I need help choosing a decent budget gaming TV/Monitor

[TripleSMoon]

So, when I moved into my own apartment in August, I had to get a gaming TV for my modern consoles. Since I was broke, I picked up one of the Sony Playstation 3D displays (it was only $120). But alas, as I expected, it died recently, and I'm looking to get a more durable, but not too expensive gaming TV to replace it. Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about TVs and was hoping you guys could give me advice on what to get. Here are the facts...

• My budget is $500 or less.
• Low input lag, lack of motion blur, and a wide viewing angle are important to me. saturation, brightness, etc, not so much.
• I want the TV to be able to output 480P, 720p, and 1080p. No other resolutions matter to me.
• I want at least 1 HDMI port (preferably 2 or 3) and one component port. I don't care about DVI or anything else. The main reason I want component is so I can use the original Wii to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Project M with GameCube controllers.
• The consoles I'll be using are PS3, 360, Wii, and Wii U
• I don't want it too big. 24-32 inches feels about perfect
• I would like the set to have integrated speakers if at all possible. I'm not a huge audiophile, so as long as it sounds as good as a typical set of TV speakers sound, that's fine with me.
• I'm incredibly interested in plasma since I've heard good things about the lack of motion blur, but I'm not against LCD or LED either.

I know it sounds like a tall order, and I've been researching for a while and don't know what to do, thanks to my lack of knowledge. I was considering a Ben Q gaming monitor like this one, but almost $500 for a set with no component or speakers just feels like too much.

So, can anyone with the appropriate knowledge help me? I'd really appreciate it.

 

[slingblade1170]

So, when I moved into my own apartment in August, I had to get a gaming TV for my modern consoles. Since I was broke, I picked up one of the Sony Playstation 3D displays (it was only $120). But alas, as I expected, it died recently, and I'm looking to get a more durable, but not too expensive gaming TV to replace it. Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about TVs and was hoping you guys could give me advice on what to get. Here are the facts...

• My budget is $500 or less.
• Low input lag, lack of motion blur, and a wide viewing angle are important to me. saturation, brightness, etc, not so much.
• I want at least 1 HDMI port (preferably 2 or 3) and one component port. I don't care about DVI or anything else. The main reason I want component is so I can use the original Wii to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Project M with GameCube controllers.
• The consoles I'll be using are PS3, 360, Wii, and Wii U
• I don't want it too big. 24-32 inches feels about perfect
• I would like the set to have integrated speakers if at all possible. I'm not a huge audiophile, so as long as it sounds as good as a typical set of TV speakers sound, that's fine with me.
• I'm incredibly interested in plasma since I've heard good things about the lack of motion blur, but I'm not against LCD or LED either.

I know it sounds like a tall order, and I've been researching for a while and don't know what to do, thanks to my lack of knowledge. I was considering a Ben Q gaming monitor like this one, but almost $500 for a set with no component or speakers just feels like too much.

So, can anyone with the appropriate knowledge help me? I'd really appreciate it.

Others will agree & disagree but I say go with Vizio. They are good tvs for a good price, I own 3 of them, two 32'' tvs and a 50''. I play Xbox 360 and Wii U and have HD Directv and all of it looks great.

 

[Sicklyboy]

Others will agree & disagree but I say go with Vizio. They are good tvs for a good price, I own 3 of them, two 32'' tvs and a 50''. I play Xbox 360 and Wii U and have HD Directv and all of it looks great.

I've got an older 26" LCD Vizio (VA26LHDTV10T) and I absolutely love it. 2x HDMI, 1x Component, 1x Composite, 1x USB, 1x Coaxial, 1x VGA+3.5mm audio. My little brother just got a 32" Vizio slim LED (not sure what model) and that's even nicer, though the viewing angle is a bit narrower than mine (at a rough 60 degrees laterally I start to get some washout on the far edge on my screen. On his I'd give it probably 45-50 degrees and it starts to get dark).

I use mine for gaming (360, Wii, PC (primary display, secondary is a 1080p Hannspree HF225 22" LCD monitor)) and watching movies (720p BD rips) and I've got zero issues whatsoever with motion blur or input lag. It's a 60 Hz display.

Lateral viewing angle, like I said, is good IMO. Vertical viewing angle leaves a bit to be desired, though that tends to be par for the course with a lot of LCD and LED tvs that I've seen.

