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racer1441

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 3, 2009
1,882
724
Well,

Bigger monitor time. Have actually been thinking of getting a 32 inch lcd tv with HDMI for my imac.

Anyone have any experience with this sort of setup?
 
A TV is never a good monitor, it doesn't matter what size. The fonts and menus and windows will look blurry, as a TV is meant for moving images, not static ones used with computer displays.
 
A TV is never a good monitor, it doesn't matter what size. The fonts and menus and windows will look blurry, as a TV is meant for moving images, not static ones used with computer displays.

I disagree! My 32" is working perfectly as a monitor!
 
As long as you are aware that you will never get more then 1920X1080 out of a TV (about the same res as my macboocpro 15) buy whatever :cool:
Just make sure you try it first is the most obvious advice.... :eek:
 
The only good reason would be to play movies, if you don't have a dvd player. But since you have apple tv, I don't see the point... 32 inch LCD tv's usually only have a resolution of about 1300 x 700, probably worse than your imac.

Well,

Bigger monitor time. Have actually been thinking of getting a 32 inch lcd tv with HDMI for my imac.

Anyone have any experience with this sort of setup?
 
If you connect it to the TV via HDMI or DVI, it shouldn't be blurry at all. If you connect it via VGA, it may not be quite as sharp, but it still shouldn't be blurry.
 
If you connect it to the TV via HDMI or DVI, it shouldn't be blurry at all. If you connect it via VGA, it may not be quite as sharp, but it still shouldn't be blurry.

Yep. Going to be hdmi.

Not looking for resolution as much as just more space to go around.
 
Been using my 40" Sony Bravia as my primary monitor for 3 years, with 1080p resolution on both my Mac and PC. The only problem is that the TV has an 8bit panel, so it does not have great accuracy with colors. But it's still a great experience IMHO. The new TVs have 10bit panels, so you won't have any problems with color. The only problem may be the 1920x1080 resolution for you, but it seems like you are OK with that.

There is no blurring if you have a good panel and most above average TVs have quality panels now, so don't get confused about that.
 
Just a reminder, some TVs will overscan when you connect via HDMI to them, so be sure to test if overscanning can be disabled, before your purchase, or your desktop will overflow from the edges of the screen.
 
i had a mini G4 setup with a 46 inch samsung TV via HDMI at 1920x1080 resolution and it was perfect clear picture on display i would even go as far as saying it was a far better picture then on my mates 27" iMac , but thats is a price question as my tv did cost far more then the iMac 27", just to big for my needs and uncomfortable to use on the desk , i prefer multiple smaller screens instead of one big one , but thats a personal preference , thats why i use a second 17" monitor with my iMac g5 , just looks better side by side and 2x 17" is yes exactly 34"
 
A 720 tv will be blurry, 1080 is not. You must get 1080. You can buy a 1080 32", but they are a little more expensive than a 720. I've been using a 32" 1080 vizio at 1920x1080 for a year now. It was $100 more than 32" 720's. The image is crisp and clear. Granted this is on a pc not a Mac, but it should work the same.
 
A 720 tv will be blurry, 1080 is not. You must get 1080. You can buy a 1080 32", but they are a little more expensive than a 720. I've been using a 32" 1080 vizio at 1920x1080 for a year now. It was $100 more than 32" 720's. The image is crisp and clear. Granted this is on a pc not a Mac, but it should work the same.

Even if he uses a 720p TV, it shouldn't be blurry as long as he uses the native resolution. Such a low resolution on a large monitor may look ugly, but not blurry.
 
The only possible reason for buying a TV to use as a monitor is if you use for computer for watching movies or playing games only.

I absolutely can't imagine having a 32" display with a crappy resolution of 1920x1080 sitting on my desk 70cm in front of my nose.
Why not getting a 23 or 24" display instead that is one the one hand made for desktop use, and on the other hand gives you the exact same resolution, hence desktop space?

Although I don't think that the image a reasonable priced TV ($1000+) gives you is pretty decent, getting a MUCH better display for that price (I'm talking 30" computer displays) would be the way to go. They give you almost 100% more real estate (1920x1080 [~2MP] vs. 2560x1600 [~4MP]) on panels that mostly are far superior from TVs on a physical size that does not strain your eyes.

It's all about resolution and pixel density, not about sheer size!
 
The only possible reason for buying a TV to use as a monitor is if you use for computer for watching movies or playing games only.

I absolutely can't imagine having a 32" display with a crappy resolution of 1920x1080 sitting on my desk 70cm in front of my nose.
Why not getting a 23 or 24" display instead that is one the one hand made for desktop use, and on the other hand gives you the exact same resolution, hence desktop space?

Although I don't think that the image a reasonable priced TV ($1000+) gives you is pretty decent, getting a MUCH better display for that price (I'm talking 30" computer displays) would be the way to go. They give you almost 100% more real estate (1920x1080 [~2MP] vs. 2560x1600 [~4MP]) on panels that mostly are far superior from TVs on a physical size that does not strain your eyes.

It's all about resolution and pixel density, not about sheer size!

My 24 inch that is on there right now is too small. Resolution doesn't really matter to me. I have everything jacked so large to see the text anyway.

I'm all about the price. $300 vs $1000 ect.
 
I have everything jacked so large to see the text anyway.

Well that's another point then. Considering that (computer) displays bigger than your 24" regularly have a higher pixel density you would have to enlarge your texts even more.

You basically have two options then, a 1920x1200 27" computer display or as you've suggested a 32" 1080p TV.

You can find both in the same price range.
 
TVs often suffer from overscan issues and OS X doesn't have proper overscan tool. That's something you may want to think about. It can be solved with some 3rd part software but TV is meant to be a TV, not a computer monitor.
 
What resolution has that TV and what to you display with it?

my resolution of my tv is 1920x1080 and I know it's to big cause I have the black bars on the side and i lose about .5 cm of the top of my screen but I can live with it!

I work with that screen! word-doc video-edit,...

trough HDMI
 
Interesting .... seems to be a bit of a debate about using a TV as monitor.

I think when people are getting 32" or larger TV's they're not sitting 60cm away from the screen, at least I hope not. I've seen some people who work from home from a laptop with hdmi to their big screen, 42 and 55" and they work away all day in their lazy boy.... very cool.

I haven't paid my attention to the text size/clarity but from what I recall it looked okay.

Can anyone else chime in that hooks a TV up to their computer?

Thanks.
 
While not regularly as a monitor, I do use a couple of my TVs with my MBP. My 1080p 50" Samsung plasma has terrible overscan - it could NEVER be used as a monitor - I lose half my dock! My 720 32" Westinghouse (BestBuy special, lol) LCD works great, though - but 720p would be completely useless as a monitor, IMHO. But at least it doesn't suffer from overscan like the plasma... :)
 
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