Tom's Hardware > Forum > Computer Peripherals > Flat Panels/ LCDs > Using HDTV as a computer monitor w/DVI -> HDMI

Using HDTV as a computer monitor w/DVI -> HDMI

Forum Computer Peripherals : Flat Panels/ LCDs - Using HDTV as a computer monitor w/DVI -> HDMI

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I'm in the process of selecting a new LCD tv that will also serve as a computer monitor. I'm looking at using it for a computer monitor primarily, and a tv on the side occasionally. I've been told countless times it's better to just get a small lcd monitor to use for the computer and get a TV set seperately, but I really don't have space for this anymore, and really want to just have something that is good for everything all around.
I *had* an Acer 37" LCD which was fantastic for both these purposes, but the particular set I had was having issues like displaying red and green texts on some programs (mIRC, some websites and other things) in very odd ways. Like the widths of the texts would vary from thick to narrow, and some parts of the letters would be greyed or dimmer than others. As well the TV would reset back to the lowest resolution possible whenever I started up my computer, and I know this wasn't my video card doing this because it never happened when I had the Acer 32" LCD model. I was told by Acer customer support my TV was likely defective and to send it in for a replacement. Since I had only had it for just over a week, I thought it over and opted to get the store I bought it from to heckle the Acer distrubutor into giving me a refund instead of a replacement, because I was worried if it did it again or the set really just wasn't that quality, that I would be stuck with a $2100 lemon :(
Anyways since then I have tried a Samsung 40" LCD (the new one with the 5000:1 contrast ratio) which I never got a chance to try with a DVI -> HDMI cable because it just looked so awful with everything except DVD's and a proper HDTV signal (regular cable looked horrid, as would be expected with such a highly detailed set) it definitely was not worth the $4000 it cost, so I ended up taking it back pronto especially after seeing what an awful picture it gave me with AVI from my PC. I now have one of the newest Panasonic models, the LX600 32" LCD with 2 hdmi inputs and planned on using this with a DVI -> HDMI cable for my monitor. However when I tried this it just looks AWFUL. The text is unreadable and everything is flickering and very out of focus. I tried playing with all the settings on my video card and nothing seems to fix it. I've tried reading up some stuff on the web about this and haven't found a clear answer yet, so I'm coming here in hopes that someone might know something about this. The TV set is wonderful and I really want to keep it, but if it's no good for a computer monitor then unfortunately I'll have to take it back and find something that is.
Can anybody offer any input or ideas on how to get an HDTV to display a proper image for a computer monitor using a DVI -> HDMI cable? I'd really appreciate if anybody could shed some light on this, and thanks for taking your time to read this post.

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sorry i haven't any experience as i don't own an HD tv. i only have my dell which is a HD capable( actually far better than all them HD ready things with 768P max) but not HD ready. could you not just find one with a DVI port? there must be some out there.

one thing though. i would have though with out scaling the image all non HD images are going to look kinda funny since it is an LCD.

unfortunately until gfx card vendors start putting HDMI sockets on the cards you might be stuck. i personally am against HDMI sockets for comps as there is no use for them and i am also against HDCP.

one last thing, have you tried different cables. perhaps a dual link DVI to HDMI might work better. i doubt it but i thought i had better ask. it kinda sounds like a resolutions problem what with text being unreadable.

hell maybe its the HDCP screwing the signal cause your only using the plain DVI on one end. sorry i can't be more help.

Reply to strangestranger

Quote :

sorry i haven't any experience as i don't own an HD tv. i only have my dell which is a HD capable( actually far better than all them HD ready things with 768P max) but not HD ready. could you not just find one with a DVI port? there must be some out there.



Did you just make up a new HD resolution - 768P?? I dont think that exists. I think you meant they are capable of 720P which is what HD TV runs at currently and or 1080i which a 1366x768 will also run.

Reply to travbomb

I would guess some TV's may upconvert with their chipset to "768p" (1366x768 progressive). Though it's not an actual format, wouldn't it be a smart thing to do on an LCD HDTV in order to display a 720p image at the panel's native res?

As for the computer monitor issue, perhaps you should get on the horn with tech support for the tv. It sounds like the tv is perhaps converting the signal to interlaced? That would explain the crappy text. Try setting your card to 1366x768 (most video drivers include this now) and see if that helps.

I'm sorry I don't know much about this, I'm actually researching to do a similar thing for a friend's computer. If you do get it to work make sure to let me/us know for future reference!

Reply to haftarun8
- 0 +

It is not just a matter of the resolution not being supported via HDMI. I have a Samsung LN32A650 (1920x1080P) and both my laptop and desktop (Radeon Mobility X700 and Radeon 3650) work just fine with this via the VGA input.
As soon as I use the HDMI input on the TV, I have the same problems that jhutz42 is having. Crappy text color fringing ect.

The monitor is reporting that it is displaying a 1080p signal at 60Hz.So the video card is correctly identifying the monitor but it is not sending out a clean signal somehow.

Does anybody else have any ideas about this. I contacted ATI and they suggested turning off Cleartype, but this does not solve the problem.

Reply to psvan

I'm experiencing exactly the same problem running 1080p@60htz with ATI 4870 / Samsung 32" A550, blurry text and horrible colors. I am hoping that is not an issue with the VGA card or the TV.

If you move the a window with writing sideways, do you notice the text flickering?

Real disappointment for me )=


Message edited by sapochule on 08-21-2008 at 06:52:54 PM
Reply to sapochule

I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 which has a built in HDMI socket, i plugged this into my Panasonic Viera 42" HD tv and the picture was quite good???

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