Onboard speakers exist, but I hate them. Granted, I hate any onboard speakers on TVs lately... I run a 5.1 stereo at my desk so I never use them. The onboard speakers, however, are pretty much on par with any other TV speakers.

All this is nice but this TV has been discontinued for around 2 years so you're not going to find it anywhere. I'm honestly just backing Vizio as a viable brand more than anything, me and all of my friends that have a display from them are extremely satisfied.

 

[the_randomizer]

^This. I have a 32" Vizio, has 3 x HDMI, 1 x component, PC audio in, and the have never had input lag issues

 

[trumpet-205]

I run a 5.1 stereo at my desk so I never use them.

5.1 stereo? I'm sorry but that makes no sense. It is either 5.1 surround or 2.0 stereo.

I find it really odd that people were recommending Vizio TV for input lag sensitive gamer, since they usually are on the high side (especially if it is 480i). I recommend buying a PC monitor in this case, since they has much lower lag than TV. For Wii you can use one of those Wii2HDMI adapter. Those will do a decent job of transcoding video signal.

 

[Sicklyboy]

5.1 stereo? I'm sorry but that makes no sense. It is either 5.1 surround or 2.0 stereo.

I find it really odd that people were recommending Vizio TV for input lag sensitive gamer, since they usually are on the high side (especially if it is 480i). I recommend buying a PC monitor in this case, since they has much lower lag than TV. For Wii you can use one of those Wii2HDMI adapter. Those will do a decent job of transcoding video signal.

A 5.1 stereo receiver. Yes, it's a 5.1 surround sound stereo system; 5.1 stereo is much shorter and I believe most who read that understand the configuration I was trying to convey.

 

[trumpet-205]

A 5.1 stereo receiver. Yes, it's a 5.1 surround sound stereo system; 5.1 stereo is much shorter and I believe most who read that understand the configuration I was trying to convey.

Are you referring to receiver that has dual zone output (both 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo switchable output)?

Again there is NO such thing as 5.1 stereo. You either have surround or you don't. Most surround receiver these days have options to specify distance between speakers and listener.

 

[the_randomizer]

5.1 stereo? I'm sorry but that makes no sense. It is either 5.1 surround or 2.0 stereo.

I find it really odd that people were recommending Vizio TV for input lag sensitive gamer, since they usually are on the high side (especially if it is 480i). I recommend buying a PC monitor in this case, since they has much lower lag than TV. For Wii you can use one of those Wii2HDMI adapter. Those will do a decent job of transcoding video signal.

If he's on a budget, which he is, I don't know if a monitor is an option, and in the OP, he needs to have at least one HDMI input (possibly more) and component input, which PC monitors typically don't have and would require another adapter (extra money he has to spend), and then the Wii HDMI adapter, more $$$ to spend. Vizio isn't the best, no, but it's not the worst or as bad as Westinghouse, Sansui or Coby; I haven't had any major issues with lag, like, at all.

 

[Sicklyboy]

Are you referring to receiver that has dual zone output (both 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo switchable output)?

Again there is NO such thing as 5.1 stereo. You either have surround or you don't. Most surround receiver these days have options to specify distance between speakers and listeners.

Yes. It's a Yamaha RX-V371. It's a 5.1 surround sound AV receiver. It has the capability to switch between full 5.1 surround audio and 2.0 stereo audio output over all 5.1 channels.

I know that you know full well what I'm talking about. Is there anything else that I worded improperly that you'd like to nitpick, or can we move past the semantics and resume discussion of OP's thread where I was simply stating that I don't worry much about TV speakers personally because I own a 5.1 surround AV receiver that also has the capability to output 2.0 stereo audio over all channels, but considering that, the speakers my TV has are on-par with other TVs?

 

[grossaffe]

Vizio's displays have very good picture for the price, though the audio has something left to be desired. I got a free 2.1 speaker system that I hooked up to mine that pretty solves that issue. Only problem I've noticed with audio going through the TV to my 2.1 speaker system is playing Twilight Princess inside the fire temple with the moving magnets, the sound gets really crackly, but when I completely bypass the TV and output directly from the Wii to the speakers the problem is non-existent, which implies the audio amp may not be the best quality.

I think Vizio will probably be fine for your needs, though, and you should be able to nab one well under budget, so you could always choose to buy some cheap speakers if you find the Vizio's speakers not to your liking.

 

[FAST6191]

For the record even with the suspect warranties in the US August should still see you within it, assuming it was not second hand of course.

