Using a TV as a Gaming PC Monitor???????

SICO94

Hi.
I am building my first gaming rig (wish I did it years ago) and I know that you can use a TV as a monitor but what I am wondering is, will it work as good as a proper PC monitor?

What I mean is will my 32" Toshiba tv play games perfectly with no lag and also be able to function as a normal pc monitor for casual web surfing and movies?
Any help is much appreciated!!!!

EDIT:- Just checked my tv settings and along with the usual HDMI 1 and HDMI 2 channel selection there is a PC one if that helps?

Overheal

poor resolution, high energy consumption, and while you can disable any laggy upscaling features, there are dozens of reasons to stick to a monitor

ScumLord

SICO94 wrote: »

Hi.
I am building my first gaming rig (wish I did it years ago) and I know that you can use a TV as a monitor but what I am wondering is, will it work as good as a proper PC monitor?

What I mean is will my 32" Toshiba tv play games perfectly with no lag and also be able to function as a normal pc monitor for casual web surfing and movies?
Any help is much appreciated!!!!

EDIT:- Just checked my tv settings and along with the usual HDMI 1 and HDMI 2 channel selection there is a PC one if that helps?

If the PC one is a VGA it can be ignored they don't do HD.

It wouldn't be as good as a PC monitor as PC monitors tend to have much better refresh rates but the PC would treat it as it would any other display. I've done it and if you don't know any better from already using a PC monitor then it won't affect you too much. PC monitors might have a longer life span too, TVs are often at the mercy of planned obsolescence. I nearly always used a TV for watching films and TV stuff just because of it's size, but for day to day stuff and gaming the monitor is preferable.

If the TV isn't HD you can still set the resolution to the TVs and run games on it, won't look as good as on a dedicated monitor in HD but because you're running at a lower resolution you will be able to make graphical gains elsewhere and if you're moving from consoles this will still look much better.

BloodBath

Tv's are perfectly fine as gaming monitors. I've been using my 50" plasma as one for the last 3 years and it beats the crap out of the majority of gaming monitors out there.

It all depends on the quality and resolution of the tv.

SICO94

My current tv is 720p. I do plan on buying a pc monitor (preferably 1920x1200) in about a month or two.......... or three when I have the funds but I'm just wondering will my tv still play my games nicely and also beat the crap out of a console?

BloodBath

Well yes it's still going to look a lot better than the console for most games. Good pc ports have addition graphics options, directx 11 features, usually higher res textures and the ability to use large amounts of Anti Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering.

The 720p monitor will lower the fidelity of it but it's still going to look a lot better than a console for most games.

What's the pc you are building?

SICO94

Pc Build

AsRock Extreme6 Motherboard
Intel Core i5 3570K
Sapphire HD7970
Corsair Vengeance 8gb
Samsung 840 120gb ssd
Western Digital 1TB
Cooler Master Haf 912 Plus
Corsair Builder series 600w

I just know i'm gonna need a good monitor to unlock it's full potential:)

BloodBath

The extreme6 is overkill imo. Where are you getting the parts?

Not a big fan of the HAF either. Not when you can get the likes of these for less.

Cooltek Antiphon - White - Black - Silver

You can get good 1080p monitors cheap. - 22" - 24"

SICO94

I'm mostly gettin them from Amazon as I have done a lot of research and they offer the best prices on most parts with free shipping.

Ye I wasn't sure whether to get the Extreme 4 or 6 but it seemed like the way to go for a little bit more

That monitor does look pretty good and cheap, but I have never used Hardwareversand.de. Are they reliable? (Getting it all the way to Ireland)

An alternative I was looking at was a Yamakasi Catleap but they are not sold anywhere except for eBay but i'm always wary of eBay:)

BloodBath

Yes hardwareversand is reliable and the cheapest for large orders. If you check out the building and upgrading forum you will see it is used by the majority of people there.

You should make a post there and we could help you get the most from your money.

SICO94

Thank you

Do you happen to know any monitors that would have a resolution of 1920x1220?

I really want something that looks great and I don't mind paying a bit extra, within reason (400 or less)

BloodBath

I've never heard of or seen that resolution before. The Lg's above have top quality AH-IPS panels. Great value for money.

I don't know if I'd bother going to higher resolutions unless you were going dual gpu or a gtx titan.

I'd love a 1440p myself but maintaining a pc that can run the latest games with good frame rates at that resolution would be an expensive hobby.

If I was to get one though it would be this

There is the risk of getting stung by customs though and you can buy retail ones for close to the price of the koreans.

I quite like the ultra wides as well.

SICO94

OK. Thank you for all your help.
I will look into all of this.

p.s. I think i meant 1920x1200
Also what did you mean about customs?
Did you mean it wouldn't get through or they would add on a hefty price tag to clear it?

BloodBath

They would add the Irish VAT rate on top which would be 21% which you would have to pay the delivery guy to receive the item.

U_Fig

I have been using my tv for a while now its great for gaming The rig I'm using 2500k o/c to 4.7ghz and GTX 670.. In saying that the tv I have cost €1400 top of the range Panasonic viera 3d plasma.. Playing bf3 in 3d @1080p is unreal and just as good as any other monitor I've used.. I did have to mess around with the settings a bit to make it look nice tho

BloodBath

Mine is a panasonic viera plasma as well. Cost me €1300 at the time but no 3d

Still an amazing screen though.

U_Fig

BloodBath wrote: »

Mine is a panasonic viera plasma as well. Cost me €1300 at the time but no 3d

Still an amazing screen though.

Yeah they are still looks better than a lot of tv's that just come on to the market recently.

I don't use the 3d all that much find it's very hard on my eyes usually after about half an hour I turn it off