Posted December 12, 2015
Which hdtvs make good monitors?
Meaning they:
-Display text clearly
-Have Low input lag
-Good natural looking color and color tweaking options (able to adjust red, green, and blue values separately as well as brightness and contrast).
-Have decent Audio (and audio out option)
---
I recently bought a Sharp - 32" - LED - 1080p - HDTV - Black, from Best Buy (I'm NOT affiliated with Best Buy or Sharp).
Model Number: LC-32LB370U
My review:
Text
Fuzzy
Fix = You have to use hdmi port 2 (only) and change the input label to PC for it to not make text fuzzy. After that it's serviceable, but not as good as on a monitor.
Input Lag
Seems ok. I'm not sure what the lag in milliseconds is, but I didn't notice it (and I've returned other tvs and monitors before because of input lag). There is a "game mode", but it only affects the color settings.
Color / Image
The presets suck. You can't edit red, green, and blue settings separately. Instead you have color temperature (cool, normal, and warm) and tint option (red to yellow shift). No matter what, there's always too much blue for me (I like a slightly warmer image). The sides and corners are also darker than the rest of the screen. Not a good option for image editing of any kind. So-so for viewing photos. It can't be adjusted to properly show subtle differences in very light and very dark colors.
Audio
The Speakers are dreadful. But, it has an audio out option so you can connect better speakers into the headphone port on the back of the tv. It even lets you choose to keep the speakers on, turn them off, or automatically turn them off when headphones are connected.
The good:
--It only cost $150.
--The Blacks are darker than they are on my monitor.
--It looks ok for games and tv, so-so for photos (if you take the time to tweak the picture settings).
--The sound throughput works well, so you can plug your speakers into the tv. You can also choose to use the remote to adjust volume, or a direct pass through so you adjust volume with the speakers / amplifier which is what I do).
--Using it as 32" monitor is kind of cool.
----
I got it to look ok with these picture settings:
Menu
Picture
AV Mode = User
Backlight = 39
Brightness = 39
Contrast = 45
Color = 32
Tint = G11
Sharpness = 0
Advanced Settings
View Mode = Normal
Overscan = Off
Active Backlight = Off
Color Temperature = Warm
Noise Reduction = Off
Active Contrast = Off
--Depending on your preference, you may want a little bit more backlight, brightness or color saturation. Either way, start there if you buy that tv.
Verdict:
It's a flawed tv that wasn't meant to be a monitor, but it's cheap and has low input lag. I'm still debating whether to keep using it though. It's only ok as a tv and for playing games.
Just keep in mind to only use hdmi port 2 and set the input label to PC if you use it with a computer.
Edit:
Some motherboards don't support hdmi for pre-boot / Bios menus. So, you may also need to use another monitor with a vga or dvi connector if you multi-boot or want to edit your Bios. That's a Bios issue, not a tv issue. It would happen for me with any hdmi tv or monitor. Whether or not that affects you depends on your motherboard.
Edit #2:
I've found a couple more problems.
1. When you make minor movements while looking at textures that have light and dark areas, the pixels take too long to update so it looks like things go dark and then bright in a split second. It's most noticeable in games like Quake.
2. When watching video with large sweeping motion, there's a noticeable stutter that isn't present on my monitor.
So, although this tv has low input lag, 3 hdmi ports, and a nice sound output option, it's flaws have become too much even for it's low price point and I'll most likely be returning it.
Meaning they:
-Display text clearly
-Have Low input lag
-Good natural looking color and color tweaking options (able to adjust red, green, and blue values separately as well as brightness and contrast).
-Have decent Audio (and audio out option)
---
I recently bought a Sharp - 32" - LED - 1080p - HDTV - Black, from Best Buy (I'm NOT affiliated with Best Buy or Sharp).
Model Number: LC-32LB370U
My review:
Text
Fuzzy
Fix = You have to use hdmi port 2 (only) and change the input label to PC for it to not make text fuzzy. After that it's serviceable, but not as good as on a monitor.
Input Lag
Seems ok. I'm not sure what the lag in milliseconds is, but I didn't notice it (and I've returned other tvs and monitors before because of input lag). There is a "game mode", but it only affects the color settings.
Color / Image
The presets suck. You can't edit red, green, and blue settings separately. Instead you have color temperature (cool, normal, and warm) and tint option (red to yellow shift). No matter what, there's always too much blue for me (I like a slightly warmer image). The sides and corners are also darker than the rest of the screen. Not a good option for image editing of any kind. So-so for viewing photos. It can't be adjusted to properly show subtle differences in very light and very dark colors.
Audio
The Speakers are dreadful. But, it has an audio out option so you can connect better speakers into the headphone port on the back of the tv. It even lets you choose to keep the speakers on, turn them off, or automatically turn them off when headphones are connected.
The good:
--It only cost $150.
--The Blacks are darker than they are on my monitor.
--It looks ok for games and tv, so-so for photos (if you take the time to tweak the picture settings).
--The sound throughput works well, so you can plug your speakers into the tv. You can also choose to use the remote to adjust volume, or a direct pass through so you adjust volume with the speakers / amplifier which is what I do).
--Using it as 32" monitor is kind of cool.
----
I got it to look ok with these picture settings:
Menu
Picture
AV Mode = User
Backlight = 39
Brightness = 39
Contrast = 45
Color = 32
Tint = G11
Sharpness = 0
Advanced Settings
View Mode = Normal
Overscan = Off
Active Backlight = Off
Color Temperature = Warm
Noise Reduction = Off
Active Contrast = Off
--Depending on your preference, you may want a little bit more backlight, brightness or color saturation. Either way, start there if you buy that tv.
Verdict:
It's a flawed tv that wasn't meant to be a monitor, but it's cheap and has low input lag. I'm still debating whether to keep using it though. It's only ok as a tv and for playing games.
Just keep in mind to only use hdmi port 2 and set the input label to PC if you use it with a computer.
Edit:
Some motherboards don't support hdmi for pre-boot / Bios menus. So, you may also need to use another monitor with a vga or dvi connector if you multi-boot or want to edit your Bios. That's a Bios issue, not a tv issue. It would happen for me with any hdmi tv or monitor. Whether or not that affects you depends on your motherboard.
Edit #2:
I've found a couple more problems.
1. When you make minor movements while looking at textures that have light and dark areas, the pixels take too long to update so it looks like things go dark and then bright in a split second. It's most noticeable in games like Quake.
2. When watching video with large sweeping motion, there's a noticeable stutter that isn't present on my monitor.
So, although this tv has low input lag, 3 hdmi ports, and a nice sound output option, it's flaws have become too much even for it's low price point and I'll most likely be returning it.
Post edited December 13, 2015 by hudfreegamer