An LCD TV to use with a PC?

quidsinquentin

Hi all

Can anyone tell me if one can use an LCD TV with a PC please?

My son needs a PC/monitor set up for Uni. He also 'needs' a TV for his room, and we're wondering if the two can be combined to save space & cost? i.e. have a TV that is also connected to his PC and also acts as a monitor?

I'm not remotely familiar with LCD TV's so I'm not clear if there are any issues with this.

Any info/links much appreciated.

Cheers all!

Apples2

You're better off the other way round.

Use a Monitor as a TV.

LCD TV's may look okay from a few feet away, but to use them as a monitor (even good ones) are pretty horrible to look at close up.

Just get a TV Tuner for the PC, either Internal or External USB

sillygoose

Most LCD TV's have a VGA input these days (even small £99 ones) and work just fine as a general computer monitor as well as a TV, I use my big TV as a monitor for the kids PC. Only problem is that TV's used as a monitor often have a slow refresh rate, not a problem unless your into high game playing. All this means is that its best to change the graphic setting on the computer to suit before connecting to the TV as its impossible to do if the TV can't display the computer output at its current setting. All easily done, what setting the TV can cope with in Computer mode will be in the TV manual.

Apples2

sillygoose wrote: »

Most LCD TV's have a VGA input these days (even small £99 ones) and work just fine as a general computer monitor as well as a TV,.

IMO opinion I would forget using VGA for anything other than showing a few photo's and such.

If an LCD TV is going to be used it really MUST be HDMI or the resolution will be so poor, you can hardly read the text on screen.

It would have to be a very good TV to work properly (1080)

zorrofox

Most of the major manufacturers now make monitors with a Freeview tuner built-in. Check that your son will receive Freeview at his location and voila!

quidsinquentin

Cheers guys - much stuff I didn't know and all helpful.

Will probably go for the larger monitor instead of the TV now.

Ta.:)

DatabaseError

My monitor died last week, so while I'm waiting for it to be repaired (3 yr warranty ) I'm using my caravan TV, which is a 22" technika from tesco, cost about £150 with freeview + dvd built in. Image quality is excellent (samsung panel), sound is better than from my monitor as this is a bit deeper to hold the rest of the electronics, so the speakers have a bit more space). Only issues I have are no DVI input (really unimportant), and the screen is quite bright (which would take me around 30 seconds to adjust ..if I could be bothered). Inputs on the side for aerial, component, s-video, scart, vga (pc) and hdmi, he could probably plug consoles and everything into something like this.

quidsinquentin

DatabaseError wrote: »

My monitor died last week, so while I'm waiting for it to be repaired (3 yr warranty ) I'm using my caravan TV, which is a 22" technika from tesco, cost about £150 with freeview + dvd built in. Image quality is excellent (samsung panel), sound is better than from my monitor as this is a bit deeper to hold the rest of the electronics, so the speakers have a bit more space). Only issues I have are no DVI input (really unimportant), and the screen is quite bright (which would take me around 30 seconds to adjust ..if I could be bothered). Inputs on the side for aerial, component, s-video, scart, vga (pc) and hdmi, he could probably plug consoles and everything into something like this.

So, do you think that the TV overall is better than the monitor with the PC?

bonzer

You can get most of Freeview on the net if that helps. Although you should check if the university policy allows streaming video as it may be blocked by some.

http://www.tvcatchup.com/

DatabaseError wrote: »

Only issues I have are no DVI input (really unimportant)

DVI and HDMI are largely electrically compatible. You can get adapters for one to the other.

DatabaseError

overall..yeah, I suppose the TV is the better option, I'm running at 1680x1050 which is a nice resolution for the screen size, the cost of this tv vs a monitor the same size isn't far different, maybe £30 more expensive, but that includes freeview + a dvd player. When my monitor returns my plan is to use both

@bonzer, yeah, i know i can convert from one to the other..already having to convert from dvi to vga, it's one of those unimportant minor irritations


...to put into perspective, many cheaper monitors also don't have DVI input

quidsinquentin

Could anyone give me their opinion on this TV/monitor please? http://www.svp.co.uk/technology/samsung-tft-p2270hd-22_samsung-01046.html

If it might be suitable for what I outlined above?

Cheers