As A PC TV Player, Should My Next Display Be A Monitor?

[AdvocateOfNyx]

Hey all, with the recent influx of display videos on the LTT channel I've found myself super interested in display technology.  In fact, I was considering upgrading my setup (or at least looking for an upgrade).

 

I don't have a ton of money to spend on a display, and i won't anytime in the foreseeable future.  Not looking to spend $800 on a new display.  I also don't expect top of the line specs for a lower price, just looking to use it for some light competitive gaming.  I haven't quite decided on what exactly my price point could be, but I'm gonna go with something around $350/$400.

 

Okay, so this should be easy right?  Look at a quick monitor roundup, pick my fav, and move on.  Except for one thing...  I've actually never used a monitor for gaming before.

 

I know, it's stupid.  I've been playing exclusively on PC for YEARS but I've never bought a monitor.  I have an old 40" TV (Insignia ns-40d510na15) and a friend's monitor he was going to take to the dump (an HP w2207H) that I use only to watch videos and control music.  Planning on keeping the HP for its purpose, but I think the TV is plenty old enough to be replaced as my main display.  I just don't know if I could adjust to a tiny display after sitting like a foot and a half away from my 40" TV.

 

Considering I don't care about speakers or perfect color accuracy, just something that looks good for gaming and light video editing, what exactly do you guys recommend?  So far, the choices I see are:

a. find a decent TV around my price point and (presumably) give up some response time and features for a bigger display

b. try to find a pretty big monitor that will be better than a TV but also will be large enough that the change won't be quite as drastic

c. suck it up and spend a couple weeks adjusting my gameplay, losing screen size for higher performance

d. stick with the 8 second response time since I've been using it for years and have never known anything different, hoping to eventually buy something a lot better than what my funds allow at the moment

 

Also, keep in mind the specs of my system and what it can run (most likely just 1080p, but specs listed in spoiler for clarity)

Spoiler

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-6500 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$199.99 @ Walmart
Motherboard	MSI Z170A PC MATE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory	Crucial 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2133 Memory	$119.89 @ OutletPC
Storage	Kingston SSDNow UV400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$45.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital Blue 3 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	$73.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	PowerColor Radeon R9 280X 3 GB TurboDuo Video Card
Case	Raidmax Smilodon ATX-612WB ATX Mid Tower Case w/500 W Power Supply
Power Supply	Thermaltake SMART 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$69.01 @ Amazon
Wireless Network Adapter	Asus PCE-AC55BT PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter	$44.88 @ OutletPC
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$552.76
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-02 16:57 EDT-0400

 

 

[SolarNova]

@AdvocateOfNyx

 

https://www.rtings.com/

 

They have a tool for searching through their reviews by score in any given area. One for TVS and one for Monitors

 

https://www.rtings.com/tv/tools/table/5215

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tools/table/7754

Add columns as needed.

 

Since i for one never recommend a monitor that hasnt been reviewed, i suggest ur 1st port of call being the above website. Find some displays to ur liking and if u want further opinions on them, list em here and we can all give our advice/opinions.

 

Make sure ur understanding certain aspects aswell. It sound to me ur thinking 'response time' is 'input lag' ..which it isnt. They are 2 different things entirely. One is to do with pixel transition speed, and the other the latency between an input signal and it being displayed.

[AdvocateOfNyx]

4 minutes ago, SolarNova said:

@AdvocateOfNyx

 

https://www.rtings.com/

 

They have a tool for searching through their reviews by score in any given area. One for TVS and one for Monitors

 

https://www.rtings.com/tv/tools/table/5215

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tools/table/7754

Add columns as needed.

 

Since i for one never recommend a monitor that hasnt been reviewed, i suggest ur 1st port of call being the above website. Find some displays to ur liking and if u want further opinions on them, list em here and we can all give our advice/opinions.

 

Make sure ur understanding certain aspects aswell. It sound to me ur thinking 'response time' is 'input lag' ..which it isnt. They are 2 different things entirely. One is to do with pixel transition speed, and the other the latency between an input signal and it being displayed.

I guess my question was mostly considering that I giving my use case (1080p light competitive gaming and light video editing) and price point ($350-$400) combined with the fact I've never even tried to game on a small display, which type of display should look into getting?  Am I just not gonna find a decent TV for that price?  Is there some awesome king of all 32" monitor I should be looking at?  I don't know which category to start in.  I'll definitely give that site a look, though.

 

I do believe I understand the difference between pixel response time and input lag, but I've never experienced anything other than what I have (8ms 60Hz) so I don't know what to compare it to or what I need.

[Yurricho]

I would suggest looking at an MSI Optix Branded Display, MAG27C a 1080p 144Hz 27' curved monitor at a pretty appealing price, one caveat is i cant seem to get the drivers for the OSD installed on that specific model, making its customization limited. Other than that its a great display, i can tell you that once you get to 1ms display you will definitely feel snappier when it comes to competitive gaming.

