Monitor Vs TV

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khaleelda1

khaleelda1

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Hey Guys!

I'm in a bit of a pickle here, need to upgrade my 15inch Desktop monitor which sits in my living room.

Background:
I dont have a TV at home, nor do i have a DTH/Cable/Antenna running into my computer. Its a 6yr old desktop with 15'' HCL monitor, which is mainly used for watching youtube, movies, email, chatting (in that order). Viewing distance 8-10feet. After spending all those hours researching i have come to believe that, a Monitor is good for text and Video, whereas a tv is good for video and not soo good for text.

Problem:
Q1> a lcd tv OR a monitor
Q2> what size
The answer to both of above questions depends on price!
I am very comfortable paying 11K for Samsung P2350, but i have my budget approved upto 20K, so hence the question what options do i have?

Correct me if im wrong, i feel at 8-10 feet 720 and 1080 look almost the same?

So what i am saying is, by paying extra 10K (over P2350) can i get some vfm??

Future Plans: Later, i might go for a DTH, running through a tv tuner card. and beyond that, if i save enough money, would like to go for the whole home theatre setup :)

Not really sure if this is required, but posting it anyways:
1. Budget. 20K (Flexible upto 23K)

2. Viewing distance. - 8 - 10 feet

3. Sources/inputs such as HD DTH/consoles/stand-alone media players etc - should be able to connect my Desktop.

4. Preference for plasma TV/LCD TV/LED-LCD TV - LCD is fine assuming it is the cheapest of all.

5. Preference for brands - N.A

6. Willing to purchase it from the grey market? - YES :ohyeah:

7. Ambient lighting conditions of the room - Theres a window bang opposite to the display :(

8. Any other feature you are looking for such as 3D support on the HDTV, DLNA capabilities etc - Nothing specific

Help!
 
Viewsonic 27" LED from SMC at 24k or so.

or Viewsonic 27" LCD VA2702W from Amazon Direct for 17k including customs and shipping.
 
@rite: since i read your post y'day, i was thinking hard if 6K was justifiable for extra 4 inchs!! i need to go and see a 23'' side by side with 27'' to actually know the diff.

@pratikb: thanks for pointing this out.

>But i dont seem to find any reviews on this product anywhere!! also have heard some-not-soo-good things about tradus.in, so .....where is the grey market for TVs in mumbai? :)

>Also, different sites have different specs about this model!!! can you confirm if this is 720p or 1080p

one of the site says - HD Ready (1080p/1080i/720p) - i have no clue what that means :(

>from the spec sheet i feel connecting my PC to it should be a breeze

>no where is the contrast ratio & response time mentioned......should i be concerned

Thanks for all you help! really appreciated.
 
it is simple.

when it says HD ready they mean resolution is below 1080p.

this toshiba panel is 768p,which is very common in this price range.

its contrast ratio is 50000:1

and you should not bother about response time as it does not matter unless you play very much in action games.

hope this helps.
 
I would suggest go for a good and the biggest Full HD monitor in your budget...

Because TVs are not meant to be viewed from a close distance...

A TV will strain your eyes much more than a Monitor...

So again: go for a good and the biggest Full HD monitor in your budget...

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

The Viewsonic 27" LCD VA2702W seems nice, if available locally...

And its 17k too, well within budget...
 
Thats exactly the confusion i started with!!...hence the thread title.. :D

Just read todays paper, vijay sales is offering 32inch AOC LCD TV for 16K in exchange offer, only glitch is that i dont have a 21inch color tv to exchange!!!

Anyways will go and check out.
 
It would be better if u could grab a friends laptop (And a VGA/DVI whatever it has to HDMI Dongle) while going to see the TVs for a better comparison...

And the Shop keepers wont stop u from connecting ur laptop to check out the TV...

But again, TV is Excellent for Distant viewing (ie. Only Possible in case of Movies and Games)

But reading works becomes hard (Actually playing Sims 3 on my TV is not easy for me since we need to read stuff constantly while playing...)

I would still suggest a Monitor, But do take a laptop while going the see the TV...

(Laptop not a Netbook, since Netbooks wont be able to Handle Full HD properly...)
 
khaleelda1 said:
Just read todays paper, vijay sales is offering 32inch AOC LCD TV for 16K in exchange offer, only glitch is that i dont have a 21inch color tv to exchange!!!
Anyways will go and check out.
Click to expand...
Based on how much you save with the exchange offer, you might want to get a dirt cheap second / third / nth hand 21inch from some TV repair shop :D
 
Thanks for that tip! will def take my laptop along.

