LCD TV and PC Monitor difference?

come on seriously no answers?

Personally, I rather have the 26" monitor myself. The average 26" LCD TV will only run at 1366X768 resolution versus the 1920X1200 resolution of the 26" monitor. Far as which monitor, I would get the Samsung 2693HM myself because I do a lot with Word, and I love the pivot feature.

A 26" monitor will usually have a 1920 x 1200 resolution. A very common one for games.
If the lcd tv has 1080P the resolution will be 1920x1080. Some games or displays will look strange.
If it is 720p, then the resolution will be even less.

I do believe that resolution is still the key. If it were 1080p, it would be the same, I believe, but if it's 720, you won't have the same quality.

PS - to the OP - you wrote a second message when people hadn't responded within approximately 1/2 hour - be patient. Sometimes people read and don't have any knowledge of the issue. We are not all permanently logged on to help and get to it when we can.

Dont forget refresh rate. With a 26inch monitor, you has the choice of running at a lower resolution of 1680x1050 and set at higher refresh rate of greater than 60hz. On a older LCD TV, max is 60hz regardless of resolution.
Running fast motion, a 60hz refresh rate is noticeable. That why newer big LCD TV are offering 120hz. If you dont mind playing at 1080p, a TV with refresh of 120hz is the cheaper ways to go.

A refresh rate of 120hz is somewhat of a marketing ploy. Most lcd's have a rate of 60hz.
The source for a film may be as low as 24, and the tv may be 30. It takes a very good vga card to deliver more than 60fps, particularly with eye candy.

The tv or lcd can not display action any faster than the frames that are delivered to it.
Analog monitors are different. They need to be refreshed at 85hz to avoid flicker because, unlike lcd's, the frames need to be redrawn every cycle.

Well, a 26" LCD TV is going to have less resolution than a good 26" LCD Monitor. If you can't really tell the difference then it may be better for you as your GPU won't have to work as hard  . As far as the visual quailty it's going to depend on the maker. If it's a recent Samsung then I would just use that and not even think about getting another monitor. Well really so long as it's anything other than an older Visio or some chepo brand you should be fine using it as a monitor  .

so basically if its a good TV use that if not buy a monitor?

I would say buy a monitor unless you need a screen size > 30"

I dont know about differences but I run my comp w/ a 26" LCD Toshiba 720p. Absolutely love it. AFAIK the only difference is the Monitor probably can do higher resolution and the TV has a tuner in it.

i have been looking for a 32" lcd monitor for a while now, but their pretty expensive. but checking around, i found that 32" lcd tv's are cheaper.

If your looking to play games and have them look there best then a Monitor is the way to go. As said higher resolution and they are designed to run with a PC.
Some TV sets, probably most by now have a PC mode but its not the same.
The refresh rate thing is slightly confusing but basically as strangestranger has said the response times to do these refresh rates are easily available. The math of 8ms comes out at a theoretical refresh rate of 125Hz.
This doesnt happen of course as there are limitations such a the DVI cable which i believe (correct me if I'm wrong) can only give around 80-85Hz, and is usually limited to 60 anyway. VGA is usually not as restricted but still not up to the theoretical 125Hz.
I'm not 100% up to date with it but i guess its the HDMI that lets the TV sets go up to these higher refresh rates.
Also remember that the people who make TVs and Monitors lie. Often quoting Grey-White-Grey times instead of Black-White-Black times. Why they can get away with it i don't know but they do.
The only guaranteed way to get what you want and like is to go to a shop and see for yourself.

Mactronix

then check this
SONY BRAVIA KDL-40ZX1 LCD


it is 8ms reflesh rate
it is 1080p (full HD) 1920x1080

+

it is 100hz, higher than your 60hz monitors
it is 10bit (higher than your 8bit monitors)
5W+5W+10W(Woofer): with SS-TBL700 10W+10W: with SS-WAL700
able to display 576i, 480p, 576p, 1080i, 720p, 1080p, 24p input (not only 1080p)
4x HDMI input, picture in picture display, RCA inputs and old d-sub
and hundred of non very important pluses.

it is 40" or more, not 26" or less like monitors.
it is 1k euros, which is not very expensive for this features.