I was on a total IT spending block, but after a flood, the insurance has come back with rather more credit that we needed to replace the white goods, so I have a bit of credit at Comet to play with. The idea is to replace my 26" TV with a 32" 1080p and run my main rig off that (as opposed to leaving it in a shed ) Thus I'm looking for a TV form the Comet range that will do a good job for a spot of gaming as well. I'd appreciate some help as I'm well out of my depth on current display tech.
Little off topic, got any pic's of the flood damage? I would hate to imagin the pain of my computer getting destroyed with flood water! Guess thats why my office is in the loft, highest possible point! lol! Gave a look at the 32in samsungs and sony's, dare i say LG aswell.
The Samsung screens are good. Using a 32" screen as a monitor is doable. Not too huge a panel for the res at 1080p, either. Thing is... for less than the price of a 32" 1080p Sammy in Comet, you can get a 37" 1080p Sammy from an e-tailer...
That usually depends on how you connect your pc to it. If you use the dedicated "PC" connector (usually in the form of an analog VGA connector), then yes, you might get limited on the resolution side. If you connect your pc via HDMI (if necessary, by using a DVI->HDMI adapter), then you can usually get to a 1920x1080 resolution. Luckily, exceptions to this are very rare these days, but only 2 years ago you might even have had trouble going the HDMI route.
Sure, if you use an HDTV, but a fullHD HDTV supports 1920x1080 @ 60hz. I currently use a Samsung LN32A650 as my main monitor, and connected via a DVI->HDMI cable (to HDMI input 2 renamed to 'PC', which bypasses the internal processor, increasing the response speed). The slightly more coarse dots work fine at that physical size and that display res. Comparable to an MVA/PVA PC panel I've used in the past. It doesn't beat a nice IPS PC panel for me though, but that's expected.
There is one thing about it though, mos tof the time seeing as the panels' native resolution is 1368x768, you'd get a much worse picture with 19201080 than with the 1368x768 option, not really worth it to me unless you can get a 32" under $400.
Well, the OP is going for 1080p screen, which by itself implies a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, so 1366x768 pixes won't be an issue. What's more important is going for a screen that's guaranteed to accept a 1080p signal from his PC's graphics card. Sony has a very good track record in that regard, and I believe Samsung has too, and it's generally speaking no longer that much of an issue as it was earlier.
I will be builing the machine to work with the screen so I will get whatever card is needed for the screen. However I had assumed that the HDMI input would work with any source, so this is a little concerning. Also I wondered what you would suggest as reasonable in terms of contrast and response times - I really have not looked at TVs for several years and I'm not up to speed at all. The link to the selection is here and I think I'm limited to in-store purchases. However between the fridge freezer and washing machine I have enough credit left over for £400-£500ish.
Am currently using my 32" Panasonic HDTV as a screen, unfortunately it's only 720p however i can say this... at a normal TV viewing distance the text is rather small... I know you can change the text size (i for the life of me can't remember where that is... maybe someone can help point me to it ?) but it could be an issue imo since what's the point of making things more detailed if in the end you're going to have to enlarge them to compensate ? Running over HDMI is fine off of my 7900GS using a DVI->HDMI adapter and routing the audio directly into the TV's Audio In. On another 1080p note, i believe the general consensus is usually that 1080p isn't worth it on a 32" TV just because at the viewing distance of said TV you'd be hardpressed to spot a significant difference. Probably exemplified by watching a movie/video where there is action and movement going on and not compared to say a still picture. I personally am very happy with having "only" 720p and don't see much if any difference from the 1080p 40" TV i have back home (32" TV is here at uni with me).
I though the 1920x1080 more usefull as a PC screen (at closer viewing distances). I have a Logitech 5.1 set with 2 optical inputs so I can stick the sky box (non-HD for a little while longer) and the PC through it, thought if the soundcard management is better on Win7 than Vista I might manage to but the system sounds through the TV. I also wanted to get a DVB-S card for the rig for the non-subs channels - I have two spare lines from the dish I can bring down.
If you're using the tv as a monitor replacement you really want a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. As for the selection from Comet, in the given price range I'd say the two models from Samsung are probably the safest bet. Ideally you'd wan to go for one of the Sonys, but they cost somewhat more. I'm basing my recommendations purely on the PC connectivity part. Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba, for instance, make some pretty good LCD tvs, but I also remember reading about PC connectivity issues with these brands. Not necessarily all models or even the models listen on the Comet.co.uk page, but in general.
I've put this off a bit and I'm looking again now. Is 100Hz a feature worth going for as it has started to appear down a my price point?
I use a 32" JVC HDTV as the main display for my rig (see sig) and its excellent for gaming but I wish I went for something a little smaller as im only sat 3 foot away from the screen, it does dry my eyes up after long session lol. Im thinking of selling it for a 26" or 28" 1920x1200 monitor.
For tv purposes it can be. Most often it's not. For monitor purposes definitely not. Depending on how you're connecting your pc to the monitor 100Hz most probably will be disabled anyway.
If you watch fast motion sports, the highest refresh rate possible is what you want. As for using it as a monitor, my response is meh, not for me, wouldnt use it as a main screen.
There isn't really a refresh rate per se with LCDs. They usually run at 60Hz (except the new 120Hz panels). When you're talking "100Hz" with LCDs you're talking interpolated (in essence "made-up") frames. Usually the result is anything but desirable.
