HDTV as a Monitor Question

renold458

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Nov 16, 2013
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10,510
So Ive had my television as a monitor for a while now through HDMI. Since the beginning the image doesn't seem crisp, text is not so clear and some images blur. My wallpaper is clear proof of this as it is the same resolution as the screen but it still looks really ugly. Im not sure if its because I sit close to the TV that I can see everything but its really interesting. Games too look like they need really hard AA even though its already enabled. Im using a 32" inch Emerson TV and the manual said to run the resolution at 1360x768. Im also using a GTX 770. So Im just wondering if the TV is the issue, the GPU, or maybe some setting is off. Thanks!
 
Solution
TV's aren't built to display PC sources as crisp as a dedicated monitor.

However, many folk are happy enough (console gamers and HTPC with gaming option) with the much bigger/immersive picture...primarily for games.

You will definitely notice a number of pluses with a dedicated monitor e.g. much sharper images, particularly if you do a lot of text/fine gfx work. Game lag will also be better though for many folk the higher TV lag is acceptable - but this is game dependant...e.g. multiplayer fps games benefit from low lag.

In the end it's up to the user.
It's going to look like crap because of the bigger area of the TV. If let's say you were using a 22" monitor at that resolution it would look better because the pixels are much more packed together. Using the same number of pixels on a wider area is going to degrade the quality of the image.
 

mesab66

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Aug 5, 2009
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TV's aren't built to display PC sources as crisp as a dedicated monitor.

However, many folk are happy enough (console gamers and HTPC with gaming option) with the much bigger/immersive picture...primarily for games.

You will definitely notice a number of pluses with a dedicated monitor e.g. much sharper images, particularly if you do a lot of text/fine gfx work. Game lag will also be better though for many folk the higher TV lag is acceptable - but this is game dependant...e.g. multiplayer fps games benefit from low lag.

In the end it's up to the user.
 
Solution

renold458

Honorable
Nov 16, 2013
9
0
10,510
In response to everyone, lag has not been an issue with this TV surprisingly. Rather the 3D objects have jaggy edges even with AA enabled. The thing that surprises me however is that games on my 360 (which is plugged into another HDMI port on the TV) the games dont look the same. Of course they dont run at high settings much like on the PC yet items dont appear the same way. But from most have you been saying it seems that a dedicated monitor will do a much better job for my needs at least.