32" TV or Monitor?

[DonMan]

I have a 27" monitor that I've been using as a 2nd TV in the summer time. I live in a house that's been turned into upper/lower apartments, and when it's warm enough, I put the monitor up in the attic to get some separation from my downstairs neighbor. I have a Chromebox and just copy files across my home network from another computer.

I was considering upsizing to 32. Looking at monitors, I figured newegg would have competitive prices, and the lowest I can find with decent reviews is a little over $200.

Target has a bunch of 32" TVs well under $200. Most of the lower prices are on 720P models. Of course 1080P would be nicer, but how much difference would I notice sitting about 8 feet from the TV? What other features are worth considering paying for in a TV that size? The only thing I know I want is at least 2 HDMI ports; I'm guessing that's pretty much standard these days. I suppose a USB port might come in handy. One thing that drives me nuts is dealing with annoying tech issues late at night when all I want to do is watch a movie which I already have in MP4 or similar format.

 

[TP76]

LCD, Plasma HDTV Screen Size Calculator: Get the right size HDTV for your TV room

Pretty good site, which I used for my purchase of a 60" for the living room.

 

[4down20]

Are you thinking about upgrading for a better choice to use as both, or are you wanting to upgrade to a TV? Lucky for you I researched this recently.

Because with monitors you typically get more resolution and that makes the text and such clear, and if you put it on a TV bigger than 24 inches at 1080p, then you will start to lose clarity.

So if a TV is 1080p, the maximum resolution you can have from your TV is 1920x1080. On a 24 inch TV, this isn't too bad. Larger than that, and it'll start to show. 32 inch 1080p you could maybe deal with.

I doubt you want to use a 720p on a 32 inch TV. The largest resolution you can have there with your PC is only 1280x72. Your PC is not going to look good on it.

Now you can get into the 4k TVs and then you can have huge resolutions and use bigger TVs as monitors and that's fine. You can go up to 4k resolution on those.

But for TV only, such things aren't so important because they don't have the smaller prints and layouts of a PC. You aren't going to see text like this forum on a TV show etc. For just TV and distance, then it's about TV size etc and the link above is what you'd want to go by.

So TL;DR - Monitors are more expensive because they allow better resolutions, but it's a waste if you don't need them, thus the TV.

 

[WizardHawk]

Actually TV's can be more expensive. The entry level units are likely low refresh rates and have worse contrast due to cheaper panels.

It's really about what you are doing on it and what you are willing to live with in price to viewability.

720p is fine if you are watching highly compressed video or TV and you don't care about sharp text and brilliant video. 1080p would be much better.

Refresh rates may not be as huge with video as gaming, but it still matters. Particularly with chromecast and streaming. Cheap low refresh units might look choppy on some sources.

 

[DonMan]

Thanks. That info has already been very helpful.

My living room TV was very nice when I purchased it, almost 12 years ago now. But it does have some limitations. It's 1080i, and the native resolution is non-standard. I tried hooking up an old Linux box via HDMI and it just looked like crap. I'm guessing the biggest problem is the non-standard resolution, so that TV will never really work well for HTPC. It's also better as a "winter TV"; uses about 300W and generates enough heat to notice holding your hand a few inches away from the screen.

I'm on a budget, so 4K is definitely out. Looks like 1080p would be worth it. I mostly watch older movies, and don't have any immediate plans to use the new TV for computer games. However, I like to be flexible with my tech purchases. As long as the TV has a standard headphone jack I should be OK for sound. While HDMI should pass the sound through, I can always just plug the speakers into the PC and get sound that way if I have to.

While probably not an absolute requirement, getting a Smart TV would probably be a good idea too. I have a Samsung wireless blu-ray player hooked up to my TV. (even though I don't use blu-ray or wireless) I use something called Samsung PC Share Manager to stream movies from my computer(s) to the player/TV. A Smart TV might recognize the PC Share Manager, and let me stream directly, which would be really convenient. Are those types of things pretty much standardized/universal these days? Also, do most Smart TVs come with a RJ-45? Seems like that would be more reliable that wireless, if it was practical to run a network cable to where I put the TV.

After reading the most recent post, I have a few more questions: One thing I've been doing recently is streaming hockey games over the internet. Would refresh rate matter for that? How about watching a football game OTA? I'm guessing the refresh rate issue would be the same for both. What's a good refresh rate to look for to watch live sports?

