63" Plasma for main?

[heyaz]

Has anyone used an HDTV as a main monitor. I'm thinking of picking up a 63" plasma for my new apartment. Resolution is 1920x1080 (higher than I'd want to run with my video card anyway I think), but it seems like it'd make an amazing first monitor, with my 24" doing the 4 alts.

Is this feasible or good for the tv? I've never used a tv for a monitor before so I'm not sure about the specifics, especially with gaming.

[rahven32]

Honestly it won't look very good. As far as TV's go they are decent. Plasma's have better blacks than the LCD's but they are catching up. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ has a ton of discussions about HDTV's should have a look there.

Just one word of warning about going to a site like that. Once you start reading about everything you will find yourself actively looking for the problems that are talked about there. Halo's, dead pixels, and everything that can be wrong with a TV. Normal people never even notice half the stuff but once you read up on it you really start to notice!

[Smoooth]

I use a 40" hdtv lcd and love it. A 63" would be so huge you would have to sit back from it to see it all. If thats what you want to do go for it but you might be better off just getting something smaller/cheaper and sitting closer.

[Schwarz]

I agree 63 is too big

[Owltoid]

I use a 40" as my only monitor, but I sit on a couch about 8 feet away and use wireless keyboard, mouse, and headset. I love it, and I'd be even happier if it was a 63", but I wouldn't recommend sitting too close.

[Smoooth]

I use a 40" as my only monitor, but I sit on a couch about 8 feet away and use wireless keyboard, mouse, and headset. I love it, and I'd be even happier if it was a 63", but I wouldn't recommend sitting too close.

Heh I sit about 16 inches away from my 40". The only part of my vision it doesn't cover is the peripheral.

[jettzypher]

i use an hdtv as my sole monitor. one thing to keep in mind, unless you have an awesome video setup on your pc, youre framerates will be less than diserable running multiple clients (especially when in windowed mode). i used to run windowed, had all graphics turned down, and would still have ui lag when raiding. just a word of advice.

what owltoid said is great info too, sit a decent distance away. sittin too close to a screen that big is far too much strain on your eyes, especially for longer periods of time.

[BobGnarly]

Has anyone used an HDTV as a main monitor. I'm thinking of picking up a 63" plasma for my new apartment. Resolution is 1920x1080 (higher than I'd want to run with my video card anyway I think), but it seems like it'd make an amazing first monitor, with my 24" doing the 4 alts.

Is this feasible or good for the tv? I've never used a tv for a monitor before so I'm not sure about the specifics, especially with gaming.

This will come down to a matter of taste, so there is no "right" answer. I'll throw my opinion in for perspective, but you need to see this in person to make a decision, imo.

My friend has a 50" 1080p LCD display that he uses. He puts this about 3-4 feet from where he sits, for this huge panoramic effect. I hate it. It's too big, too close, too pixelated, and washed out color-wise compared to my dell 30" monitors. You can put the monitor farther back, but you are still running a 1920x1080, which will be noticeable compared to a higher resolution alternative.

You say you're not sure you can run 1080p on your video card? If so, that might change things, but honestly, I'd upgrade that and whatever else you need in your computer if it's that marginal before the monitor upgrade. Having a 60" slide-show would really take me out of the game, personally.

[heyaz]

I use a 40" hdtv lcd and love it. A 63" would be so huge you would have to sit back from it to see it all. If thats what you want to do go for it but you might be better off just getting something smaller/cheaper and sitting closer.

I'm almost legally blind, trust me I won't have to sit very far back. When I had a Dell 30" LCD before, I still had to hunch over and sit 6-12 inches from the screen.

Plus maybe for the first time I can actually sit back in my chair and support my back.

Ultimately I'm getting the TV to watch TV and movies... just wondered if I could also hook up the game to it. If it doesn't look good, well I've already got a setup that works.

[heyaz]

what owltoid said is great info too, sit a decent distance away. sittin too close to a screen that big is far too much strain on your eyes, especially for longer periods of time.

urban myth. worse strain is sitting too far and trying to squint to see everything. trust me I not only play wow but work in IT and deal with eye strain constantly :)

[jettzypher]

while thats true. its not a myth that sitting too close is bad. theres a reason an ideal distance sits. and trust me, im a medic and i deal with it too on a vastly more involved level than you.

[Slats]

I'm almost legally blind, trust me I won't have to sit very far back..

Me too, in fact I am legally blind. Thats one of the reasons I love WoW so much - the colors are vibrant - the fonts can be as big as you like - its fully customizable and while it can be fast paced - its not like a FPS/RTS where amazing hand/eye is required.

I use a Dell 27" @ 1920x1200 as my main screen and a Dell 24" @ 1920x1200 as my secondary screen.

I use Windows Magnifier to browse and read my screen normally but dont need any paticular accessiblity to play WoW due to my interface.

On the subject - I have a 52" Sony Bravia LCD in my lounge. Its probably a bit big for my lounge but we bought that so I could be comfortable sitting away from it a bit and still watch movies with the wife. I've tried WoW on it a few times and I find the fonts are readable and the game looks good but it seems every so slightly washed out versus a monitor. Wether this is because I am using an ATI card in that machine vs the Nvidia I have in this one could be a huge factor - I wouldn't really recommend it though.

I'd definetly do alot of reading about what you specifically want to use it for - the TV might look great in the shop but it might perform poorly when used as a gaming panel. Personally I'd still stick with a computer LCD.

[heyaz]

while thats true. its not a myth that sitting too close is bad. theres a reason an ideal distance sits. and trust me, im a medic and i deal with it too on a vastly more involved level than you.

if only I had the luxury of sitting at the recommended viewing distance :)

[Multibocks]

Damn sometimes I forget that fonts can be changed in size, guess I should go do that now...