Replacing 24" LCD Monitor with 32" LED-LCD TV for PC Gaming

[Kursah]

Hey all...

I'm considering replacing my 24" LCD monitor (Asus VW246H) with a 32" LED-LCD 120Hz TV possibly in the future. I really don't want to go much larger than 32" because it will sit on my desk (Staples Mobile Techstation - http://www.staples.com/office/suppli...520Collections ), and I am not using the KB tray due to space in my room in my apt atm. I sit approx 3 feet away from the screen, so going much larger than 30" is probably pushing it for comfort of gaming on a single screen.

I am open to suggestions for TV's, I've been looking at Walmart.com, Tiger, Newegg, BB, etc. I am looking for a TV that is LED-LCD, 120hz (does it matter for PC gaming?), and trying to keep it closer to $400 because that's about all I will have to spend. I might be able to push $500 if my next couple of paychecks are any good. My HD5870 has hdmi connections and what-not, it seems a lot of modern hdtv's are pushing pc connectivity and what-not. But I would really like to have something larger than what I currently have...and going the TV route seems to be a decent idea...so I'm open to suggestions at this point to get an idea. I am watching Black Friday deals and what-not...and depending on how x-mas shopping goes for the family I might have to wait...but I want to learn some of the TPU wisdom in this area as I am not sure if this is the right way to go or not...odds are I'll be keeping the Asus monitor as a backup and 2nd screen. I don't mind 1080 gaming, and I'm hoping what I plan is a good idea...otherwise I might just bag it, save my money and keep what I have.

[copenhagen69]

sub'd for info ...

[Kursah]

Well I'm still looking and researching, getting some conflicting results for 60Hz, 120Hz, 240Hz, etc. I am sure someday I'll try 3D, but seeing as you need glasses to utilize it, it's definitely not a priority at this time. I am perfectly fine with 2D screen, no-glasses game playing.

I have found an Asus AT3265 (Acer AT3265 Black 32" 6.5ms HDMI LCD Monitor Buil...), while rather expensive on the 'Egg can be had for around $400 elsewhere. Seems to review well, has a lot of connections, etc. Could this be what I'm after? Seems I missed an uber good deal on it, where it was around $350 on the 'egg with a promo code...lol. But that looks pretty close to what I'm after. I'll keep researching and post my findings, hope to see some experience posted here too!

This is $499 w/instant savings...an LG 32", 120HZ, 1080P, LED-LCD...http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...DMH6PZREV9KE69

Gonna keep my eyes peeled more and more...it'd be sweet to snag something good for sub $400...closer to $350 would be freaking awesome!

[erixx]

Kursah, 1 week ago I switched from 22" to a 32" HD TV! This model: Philips 32pfl5405h/12.
Funny thing is, i don't know if it is or not LED. Some parts of the documentation say it is, some ignore a clear definition...
Anyways.... I am amazed. Going from 22 to 32 was no problem for my GTX470, BF BC2 at maximum everything is a blessing...

I am sitting at a big desk, at about 70 cm from the screen. Only reading text needs some easy tweaks (image modes). White on websites or word or pdf documents is too intense otherwise
And then 1 little side-effect: when Windows goes into sleep or standby, the screen shows a message "No input, etc" that stays on forever... So I need to manually turn this monitor off at night.

But games and movies, and also office work, is better than ever! 32 is the max at this distance, I would suggest 30 or 28" if you are close to the screen.

[a_ump]

I can't give info on 120hz TV's, but i did for a while have a 32" @1920x1080 w/ HD 5770. Definitely worth it imo. I love the massive desktop space.

[Kursah]

Well doing conversion, I'm approx 86CM from the screen currently. There are so many variations and options to go with...just not sure what to choose! I still like the idea of the Acer above...if I can find it for a better price. I already run 1920x1080, so I have no worries in performance there. But text clarity is definitely very important to me as I do a TON of reading on my PC.

I have yet to see a TV with a DVI connector so it seems HDMI or VGA are really the only true viable options for a PC...I will be fine on that aspect though. For now I'm window shopping, I still gotta replace a $250 radiator in my pickup soon, but hopefully I can snag me a sweet deal on a good 32" TV with a sweet picture and solid performance. Thanks for the input erixx, some good food for thought.

[Jstn7477]

Are you certain that the TV accepts 120Hz inputs? Most don't, and claim to be >60Hz because they generate fake frames in between the real ones. A 600Hz plasma television has to come up with 10 frames for every 1 input frame (assuming 60Hz inputs).

[freaksavior]

Originally Posted by Jstn7477

Are you certain that the TV accepts 120Hz inputs? Most don't, and claim to be >60Hz because they generate fake frames in between the real ones. A 600Hz plasma television has to come up with 10 frames for every 1 input frame (assuming 60Hz inputs).

Alot of them still do, so yes make sure this is real 120hz. My tv is "120hz" but it lies, and its 60. I use a 40" and sit about 4 ft away and cannot read anything on it (text wise) from a forum. Everything else is awesome.

[copenhagen69]

whats causing you not to be able to read anything? the distance or the lying of 120MHz?

[Kursah]

Originally Posted by Jstn7477

Are you certain that the TV accepts 120Hz inputs? Most don't, and claim to be >60Hz because they generate fake frames in between the real ones. A 600Hz plasma television has to come up with 10 frames for every 1 input frame (assuming 60Hz inputs).

Good to know, can you tell me about possible pos/neg impacts on gaming? A good 50% of the screen usage will be gaming, the rest is split between a little hulu and web browsing/reading. So clear text is very important. I am still learning some of the lingo...I still have an old flat screen tube TV...it's been in storage forever...I've settled on using my Asus 24" monitor for TV duties the last couple of years (between hulu and my tv card). But I wouldn't mind a larger screen for damn sure...60hz, 120hz, whatever. As long as I have a clear and crisp image, solid text, etc I'll be happy...doubt I'll find it today but at least I can start searching for the correct feature set.

