Gaming monitor vs TV 27 January at 10:44AM edited 16 February at 8:36PM in Gaming MoneySaving 17 replies 552 views

Arsenal2019

Hi guys, after a bit of advice

**CONSOLE GAMING**

I am looking at buying a new tv, but am indecisive as to whether to get a TV or gaming monitor. 

I’m torn between the two and ideally do not want to pay more than £300. 

If I got a TV, I’d want it to be around 43-50INCH and 4k.

If I got a gaming monitor, I’d want it to be smaller and still, good quality picture. But with gaming monitors, do they come with TV aerials to enable watching tv if wanted?

I’m not a huge dedicated gamer, but I do play quite a lot (COD/Fifa/GTA)

What would be best for me?

Tia

dekaspace1

Monitors have the far better picture, however there is no aerial socket on them for tv and often the built in speakers are so bad they are near useless, and some don't even have speakers. 

You can watch tv/sky etc on it via a hdmi port thats no issue it just won't have a built in connector for a regular aerial.

A_Lert

I expect you will get better picture and less lag from a monitor. But you'll need to use a separate box to provide TV to it.

ivtechcivic

£300 for a 4k TV?
I think you might be looking to get a Hisense kind of Chinese branded TV. 
Or you go for Toshiba or Sharp which Tesco sell their 4k TV for 40inch.
The only way you can get a good quality 4k well known branded tv is to get it from gumtree or Facebook.

I managed to snag up a 4k Samsung tv 55inch for £200 used for 1 year by a Korean guy. 

Bigphil1474

I'd personally go for a TV. More flexibility, although picture might not be as sharp, on a 4k TV I doubt you'd notice. A quick Google would tell you that Currys are listing 22 different 4k Ultra HD TV's for under £300 (JVC, Toshiba, LG, Hisense, Sharp, Logic, Toshiba etc.) Some not in stock. Not that I am recommending any of these or Curry's either. I think where you will struggle is getting a 30" 4k TV, as bigger ones seem to be more readily available. Best place to start is probably Richer Sounds - they are having an open box clearance, and are usually pretty good anyway.

Arslan174

i think about gaming monitor and i prefer for 4k, because of his display and color sharpness. 

RecoveringAndy

The key detail that your post is missing is... how are far are you going to sit away from this TV / monitor?

If you're sitting at the usual TV distance (+6ft or so), then there's little point in buying anything more than a 720p resolution TV at that size. You just won't be able to see the difference. The panels used by TV manufacturers are produced according to demand. For that reason, I'd be surprised if you could even find a 4k 32" TV.

If you're sat up close (ie at a desk), then you will be able to see the difference. For the reasons mentioned above, you'd be wanting to get a 4k resolution monitor. 

Exemplar

I console game, I bought a JVC (Vestel) set from Currys. 40" was £300. Very happy. Yes you will get a better picture/ response times from a monitor, but I mostly play lying 10' away on a sofa so it's great for me. 

Arsenal2019

I think I’m more leaning towards a gaming minitor.
-
I am torn between a HD or 4K. I only play GTA, FIFA and COD Warzone. 
Due to the fact I am wanting a monitor, I am probably looking at a size of 20-28 inch i presume.

What would be better for me?

dan958

If you are sitting far away from it, just get a TV, it just cuts out all the faff.
Monitors won't come with a tv areal, and quote a lot of new gaming monitors don't even have speakers.

Monitors are good when you want high refresh rate, low input lag, and high resolution - which is wasted on a console (to have all 3 at once)

teachfast

Everyone missing the point here.  Two key facts:

1) A TV has a television tuner in it, which takes a signal from the aerial and turns it into TV on your screen.  Monitors don't have this so you would need something like a Freeview box to turn it into something you can watch from an aerial.  Alternatively you may be able to use apps on your console, an Amazon Firestick or a Google Chromecast to stream a signal from various TV-like providers.  Some TV channels (but not all, by any means) have an app that may work on some or all of these devices, then you wouldn't need an aerial or a freeview box to use a monitor.  Also, monitors often do not have their own speakers, whereas TVs always do, so you do need to consider where your sound is coming from if you are watching TV.

2) The massive advantage of a monitor for gaming is the refresh speed.  TVs typically refresh more slowly and, for similar money, you can get a monitor capable of refreshing much quicker, which helps in fast gaming a lot.  However, for similar money you'll pay in screen size.  A brand new 120 Hz refresh rate 32" monitor will be about as much as a 50" 4k TV.