New TV as computor monitor

A TV will never be as good as a dedicated monitor.
Saying you have used one for X amount of time without any further context means nothing.
I occasionally look at a web page or two on my TV, but, I would not say I have used the TV as a PC monitor.

RumRat wrote: »

A TV will never be as good as a dedicated monitor.
Saying you have used one for X amount of time without any further context means nothing.
I occasionally look at a web page or two on my TV, but, I would not say I have used the TV as a PC monitor.

I've been using a full HD 22" Samsung TV as my monitor for about 5 years, the other week I upgraded to a 26" full HD Samsung TV. I use it for around 8 hours 3 or 4 days a week for work (software developer) and for fun (gaming, video editing, general web browsing). I'd agree that buying a cheap TV and expecting it to be as good as a dedicated monitor is likely to be a disappointment for someone who uses the computer a lot, but if you choose the right TV it can work very well. Equally, if it's only for occasional use then you might not care about a cheap TV's shortcomings as a monitor.

Ganga wrote: »

What are the shortcomings of using a tv as a computor monitor? is the picture quality not as good? any information is welcomed.

TVs are really designed for you to view images at a distance. The problems occur when you then sit half a metre away and start trying to read your emails. The text can appear blurry and unreadable - either because you've picked a TV where the highest resolution is not appropriate to the size of the screen (e.g. a 30"+ HD ready a.k.a. 720p TV would be a terrible choice) or because the TV is trying to make what it's displaying look nice and applying anti-aliasing, which works great on images but makes text too blurry to read easily. So if you want to use a TV, don't get a giant one, and don't get a cheap one. I would stick at 28" down and make sure that it is full HD - capable of displaying a resolution of at least 1920x1080.

The other issue is one that more affects hardcore PC gamers (which I'm guessing you are not) and that is picture lag. I won't get in to that, as I don't think it is a concern here.

Getting a TV that meets the requirements of being a good monitor is definitely going to cost you more than a cheap TV of the same size - e.g. I spent £200 on the 26" TV I use as a monitor, but for the same money I could have bought a perfectly sufficient 32" TV that would have made a terrible monitor. So you need to consider how much screen space you want to have to watch the football on versus how much money you want to spend on this!

societys_child wrote: »

OK . .
The large screen tv I use is mounted on the wall in my lounge. I lounge on my sofa, 5 to 7 feet away, I'm using it now to write this, just the same as I have done for years, all the usual pc stuff, banking, email, surfing, image enhancement, everything normal people use a pc for, g'kids use it for games when they visit. There's 3x 10" tablets knocking about, so people can do their 'own thing' anyway.

When anyone (family, visitors etc) want to search or look anything up, anyone in the room can be involved if they want, don't watch telly, just use pc, it's our 'entertainment centre' so the large screen on the wall is the monitor for my main pc, almost permanently on, and does all I need.

Got others - pc upstairs (with a 23" monitor) which gets very little use, why would anyone want to go sit upstairs in the little bedroom, all on their own?
Another pc in the kitchen, with an old 32" flatscreen tv built into the wall units. doesn't get much use, but no problem to sit at the table ~4 feet away.

Is that enough context, not sure what you're looking for?

Calm down...
Thanks for the context.
If it does all you need then happy days. It's still not going to be as good as a decent dedicated monitor for longer working stints.
I've no doubt thousands of people use just their TV for their casual online needs. Wouldn't do for us all to be the same....:D
I won't enter into the bragging battle over what tech is in the house.:p
You enjoy your lounge on the sofa.;)

Ganga wrote: »

Thanks everybody for taking the time to reply,basically what i was looking for was a tv that i could watch sky football on away from the wife,as we only have a two bedroom house the spare room would e the lae t watch it but-in the spare room as well as a single bed for the grandchildren to stop over is my desk with a desktop comp with wireless keyboard and mouse and monitor so not a lot of room for a tv,if talktalk multi-room is anygood and the price is right i would like to watch tv in the spare room that is why i asked if a tv could replace the monitor that i am using now.

For your usage yes, definitely.:)