32" TV or 27" Monitor. It's driving me crazy.

[Lalorm]

Can someone help to put my mind at rest?  I can't decide what to get.  I'm building a rig that will be used for all manner of things including a test lab with Hyper-V, some dev work but also gaming.

 

I'm currently using two 17" 4:3 LG L1715S monitors and they are great with only 1ms response time and running at 60Hz.  I've had them I guess for maybe 10 years.  The text is sharp and I've never had a problem with these displays.  Gaming on them also is great, but it's time for a change and something bigger.  So I've going to move to 3 screens for Nvidia surround gaming.

The games I'm into are FPS as well as racing sims and flight simulator.  So for the simulators, bigger is better.

 

I've been looking at the following...

In the monitor corner we have two contenders...

 

Asus VG248QE 24" - This isn't so big and isn't much bigger than the 17" in terms of height, but it's wider.  I've heard great things about this monitor.

1080p

1ms Response time

144Hz 

 

Next up...

Asus VG278HE 27" - This is a lot bigger.  Again I've heard good things about this one.It's fast with a 2ms response time and 144Hz refresh rate..

 

Both of these monitors would be great for games and also non gaming activities.  However, I could get some of these...

 

Samsung UE32H6400AKXXU 32" TV

I know that the refresh rate and response times are way off of what the monitors can produce but the screen looks great.  I have the 48" version in the living room and for HD content it looks great.  I have a laptop running 720p on it and even at that res and that size screen, it looks great.  I know that I won't get more than 60Hz on it, but to date, I've only ever had 60Hz on the monitors I've gamed on so will it make a difference.  I've been playing Slenderman on it. The TV is set to Gaming mode and there's no ghosting or anything that I can see and is better than the laptop where there is ghosting and tearing all over the place.

I'm also thinking that if it looks this good on a 48" then on a 32" with a better pixel count per inch, surely it would be on par with a 32" monitor?  My concern is that Monitors are designed for close up use.  While TV's are designed for sitting back and watching from a distance.  Am I making a mistake getting a TV over a monitor?  

 

So does anyone out there do any productive work as well as gaming close up to a TV of that size?  I know that Barnacules Nerdgasim of Youtube fam uses 3 x 46" Monitors and swears by them, so they can't be that bad??

 

Any advice is always welcome.

 

Regards

M.

[Toddwjp]

i always advise against a tv, as things like refresh rate and response time tend to be funky

[Aniallation]

I'm building a rig that will be used for all manner of things including a test lab with Hyper-V, some dev work but also gaming.

 

The games I'm into are FPS as well as racing sims and flight simulator.  So for the simulators, bigger is better.

I'd get the TV if you're not that competitive of a player, the thing with TVs nowadays is the response time (all TVs at 1080p have the usual 60Hz refresh rate and do it perfectly fine) but unless you're really competitive into FPS then I wouldn't mind it. With racing sims and flight simulators response time isn't really a big issue

[Lalorm]

Thanks Toddwjp.  Up to now I was of the same opinion.  However the Samsung seemed to work with the games I played as a test very well.  It did look a little too crisp while the LG's I'm using at the moment seem a little less harsh in comparison, but not soft if you know what I mean.  I guess I just want something larger for the Sims and a 32" TV is cheaper than a 32" Monitor.  So that's why I've also been looking at the 27" Monitor from Asus.  It's not that much smaller I guess and it's a little cheaper overall.

[Lalorm]

I'd get the TV if you're not that competitive of a player, the thing with TVs nowadays is the response time (all TVs at 1080p have the usual 60Hz refresh rate and do it perfectly fine) but unless you're really competitive into FPS then I wouldn't mind it. With racing sims and flight simulators response time isn't really a big issue

True.  I'm not a competitive gamer and it's more casual gaming for sure.  

So that's 1 for and one against the TV.

I'm still concerned that text will be not so great at that size.  Looking at the text on this page on my old LG's and it looks really crisp.  I'm afraid I'll loose that going to a TV. 

[KingDaddyDaniel]

If you're going to be gaming then go with the Asus VG278HE 27" You will fall in love with 144Hz as long as your PC can push frames out that fast. For productivity work; however, i would almost recommend the 24" depending on your distance-to-monitor. 32" is way too large for the average 30" distance-to-monitor

[Lalorm]

If you're going to be gaming then go with the Asus VG278HE 27" You will fall in love with 144Hz as long as your PC can push frames out that fast. For productivity work; however, i would almost recommend the 24" depending on your distance-to-monitor. 32" is way too large for the average 30" distance-to-monitor

The 24" would be the cheapest option by far saving me a lot of cash and deep down I agree with you in regards it being the best for productivity.  Just when I'm sitting back for the sims, I can't help feel that the height of the 24" isn't enough to give a real sense of immersion.  That said, if I got the 24" and keep the cash for the Occulos Rift when/ it appears... 

So thats 2 for the monitor and 1 for the TV.

[KingDaddyDaniel]

The 24" would be the cheapest option by far saving me a lot of cash and deep down I agree with you in regards it being the best for productivity.  Just when I'm sitting back for the sims, I can't help feel that the height of the 24" isn't enough to give a real sense of immersion.  That said, if I got the 24" and keep the cash for the Occulos Rift when/ it appears... 

So thats 2 for the monitor and 1 for the TV.

If it's racing sims you're playing then screen size wont matter (pixel density is the most important) as long as the monitors are fairly close or your room is dark. I have 3 cheap 24" monitors and a G27 and it's always extremely immersive when I'm driving.

If you're thinking about getting the Oculus Rift, then I would definitely recommend doing that, as it will take up your entire FOV and you will still have 3 monitors for productivity.

[othertomperson]

I'd advise against a TV because of all the useless-at-best-frustratingly-obnoxious-at-worst features they tend to come with, not because I've ever noticed an issue of input response time

 

How far are you going to be away from it? If you're at a desk then 27" is *plenty*. If you're sat a decent way away then 32" is better. If you are at a desk and getting either 32" or 27" then get at least 1440p. At 1080p the pixels will be very visible and distracting.

[Lalorm]

I'd advise against a TV because of all the useless-at-best-frustratingly-obnoxious-at-worst features they tend to come with, not because I've ever noticed an issue of input response time

 

How far are you going to be away from it? If you're at a desk then 27" is *plenty*. If you're sat a decent way away then 32" is better. If you are at a desk and getting either 32" or 27" then get at least 1440p. At 1080p the pixels will be very visible and distracting.

I'll be at my desk, but sitting back about 3 feet for racing.  So I'm swaying towards a monitor.  Both monitors I'm looking at are 1080p.  So again, the 24" seems to be the best option.  

Thanks guys.

[othertomperson]

I'll be at my desk, but sitting back about 3 feet for racing.  So I'm swaying towards a monitor.  Both monitors I'm looking at are 1080p.  So again, the 24" seems to be the best option.  

Thanks guys.

 

24" will give you a much more pleasing pixel density at 1080p, yeah.