[SolarNova]

6 minutes ago, AdvocateOfNyx said:

I guess my question was mostly considering that I giving my use case (1080p light competitive gaming and light video editing) and price point ($350-$400) combined with the fact I've never even tried to game on a small display, which type of display should look into getting?  Am I just not gonna find a decent TV for that price?  Is there some awesome king of all 32" monitor I should be looking at?  I don't know which category to start in.  I'll definitely give that site a look, though.

 

I do believe I understand the difference between pixel response time and input lag, but I've never experienced anything other than what I have (8ms 60Hz) so I don't know what to compare it to or what I need.

Chances are at 8ms anything u get will be better. if u dont notice ghosting with it now, then be thankful ur not sensitive to it. It can be a right PITa to find a VA or IPS display that suitably deals with it.

 

There are most certainly TV's and monitors within ur price range. There is however no 'best choice'.

Its goign to be down to what do u really want. if ur ok sticking to 60hz, then a TV will give u better image quality, and ofc give u the size, if ur used to that, but ull likely be looking at 4k displays. And a 280x will likely struggle with that.

 

On the monitor side of things u also have choices to make. Do u want a fast TN and say to hell with quality, do u want an IPS for accurate color and good viewing angles but have to deal with IPS glow.. or do u go with VA, getting a better overall picture but maybe have trouble with ghosting if ur sensitive to that.

[AdvocateOfNyx]

35 minutes ago, Yurricho said:

I would suggest looking at an MSI Optix Branded Display, MAG27C a 1080p 144Hz 27' curved monitor at a pretty appealing price, one caveat is i cant seem to get the drivers for the OSD installed on that specific model, making its customization limited. Other than that its a great display, i can tell you that once you get to 1ms display you will definitely feel snappier when it comes to competitive gaming.

Will take a look, thanks!  Sounds pretty good, as long as my peripheral vision is covered I might not even notice a big difference.

 

Edit: Did some digging, and that family of monitors seems great for what I'd need!  Has all the features I wanted!  The only thing is that the exact model recommended (the MAG27C) is just a tad smaller than what I was hoping for.  However, the similar 32" monitor (AG32C) looks awesome!  Will be on my Honey list to see if it goes down to an even better price, but wow that price and feature combo seems pretty good to me.

Edited October 2, 2019 by AdvocateOfNyx

[AdvocateOfNyx]

1 minute ago, SolarNova said:

Chances are at 8ms anything u get will be better. if u dont notice ghosting with it now, then be thankful ur not sensitive to it. It can be a right PITa to find a VA or IPS display that suitably deals with it.

 

There are most certainly TV's and monitors within ur price range. There is however no 'best choice'.

Its goign to be down to what do u really want. if ur ok sticking to 60hz, then a TV will give u better image quality, and ofc give u the size, if ur used to that, but ull likely be looking at 4k displays. And a 280x will likely struggle with that.

 

On the monitor side of things u also have choices to make. Do u want a fast TN and say to hell with quality, do u want an IPS for accurate color and good viewing angles but have to deal with IPS glow.. or do u go with VA, getting a better overall picture but maybe have trouble with ghosting if ur sensitive to that.

I probably have tons of ghosting, but since I've never used anything without it, I'd never notice. 

 

I was hoping for 1080p, but worst case I could just run a 4k TV in 1080p for most games and be fine, right?  Glad to hear that there are options in that price range!

 

I would probably like a mix of both quality and speed.  Where I sit there is a window that shines on to my monitor, which sucks for a lot of the day but I like to have some natural light so I deal.  That means I'd probably like something with high brightness to play during the day.

[Yurricho]

29 minutes ago, AdvocateOfNyx said:

Will take a look, thanks!  Sounds pretty good, as long as my peripheral vision is covered I might not even notice a big difference.

 

I wanted to mention as well, after seeing your conversation with @SolarNova its a 250Nit brightness, and a VA panel  happy hunting for monitors, ill follow this post and keep my eyes out for anything particularly outstanding to share with you.

[SolarNova]

18 minutes ago, AdvocateOfNyx said:

I probably have tons of ghosting, but since I've never used anything without it, I'd never notice. 

 

I was hoping for 1080p, but worst case I could just run a 4k TV in 1080p for most games and be fine, right?  Glad to hear that there are options in that price range!

 

I would probably like a mix of both quality and speed.  Where I sit there is a window that shines on to my monitor, which sucks for a lot of the day but I like to have some natural light so I deal.  That means I'd probably like something with high brightness to play during the day.

Based on your brightness requirements that narrows down the options.

 

https://www.rtings.com/tv/tools/table/9160

The TCL TV's seem to be a good choice going by these reviews. Understand that rtings doesnt individual review each size, so some assumptions are made, If it is known that a specific size uses a noticeably different panel, they state it, in which it means that the review should be largly ignored for that given size. if they dont state anythign do still take into account that if for example they reviewed a 55" model, and u get a 43" model, there will likely be some difference.

 

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tools/table/9163

And these are some options for monitors.

 

 

 

 

[AdvocateOfNyx]

 

4 minutes ago, SolarNova said:

Based on your brightness requirements that narrows down the options.

