TV as PC monitor

[tigersaw]

Any used a TV as a PC monitor?
I've got a 32" 1080p telly I bought for the playstation some time ago but never used. I notice that a lot of new PC's have HDMI output.
Now my current 22" monitor runs at 1680x1060, I notice the spec for 1080p is 1920x1080, pretty much the same.
So, could I use it as a big monitor, or would it look rubbish due to other considerations like pixel size or brightness etc.
Anyone tried it, anyone confirm the resolution of a PC HDMI?

[zsv650]

they look good i use mine sometime's.

[warrenhewitt10]

yeh ive a 42" tv i use with my macbook it looks fantastic

[Kilted Ginger]

pm -ralph- he's just recently set up an old pc to be his media centre so should be able to talk you through all the necessary cards cables etc.

[wyrdness]

I've used my 37" 1080p TV as a monitor and it looked great. I'm currently using a smaller LCD TV as a second monitor on my work laptop and that's fine too (though that's using the VGA connectors on laptop and TV, rather than DVI->HDMI)

You don't even need HDMI on the PC. Most PCs these days have DVI and all you need is a cheap adapter. (DVI and HDMI video signals are the same, HDMI just carries sound too).

As long as you're not doing work that requires really precise colour (like professional photo editing) you should be fine.

[El Saxo]

Until I got my PS3 just recently, I had my desktop PC set up with dual monitors, the 2nd of which was my LCD TV, connected via a DVI>HDMI cable (it's an old PC so no HDMI on board, just DVI headers on the gfx card) and that worked fine. I used to watch movies/TV that I'd downloaded and the picture was ok, just as good as the standard-def stuff from my V+ box in fact, so I imagine if you have a gfx card with proper HDMI on it & HD support it should be even better.

[Well Oiled]

It's fine - watching tinternet footie on it right now.

[wyrdness]

I imagine if you have a gfx card with proper HDMI on it & HD support it should be even better.

Nope, because the video signal in DVI and HDMI is (for the purposes of this discussion) the same. There will be no difference at all in picture quality. The only difference is that HDMI carries audio as well.

[ThEGr33k]

Should work very well. 1080p is very high res 1900x1200 (off top of my head) so will look great from anything over about a foot away...

HTH

[El Saxo]

Nope, because the video signal in DVI and HDMI is (for the purposes of this discussion) the same. There will be no difference at all in picture quality. The only difference is that HDMI carries audio as well.

Ah ok, didn't realise that - my setup wasn't quite as low-tech as I thought then! :lol:

[SoulKiss]

if the telly had a 15-pin D-sub connector, just use that.

[fastdruid]

I play TV through a PC which is connected via DVI to my LCD TV :-)

Works great even when got a desktop rather than MythTV.

Druid

[wyrdness]

Should work very well. 1080p is very high res 1900x1200 (off top of my head) so will look great from anything over about a foot away...

HTH

1080p is 1920x1080 hence the name.

[tigersaw]

Many thanks for all the replies, seems its a good use for the spare telly then. I'm going to buy a new pc anyway, best way to get windows 7 and I have a copy of office enterprise I didn't want to waste the license on my current pc.
If someone using a HDMI TV setup could just look at the display settings property window and confirm the resolution that would be great.

[wyrdness]

If someone using a HDMI TV setup could just look at the display settings property window and confirm the resolution that would be great.

See my post above for the resolution of a full hd 1080p TV.

[tigersaw]

See my post above for the resolution of a full hd 1080p TV.

I'd just like someone to check that is the resolution that the PC is outputing at, and not the display making something else fit, such as 1920x1200 , 1920x1080, or even something lower than 1080p standard which is being upscaled

[wyrdness]

I'd just like someone to check that is the resolution that the PC is outputing at, and not the display making something else fit, such as 1920x1200 , 1920x1080, or even something lower than 1080p standard which is being upscaled

?????????

You set your PC to the native resolution of the TV. If you've got a full HD TV that is 1920x1080 then you set the PC display properties to 1920x1080. Simples, no?

For example I am using an HD TV as a monitor here, that has a resolution of 1440x900 pixels, so I've set the display properties in Windows to 1440x900.

[tigersaw]

OK, I see.
Its just I plugged the girlfriends laptop with HDMI onto my TV once, it never gave a choice, just set itself up. Laptops gone now, so cant repeat the experiment.

[tigersaw]

so, if I bought one of these leads:
http://www.esave2day.com/product/hdmitodvi-2m/
I could hook up my TV?

I dont have 1920x1080 as a resolution selection, my gfx is a gforce 7300 LE - which is not HDCP compliant (whatever thats all about), could I get the right drivers and make it work?

[-Ralph-]

so, if I bought one of these leads:
http://www.esave2day.com/product/hdmitodvi-2m/
I could hook up my TV?

I dont have 1920x1080 as a resolution selection, my gfx is a gforce 7300 LE - which is not HDCP compliant (whatever thats all about), could I get the right drivers and make it work?

Correct on the lead, subject to HDCP problems.

Most modern gfx detect the resolution capability of the attached monitor and that is the highest you can set. You may find that when you plug in your 1080p TV and select it at the monitor, you can then select 1920x1080 as the resolution. NVidia's website says about the 7300

Single-Link DVI Support
Able to drive the industry’s largest and highest resolution flat-panel displays up to and including 1900x1200. May vary by model.

so is the LE one of those varying models? Don't know.

I think most TV's have a non HDCP HDMI socket, so if you card is also non-compliant, the TV shouldn't look for an authenticated pair and so you shouldn't have the problem. I am making assumptions here though, I don't know enough about it to tell you for sure.

[tigersaw]

Thanks for the detailed reply - appreciated.
I'll dig out the book or google the telly and find out if it has a non HDCP HDMI (I'll also google and find out what that means even)

[-Ralph-]

Thanks for the detailed reply - appreciated.
I'll dig out the book or google the telly and find out if it has a non HDCP HDMI (I'll also google and find out what that means even)

It's an anti piracy pain in the ar$e technology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-bandwidth_Digital_Content_Protection

[-Ralph-]

Does the TV have a DVI input? If it does you should have got a DVI to DVI cable with your PC.

[tigersaw]

Does the TV have a DVI input? If it does you should have got a DVI to DVI cable with your PC.

No - just a couple of HDMI's and the usual scarts, composite, S etc.

Ordered the lead, will see what happens :)