Use a TV as my main monitor?

[Chris7]

I’m about to buy FCP and want a large monitor, primarily to make the text bigger (in the timeline, icons, etc.). There’s plenty of great computer monitors in the 22” to 24” range, but if I want the text bigger than that, the 30” monitors go to super high resolution, so the text does not get bigger. It had not occurred to me to try a TV as a monitor until a techie friend just suggested it (he never tried it himself). I want a 30” plus LCD with a native resolution of no more than 1920 x 1080, and a glair resistant screen. Will this work? Is a TV really clear and precise enough to show text well? Any suggestions for which one?

BTW, I will be using a Mac Book Pro. I do not have space for a two monitor set up, but may add a smaller prosumer screen for the canvas later.

 

[-DH]

It all depends on the native resolution of the TV monitor. If you get an LCD TV that display at 720, you won't have near as much screen real estate for the various windows of FCP but the text will display larger. A TV that displays at 1080 will give you more real estate, but smaller text. It works just like your computer LCD monitor ... the smaller the resolution, the larger the text.

>>Is a TV really clear and precise enough to show text well?<<

Not nearly as good as a computer monitor.

-DH

 

[Chris7]

>>Is a TV really clear and precise enough to show text well?<<

Not nearly as good as a computer monitor.

I doubted it too. I understand you to mean that a TV is not as clear as a computer monitor, even with the native resolution being equal (1920 x 1080 monitor vs. 1920 x 1080 TV).

Of course, I can always decrease the resolution of a 30" computer monitor in the System Preferences display settings to make things bigger, but I bet this makes things even blurrier than using a TV. (?)

 

[danny_w]

I doubted it too. I understand you to mean that a TV is not as clear as a computer monitor, even with the native resolution being equal (1920 x 1080 monitor vs. 1920 x 1080 TV).

Of course, I can always decrease the resolution of a 30" computer monitor in the System Preferences display settings to make things bigger, but I bet this makes things even blurrier than using a TV. (?)

The 30" monitor would still be far clearer (esp. for text) than the tv would be. TVs and monitors are aimed at different markets and have different attributes; what works well for a tv does not work well for a computer monitor, and visa versa. I tried getting a tv to work and finally gave up and bought my 24" monitor; it looks far better. I would never use a tv as a computer monitor for real work, but for casual use it is OK.