 

[WizardHawk]

Just keep an eye out for sales. I know here we have a store named video only that always has sales on smaller units to entice people to come in and fall in love with larger and better units.

32" is a great size to bargain hunt. Also looking for last year models and refurbished units on like overstock or similar sites can seriously save money if budgets are really that tight. I've had good luck with TV and monitors from there in the past.

 

[WizardHawk]

As for networking, I have one that was wireless, but there was a wired adapter option to buy and I did get that. Just do a little research. Wireless isn't bad, but I have almost 200mb download speed wired so why not?

 

[DonMan]

Target here is only about a 10 minute walk so that's where I look first for stuff like this. I'll check other local places too. Not sure if there's anywhere other than Walmart that will be price-competitive. Here's what I'm looking at right now:

VIZIO D-Series 32" Class (31.50" diag.)1080p 60Hz Full-Array LED Smart HDTV (D32F-F1)

 

[selkies ftw]

Target here is only about a 10 minute walk so that's where I look first for stuff like this. I'll check other local places too. Not sure if there's anywhere other than Walmart that will be price-competitive. Here's what I'm looking at right now:

VIZIO D-Series 32" Class (31.50" diag.)1080p 60Hz Full-Array LED Smart HDTV (D32F-F1)

I have that exact tv in my bedroom. Got it last year and I fuckin love it. Perfect for gaming.

 

[DonMan]

I have that exact tv in my bedroom. Got it last year and I fuckin love it. Perfect for gaming.

I checked out Walmart's web site. Searched for 32" Smart TV, and what appears to be the same TV was the first one listed. (for $1 less than Target) Apparently you aren't the only one who likes it.

 

[TP76]

Perhaps the best solution for you is a dual purpose Monitor/TV with HDMI and DVI jacks. My 27"Samsung is such a unit.

Recently set-up a Ryzen 2400G server, which only has a HDMI output. Ran HDMI to the HDMI input on the monitor and the resolution (1080p) was utter crap. Changed the cable - HDMI to DVI cable ----> DVI input on the monitor and everything was back to being crisp/clear.

 

[DonMan]

Perhaps the best solution for you is a dual purpose Monitor/TV with HDMI and DVI jacks. My 27"Samsung is such a unit.

Recently set-up a Ryzen 2400G server, which only has a HDMI output. Ran HDMI to the HDMI input on the monitor and the resolution (1080p) was utter crap. Changed the cable - HDMI to DVI cable ----> DVI input on the monitor and everything was back to being crisp/clear.

I have a similar arrangement for two computers that I don't use all the time. One is plugged into the HDMI, other DVI.

The problem you describe doesn't make any sense. The picture portion of HDMI and DVI transmission is essentially the same thing. The only difference is HDMI is a newer standard that allows sound to be transmitted in the same cable. The computer I'm typing on right now only has HDMI output, and the monitor I'm using only has DVI and Dsub. So I got a HDMI to DVI cable to connect the two. You probably had a hardware issue, such as a bad cable or loose connection.

 

[TP76]

Old tech - sorry, DVI is depreciated. It was a function of my old Monitor/TV - the HDMI inputs on the Monitor are designed for a TV signal, whereas the DVI connector was intended for use as Monitor. Current video adapters have changed to HDMI and Displayport. However the segment of dual-purpose TV Monitors is still being produced, which also happens to be more expensive.

 

[WizardHawk]

We are a Dell house where I work (yeah, not fond of it either). The small firm factors we use have 2 DP and one HDMI outputs. We use both monitors and TV's often using every port. There is no difference using HDMI, it's every bit as sharp as the DP and DP > DVI.

If there was a difference it is likely the settings on the TV not being set to the right scan settings for PC signals while a built in DVI or even older VGA would be set to the correct modes by default.

 

[Old Lion]

Actually if the TV has HDR then you wont have to worry about it too much. That seems to have more of an effect on picture quality then I expected. I bought a 32" with HDR 1080 and it has a slightly better picture then my 40" 4K TV.

 

[SHillTiger]

I have 49" curved Samsung. Its pricey but amazing. Got it on newegg for 999.

49" CHG90 QLED Gaming Monitor Monitors - LC49HG90DMNXZA | Samsung US