Topic: TV or Monitor

Hi Guys

I was just wondering what is the difference between a TV and a monitor when it comes to gaming experience.

Would a 27 inch asus monitor be better or a 32 inch TV from Samsung

Thoughts?

@jemjh166
I use White Sharp Aquos 32' for playing consoles.
32' looks bigger and better than 27'.
Btw, where did you play ?
And how far did you play from monitor / TV ?

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I am thinking of purchasing a new screen, either a monitor or TV, but I can't seem to decide which is better... I am sitting at a study table distance and the screen would be around 1.5 metres away from me, I can always move back.

Question for you: Do you face lag problems when using the switch on the TV? Are there lag issues when using a TV versus a monitor?

(Link: https://www.lazada.sg/products/asus-vx278h-gaming-monitor-27-... versus this TV (Link: https://www.rely.sg/product/samsung-32-inch-ua32j4003dkxxs-hd...

@Anti-Matter

@jemjh166
If you play at your Study room, 27' monitor is your choice.
Btw, Switch on Docked Mode + Sharp Aquos 32' = Perfect. No Lag at all.
Even Super Mario Odyssey appeared Perfect in 900p 60fps on my Sharp Aquos TV.
Btw, my Sharp TV is displayed at my Living room, with distance 2.5 - 3 meter to play, complete with my other consoles hooked onto: Wii, Wii U, PS2 Slim & PS4 Slim.

what is your exact model @anti-matter

@jemjh166
Basically a monitor is a TV with a different set of features and I/O. Typically smaller but not always, often at higher resolutions for their size but not always. A TV will always have speakers built in while a monitor might not. A TV will also always have a TV tuner and will likely have legacy analogue connectors while a monitor won't and may instead have a built in USB hub.

For console gaming? You're generally better off using a TV. Not because there aren't monitors that will be up for the task but more because it's easier to buy the wrong thing for this specific task if you go shopping for monitors. Especially if you don't know what you're looking for... which you won't if you're asking these questions....

I play with a monitor with headphones plugged into the Switch. Headphones work beautifully and I prefer that over a TV. Just connect your HDMI cable from the dock to the monitor, plug your monitor into the wall, plug in headphones into the Switch while it's docked, and enjoy.

I hate playing on TVs lol. So any advice I give regarding a decision will be very biased. However, it's extremely simple playing on a monitor with no hassle, so either way you'll be ok, I guess.

I have my Switch connected to monitor because it sits next to my PC. However, to answer your question:

• If you have a big room, then TV is an obvious choice. If you have your Switch in your bedroom, the room is small and you have a small desk, then consider a monitor with an 1080p HDMI output. If you have a big desk in your room, TV is your best choice because you get more feature for price than a monitor.

Would there be any problem with using a tv for a console, such as lag time? I am using a Nintendo switch @Azooooz

I got my Dock setup for both my Monitor and HDTV and they look fine on both. My Monitor is a 27" Asus 2880x1440 and TV is 1080HD TV 32" Sanyo. I think so long as they both are HD or Hi-Resolution it will work fine but make sure they have HDMI which both have. Thing is my Monitor is a Asus that has DVI, HDMI, Display Port and Audio so I have options on it. I can switch it back and forth from Switch to Computer which I like.

I play on a 28" Asus 4K monitor

I have a PS4 Pro, Switch and Reptropie hooked up to it

Can't go back to TV even though I have a 50", I like sitting close on a monitor

@jemjh166 It depends on whether you're sensitive to framerate or not. In my opinion, this "0 ms" thing is a marketing scheme that only few believe. Since Switch's max output is 1080p, it doesn't matter which one you'd go. Like I said, if you have a small room and small desk, get a monitor. Planning on playing Switch in a big room, get a TV instead.

@Azooooz Not framerate. In terms of framerate there's no true difference between a TV and monitor, and 144 Hz monitors are completely useless for consoles since there's no console game out there that pushes beyond 60 FPS. You're probably thinking of input lag, where some TVs have some junk that causes very noticeable input lag that can mess with certain games, like Bayonetta or Celeste. Even using Game Mode for these TVs aren't going to give you the same results as using a monitor.

That said, if you don't notice this, be it in Game Mode or otherwise, then that's perfectly fine and you can roll however you want.

It's less of an issue than it was 10+ years ago. Really the big reason people still say this is not because TVs are bad but because it takes a while for conventional wisdoms to catch up to the facts.

Putting those facts on the table, LCDs are by their very nature slower than CRTs were. A fact which is still a sore point for retro gamers. But LCDs have improved over the years. When you see "1ms" marketing on LCDs? What they are referring to is this. Specifically the time it takes for the pixels themselves to respond to a signal. LCDs are bad at this which adds a bit of impact lag and creates an effect called "ghosting".

The other issue TVs in particular faced is the fact that HDTVs in general do a little bit of processing to the image. They do this, especially on standard definition signals, so that the image will look nice. But processing takes time which means the signal is a bit delayed. Again, this is less of an issue these days for three reasons. Firstly the scaling and image processing in modern TVs are orders of magnitude faster than they were back when the Wii launched. Secondly being a good "gaming TV" is something people actually ask for when buying a new TV so TV makers now compete in that space. And lastly all modern consoles use HDMI rather than Composite or Component which is a native signal that digital displays understand without conversion

Lastly you need to understand what input lag itself is and how a panel adds to it. Note that no display, even a CRT, instantly shows on the screen what you're doing on the controller. It just doesn't work like that. To put it simply at 60Hz your TV has a 16ms window to create a new frame based on what your actions were in the previous 16ms. So you'll always have at least 16ms of lag. A modern TV in game mode will add 10-40ms ontop of this. During the start of the HD era this number was regularly closer to 200ms.

@Anti-Matter snap, although my sharp aquos TV is black
It's really great display, although changing sources for me that cpu doesn't seem to like changing betweeb HDMI ports

It's really up to you, I prefer having a nice big screen for playing my games