Thanks for the info! Please keep it coming and shoot some suggestions if ya got em!

[AsRock]

Get ya self in walmart and buy one you like if ya don't simply return it for as full refund within 90 days.

I don't know if this will help, but I already have a spreadsheet for figuring out the area of 16:9 screens with a particular length diagonal.

For a 24" screen the area is 246 sq. in. For a 32", the area is 437 sq. in.

Since the max resolution on HDTV's is usually 1920 x 1024, the overall resolution is the same regardless of the screen's measurements. That means that the pixels per square inch for a 24" at that resolution are 7988 and for the 32", 4493. That means you have 77% more pixels per square inch at 1920 x 1024 on a 24" than a 32".

That's a huge difference and explains why if you look at the recommended viewing distance for HDTV's, the bigger the screen, the further back you're supposed to sit.

To put it differently, if you plan to use an HDTV in the same way and at the same resolution as for a computer monitor, the resolution should theoretically be 77% better - which is something that you aren't going to find anytime soon.

[freaksavior]

Originally Posted by copenhagen69

whats causing you not to be able to read anything? the distance or the lying of 120MHz?

Having to wear glasses. Haha

I always make the text massive. My bro hates it.

[Kursah]

Some good food for thought, I'm gonna keep researching, and I do realize that I will lose some DPI/sharpness going with a larger screen...I am just gonna have to go see for myself if it's worth it or not at this point...I was kind of hoping it'd be better than last I tried around 7-8 years ago on a tube TV with 800x600 - 1024x768 resolution (horrible experience...). Thanks for the input thus far!

[pantherx12]

Originally Posted by AsRock

Get ya self in walmart and buy one you like if ya don't simply return it for as full refund within 90 days.

Scratch this.

Take rig to wallmart, ask for demo!

[erixx]

Very good reasoning Twylit!

[Wrigleyvillain]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing as the OP having played 1920x1200 on a 23" for years now and with prices dropping and Black Friday etc approaching. But I also recently bought a nice Panasonic 42" Plasma which I absolutely love but wasn't overly impressed with what I saw when I connected my PC to it starting with the funky, lower resolution of like 1852x1048 or some shit.

Originally Posted by Wrigleyvillain

But I also recently bought a nice Panasonic 42" Plasma which I absolutely love but wasn't overly impressed with what I saw when I connected my PC to it starting with the funky, lower resolution of like 1852x1048 or some shit.

Not to hijack the thread, but that sounds sweet. Congrats. You might be able to set different parameters for different inputs. If so, play with the sharpness and contrast. That makes a big difference for me but my set is 3-4 years old and uses rear projection from an LCD and color wheel (Sony KDS-50A2000) I don't know if that's going to help on a plasma or not.

[micropage7]

32 inch kinda big enough , but before you start have you check your graphic yet? is that support big screen? i mean the rate, resolution etc bigger screen could reduce the frame rate that you demand on it especially when you game on it then the price
btw for now i dont see big difference between LCD and LED

[Lost Hatter]

Ive got a 32 inch Polaroid LCD HDTV as my monitor. its great for gameing but you need a 10 foot mouse/keyboard cable. if you sit at a desk for a while with that huge screen melting your face it gets rough. Headaches, mild sun burn, and a white screen its just brutal on the eyes. At night if i have just the monitor on and open up google,a folder,a text document, or any other white page it lights up my whole house. BLAOW!!!!!!!

Get some long cabled accessories and sit back. you'll love it.

But don't sit at a desk with an HDTV as your monitor.

[Kursah]

Originally Posted by micropage7

32 inch kinda big enough , but before you start have you check your graphic yet? is that support big screen? i mean the rate, resolution etc bigger screen could reduce the frame rate that you demand on it especially when you game on it then the price
btw for now i dont see big difference between LCD and LED

Running 1920X1080-60hz now on my Asus monitor (in system specs), I am sure my card will have no issue at that res on a larger screen as it does not on a smaller screen.

Reason I want to go LED lit, (which is still LCD btw, just LED backlit) is for improved contrast and lower power consumption.

Thanks for the suggestions Lost Hatter. I have seen a setup with a 32" LED TV and it was pretty impressive for gaming, the text was a bit off though...could've been his tuning for the screen. But damn games looked sweet on that screen!

[Lost Hatter]

No doubt. i would defiantly get the 32". i can only run mine at 1360x768 (720p) but it goes up to 1600x1200 at a normal aspect ratio. i game like that and its sweet looking. i want 3 so i can go "EyeFinity" LOL imagine that 3 32" LCD HDTV's as your screen(s) id never leave...lol

So if you your looking for a straight up answer for your question.......GET THE 32" HDTV.

And if your Text is a bit weird looking or you see lines between them, try an manually setting the "Phase" and "Manual clock" if the TV allows it. With the Auto SET function it does strange things.

The best way to set this is to open up a picture of a finely spaced GRID useing red,blue, or green lines on a black background. you will see what i mean if the Phase/Manual clock is offset. Some lines will appear larger or smaller if its not set correctly.

Polaroid HDTV (FLM-3234B) settings for 1360x768 output: (DVI1)
Phase-13
Manual Clock-122

[erixx]

1) Tweak your display settings at the LCD side for text and save it as a Personal/Custom profile. Use the stock Game profile for gaming, etc.
2) In Windows (or whatever OS, let's be open minded, lol) go to Advanced settings in display properties and configure colores a bit darker, specially or only the white background of windows.

Tweaked correctly, the light is no issue. And text is ALSO AMAZING on a 32".

(and no I am not a shareholder of screens, hahahaha)