LCD Monitors/TV

[bigmack]

Any monitor past 30" is what $1k+? Tell me I'm going in the right direction by getting a few 56" LCD TV's and using those as monitors in the soon to be remodeled war room.

Any degradation in picture quality in time with using LCD TV's for monitors?

[cmoore]

Any monitor past 30" is what $1k+? Tell me I'm going in the right direction by getting a few 56" LCD TV's and using those as monitors in the soon to be remodeled war room.

Any degradation in picture quality in time with using LCD TV's for monitors?

I've used my 26" high Def LCD tv/monitor for 2 years now. Everything is still clear.

[GameTheory]

You get a lower (native) resolution with the TV, even though it is a huge screen.

[JustRalph]

check the top resolution of the TV. Sometimes it can look like shit.

I tried my 42" LCD but the resolution available for the computer was much less than that for Televison........ and it was ok, but not great.

The best I have seen is the Mac monitors. You can use them on a PC too, depending the model they can look fantastic!! For about the price of a TV.

Of course I haven't shopped for 6 months, and that is a lifetime on this subject..........

[cmoore]

Any monitor past 30" is what $1k+? Tell me I'm going in the right direction by getting a few 56" LCD TV's and using those as monitors in the soon to be remodeled war room.

Any degradation in picture quality in time with using LCD TV's for monitors?

Did you recently hit the big one Bigmack...Spending some bucks on that new room..

[equicom]

Most "LCD TV" units are really just monitors with a TV tuner stuck inside the case. Very simple. This does not apply to plasma screens though. They are more complex and less reliable (although they don't drop individual pixels the way LCD does).

You should be fine with LCD as long as you make sure that it will handle the resolution and refresh rate that you send out from your PC. If you set the refresh rate too high, you might not be able to get a signal, while if you set it too low the screen will be all flickery and give you a headache.

Check that the monitor has VGA or DVI inputs (DVI preferred, but your video card needs to support that standard too). VGA/DVI converters are available ($15 ea) but they will not improve the quality of a standard VGA signal.

DVI cables are more expensive than VGA. Real gold in the connectors.

You generally get what you pay for with LCD, but make sure you really need the absolute best quality. If you're just using it for something really basic, you don't need the best technology, just one that will do the job.

For a TV-sized unit, I would go for Sony Bravia, which seems to give the best quality-to-price ratio. The LG "blue" TV series is also quite OK, but a little more pricey and kinda ugly.

If you want a cheaper model that is just for the basics, check out Chimei. These come from China so they're a bit easier on the pocket, but if you have bought tech stuff from China before you will know what to expect over the longer term.

Those Mac monitors do look nice, but I find the flat screen surface too reflective and shiny, and that can be annoying unless you use it only in the dark.