Anyone using a 42" flat screen as a monitor?
 

So I won a tv (thanks justusboys.com) and I was planning on using it as a monitor. Someone told me that it might be okay for gaming but the font is going to be so screwed it is going to suck as far as text is concerned.

I thought I had heard that the monitor could be "partitioned" so that it worked like it was multiple monitors.

Anyone do this or know of software that is going to make me happy to have this large monitor?

TIA

it will suck big time using it as a screen, resolution will be terrible... my 25.5" screen has 1920x1200 resolution and everything is pretty big as it is, I can't image having 42" with 1920x1080 resolution...

would be horrible as a monitor.

using 19 flat screen and think its too big for me :)

Well, I use a 22" and hardly think it is too big . . . . unless I want to carry it on a plane with me.

My 30''ers have a resolution of 2560x1600. I don't think there are any TVs that can do that.

I have my mac pro hooked up to the 42" in my bedroom and it works great.

I dont use it like I would use a regular monitor on my desk tho. I am at least 10' away.. Text and everything looks great..

Yeah, I was hoping the distance would factor in, but since my wall is only about 4' from my chair I guess that isn't going to work.

i use my 56" as a monitor in living room and works great.

Depends on the resolution


http://celebdirt.net/tv.jpg

Now that looks great . . . . how far away are you from the monitor?

about 8 to 10 feet

Seems like might work for web browsing or maybe watching Divx movies. Getting anything done work wise will be another story.

I checked it out and when I want to read the text I am actually more like 3' - 5' away.

When I get back home I will have to see if there is room on the wall between the living room and the den.

LOL if you come over here next time you are in the valley i will show you the set up

it works great - I use it for movies online and regular surfing

56" Samsung

What monitors do you using? Apple? Dell with a technology Ultra Sharp?

I've got two of the Dell 30'' that I won from YappoDollars.

In the office here I run the laptop on a 22" flatscreen, but I've hooked it up to both the 42" monitor in the bedroom and the 52" Sony downstairs and they're quite watchable from about 10-12' away.

i just upgraded to dual 26" samsungs, i was thinking of dual 30" dells, maybe next upgrade

Total overkill, even when running them on separate systems. But now I don't know what I'd do without them. :1orglaugh

Some regular surfing and online movie watching is great, trying to actually work on it isn't. It sounds cool, but it just isn't very practical once you try it because some small text is hard to read.

Think about the aspect ratio of you sitting in front of your computer/laptop screen right now. Then imagine having a 42in screen in front of you at that same ratio, you need to be sitting like 3-4ft away from a big ass screen and it just sucks.

I have a HDTV 52" I use sometimes .. just for fun really . but it works very well ..


http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...almonitor1.jpg

I'm working on finishing my basement and I have setup a 120 inch motorized screen with a DLP projector.

The native resolution is only 1280 by 720, but the image is surprisingly good. Wouldn't want to try to do actual work on it though. But viewing pornhub.com at 120 inches is impressive.:winkwink:

Why would you even think about that? Unless you are some insane finalcut pro editor on a 16 core super system running 4 desktops at once :)

Damn, that's pimped out, Krosh. Sweet!

I've had a 32" set up in my office for a few months - I just have a laptop so set that on my keyboard tray and the TV standing on the back og the desk - maybe 2' from my face, and even though the best res I can get on it is a paltry 1360x768, it's MUCH better than the roughl 15" laptop screen and I've gotten very accustomed to it...lol now the rare times I take my laptop to the living room, lookin at the screen I feel like I got new glasses, everything sooo small.

Depends on the resolution but even at best you are only going to get 1080p resolution. I tried it for a while couldn't stand it. Downsized to a 30" with much higher resolution.

It depends on the screen you have. Some are known for working pretty good for monitors such as most westing house 1080p panels. Some others look like shit even at 1080p. There's no telling at all unless you posted the exact model or looked it up yourself. There's a certain forum out there that list what panels are inside monitors/tvs etc. Most of the time there's feedback posted on how well it works for all kinds of use.

So long as it's 1920x1080 it will be ok as a monitor so long as you sit not less than 3-4 feet back from it. That is if it syncs to the analogue VGA signal ok. A lot of screens suck at that.

If it is plasma and not LCD forget it.

Ideally it will have DVI in and then you are cooking with gas. HDMI is the next best thing but you need a converter unless your video card has HDMI out.

42" monitor should suck. What's the resolution of that? 1024x768? lol

I prefer my 30" apple cinema. There's no like 2560x1600 :thumbsup

Thanks i like it :)




I prefer my 56" Samsung 1080p- the first picture was taken with the iphone I was too lazy to get the camera. Here is one with a good camera. I have no complaints and i can sit back on the couch and do all my work in the living room. :2 cents:


http://celebdirt.net/56.jpg

heres how you do it. hook up a mac mini and get a wireless keyboard and mouse, sit back from the screen, done.

(The microsoft fisher price looking abortion OS(tm) is embarassing on a screen big enough for most people in the room to view)

I don't see how some of you can run 2560x1600. Even on a 30" everything is so tiny!

I am not an expert but I think you would need a really high end graphics card to get good resolution on a monitor that size. I would not use anything over 24" myself as the graphics so do not look as crisp.

yeah you can do it, we've hooked up the laptop to our 48" hd and it looks great.

What does it look like when you run it at 1920x1080? Looks like you are running in a lower resolution.

2x 22' is enough

sometimes i have my laptop plugged into my samsung 61" and it works great. as long as your video card can handle the resolution then you're good to go :thumbsup

We use our 42" Samsung Plasma in the boardroom as a monitor sometimes but I would'nt advise using it on a daily basis.

the Television does not support 1920x1080

you are correct I am running 1024x768 - I am not using the TV for graphic design work only for checking emails, surfing gfy, and watching Netflix online :thumbsup

I think it is all about preference. I say try and create a little space between you and the tv.

do you have it directly hooked up to your computer via DVI, HDMI? is there a way to do it wirelessly

Connected Directly with DVI - i don't know of any wireless ways to hook up a monitor :helpme

Well a better statement would be, I don't know of any cheap consumer way to hook up a monitor wireless.

I have a computer hooked up to my 73in tv in the family room dvi to hdmi connection at 1080p resolution. I use it for watching movies but it sucks for surfing the web,i prefer sitting in front of a computer.

I briefly tried using one of my 50" TV's as a monitor and I quickly switched back to my 24" flat screen. It was horrible trying to do anything on the 50", especially since it sat right in front of me. I definitely wouldn't go larger than maybe a 32" TV for a monitor.

Resolution is more important to me than physical size. Not aware of any monitor above 30" that can do 2560x1600.

sounds like a little much