Is it Possible to use A Flat Screen Tv as a monitor?

[Touch The Universe]

I'm not tech savy in the least so I'm maybe asking a silly question. I'm in the market for a new monitor when the thought came to me that is it much more cheaper to just go with a flat screen tv if possible. So, is it possible? What connections? Plus's, minus's?

[Touch The Universe]

[Acid Mitch]

Some TV's have VGA, etc inputs for connecting computers. You'd be able to find such info in the specs of whatever model of tv your looking at.
You should also make sure it can do the resolution you want to run things at.

[Touch The Universe]

Some TV's have VGA, etc inputs for connecting computers. You'd be able to find such info in the specs of whatever model of tv your looking at.
You should also make sure it can do the resolution you want to run things at.

Also HDMI can connect to computer

[Roman Empire]

Some TV's have VGA, etc inputs for connecting computers. You'd be able to find such info in the specs of whatever model of tv your looking at.
You should also make sure it can do the resolution you want to run things at.

Also HDMI can connect to computer

So there´s your answer. HDMI works great for connecting your computer to your TV, and if your computer does not have HDMI out, buy a graphics card that´s got it or look into whether if any of the outs on your graphics card easily can be converted to HDMI with a cheap adapter.

Best Regards

Roman Empire

[Touch The Universe]

Indeed, I did some research after posting. Maybe someone will find it useful now. Cheers

[aciddose]

A 4k display is not a great idea due to the issues with pixel pitch. 200 is "okay" and possible to cope with (a doubling) but once you get near 300 it just isn't possible to deal with a majority of the software out there.

Another issue is the amount of memory and power required to drive such a display. You will absolutely need specialized cards to do so. It isn't possible to use DVI, and existing HDMI specs widely in use won't pull it off at the usual 60hz although they may manage at 30hz.

I'm currently using a 2k at 120 pitch and if I had some extra cash laying around I'd consider a 4k at 220, although with my current video card it wouldn't be possible to actually drive the 4k display. So I'm looking at about $1000 of stuff all together to use 4k at 220, and then windows 7 doesn't scale DPI correctly although win10 copes slightly better. When I looked at this I couldn't justify it.

Although if I could find a 2k monitor at ~16 - 20 inches that would be awesome (166 - 224 pitch) I've settled on a 25" for now. I wasn't able to find such a display other than on a tablet, the latest surface pro (3, 4) have this type of display.

Contrast remains absolutely terrible for even the most expensive LCD monitors. I'm hoping we'll see some improvement with full per-pixel OLED screens in 2020s.

Try to remember that the range of your vision in which high resolution actually matters is very narrow. Sitting ~2 feet from a display at 25" only the edges/corners are missing and it feels entirely acceptable. At that point however you are very near where you won't actually notice any difference above pitches much more than 300dpi.

You can buy a huge monitor/TV and sit ten/twenty feet away, although this doesn't make a whole lot of sense for a desktop. It might make sense if you're sitting on a sofa or office chair with a wireless keyboard and mouse although this is not something (wireless) that the more hardcore users will generally put up with.

At the more typical 1 - 4 foot range for a desktop with a keyboard and mouse and so on in front of you there is a limit for the screen size. Since you can only see clearly in a radius of 30 degrees or less there is really no point in sitting only 3 feet from a 50" screen.

It is even hard to justify the more typical small 32" 4k displays on the market right now and they don't get much smaller. I think I've seen a couple 28" 4k displays.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

buys a huge 4k monitor, yet doesn't isolate his monitors from the desk or the wall

[Touch The Universe]

Thanks, I think Ill look more into some 2k flat screens and hopefully itll be less strain on the computer and cheaper. Can you recomend anything that would work well as a monitor?

[VitaminD]

Most videocards made in the past 4-5 years should be able to handle 4k resolution for 2d apps (that is, non-games)

I'm using a 39" 1080p (1920x1080) screen via HDMI in my bedroom as my tv/PC for general surfing and light gaming. Works great.

You wouldn't want a large sized screen like this and just sit a foot or two away like you would a traditional monitor -- the screen would be too large.

My TV is about 7ft away it isn't an issue. I use a wireless keyboard and mouse. But my application is different than yours.

You'd want a 22 to 26" HDTV instead.. so the pixel pitch shouldn't really be a major issue... unless you are working with 3d graphics or photography. Ensure you don't get a 720p screen and you should be OK.

4k res on a screen that small would be overkill imo.

Just get a videocard with an HDMI output and you're good to go. I'd recommend one with at least a gig of ram though.

[koalaboy]

I sit 1.5' away from a 40" 4K monitor as my main screen - admittedly, I need glasses for work but never wear them at home, so I have a big screen instead. (Philips BDM4065UC)

I run windows at 200% DPI, so all non-hi-dpi software just looks like 1080, whereas apps that are more aware offer more detailed resolution but are just as usable.

The important point is that this is a monitor, running over displayport 1.2 for the 60Hz. You *can* use a 4K TV, but it needs to be HDMI 2 (you rarely get displayport on TVs) otherwise you'll be stuck at 24/30Hz, which may not be acceptable.

The other important point, is that unless the screen is large enough, or you sit close enough, 4K isn't worth it, and this applies for general use and not just computers: http://carltonbale.com/does-4k-resolution-matter/

[aciddose]

I have the opposite, I'm near-sighted so I need an extremely high pixel pitch to enable me to work without wearing glasses.

I'm needing glasses at 12" from the screen. ("You're damn-near blind!") So I need a pitch more like ~600 in a 12" screen or higher to reach the limits of my vision.

I've talked to doctors about replacement lenses (artificial lenses inserted your eyes) and laser etching the existing lenses, they all recommend it is far more advantageous to work with the issue rather than "fix it" because I actually have incredible near vision that is impossible for the majority of people. I'll never need reading glasses, even at age 132.

I can very clearly see the individual pixels and their component parts (R/G/B dots) on a "retina" display while using it.