Basic Monitor Questions

[SteveRocks]

Hello! Some basic monitor questions:

1. I noticed my gfx card has an hdmi output (old card did not). Can I use an HD tv as a monitor?
2. Are there any downsides to using an hd tv for monitor? Damage to eyes, poor refresh rate etc.?

Thanks for your time!

[devilkiller]

Usually very poor response time(up in the 100+MS)
Usually ghosting and stuttering
No G sync

i would not recommend

[Crillam]

Yeah I would not recomend a TV as a gaming monitor. You can use it to maybe browse the internet, watch movies from the computer to the TV etc. But when it comes to gaming I would pass. It has very bad respone time, the quality is not that great. You won't get anything good out of it, atleast when it comes to gaming.

[SteveRocks]

Thanks all!

[Biernot]

Just to iterate:
While a lot of TVs have a gaming mode (or something similar), most of them still have a noticeably higher latency than normal monitors.

[Akainakali]

Basically a lot depends on exactly WHAT you have for a TV.

If you got the $200 Black friday special, probably not so much. If you spent more like $1k+, it will probably work fine.

A lot of TVs support higher than the 30 FPS that is the basic broadcast standard. How much higher depends on the TV.

4k TVs are bad to game on at full resolution unless you have a top end rig. Of the consumer level GPUs, only the recent 1080ti can manage 60 fps in most games at 4k with maxed settings.

A TV can work just fine for a lot of gaming. It probably won't be great for anything that's a highly twitchy game like most first person shooters, but a lot of other games aren't nearly as latency sensitive and WoW is one of them.

[Deleted]

I used a 42" panny plasma for a couple of years for wow. It was more than fine, except for the ui burn in

Was it as nice ad my new gsync display? No. But it did pretty well and having 42" plasma abfoot in front of your face is pretty immersive

[Akainakali]

I used a 42" panny plasma for a couple of years for wow. It was more than fine, except for the ui burn in

Was it as nice ad my new gsync display? No. But it did pretty well and having 42" plasma abfoot in front of your face is pretty immersive

I've gamed on my Pioneer Plasma as well, but the plasmas do have lower latency than the typical LCD TV and handle rapidly changing content much better than nearly all LCDs as well.

[Lathais]

I generally recommend against it, but know people who are totally happy with it. My friend loves to use his 32" 720p TV for gaming, especially games with good controller support. However, we are also talking about a guy who is totally happy with a 720p TV and doesn't see the difference between it and my 1080p, even when side by side showing the same content. He also doesn't notice the difference between 25ish FPS and 60+FPS. So I wouldn't take what he does in to consideration, unless you are like him.

[Artorius]

Question is too generic. Depends on the TV entirely.

[Deleted]

It's too generic to establish how bigger issue it would be, but input latency is the major downside of gaming on a tv. If you fps it will be basically shit on any tv though (compared to a $200-250 1080p monitor), where actual refresh rate and input latency are the key.

[SteveRocks]

Thanks for the responses. The tv in question was a 32inch led 1080p. Im glad that I asked here before making the impulse buy! I think instead I will go with one of the monitors listed in the "build of the month."

[Artorius]

It's too generic to establish how bigger issue it would be, but input latency is the major downside of gaming on a tv. If you fps it will be basically shit on any tv though (compared to a $200-250 1080p monitor), where actual refresh rate and input latency are the key.

You know, there are CRT TVs that are literally faster than any LCD monitor you can buy in terms of input lag. And all the half decent LCD TVs nowadays have 120Hz panels for judder-free playback. Some accept you to give it a 120Hz input while others don't. Some on their "gaming mode" have a ~20ms total lag (input lag from signal processing + pixel response times) which isn't exactly far from your average monitor and wouldn't exactly give any issues for anyone who isn't playing the game professionally. Some of the old Plasmas would also be better in gaming scenarios compared to your average monitor due to having lower total display lag and no eye-tracking motion blue whatsoever.

It's obvious that your gaming monitor built entirely to be fast is better than your average TV in gaming, but the comparison depends entirely on the products.

[Droodid]

I use a TV when I play single player, because if I'm being honest, I don't think it makes a huge difference over basic monitors unless you're playing online FPS or something like Overwatch competitively. I don't play online, I don't play competitively, and my reaction time is not good enough to notice a 1/10 second latency when using a controller. I enjoy playing on my TV because its a bigger screen and I can play games sitting on my couch, rather than being stuck at my desk. Don't get me wrong, I have a monitor I play on too, but I use both and notice no difference in play style.

[Artorius]

Thanks for the responses. The tv in question was a 32inch led 1080p. Im glad that I asked here before making the impulse buy! I think instead I will go with one of the monitors listed in the "build of the month."

"32inch led 1080p" doesn't really answer anything but judging from the size and the resolution I don't think it has a good panel, so you're better with any monitor indeed.

[Gorgodeus]

I generally recommend against it, but know people who are totally happy with it. My friend loves to use his 32" 720p TV for gaming, especially games with good controller support. However, we are also talking about a guy who is totally happy with a 720p TV and doesn't see the difference between it and my 1080p, even when side by side showing the same content. He also doesn't notice the difference between 25ish FPS and 60+FPS. So I wouldn't take what he does in to consideration, unless you are like him.

Does your friend have dark glasses, a cane, and always walks around with a dog?

[Lathais]

Does your friend have dark glasses, a cane, and always walks around with a dog?

No to the first two, but he does walk around with a dog, only the dog is blind, not him.

[Deleted]

You know, there are CRT TVs that are literally faster than any LCD monitor you can buy in terms of input lag.

It's obvious that your gaming monitor built entirely to be fast is better than your average TV in gaming, but the comparison depends entirely on the products.

Agreed I was being a bit general, I was playing on a 24" crt until 144hz lcd's became available, and if I played top end I'd probably still have it (as many do)