Using my TV as a monitor.

G80FTW

G80FTW

Active Member
Now, I know alot of people probably use a big screen TV as their secondary monitor, but I was thinking of keeping it my primary. Forever.

It is a 32 inch Vizio VOJ320F1A which honestly is not the best TV by any means, but for $200 I paid 3 years ago for it its pretty nice and 1080p (not native however).

Iv been running it at 1920x1080 at 60hz with my computer via an HDMI cable and so far has posed no issue. And as of right now I am remodeling (pretty much rebuilding) a room for myself which is 230 square feet and I have my TV sitting on a desk hooked up to my PC for now until the room is finish and I was thinking of just leaving it as my computer monitor and getting a 70 inch to mount on the wall as my secondary monitor for gaming.

Is there any problems that may occur in the future using a TV only as a computer monitor? I was told when I first started building computers and toying around (2000-2001) that TVs dont really like game consoles or computers as constant use. Though, that was many years ago (I was told that both with CRTs and DLPs which I dont think either are made anymore) so I wasnt completely sure if using it only as computer monitor would in some way damage it down the road.

And as I said, 1920x1080 is not its native resolution according to their website it is 1366x768 I believe. So would running it beyond its native resolution constantly cause any potential damage in say 5 years or so that would not occur otherwise?
 
it cant damage it, but it does loose sharpness, it is shrinking the image to a usable size and dropping pixels so it fits, there is no point in running a larger resolution than what is supported. As for damaging the tv, it may burn the image in, when i play GTA or other games where it is a constant HUD displayed for hours on end, eventually when i play other games i can see a discolored area and make out the HUD, luckily after a week or so it will be gone as long as i don't play the game that caused it, not sure why this issue happens with some screens but it does.
 
jonnyp11 said:
it cant damage it, but it does loose sharpness, it is shrinking the image to a usable size and dropping pixels so it fits, there is no point in running a larger resolution than what is supported. As for damaging the tv, it may burn the image in, when i play GTA or other games where it is a constant HUD displayed for hours on end, eventually when i play other games i can see a discolored area and make out the HUD, luckily after a week or so it will be gone as long as i don't play the game that caused it, not sure why this issue happens with some screens but it does.
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Yea. I just noticed a dark area of my screen is no longer dark. It was just some dark line on the side, not sure what happened but it seems fine now.

I was told that LCDs and LED TVs should not burn an image in like CRTs. I heard that the backlight may have a problem though..... but I keep the backlight on 0 on this TV because with it at 50 it generates quite a bit of heat and at 0 it produces next to no heat and Im hoping that will prolong its life.

The TV says 1080P full HD on it, so 1080p is supported but it says its native is 1366x768.
 
I went from a TV to a monitor, and the monitor is 100x better. Way more sharp, and they're designed specifically for computers.
 
Honestly, a TV isn't your ideal monitor. But, if you don't have a monitor or if your current monitor is too small then a TV wouldn't be too bad for gaming. But as claptonman said, a good monitor is 100x better than a TV.
 
I think Ill keep it like this until either the TV dies or I can afford a good monitor.

Since I have no other use for this TV right now.
 
G80FTW said:
I think Ill keep it like this until either the TV dies or I can afford a good monitor.

Since I have no other use for this TV right now.
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If you follow the bold option, u will buy Monitor in 2027, so I am sure you will afford the monitor before that.
 
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I currently us my 52" lcd samsung... i play games on it... its fun, but i agree with clapton. monitor> tv.

however i do have a side question.

currently run one 680 for my 52" and 27" monitor. when i play bf3 my monitor (currently in 2nd) will go black. probably because the game is in full screen. if I put in another 680 can i use my monitor to watch tv/browser/skype/whatever? or will it just go black again.

thanks!

btw tell us how gaming on 70" is lol sound pretty nice
 
I've been using my TV as my primary monitor for at least 3 years now. It's 42" Toshiba REGZA with 2ms response and 240Hz, great for gaming. It has a PC AV mode so the fonts are just as crisp as on a monitor. If it's not in that mode, they are blurry and would really be a downer in my opinion.

Here's an old pic of my setup.

20110910233804157sherbr.jpg


I have to say, right now I'm using the same setup for work and play, but when I revise the monitor aspect of it and buy another computer, I will probably go for 3 or 4 2560x1440 monitors for work, and a TV + a secondary monitor for play.
Honestly, in my opinion gaming on a TV is much more fun than on a monitor. Granted your TV has the proper specs.
 
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