 

https://www.rtings.com/tv/tools/table/9160

The TCL TV's seem to be a good choice going by these reviews. Understand that rtings doesnt individual review each size, so some assumptions are made, If it is known that a specific size uses a noticeably different panel, they state it, in which it means that the review should be largly ignored for that given size. if they dont state anythign do still take into account that if for example they reviewed a 55" model, and u get a 43" model, there will likely be some difference.

 

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tools/table/9163

And these are some options for monitors.

 

 

 

 

Interesting.  The monitors all seem to have pretty low all around scores - but still compelling nevertheless.  Additionally, Yurricho had said that a VA panel wasn't good for bright environments (like a light over your head or a window around you) but the top picks in that list are VA - how much of a difference does it make?  From what I've seen, VA panels are typically darker, but it's hard for me to understand by how much and what difference this exactly makes.  That in mind, how do you feel about something like this?

[SolarNova]

15 minutes ago, AdvocateOfNyx said:

 

Interesting.  The monitors all seem to have pretty low all around scores - but still compelling nevertheless.  Additionally, Yurricho had said that a VA panel wasn't good for bright environments (like a light over your head or a window around you) but the top picks in that list are VA - how much of a difference does it make?  From what I've seen, VA panels are typically darker, but it's hard for me to understand by how much and what difference this exactly makes.  That in mind, how do you feel about something like this?

Sorry to say that that statement isnt true. Nothing wrong with VA's in bright rooms. TV's ..they are almost exclusively VA, and for a reason .. black levels and contrast.

 

As for monitor scores ...thats the way it works im afraid, smaller panels suffer from uniformity issues far more than larger panels, as such their image quality score is impacted.

In addition to this rting score system has viewing angles attribute to i think 20% of the score for Monitors (7% for TVs), as such TN and VA monitor panels in particular get hit hard in the overall picture quality score due to their poor viewing angles vs IPS.

Its worth checking the individual scores over just the single 'picture quality' score they give due to the above reasons.

 

 

Note: On any review on their site, on the sub headings there are little question marks (?) , hovero ver them and they display the score distribution.

 

As for the linked monitor , without a thorough review to go by i cant really comment on it. Manufacturer spes have t be taken with a massive grain of salt as they can be VERY missleading , especially when it comes ot pixel reponse time. not to mention they never indicate things like panel uniformity and such.

[Yurricho]

14 minutes ago, AdvocateOfNyx said:

 

Interesting.  The monitors all seem to have pretty low all around scores - but still compelling nevertheless.  Additionally, Yurricho had said that a VA panel wasn't good for bright environments (like a light over your head or a window around you) but the top picks in that list are VA - how much of a difference does it make?  From what I've seen, VA panels are typically darker, but it's hard for me to understand by how much and what difference this exactly makes.  That in mind, how do you feel about something like this?

 

VA panels aren't inherently bad in light, it was just something i thought i should mention, 250Nit is slightly dim, but the viewing angle and general all round performance of a VA panel with colour accuracy as well as speed is what i wanted to highlight. I am sorry if i gave the wrong information, VA is your All rounder panel.

 

Edit : Theres a great video i think you should check out on YouTube from hardware Unboxed, where they talk more in depth about the difference between the 3 main panel's and what they should be used for

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BM0P7J1EPM

 

Edited October 2, 2019 by Yurricho

[AdvocateOfNyx]

13 minutes ago, Yurricho said:

 

VA panels aren't inherently bad in light, it was just something i thought i should mention, 250Nit is slightly dim, but the viewing angle and general all round performance of a VA panel with colour accuracy as well as speed is what i wanted to highlight. I am sorry if i gave the wrong information, VA is your All rounder panel.

 

Edit : Theres a great video i think you should check out on YouTube from hardware Unboxed, where they talk more in depth about the difference between the 3 main panel's and what they should be used for

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BM0P7J1EPM

 

Nope, you're all good.  I must have misunderstood.  I also found this in other places, maybe it isn't a quality of VA panels, but just a common trait among the VA monitors I'm looking at.

[AdvocateOfNyx]

18 minutes ago, SolarNova said:

Sorry to say that that statement isnt true. Nothing wrong with VA's in bright rooms. TV's ..they are almost exclusively VA, and for a reason .. black levels and contrast.

 

As for monitor scores ...thats the way it works im afraid, smaller panels suffer from uniformity issues far more than larger panels, as such their image quality score is impacted.

In addition to this rting score system has viewing angles attribute to i think 20% of the score for Monitors (7% for TVs), as such TN and VA monitor panels in particular get hit hard in the overall picture quality score due to their poor viewing angles vs IPS.

Its worth checking the individual scores over just the single 'picture quality' score they give due to the above reasons.

 

 

Note: On any review on their site, on the sub headings there are little question marks (?) , hovero ver them and they display the score distribution.

 

As for the linked monitor , without a thorough review to go by i cant really comment on it. Manufacturer spes have t be taken with a massive grain of salt as they can be VERY missleading , especially when it comes ot pixel reponse time. not to mention they never indicate things like panel uniformity and such.

Got it, thanks for the info.  Will look in to it a little more.