PC gaming on a HDTV?

[whatsinaname]

Not sure if this is the right place in the forums to ask this question but...

I was kicking around the idea of getting a small HDTV for my bedroom when the thought struck me to replace my current 21" crt with something like a 30" to 32" HDTV thus saving the space that I don't really have for a TV anyway and getting a really big monitor to game on.

Has anyone here tried this and if so have any tips? How will pc games look and can I play them at a respectable resolution on the TV? Is there anything I should consider before making a purchase? And fianly my dumbest question of all... how do I select the signal and change between watching cable TV and or using the PC?

 

[Himself]

You're looking for an LCD tv, will cost a bit, but generally resolutions are pretty good. Other HDTVs will be either massive and/or small res but big pixels, like 1024x768, the HD in HDTV only cares about the vertical resolution.

Change between inputs? Use the remote? lol

 

[whatsinaname]

Hmmm I was actually thinking of going with a medium sized tube I have a good sized oak desk that would easily handle the size and weight of it but mostly I was very concerned about slow latency from a LCD I've read somewhere that they aren't the greatest for gaming?

Smacks head... the remote... jesus i can be really dense sometimes lol

 

[pegisys]

I think a 30" tube will be huge, I don't know what your budget is but I would consider something like this, I never used one of these but I hear they are great for gaming

and if you want to watch hdtv you could get a hdtv pci card

 

[Himself]

Any CRT HDTV won't have a spec for resolution, all you got to go by is dot pitch, so you will never know how much scaling is involved. Just because something can accept 1080i signals doesn't mean it has a resolution of 1920x1080, even high end plasmas at 50" or better are generally 1024x768. (Well not scaling as such, but you can't display more information than the technology has elements for displaying it.. )

For gaming like you would with a regular monitor, lcd is the way to go. Generally same price if not cheaper than the tube widescreen models. Response time isn't that big an issue these days. It's either sharp image and maybe motion blur, or blurry image and less motion blur.

 

[kyleb]

For what whatsinaname has mentioned, I'd think the best choice would be a Samsung SlimFit.

 

[Moloch]

For what whatsinaname has mentioned, I'd think the best choice would be a Samsung SlimFit.

Nice :smile:

 

[whatsinaname]

Oh I like that samsung... thanks kyleb great find... that may be just what the doctor ordered

I'm off toTweeter to check it out tomorrow

 

[Guden Oden]

Lots of inputs = good, only thing missing is VGA from what I can see. Would personally have traded 1 component and 2 composite inputs for 1 VGA.

CRT = bad. 180W power consumption. That's roughly 2x equivalent LCD screen size... Also, no fixed pixels, so picture will be fuzzier when showing computer graphics.

Samsung = bad. Don't care what you guys think, I think samsung = korea = cheapo pseudojunk.

 

[kyleb]

I take it you have never acutally seen the display in action, eh Guden?

As for lack of VGA-input, I don't rightly see that as an issue as it does support HDMI and any modren graphics card has a DVI-out.

 

[Himself]

For what whatsinaname has mentioned, I'd think the best choice would be a Samsung SlimFit.

Heavy beast with mixed reviews from folks, not all that cheap either, you can definitely get a good lcd tv for the same price and for a tad more, an entry level plasma.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=541592&highlight=samsung+slimfit

Sounds like if you are going tube, then you should get a real tube and not one where the electron gun has to bend backwards for the sake of a foot of box depth.

 

[Guden Oden]

I take it you have never acutally seen the display in action, eh Guden?

I freely admit I just don't like samsung stuff, that's all. I've heard enough horror stories about the things they make and I had a samsung DVDROM myself that sucked the most ass I've ever seen a DVDROM suck. No more samsung for me, ever.

As for lack of VGA-input, I don't rightly see that as an issue as it does support HDMI and any modren graphics card has a DVI-out.

True, it isn't REALLY an issue, but it's just it could be nice to have that's all. Sort of rounding out the array of input ports...

 

[whatsinaname]

Well I just got back from looking at the Samsung Slimfit and I have to say the picture was every bit as good as a full size tube when watching TV... which comparing side by side to all but the most expensive LCD's is way better. The salesman had some long drawn out explanation for this... which I really should have paid more attention to lol.

I was also able to compare what PC input looked on several LCD's and tube TV's. (it's amazing what a salesman will do when they smell a sale lol) Looking at a windows desktop on a LCD compared to the tubes is no contest the LCD's are noticeably sharper for whatever reason. However when stuff starts moving around a lot the tube TV's looked better... again I'm not real sure why.

So anyway I'll be picking up something on Tuesday... now I just have to decide what... although I am leaning towards the samsung... I'm just worried now about it's reliability... thanks Guden

 

[kyleb]

I wouldn't let Gudon's experience with a single DVDROM drive weigh too heavy on your decision on what TV to buy. I personaly have never owned a Samsung product other than a DVDROM drive that I passed on to a friend and it is still treating him great, but I have seen plenty of people happy with their Samsumg TVs over the years. If you would like more input in the readability, I recommend asking around on AVS Forum.

 

[BlueTsunami]

Samsumg TVs over the years

I actually have a DynaFlat 27" Samsung HDTV. I use it to watch WMV-HD trailers and I'm currently using it for episodes of "unnamed" series that i'm watching ( >.> ). Its treated me well. Halo 2 looked VERY good on it (even though its 480p...I think). I actually tried playing Half Life 2 on it...but the TV had some weird sync issues with that game. Still don't know why. Text and whatnot still isn't represented correctly unfortunatley. But...besides that..the text is still legible and the game is more than playable (if I get the sync issues right).

 

[Guden Oden]

I wouldn't let Gudon's experience with a single DVDROM drive weigh too heavy on your decision on what TV to buy.

I also have a (very good) buddy who works in a PC workshop who have seen a lot of samsung opticals and harddrives pass through over the years who've had to send quite a few back in return. (Quick edit: they now no longer offer samsung drives, for this very reason.) Admittedly, TVs are very different from PC components, but I personally would not support a company with my money that manufactures shitty-ass PC products but might produce good TVs.

Samsung got where it is by producing cheap stuff that looks good and usually has lots of features only available on more expensive stuff but isn't all that good when it comes down to it. You expect that to have changed all of a sudden

 

[kyleb]

I'm not suggestingt they have changed, but rather that my impression of the company is very different than yours.

 

[Reznor007]

I also have a (very good) buddy who works in a PC workshop who have seen a lot of samsung opticals and harddrives pass through over the years who've had to send quite a few back in return. (Quick edit: they now no longer offer samsung drives, for this very reason.) Admittedly, TVs are very different from PC components, but I personally would not support a company with my money that manufactures shitty-ass PC products but might produce good TVs.

Samsung got where it is by producing cheap stuff that looks good and usually has lots of features only available on more expensive stuff but isn't all that good when it comes down to it. You expect that to have changed all of a sudden

Various people I know have had 5 dead Xboxs(2 dead HD's, 3 dead DVD's), and 4 dead PS2's(all DVD), so does that mean I shouldn't buy those either?