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mrreet2001 wrote:

DO NOT USE A LCD TV as a monitor. It looks horrible.

...but, if you must, you can use an LCD computer monitor as a TV. That's not usually too bad.

I **guess** if the TV was at least 720p and a 17" tv or smaller and it had DVI or HDMI it would look OK. Still a real computer monitor would probably look better.

dvpierce wrote:

I have a Magnavox 15" "HDTV" that doubles as a 1024x768 VGA monitor.

It's a bit dim as a computer monitor, but it works fine with my mini, Gamecube, analog cable, etc., etc.

I've the same thing, hooked to a Mac Mini and an XBox. I'm surprised at how good it looks. Yeah, a bit dim on the mini, but good enough for DVD playback and light gaming -I was surprised to see that something like Fable was more than just playable at that size and screen res.

mrreet2001 wrote:

DO NOT USE A LCD TV as a monitor. It looks horrible.

I still agree with you mrreet. Currently, I've got a mini hooked up to my 32" Sharp Aquos via DVI and I would definitely not consider it usable as anything more than a media center. Maybe my standards are just high tho.

My biggest issue with it is that the TV signal and the computer signal look best at completely different calibrations. This TV doesn't allow different calibrations for different inputs so I have it calibrated as a TV and just deal with the computer's wonkyness. I did try to get the signal better for use as a computer and while I did get it better I could never get it to the color quality, brightness, and contrast I'm used to from a real computer monitor.

Mine is running at it's native 1366 X 768, unscaled, through high quality cable but I've also gotten to try this with a couple 1080 LG TVs. The higher res is definitely a plus but they still have the same color issues.

Toshiba 42 inch LCD 1920 by 1080.  HDMI connection.

More pixels is the key for a good monitor.

Looks real good to me.  Not perfect but very usable.  But I do sit about 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 meter) back from it.

Oh and set your mouse to maximum acceleration.

pottymouth wrote:

My biggest issue with it is that the TV signal and the computer signal look best at completely different calibrations. This TV doesn't allow different calibrations for different inputs so I have it calibrated as a TV and just deal with the computer's wonkyness. I did try to get the signal better for use as a computer and while I did get it better I could never get it to the color quality, brightness, and contrast I'm used to from a real computer monitor.

That's to be expected. IIRC monitors are calibrated to produce full black at 100% modulation, TVs at 75%- higher levels produce a 'blacker than black' image. This throws off brightness, contrast and color saturation. Computer hardware and software designed to receive TV signals compensate for this, but connected directly, values will be considerably off. Plus

dvpierce wrote:

Pixels the size of baseballs.

...that. Viewing distance bcomes very important.

There are lots of choices about how to feed a normal TV from your computer. I am trying to make the same decision myself.

How do you figure? I'd get a device, such as the eyeTV, plug it <i>into</i> my mac, use the composites to plug my ps2/wii/whatever into, and use my mac's screen as a display.

mrreet2001 wrote:

...that option is not very good for gaming as there is usually a lag.

QFT. Even the tiniest bit of lag is going to make gaming aggravating.

dvpierce wrote:

reece_james wrote:

mrreet2001 wrote:

DO NOT USE A LCD TV as a monitor. It looks horrible.

The 37" 1920x1080 DVI setup always works well!

MacMini + Acer DTV

Pixels the size of baseballs.

I think you'd find it's close to 72 dpi. (Where's Parah when you need him...)

37" 1920x1080 is about as large as you could go, without a higher resolution.

By comparison, most 1920x1200 monitors are 24"ers, 30" are 2560x1600.

pottymouth wrote:

More like 60, if my math is right. Actual dimensions of a 37 incher would be about 18.2 X 32.2. Not quite baseballs but nowhere near the 100-110 I've gotten used to with Apple displays.

Still, not unusable and certainly should not be dismissed. 37" Seems to be the happy medium. HL2 Episode 2 looks stunning on it. (Though the iMac averages 5fps when all said and done)