I had a quick look around and there may be some fixes in the works but it does not look like capacitors or something truly basic.

 

[TripleSMoon]

For Wii you can use one of those Wii2HDMI adapter. Those will do a decent job of transcoding video signal.

I considered various different Wii2HDMI/component-to-HDMI adapters, but they all introduce quite a bit of lag, according to reviews I've read, so I'm avoiding those. Otherwise, I would have no problem with an HDMI-only setup.

Anyway, thanks for all the responses guys! I'll definitely be researching each and every one of these. In the meantime, if you have more to say, please keep the responses coming!

EDIT: Btw, I totally forgot to mention in the OP that I want the TV to be able to output in 480p, 720p, and 1080p. No other resolutions matter to me.

 

[TripleSMoon]

Ok, so after some more research, I think I'm going to settle on this TV right here. What do you guys think? The only thing that bugs me is no matter where I look, I can't find anything telling me what the input lag is like. Some people complain its high, others say it's not bad. It has a gaming mode, though.

Also, should I go refurbished or new? I know new might be a safer bet, but refurbished is $150 cheaper...

 

[TripleSMoon]

Any feedback at all? I'm going to buy the TV around 3pm EST today, unless someone has a compelling reason I shouldn't.

 

[trumpet-205]

Yes. It's a Yamaha RX-V371. It's a 5.1 surround sound AV receiver. It has the capability to switch between full 5.1 surround audio and 2.0 stereo audio output over all 5.1 channels.

That's not what I mean when I said dual zone output. Yours is an entry level receiver that cannot do dual zone output. But I do get it now when you said "5.1 stereo", you meant switching between 5.1 and 2.0. I'm merely confused because there is no such terminology as 5.1 stereo in AV world.

If he's on a budget, which he is, I don't know if a monitor is an option, and in the OP, he needs to have at least one HDMI input (possibly more) and component input, which PC monitors typically don't have and would require another adapter (extra money he has to spend), and then the Wii HDMI adapter, more $$$ to spend. Vizio isn't the best, no, but it's not the worst or as bad as Westinghouse, Sansui or Coby; I haven't had any major issues with lag, like, at all.

Usually a monitor + input switches + Wii HDMI adapter will NOT be more expensive than a TV. Take this monitor for example, where lag is only 7 ms,

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-23-Inch-LED-lit-Monitor/dp/B00B3FTM7S

When you add the other stuff, it'll come out less than three hundred dollars. I'm not sure how much lag that Wii HDMI adapter will add, but I imagine around 30 ms.

Any feedback at all? I'm going to buy the TV around 3pm EST today, unless someone has a compelling reason I shouldn't.

According to this http://www.displaylag.com/display-database/

The input lag is 38 ms for that TV. That's actually good for a Vizio TV, since they are usually much higher than that. Still higher than your average PC monitor, but good enough for HD (not sure about SD since TV has to scale, meaning additional lag time).

 

[TripleSMoon]

According to this http://www.displaylag.com/display-database/

The input lag is 38 ms for that TV. That's actually good for a Vizio TV, since they are usually much higher than that. Still higher than your average PC monitor, but good enough for HD (not sure about SD since TV has to scale, meaning additional lag time).

Would it have to scale for ED (480p)?

 

[trumpet-205]

Would it have to scale for ED (480p)?

Yes. If a TV max resolution is 1080p, it has to scale 720p, 480p, and 480i (with de-interlacing). 720p scaling usually add negligible amount of lag.

 

[grossaffe]

Ok, so after some more research, I think I'm going to settle on this TV right here. What do you guys think? The only thing that bugs me is no matter where I look, I can't find anything telling me what the input lag is like. Some people complain its high, others say it's not bad. It has a gaming mode, though.

Also, should I go refurbished or new? I know new might be a safer bet, but refurbished is $150 cheaper...

The gaming mode for in the picture settings is there for the purpose of reducing lag. I haven't noticed any lag that affects gameplay on my Vizio, but then again, mine is only 720p, so I guess there's a little bit less scaling for 480p signals. And personally, I wouldn't go with a refurb on this.

 

[slingblade1170]

Any feedback at all? I'm going to buy the TV around 3pm EST today, unless someone has a compelling reason I shouldn't.

If you haven't already purchased it, go for it. Beautiful TV.

 

[TripleSMoon]

If you haven't already purchased it, go for it. Beautiful TV.

Are you speaking as someone who owns it? If so, what kind of games do you play (this question is directed at everyone)?