Television as a monitor?

someguynamedmatt

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Well, I've got another newbish question for you video card guys. A television in my bedroom just broke, and I was going to buy another monitor to replace my old Dell 1280x1024 monitor anyway, so I figured why wouldn't I just buy a small TV and use the HDMI output on my Radeon HD 5770 to hook my PC up to it?

Is this possible? Would my PC be able to detect and use a small HD Television as a monitor? And if it could, what performance would I get out of it (e.g., comparable to what monitor resolution?), and how could I set it up? I know how hard it can be for my somewhat lackluster graphics card to even handle high monitor resolutions, and I don't know what an HD TV would do to it... if this can even be done...
By the way, if this CAN be done, but my graphics card isn't capable of handling the load, I'll be willing to use the money I saved to buy a Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon 5870...

Any help would be appreciated,
-Matt
 

MARSOC_Operator

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Oct 21, 2009
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PC monitors have much higher image definition (pixel size) despite at what resolutions you set them to run. That's what makes image quality so much better. (when people were droopling at standard DVD images on flat screen TVs, monitors already displayed standard HD resolutions and even full HD). Another issue is that, while HDMI ports are great between home theater devices and HD TVs, they are piss-poor solutions to connect TVs to PC videocards. DVI is the way to go for optimum performance and image quality.

Get a good 22 or 24'' LCD or LED monitor and forget about TVs. Samsung monitors are the best, check them out.
 

casey_souder

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Mar 16, 2010
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MARSOC I have to disagree with you. I own a Home Theater store and have hooked my laptop up many different sets in our showroom, and I think they all look great as monitors. As long as you have the resolution output of your computer set to the native resolution of the screen. I also don't recommend buying the cheapest TV you can find, I personally love Samsung (5-series or higher).

Also about HDMI being "piss-poor" connections for PC-TV connections, HDMI and DVI use the exact same video signal (that is why you can use passive adapters), but HDMI also carries audio while DVI is video only.

Casey
 
You can use a TV as a monitor just fine. Just be sure to use a 1080p TV. Text is a bit harder to read on a 720p. Anyway, the picture quality just depends on the quality of the TV you intend to use. I suggest a Samsung LCD. I guess you could also use a big ol Panasonic Plasma too ^_^.
 

seerwan

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May 10, 2009
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I'll have to second casey and disagree with you as well, MARSOC.

Though what you say about pixels was true in the past, nowadays flat panel TV's with HD READY (1366x768) and even FULL HD (1920x1080) resolutions can be bought at relatively low prices, and are widely available.

and DVI and HDMI use the same digital signals, except like casey said, an HDMI cable also routs audio signals on the same cable.
i.e. you can use an HDMI cable between a PC and a TV set with a resolution of FULL HD 1920x1080 and also rout upto 8 channels of audio at very-high quality WITHOUT ANY drop in quality; thats why HDMI is so popular.

Btw, 8 signals basically means 7.1 surround sound.

someguynamesmatt, get a TV, bro; if u wanna be 100% sure, decide on the TV u wanna buy and then go to a TV Store witha alaptop with an HDMI output and ask a salesperson if u can hook it up the TV via HDMI to the laptop.
if it looks good, ure all set.

Gd luck.

Peace.