To tell a lil more about my usage, i will be using this screen for just reading mails, chatting etc.....no hardcore surfing/reading

do you think 10-15mins of reading(at a strech) on a LCD tv would be straineous too?

(Rest of the time it will be used for watching movies, youtube, etc)

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---
agantuk said:
based on how much you save with the exchange offer, you might want to get a dirt cheap second / third / nth hand 21inch from some tv repair shop :d
Click to expand...
lolzzzzzzzzzz
 
khaleelda1 said:
Thanks for that tip! will def take my laptop along.

To tell a lil more about my usage, i will be using this screen for just reading mails, chatting etc.....no hardcore surfing/reading

do you think 10-15mins of reading(at a strech) on a LCD tv would be straineous too?

(Rest of the time it will be used for watching movies, youtube, etc)
Click to expand...
Umm u will have to sit near the TV to read stuff...

But u can zoom in ur browser to make everything Bigger...

So if u do only 15 mins reading and 45 mins Videos/ Movies, Then get a TV...

Lack of sleep or 6-7 hrs at a stretch can cause a problem if u take a TV...
 
khaleelda1 said:
Thanks for that tip! will def take my laptop along.

To tell a lil more about my usage, i will be using this screen for just reading mails, chatting etc.....no hardcore surfing/reading

do you think 10-15mins of reading(at a strech) on a LCD tv would be straineous too?

(Rest of the time it will be used for watching movies, youtube, etc)

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---


lolzzzzzzzzzz
Click to expand...
Having very recently tried to use a LCD TV (Samsung LA32D5000) as a Monitor and Monitor (Dell 2007WFP) as TV, I can tell you my experience

LCD TV as Monitor

1. For browsing/reading stuff, LCD TV pretty good. You just need to adjust the brightness/back light levels and may be you have calibrate Clear type for you display. No Eye strain no matter how much time you read.

2. Playing games or watching videos up close (3~3.5 Ft) is not good at all. Will result in Eye strain no matter how much you try to adjust the settings. The picture quality is also not as good as a Monitor at such close distance. I had an optical migraine after playing a game for 45 min.

3. 32" is a bit too large for such close viewing distance. It will result in neck pain. 30" is the max one can use for close viewing and I think 27/28" would be perfect.

Monitor as TV

1. Using Monitor as TV works very well for medium level of distances like 6~9 Ft. The experience of using on my 2007WFP as TV was much better than the 20" CRT that we were using earlier.

2. Not many settings you have to mess with. Just adjust the brightness and contrast.

2. For sound, you will need to setup external speakers. (This is true even for LCD TV. In built speakers are so crap and I had to setup external speakers even for TV use).

If you are looking for TV + Monitor, I would suggest a Monitor (preferably 27"). If your viewing distance is too much, a Monitor is perfect for TV use if it has the requisite inputs. Do note that my display is an IPS Panel. Not too sure if a TN Panel Monitor will fare so well.
 
HD is a group of resolution standards (conditions apply):

720p = 1280 x 720

1080i = 1920 x 1080 (Interlaced) It is used by most LCD TVs

1080p = 1920 x 1080 (Progressive) It is used by all LCD Monitors; remember a monitor can also display 1080i. I have Dell U2311h IPS Monitor it is Full HD 1080p. A 720p resolution movie is much better than 853 x 480 resolution movie and 1080p looks fantastic on my monitor.

"HD Ready" term usually refers to any display that is capable of accepting and displaying a high-definition signal at either 720p, 1080i or 1080p using a component video or digital input, but does not have a built-in HD-capable tuner.

Size:



Bigger and Better if used for Movies.

A 20 inch is sufficient for email and youtube videos

Monitor with TV Tuner: You may go for Full HD Monitor with TV Tuner (1080p). Now these days DTH services such as TATA etc. provide Full HD connection, these set-top box has HDMI which can be connected with Monitors having HDMI port even if the monitor doesn’t has TV Tuner inbuilt.

I also have Panasonic 24 inch LCD TV. I connected it with my LCD TV I found out that Movies looks fine on my LCD Monitors but text display is not good even at default resolution; because it uses 1366 x 768 on 24 inch screen where as monitor uses 1080p on 23 inch screen that's why Monitor is good for Text Reading. For movies both are fine. Dell U2311h cannot be connected to Full HD set top box as it doesn’t has HDMI although movies looks good from 8-10 feet distance.
 
Thanks MrRig, That was really informative!

So far i think i have realised, for my given use, it dosent matter if i buy a monitor or a tv.

Also, i have learnt that, at 27-32 INCH range TVs are cheaper than monitors.

So, currently i am looking for a descent LCD full HD TV under 20K. :)

(TE makes life so simple!!! thanks to all the members)
 
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