[billd]

I'm not exactly sure where to post this.


I'm in the process of building a new gaming rig for the upcoming Battlefield 3 launch, and I'm trying to identify a display that will function as both 1) a high-end PC gaming monitor and 2) a TV display for my Xbox, cable, and other TV viewership.


How do TV's work for gaming? Will games / web browsing still look good on my monitor if it only use a portion of the screen? I'd like at least a 32" display for watching TV from the couch, but ideally for gaming I'd like a smaller image maybe in the 24" range. Will the image still look good? If I decide to purchase a TV, do I need to consider anything special when I am selecting my GPU and graphics cards?


The gaming rig is going to be pretty high-end, so I'm hoping to identify a nicer display, and would really appreciate any tips.

 

[mudfrog]

Why do you want to play games at 24" as opposed to the 32"? I have a gaming PC with a 23" screen as well as my HTPC that I game on with my 47". If your not right in front of the screen 24" will be too small for most games.


There really isn't much difference from a standard monitor. Ideally you would get a TV that supports 1080p as opposed to 720p but either would work. Just ensure your GPU has HDMI out and there really isn't anything else to worry about. What kind of audio will you run with this setup? A home theater system, tv audio or pc speakers?

 

[HeadRusch]

You want a TV that has a Gaming Mode that is highly regarded. The only "Brands" you can trust universally are SHARP, JVC and I believe Panasonics are known to have low-lag when their game-mode is turned on. This almost turns the displays into "monitors" with no image processing. If you buy Vizio, Samsung, LG, etc...then you really have to look at specific models and see if anyone has lag-tested them.


Personally, I use a 37" Westinghouse monitor, which they stopped making many years ago when all displays had to come with a built-in tuner...once the tuners came in so did all the image processing that causes input lag......one of the reasons why I'm still using it.

 

[billd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudfrog Why do you want to play games at 24" as opposed to the 32"? I have a gaming PC with a 23" screen as well as my HTPC that I game on with my 47". If your not right in front of the screen 24" will be too small for most games. There really isn't much difference from a standard monitor. Ideally you would get a TV that supports 1080p as opposed to 720p but either would work. Just ensure your GPU has HDMI out and there really isn't anything else to worry about. What kind of audio will you run with this setup? A home theater system, tv audio or pc speakers?

I'd be fine with gaming at 32", but it seems a little large for use as a day-to-day monitor perhaps? Think I could run 32" at high settings for Battlefield 3 using something like a gtx 580?


Sound will be run through my home theater setup (Denon receiver), and I use either my Sennheiser PC 360 headset (95% of the time) or my 5.1 surround setup (if the wife is not home and I don't need to chat) for sound.

 

[mudfrog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by billd I'd be fine with gaming at 32", but it seems a little large for use as a day-to-day monitor perhaps? Think I could run 32" at high settings for Battlefield 3 using something like a gtx 580? Sound will be run through my home theater setup (Denon receiver), and I use either my Sennheiser PC 360 headset (95% of the time) or my 5.1 surround setup (if the wife is not home and I don't need to chat) for sound.

A 580 would easily handle BF3 on a 32". Tv's only support up to 1080p. PC monitors go up past that. A 580 would not break a sweat.

 

[billd]

hmm, interesting. I might check this out.


Assuming I got a monitor that didn't have a lot of image processing, would the video look amazing or would it look worse than a similarly sized dedicated PC monitor?

 

[HeadRusch]

Well, we don't know that a 580 "won't break a sweat" with a game that hasn't been released. If they rely heavily on tesselation and other pushing-the-envelope visual effects, we may see those framerates come down at 1080p, ya just can't tell.


Having said that I've been using a 37" Westinghouse 1080p monitor for about 4, 5 years now and I'd say its probably, realistically, as big as you want to go. Games at 1080p at 37" and from about 3 feet away look good, but they look better from 4 or 5 feet away. For a desktop I'd say 32" is the sweet spot, 37" is a fine but a bit large (for example you notice lower resolution textures easily when you are this close to a 37" set, that you might not see as obviously on a 32" set from the same distance).


Just remember the whole input-lag thing. The only manufacturers you can trust for almost zero lag are Sharp and I believe JVC, with Panasonic coming in after that, just remember that input lag that may be imperceivable with a joypad MAY be noticeable when using a mouse that is supposed to react immediately.


On my Sharp 55" set, with game mode turned off I could NOT use it as a gaming monitor, the mouse-lag was noticeable (and not as bad as many other sets). With game mode turned ON its the same as my westinghouse monitor, no lag that I can perceive...

 

[mudfrog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadRusch Well, we don't know that a 580 "won't break a sweat" with a game that hasn't been released. If they rely heavily on tesselation and other pushing-the-envelope visual effects, we may see those framerates come down at 1080p, ya just can't tell. Having said that I've been using a 37" Westinghouse 1080p monitor for about 4, 5 years now and I'd say its probably, realistically, as big as you want to go. Games at 1080p at 37" and from about 3 feet away look good, but they look better from 4 or 5 feet away. For a desktop I'd say 32" is the sweet spot, 37" is a fine but a bit large (for example you notice lower resolution textures easily when you are this close to a 37" set, that you might not see as obviously on a 32" set from the same distance). Just remember the whole input-lag thing. The only manufacturers you can trust for almost zero lag are Sharp and I believe JVC, with Panasonic coming in after that, just remember that input lag that may be imperceivable with a joypad MAY be noticeable when using a mouse that is supposed to react immediately. On my Sharp 55" set, with game mode turned off I could NOT use it as a gaming monitor, the mouse-lag was noticeable (and not as bad as many other sets). With game mode turned ON its the same as my westinghouse monitor, no lag that I can perceive...

True.. but the probability of it struggling is not very likely

I don't think they will release another "Crysis" that people will not be able to play with medium - high end rigs. Worse case he can just turn down a little AA, if he's sitting far enough way he won't notice it anyway.

 

[Cool Face]

dealnews has a deal on 2 1080p pc monitors, 22" each, for $250... i say tag team it

 

[HeadRusch]

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