Solved! Considering A LCD HDTV For My Next PC Monitor

[Danish Maiden]

Currently I'm using a Samsung Syncmaster 216bw, a 22 inch flat panel I'm very happy with.

However when I was browing Best Buy I noticed some LCD HDTV's in the 250-350$ price range that looked pretty decent. I found one model (Can't recall which one, I think it's LG) that was 1080p / 60hz refresh rate, 32 inch screen and I believe 300$ price tag.

I'm wondering how something with those specs would function as a computer monitor? I use my computer to watch videos and movies quite frequently (I don't own TV or watch TV programming). I also enjoy using Photoshop and playing games (RPG's and FPSers).

Would 60hz refresh rate be enough for games like Counter-Strike, HL2, CoD, Halo etc? If not, what's the minimum I should be looking for to get comparable performance to my Samsung monitor?

Also regarding resolution, would I be able to get the 1920x1080 resolution using it as a computer monitor or is that resolution only for when it's used as a TV?

Also regarding inputs, what's the best option to go with? It seems there's the basic "PC connection" port like older videocards would use, DVI and HDMI. I'm assuming HDMI is the way to go, but that would require buying a videocard which supports it too.

I would like to hear back from people who have done this, as googling tended to turn up seriously outdated information (Posts from 5 years ago etc.).

 

[soundguruman]

Well if it's 1080 p, it should work. But generally, a TV does not have the quality of a real computer monitor.
But I think if you buy an Acer 24" 1080 from costco, you will get a better picture and a better price.
A good monitor has HDMI, DVI and VGA inputs. That way you can use it with several different video cards.

 

[daveyjane]

I'm using my Sharp 32 inch Aquos as a monitor and it works really well. It has a pc input of the 15 pin d-sub type, as does my computer. It also has a dvi input as does my computer and then there is hdmi, which many video cards have for an output, too. So there are many ways to try this. I found I had to resize the icons and then also to select the 'native' resolution. This proved to be the best result. Both yhr radeon and nvidia card work with my sharp tv. These cards of mine have 768 mb and 1000 mb of memory on them and are reasonably fast cards.
Then I run some test programs like the nvidia demo's that the makers publish to test the screen. Also some ordinary and free monitor testing programs will help you to establish some calibration standards and give you some meaningful data to watch on the screen while you adjust your TV's menu items for the best picture, and the most shades of black, etc. All and all a nice exercise for a winter's day of self education and computer skills honing. Good luck.