LCD Computer Monitor vs LCD HDTV

Considering the use of a Flat Panel Television as your Personal Computer display?

You can use practically any modern LCD TV, including what is called an LED TV, as a monitor for your computer. An LED TV is simply an LCD TV that uses diodes for the back light. Most LCD televisions in addition to having one or more HDMI connector also have an analog VGA PC video connector. Some additionally include the bonus of a DVI connector for a PC with a modern video adapter. An HDTV with the optional DVI connector is a good choice to use for a personal computer display.

Productivity workstations are best coupled with an LCD display manufactured specifically for use with a computer. Yet people often consider using an LCD TV as a display for their home computer for a number or reasons. Sometimes televisions are less expensive. Gamers like the idea of having a larger display for computer gaming. Others don't want to mess with an HDTV tuner add-on card in their PC if they want to occasionally watch television with it too. These are all valid reasons for the consideration of using a television as a computer display.

It isn't even a new fad. In the 1970's hobbyists were using their color CRT television sets for connecting to those early kit computers as a display. And modern video game consoles such as the PS3 and Xbox 360 are high end personal computers designed specifically for graphics and gaming on your television set.

Some LCD televisions are rated 720p, which indicates a pixel resolution of 720 and p for progressive scan. 720p is inferior to the resolutions of an LCD computer monitor, making such a television inadequate to use as a computer display in certain cases. The television will display resolutions up to 1280x720 or 1366x768. It will serve as a computer display, however, due to the lower pixel resolution the definition will not be crisp. It will still beat older VGA CRT monitors in most cases for clarity with the exception of some very high end CRT monitors.

An LCD television rated at 1080p with a native resolution of 1920x1080 may serve well as a PC monitor in most circumstances. However, there are other things to consider in addition to pixel resolution. Other considerations include refresh rate, response time, and input lag. A response time rating of 8ms GTG (gray to gray) delay time is common for lower end LCD TV displays. This is inadequate to serve as a computer monitor. The monitor will not be able to keep up with visual motion in certain windows activities and especially in gaming, causing visual anomalies known as artifacts. Simply dragging a window within Microsoft Windows will cause blur and ghosting. Try to find a TV with a GTG timing of 6ms or less, such as 2ms.

When considering using a television for a computer display make sure you select a manufacturer that advertises the input lag. Many manufactures and retailers will try to blur the terms, using response time and input lag delay interchangeably.

• response time != input lag delay

Respond time is not the same as input lag. The response time is the GTG timing rating. It measures how quickly it can change its pixels from black-to-white or gray-to-gray. However going from black-to-white takes longer than it does for it to go from gray-to-gray. The "black to white" time is not going to be as good as the "gray to gray" time. Manufactures will use the most flattering number to advertise their product, which will end up being the GTG time. They call this GTG rating their "response time." Some say it is not an important statistic to consider, however, it does indicate how much ghosting a display has. Ghosting is undesirable so the response time is still a consideration.

More valuable than the GTG response time to gamers is the input lag. If you are going to be dealing with graphic animation and motion than this factor will be especially significant to you. Whether you are connecting your PS3 to the HDMI port on a TV, or you are a PC gamer using an LCD television as your monitor, you will want a reduced input lag value. The faster the response time of a display is, the quicker it can display an image. Before your mind can perceive action in a game, your eyes have to witness it on the display. If the display lags then you lose that slight edge in reaction time. It is important to know the combined response time and input lag of the LCD television you are planning to use as a computer display.

For people wanting to dual purpose the display, watch TV sometimes, work on the computer other times, using an LCD TV seems to make sense. In limited space environments like a dorm room it is nice to have only one display instead of having to have a television and a computer monitor. However, it should be noted that you may sometimes want to watch television while working with the computer. Since the tuner is in the monitor itself when using an LCD television, you either watch TV, or switch the display mode over to the PC connection. To be able to do both at the same time you are better off using a computer monitor rather than a television as a display, and installing an HDTV tuner card in the PC. This way you can have a window open in your work environment to watch TV, right on your screen, and hear the TV sound from the PC speakers, while conducting your work in another window. The HDTV tuner card also allows you to record what you are watching directly to the computer hard drive.

A final thought on how you are connecting your computer to an HDTV. As mentioned above, you should look for a television that offers either a DVI or VGA connector, depending on which your computer uses. There are some graphics cards in computers with an HDMI output connector. If you have a computer that offers an HDMI video output then you can use an HDMI cable to connect it directly to any HDTV. The HDMI cable will carry both the picture and the audio signal, this way there will be no need to run an additional 2.5mm phono cable for sound.

In conclusion, there are plenty of LCD / LED televisions on the market today that can serve adequately as a computer monitor. The combined functionality has it's advantages. When selecting a television to use as a computer monitor, look for one with the DVI connector, HDMI 1080i resolution, quick response time and low input lag delay value.