a Samsung OLED:

If they aren't in the places the PC expects, then aliasing or fuzziness/blurriness will show up in text and the usual fixes like Cleartype may even make things worse. Just look up pictures of any TV you are considering buying to make sure the pixels are arranged like they are on a normal LCD monitor.

 

[MarsColonist]

If they aren't in the places the PC expects, then aliasing or fuzziness/blurriness will show up in text and the usual fixes like Cleartype may even make things worse. Just look up pictures of any TV you are considering buying to make sure the pixels are arranged like they are on a normal LCD monitor.

So I look at the photos of the tv/monitor, but what am I supposed to be looking for in the pictures? I mean I can't really look at a typical photo of a computer monitor turned on and see the tiny individual pixels to determine how they are arranged... they're just way too small to see in that level of detail like the blown up image you posted there.

I'm also not clear on what the pixel arrangement pattern would look like for a "computer monitor" vs an "HDTV" even if I had incredible eyes that could somehow make out the pixel patterns of these tiny pixels on one monitor vs another one.

I see you posted a pixel pattern for a TV, but how would the PC monitor one look different?

 

[BFG-9000]

You could just bring a magnifying glass to the store and look closely at the structure of any PC monitor that looks good to you. Then look at the arrangement of any TV you are considering to see if it's the same or something weird like that Samsung.

Here's a Dell LCD screen for reference:

notice how close the pixels are, and how they are in a repeating pattern of RGBRGBRGB... in a very square grid (the waviness is just because this screen has an antireflection/matte coating instead of being glossy like the Samsung). That's what computers expect, and if you start moving the colors around, the results aren't going to be pretty.

Even if it's square but the colors are in a different order such as BGRBGR then text is going to look different:

Also, some panels such as LG OLED add a 4th, white color to each cluster of three for extra brightness. So not only is it BGR, it's BGRW where the white is not used by computers so the BGR clusters get spaced one subpixel further apart. Imagine the white subpixels here just being black and you'll see how the pixels are still arranged squarely but moved further apart:

I do think this would've looked fine (just perhaps a bit more grainy) if the other three were arranged RGB, since there is already a black horizontal line between each row and that just adds vertical ones. As it happens, I have this TV and am using it as a computer monitor. It doesn't look bad but isn't optimal for reading text all day.