[geeks] 1080P LCD HDTVs for use as monitor?

[nate at portents.com]

> Right now Costco has 2x 40" 1080P "Sceptre" brand HDTVs as a "two pack"
> for $1099.99 .
>
> I could buy one, use it as a TV.  But would the other work well with VGA
> or HDMI input?  I do web surfing, typing, proposals, etc.... all 2D stuff.
>
> Yes, I would have to sit a little farther away from the screen.
>
> Ideas? Experiences?

Depends tremendously on the TV.

The one problem I've experienced on all TVs that I've hooked computers up
to is that they don't go into any sort of energy saver low-power mode like
computer monitors do when there's no signal coming in, so the backlight
stays on the whole time.  Could be very annoying if you're using it
primarily as a computer display.

Other problems all relate to the EDID information and true native
resolution of the panel and your video card.  You'll need to probably dig
into online forums to find people's experiences to determine if the VGA or
HDMI (which is just DVI-D and some optional sound channels) inputs spit
out useful EDID information for a computer and then if whatever computer
you're using can make good use of that EDID information.

At $work I've seen silly things like a widescreen LCD projector TV that
only puts out 4:3 EDID info for VGA and overscans the HDMI, so the best
image was only achieved by creating a custom underscanned resolution and
going from DVI-D to HDMI on the TV.

- Nate