LCD TV or Monitor

[doc]

Hello everyone, any chance of some advice please.

Now that I've got my 15" portable up to what I consider a good picture (after buying a 6600GT, pure video decoders, and hours of fine tuning), I've decided its time to take the next step with a widescreen tv. The thing is, do I buy a widescreen LCD tv or a widescreen monitor? The Sage PC is dedicated for TV, and I only want a smallish screen (24 inch) as its in my office and sits just behind and to the side of my normal PC monitor. Does anyone have any experience on the quality of both and which would give a better picture? Also will the connection type make much difference? HDMI/HD-15/DVI? I've never had chance to compare them in the past. Also 1080 or 720? I'm fairly IT literate (I run an IT department) but HD is all a bit new to me and in the forums people seem to have so many problems with it.

I'm in the UK and use Sky Digital. I'm not planning on going to HD just yet but maybe in the future (when Sky don't charge extra for it, I pay £46 a month to them already, I'm not giving them any more.......)

TIA
Dave

[lobosrul]

I use a Dell 24" monitor for my setup. However, I use it as a computer as well as a TV. Theres several problems in using a monitor as a TV, for one most widescreen monitors are 16:10 (instead of 16:9), and they usualy dont have built in speakers. However you do get a higher resolution with monitors rather than TV's. TV's are also generaly much cheaper for the same size.

If the computer really is dedicated as a TV, then id say, definantly go with the TV, even if its just 1280x720 resolution, thats plenty for a smallish hdtv.

As far as the connecter goes, your card has DVI output, so I would look for that. However most new TV's come with HDMI, there are fairly cheap converters out there.

Also dont get talked into buy expensive cabling, its not worth it. I dont know about the UK but in the US most retail stores push "monster cables" ive compared the signal and i cant tell the difference even on large TV's.

[lobosrul]

doc, as an asside im wondering about how TV is in the UK.

Do you use "freeview" and do most channels come in widescreen? And at what res, is it 1024x576? You mention your not going with an HD package, well in the US if you dont do that 99% of programming is 4x3 (from sat or cable), so a widescreen tv is only useful for DVD.

[doc]

thats a good question....

I have sky satellite, no freeview, and I think most channels are transmit in widescreen now but I can't be certain of that. That said, I just checked Smallville and its missing the left and right hand sides (on my 4:3 tv) and theres no way I can get the whole picture showing, even if I change the sage settings.

Sky have started transmitting in HD I think, but they charge you for the box, and also £10 a month extra on the subscription

[geogecko]

I pretty much agree with what has been said here. If you ever plan on using the TV as a regular TV, without the computer, then you'll want it to be a TV, because the monitor will come with no other means of tuning a channel.

However, I'd highly recommend a monitor, just because the resolution is so much better (or in the case of an HD TV, still slightly better, in most cases). For instance, Westinghouse Digital makes a 37" LCD monitor, that is 1920x1080p, where as, their LCD TV's don't even come in that resolution.

I don't know if you can get Westinghouse in the UK, but they have a nice 22" widescreen monitor for around US$400, and it's resolution is 1680x1050, which is really nice for a 22" monitor. But, that is 16x10 aspect ratio, which probably wouldn't bother most people.