Re: Use HDTV as monitor?


"Dave" <noway@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:fpcmba$388$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<me@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:vskjr31djmn7u4osc0edh3lu54lo3ciq9d@xxxxxxxxxx
I can't decide between getting a big 24" or so computer
monitor and using that for TV watching (install tuner
card in desktop) and computing vs getting a 26" HDTV
and using THAT for TV watching and computing?

Is it a wash? Or is there some fundamental diff that
makes one better over the other?


Yeah, there is a fundamental difference. It boils down to, HDTV monitors typically do not run at the extreme resolutions of computer monitors. Even if they are capable of doing so (in terms of number of pixels anyway), they are often crippled by internal electronics from actually doing so. Unless you buy a really high-end HDTV, the actual resolution that you will see from the computer will be less than ideal. This assumes that you can even find a resolution in your video card software that closely matches what the HDTV is looking for! This might involve a bit of manual tweaking, if it's possible at all.

In contrast, the computer monitor is made to be run at extreme resolutions to begin with. So when you try to display HDTV content on a PC monitor, this is actually (usually) a lower resolution than the monitor is made to handle. No problem! Like squeezing two small adults into an eight passenger minivan. Works quite well.

Or to put it simply...

You can pour a quart of water into a liter jug, but doing the opposite doesn't work so smoothly. Using an HDTV as a computer monitor is like pouring a liter of water into a quart jar. Are you willing to lose a bit of resolution and put up with text that might be a bit blurry? It can be done, but it's not suggested. It's better to have a computer monitor BE a

I've recently learned many of the HDTV devices are now being sold with PC interfaces. I don't know how that may or may not be pertinent to what Dave has explained as his comments made sense and may be why the weasels at Circuit City will not demo an HDTV with a PC connection as I've asked them to do when recently shopping for a new HDTV.

It may be more cost efficient --for the time being-- to buy a large format LCD computer monitor and a high quality TV card. The WinTV card that came with the HP Media Center m8200n PC I'm now using is nothing to brag about. The quality of the TV picture is very very poor when watching live TV.

.

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