Hardware TV as a Monitor...

[Gohobojoe]

Well to be specific, a 32 inch LED TV from which I will sitting less then a meter away from.

I told myself 4 years ago that 4 years later I would think about getting a game-playing-oriented PC to replace my gaming laptop. So yea, the TV's there for the PS3 and Wii and anything else that I may get in the future.

There's also the issue of my laptop not going into sleep mode correctly and forcing me to do forced shut down. It's tilting me towards building my own PC, but I'm blaming the problem on my need to have 3 chrome windows on with 40 tabs each.

How good will it be to be using the TV under these conditions and also... Is it possible to not use the entire screen? Like is it possible to be using 22 inches of the 32 inches?

 

[moerik]

A TV can work as a computer monitor as long as both devices support HDMI input and output, for the TV and the PC respectively.
When using the TV, it is underscanning (TV compensation technique to retain picture quality over satellite or cable due to loss from interference), the TV does this automatically and can be configured in the TV settings on certain models, if it is not present with your TV you can reconfigure this in the Graphical Control Panel interface with your GPU's main manufacturer; Nvidia, AMD or Intel, depending on PC. In the control panel you can adjust the resolution to fit the TV as well as the amount, or ratio (X and Y axes based) the outputted signal will occupy. This is possible under the Intel Control Panel as I have done so before.
It is essentially possible, but further instructions will require additional input from you as to which GPU vendor, Nvidia, AMD or Intel.
Another thing to note with TV's is the pixel-density, by that I mean how many pixels per square inch. TV's were originally designed to be seen from a sofa from a distance, presumably 2 ~ 6 meters. As any closer the image will appear 'jagged' or blocky. With your 32-inch TV this should not be a problem as long as you have a 1080p TV screen, unless of course that is of no problem for you.

 

[Celice]

I had a Vizio 32 a few years back that I used a DVI-RGB converter on, and I got a pretty clear and solid picture at its native resolution for PC displays.

Using an HDMI cord, however, resulted in grainy, "muzzled" pixels, giving the entire image a JPEG-like quality. Even if I tried displaying at the native resolution supported by the monitor, rather than something like 1080p, I would still get this ugly look.

That's my bit of experience, if it helps you decide anything.

 

[Originality]

Most TVs these days supports VGA(RGB) or DVI input and have specific settings (like disabling post processing) to display PC resolutions properly (meaning sharp readable display, and not the JPEG look that plagued many older TVs). HDMI is actually a slightly different story since many TVs will not recognise it as a PC display and will apply all of its usual post processing features that in effect worsen a PC display quality.

As moerik said, there are usually settings in the PC and/or the TV to fiddle with to fix these things.

 

[spotanjo3]

I am not sure if this is the right place to ask for help.. Three questions:

Look at the black one on the right which I used all the time to view download movies from PC DESKTOP to TV HD. I no longer used it because I want to use yellow one to HD TV.. Is that possible ? What equipment ?

OR

I also have ACER HD monitor with DVI as well.. so should I use the Professional Cable DVI- Dual Link Male to HDMI Female Adapter so I can use movie from desktop PC to Sony 50" HDTV ?

And also...

I am looking for the equipment to play PS3 games from HDTV to Acer HD Monitor that come with DVI so I dont want to bother my roommate to watch the favorite Sony 50" HDTV channels.

Please answer three questions so I can get two or three equipments if I have to. Thanks.

 

[Fishaman P]

Look at the black one on the right which I used all the time to view download movies from PC DESKTOP to TV HD. I no longer used it because I want to use yellow one to HD TV.. Is that possible ? What equipment ?

Not really sure what the question is. That port is S-Video. It's an analog output, capable of either 240p60 or 480i60. Not sure what the deal is in Europe, but it doesn't matter for you.

S-Video looks sharper than composite, but is far inferior to VGA, DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort.
It is, however, useful for using a CRT television as a monitor, e.g. for gaming.

EDIT: That's actually S-Video in if I'm looking at this diagram correctly. Huh. Is that DVI-in too?

OR
I also have ACER HD monitor with DVI as well.. so should I use the Professional Cable DVI- Dual Link Male to HDMI Female Adapter so I can use movie from desktop PC to Sony 50" HDTV ?

Again, not too sure what the question is, but that setup will give you a picture. Sound will have to be routed another way.

And also...
I am looking for the equipment to play PS3 games from HDTV to Acer HD Monitor that come with DVI so I dont want to bother my roommate to watch the favorite Sony 50" HDTV channels.

From what I've read, this won't work. The PS3 encrypts its HDMI Out, and DVI adapters don't supports this decryption (AFAIK).

 

[spotanjo3]

No, that is not DVI-in but what is it called ? What is it for ?

Okay.. is there a way I can play PS3 games to ACER HD Monitor that come with DVI ?

And

It will give me a video but no sound ? What is other routed please ? I want to watch download movies straight from PC DESKTOP to HDTV. Please give me everything so I can buy something.

 

[Duo8]

Something like this happened when I output 720p to my 720p TV: (The picture is perfectly in the center though)

I had to use 1360x768, and still missing 3-4 px on the sides.

 

[FAST6191]

Something like this happened when I output 720p to my 720p TV: (The picture is perfectly in the center though)

I had to use 1360x768, and still missing 3-4 px on the sides.

Are you stating a problem or asking for help Duo8?

If asking for help then wander into your graphics card control panel and look for the "overscan" options and fiddle with those. I can not tell what graphics card you have from that sceenshot so

ATI
http://blog.unhandledexception.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/ati-set-overscan.png

Nvidia
http://assets.overclock.net.s3.amazonaws.com/0/06/06e907bc_vbattach157448.jpeg

Intel should be something like
http://richardstk.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/intel-scaling.jpg

It varies slightly on linux though you do not appear to be using, may well be in the advanced/root/superuser versions and ATI are not so good for some desktop environments.

 

[Duo8]

Are you stating a problem or asking for help Duo8?

If asking for help then wander into your graphics card control panel and look for the "overscan" options and fiddle with those. I can not tell what graphics card you have from that sceenshot so

ATI
http://blog.unhandledexception.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/ati-set-overscan.png

Nvidia
http://assets.overclock.net.s3.amazonaws.com/0/06/06e907bc_vbattach157448.jpeg

Intel should be something like
http://richardstk.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/intel-scaling.jpg

It varies slightly on linux though you do not appear to be using, may well be in the advanced/root/superuser versions and ATI are not so good for some desktop environments.

I can't use the slider

BTW: TV as monitor is great for movies and games, not so great for web browsing.

 

[FAST6191]

I can't use the slider

BTW: TV as monitor is great for movies and games, not so great for web browsing.

You may or may not have to run it as an admin.

As for web browsing, assuming you have the "game mode/PC mode" of your TV activated (the odd upscaling can add an odd flickering effect even if the increased latency is not an issue), is quite doable and https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/font-size-and-zoom-increase-size-of-web-pages , https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/96810?hl=en-GB and http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-vista/zoom-in-on-a-webpage can help