Is an OLED monitor preferred over using an OLED TV as display?

[Hi P]

Today I was about to pull the trigger to buy an LG C2 48" and use it as monitor, but I hesitated because I began to think about the actual OLED monitors out there...

 

Why would you pick a monitor instead of a TV? (or viceversa)

[filpo]

5 minutes ago, Hi P said:

Why would you pick a monitor instead of a TV? (or viceversa)

so you have displayport and the ability to use adaptive sync. If its the same price...

 

5 minutes ago, Hi P said:

Today I was about to pull the trigger to buy an LG C2 48" and use it as monitor, but I hesitated because I began to think about the actual OLED monitors out there...

what about burn in? If your looking at a lot of static frames it might not be the best. QD oled is the future

[Shimejii]

Size, TVs are generally much larger. Monitors easier to fit on desks.

 

Refresh rate. Usually monitors are much faster.

 

Multi monitors > One big one IMO.

 

 

[Hi P]

1 minute ago, filpo said:

so you have displayport and the ability to use adaptive sync. If its the same price...

That's true, but TVs also have adaptive sync

 

1 minute ago, filpo said:

What about burn in? If your looking at a lot of static frames it might not be the best. QD oled is the future

I also had in mind QD OLED, but wasn't there some news about Samsung's technology having higher rate of burn-in compared to LG?

[filpo]

1 minute ago, Shimejii said:

Refresh rate. Usually monitors are much faster.

i agree, the response times, even if they're the same panels, are normally better on monitors

[filpo]

Just now, Hi P said:

That's true, but TVs also have adaptive sync

a monitors repsonse times are normally faster either way

[RONOTHAN##]

Main reason I'd want a monitor over a TV is a functional sleep mode. As someone who does have a TV as a monitor, it's incredibly annoying to have to turn it on every time you sit down at your setup, rather than just move the mouse and have it wake up like everything else does. There are some workarounds out there, but they're not universal. 

 

Other than that, the differences come down more to panel and input differences than anything else. Assuming you get a TV and a monitor with the same panel (IIRC the 48" C2 and the Gigabyte FO48U have the same panel), they'll look and perform exactly the same, the monitor will just have more quality of life features for PC users (defaults to low latency mode, a functional sleep mode, etc.) while the TV will have more quality of life features for those in a home theater (TV tuner for broadcast TV if you use that for whatever reason, "smart" functionality, eARC support, etc.). They can both do the other's job, it's just that each one is designed for a specific purpose. 

[Stahlmann]

22 minutes ago, filpo said:

i agree, the response times, even if they're the same panels, are normally better on monitors

Kind of a moot point when it comes to OLED. All OLED displays are in the same ball park, as seen by the example below. (Included the fastest IPS monitor he measured for comparison to LCD) You're not going to notice the difference between 0.20 and 0.37 ms from the best to the "worst" OLED display.

 

And if this is about input lag: LG's TVs in the game picture mode have the same <1ms processing delay, which means they're competitive with monitors in terms of input lag. The LG C2 is only held back by refresh rate in this comparison, but still it's still better than all but one LCD monitor Hardware Unboxed has ever tested. So it's still top-tier.

 

Now to the real reasons why you would want a monitor instead of a TV:

- Typically more relaxed auto-dimming behaviour

- DisplayPort connectivity if you don't have an HDMI 2.1 GPU

- Anti burn-in warranty (depending on the model)

- Smaller size (TV's start at 42", if you want something smaller it's going to be a monitor)

- Higher refresh rates

- Screen coating (monitors are mostly matte, TV's glossy)

- Auto sleep mode (can be worked around with 3rd party software on an LG TV)

- You want a curved display

 

And a few reasons why you'd want a TV instead:

- Smart TV interface with remote

- Much more calibration and color control settings

- Screen coating (glossy can be a preference)

- Typically btter compatibility with consoles

- Better upscaling and image processing

- Bigger sizes

- Better value (LG's 42" and 48" TV's have been available for under $800 from time to time)

- Higher resolution (they're all 4K)

 

 

I personally have the C2 and it's a better "monitor" than any monitor i've had in the past.

[filpo]

Just now, Stahlmann said:

Kind of a moot point when it comes to OLED. All OLED displays are in the same ball part, as seen by the example below. (Included the fastest IPS monitor he measured for comparison to LCD) You're not going to notice the difference between 0.20 and 0.37 ms from the best to the "worst" OLED display.

fair sorry i've just been learning about computer parts from about a year ago and just learned this, hope i didn't skewer anyone's opinion lol

[Alex Atkin UK]

25 minutes ago, Hi P said:

Today I was about to pull the trigger to buy an LG C2 48" and use it as monitor, but I hesitated because I began to think about the actual OLED monitors out there...

 

Why would you pick a monitor instead of a TV? (or viceversa)

I game on a 55" OLED but productivity on a 28" LCD.  I'd like an OLED or a safer bet an LCD with thousands of dimming zones, but they're not really available in 4K 27/28" yet.

[K.a.l]

get c2 42inch OLED... its cheaper and hv high DPI... good for gaming on desk.. dont get a monitor. just get a monitor arm for c2 tv... 

[Hi P]

22 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

While the TV will have more quality of life features for those in a home theater

Yeah, we bought a cheap TV for the living room for the guests to use, but we want to have a more premium TV for ourselves

I thought I could kill two birds with one stone by upgrading my monitor for gaming then use that TV to watch movies / series

 

19 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

I personally have the C2 and it's a better "monitor" than any monitor i've had in the past.

Which C2 size do you have and how far do you sit from it?

 

16 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

I game on a 55" OLED but productivity on a 28" LCD

Out of curiosity, did you try to use the 55" for productivity?

[leclod]

I use a 65" LG E7 Oled for monitor to tv. I'm not working on it though.

Brightness set to "0" when in monitor use.

[Stahlmann]

3 minutes ago, Hi P said:

Yeah, we bought a cheap TV for the living room for the guests to use, but we want to have a more premium TV for ourselves

I thought I could kill two birds with one stone by upgrading my monitor for gaming then use that TV to watch movies / series

In that case a TV makes sense so you don't have to keep the PC running to watch movies.

 

3 minutes ago, Hi P said:

Which C2 size do you have and how far do you sit from it?

I have the 42" and sit around 60-80 cm from it depending on my sitting position. This size and sitting distance works really well for me.

[BuzzingBee]

14 hours ago, Hi P said:

Today I was about to pull the trigger to buy an LG C2 48" and use it as monitor, but I hesitated because I began to think about the actual OLED monitors out there...

 

Why would you pick a monitor instead of a TV? (or viceversa)

I chose 48 inch OLED TV over monitor for better viewing experience. I like to have enough distance so I can lie down while watching. Although not saying it won't work for 34 inch UW OLED monitor but the screen would be visibly smaller. I also DIY keyboard and mouse desk whenever I want to game on TV. 

[Hi P]

@Stahlmann@BuzzingBeeGuys, so I ended up purchasing the LG C3 42" which I'm convinced will be perfect for me to use as a monitor, I was in the store checking out the C2 48" and 55" and it was just too big for what I needed

 

I'm aware that the C3 panels are either the same or similar to C2, but thought I'd buy the newest anyway

[BuzzingBee]

3 minutes ago, Hi P said:

@Stahlmann@BuzzingBeeGuys, so I ended up purchasing the LG C3 42" which I'm convinced will be perfect for me to use as a monitor, I was in the store checking out the C2 48" and 55" and it was just too big for what I needed

 

I'm aware that the C3 panels are either the same or similar to C2, but thought I'd buy the newest anyway

Congrats on your purchase, now you're stuck with OLED forever!