Use PC Monitor as HDTV?

Disclaimer: if you find ill-researched noob questions annoying please look away!

I'll take the rotten tomatoes if I can get a little help quickly! I did a real quick preliminary stab at researching my question but I'm in a pretty serious time crunch and hoping someone can give a quick easy answer.

I just made an impulse purchase of a Viewsonic VX2835wm 28" Wide 'Multifunction HD LCD Display' ($430 out the door at Circuit City). On the box it says that it will work as a PC monitor as well as a HDTV. Which I'm well aware that it can do. I'm personally confident of this product's ability to work well in either role.

But I may need to convince someone else of its ability to work well in the primary role of an HDTV. With that, I don't get much help from: the box, the instruction manual, the manufacturer's website, CNET, Amazon, etc. On Viewsonic's website it's listed under the section for PC monitors.

The most important question I need answered is this:

Is there a serious reason that this product's HDTV capabilities are downplayed? Or put another way, if this set is used primarily as an HDTV, will the experience be less than ideal?

Bottom line, I want to be honest and accurate when I pitch this thing.

The co-chair of the finance committee (Mrs. ddubb) doesn't know this thing is sitting in the basement. We really don't need it. Not sure if she'll decide to make use of it somewhere or make me sell it. She's more likely to want to use it as a TV.

If I need to sell it, my most likely customer base would respond much better to a 28" HDTV rather than a 28" PC monitor. So I'd want to advertise it as an HDTV that can also function as a PC monitor. But most of the advertising and documentation has those functions flip-flopped. One last note, my most likely customers would probably know much less about this technology than myself, and (painfully obvious) I don't know much myself. So they'd be trusting me.

Here are some key specs:

- 1080p

- Native resolution: 1920 x 1200

- PC Compatibility: VGA up to 1920x1200 non-interlaced

- Video inputs include: RGB analog (75 ohms, 0.7 Vp-p / HDMI (with HDCP), component

What am I missing?


If I sell the thing I'd like to be able to provide someone with honest accurate information I find online. As if I'm researching it for them in a way they'd research it themselves. But there's very little mention of the HDTV capability of this set. Here's some examples of why this thing seems to be pushed as a PC monitor.


1. The first and last sentences in the Amazon.com product description:

"ViewSonic 28" VX2835wm widescreen (27.5" viewable) LCD amplifies your desktop experience."

and

"The VX2835wm is perfect for the serious gamer and movie aficionado who want a complete digital entertainment experience on the desktop."


2. On the Viewsonic website, one would navigate through the site thusly to reach this product:

Home>Products>Desktop Monitors>LCD>X Series>VX2835wm.


3. The manufacturer's official User Guide makes nary a mention of how to use this thing as a HDTV.

You get the idea. Some secondary reasons for wanting to understand any possible substandard HDTV issues, aside from honest advertising, is for my own personal edification and education on the subject. Especially in the case that Mrs. ddubb considers using it as a television, I'd want to know what to expect. Thanks.

I think I just figured it out. I'm guessing there's no digital tv tuner in this Viewsonic product. So as long as its hooked up to cable/satellite it will work fine as a television; that is, as a generic "display" for the decoded signal.

Am I on the right track?

Next question: would a digital tuner be necessary for OTA, or would a tuner even make it possible to view OTA?

Thanks to all for responding.

regiment1 - so you're saying that if I connect this directly to a set top box (whether satellite or cable) then I still need another tuner between the set top box and the Viewsonic "Multifunction" monitor? I've done some searching for such a product and I can't find one with HDMI output.

As far as using a television as a pc monitor - I've been doing that for about ten years. The first nine with a CRT television, a year ago I got my first HDTV (Samsung 50" 720p DLP). So of course now I have that new hdtv hooked up to my pc.

As you probably know, using a CRT television as a monitor is practically useless for general computer usage, as text is blurry. However photo and video looks as good can be, provided it has good quality content. Hi-res digital photos look better than standard def television programming content; and the set displays nearly as good as a basic crt computer monitor.

Stepping up to a hdtv (the Sammy DLP) is a huge step up, but imho still the experience is less than ideal for general browsing. Text and apps and desktop visuals are always a little off no matter how much I try to tweak settings. But as I said in the case of the CRT tv, once you get photo and video displayed it can look pretty darn good.

As a matter of fact, the best video I've ever seen on my tv so far was viewing the internet. Granted I have no HD-DVD or BD; I subscribe to Dish Network HD with a VIP 722 and have a budget version of an upconverting dvd player. But I do have a hi-def tv tuner card in my pc with DVI out.

When the movie "Speed Racer" first came out they had hi-def movie trailers. I went back recently and the quality was less than it used to be when the movie was new. When I put that content on my Sammy 50" it was the best image I've seen on it so far.

I can't return it because I got it at Circuit City, which is going out of business, all sales final. I'm confident that I can either make use of it around the house; or if wife would prefer to get the money back into the till then I'm confident I can sell it for a bit more than I paid for it.

Thanks again to everyone. I am continuing to research this stuff but it helps a lot to get some answers here. I'm finding answers on my own but your help gives me a little more confidence. This is way better than walking into BB or Radio Shack and playing the tech-knowledge-lotto.

So by now the s.o. knows. Ironically, she's slightly more inclined to keep it, while I am inclined to sell.