A Monitor cum TV question

venkatcr

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For the last 60 odd days I have been trying to con my wife to gift me a LCD monitor to replace my aging Samtron 75E CRT monitor.

Today while visiting a retailer my wife and I came across a LCD from Sony that is 19", HD Ready, has a VGA in, HDMI in, speakers, and a receiver to boot. The model is KLV-19T400A/B.

KLV-19T400A : Series T : BRAVIA? LCD TV : Sony India

The pictures looked decent. It has a display resolution of 1680 x 1050 and should be able to display computer graphics quite well. And, I can watch a movie from my PC through it's DVD player without disturbing others. A good GPUs, and sound card with small speakers added on could give me a mini HT for personal use. I have seen Illusion mention and compare a number of GPUs elsewhere. I have to read that thread carefully.

Does this make sense? Or is the price difference between just a monitor and a monitor ready TV too wide? Will I be able to get a 20 or 22" monitor for about the same price? Is my whole thought process wonked?

BTW, someone might say why do this when you have a LCD to which you can connect the PC and see what you want? For one, the PC and HT are in different rooms. Two I spend a lot of time with my PC, and the capability of seeing a movie now and then on the PC with some semblance of surround sound would be more practical. All I need in this system would be for the dialogues to be clear. If I really like a movie, I would be more than willing to replay it on my HT system and view it in full glory of my HT. Let us call this PC based system a preview theater.

Some thoughts will be welcome.

Cheers
 
well thats a great lcd the sony ,but do bare in mind it has a TN panel so lets say u are watching it from a couch or a bed u might see some contrast shift at different viewing angles especialy from vertical angle.,but u could by a 22inch lcd and put a good external tv tuner like aver media DVI 9(costs around 6k or so)which has a good upscaler and de-interlacer etc,3d comb filter etc which a monitor lacks where as lcd tv have them.also when u use avermedia ext tv tuner it has various imput connections and can also show upto 6ch in PIP when given a RF local cable wala signal.

so 22inch monitor is a lot bigger then a 19inch lcd tv.
 
Venkat,
I suggest you take a laptop with you and test out whether the lcd can display spreadsheets, Word and graphics without causing eye strain over long periods. In my experience, it is easier to have a monitor that can also double up as an occasional tv than a tv that can do a great job of a monitor as well. So make sure it works well as a monitor first.

I am not sure about latest prices but at Rs 18K, I think you can get a great Dell 20-22" screen that will also do the job for casual movie watching. Since you are primarily using the PC for work (I assume some coding as well?), the Dell may be a good compromise between a monitor and a TV.
 
Please take your laptop to check it out. When I connected laptop to 22" LG30R, the font edges were not pleasing to the eye, so you may end up with something that gives you a headache with text. But that could be because the resolution of my laptop is 1280x800 and not directly compatible with what is displayed. Playing movies and seeing it from a distance was good, though. You may want to see if it is possible to switch the laptop resolution to 1680x1050 while viewing on the TV and see whether you get a proper image.
 
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Ok, forget my last response... I just spent the last 15 minutes connecting the Lappy to the 22" LCD to see if I could alter the resolution for the monitor. In graphics properties->monitor option, I got all supported monitor resolutions and selected the max - 1680x1050. The picture rocks. Fonts are proper, even a DivX movie is great watching from normal computer screen distance of about 1 1/2 feet. The movie I had wasn't even an aXXo. It was an old rip of Airheads.

I would still suggest you take the laptop and experience it.
 
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Hello Venkat

You are a master in audio and video series.So you are seeing your PC problem in same view! What you have chosen is just a plain sony LCD which you dont need.What you are looking for is a 22" inch monitor- ex
eBay India: ViewSonic 22" VA2235wm-5 TFT LCD Monitor (item 270299556243 end time 15-Nov-2008 19:45:12 IST)

As you can see the budget for 22-24inch monitor is 15-17k.

A LCD tv when used as a monitor may cause eye strain and will have to be viewed from a certain distance.
While a LCD monitor is pleasant to look at as its refresh rates are higher.

hope this helps

regards

regards
 
I second Bazee & Adder's suggestion. Get a 22" wide screen LCD monitor and a separate TV tuner. You can then see TV in a window while working or browsing at the same time.

My friend purchased an Acer 22" LCD for Rs 11,800 just two weeks back. It is very nice and refresh rate is also quite good (4ms I think, not sure - my friend plays a lot of video games so he is quite picky about refresh rates).
 
Adder, Ajinkya, Echo, Teja, and Bazee:

I am really obliged to you guys. I knew there was something wonky in my thought process.

I think it makes more sense to buy a good graphics and sound card, and connect to a high end monitor such as the Viewsonic or Dell. With the necessary CODECs, I can watch DVDs when needed and use the system best for what it is made - computer based graphics, text, etc. I think a 19"-22" at around 10K to 15K makes immense sense.

Cheers, and thanks once again guys.
 
There used to be a time when one could blindly say "pick a Dell Ultrasharp". The Ultrasharp line would use much of the same internal electronics as Apple's Cinema displays and was an excellent buy. But now they are using the Ultrasharp name for lesser displays using TN panels.

Another problem is that the aspect ratio of most LCD monitors is 16:10 and not 16:9 as per HD. Luckily you have a couple of choices:

BenQ E2400HD
or
Dell S2409W Full HD Monitor

Both are TN panel displays (no other choice at this price) but will be more suited to your application given their aspect ratio.

Only one model from the venerated Ultrasharp is left and that is the
Dell S2408WFP but at over 50k, its clear why Dell dropped its lesser siblings in a hurry.
 
Short review on Viewsonic LCD:
I have 19" Viewsonic VA1912w LCD on my desktop comp that I use for programming, docs etc. I also have been watching movies on it for the last one year and it works very fine. Viewing angle is also considerably good - no color distortion for maybe 150 degrees. But I am not a videophile to notice any microdistortions.

Max Resolution is 1440x900.

The 19" LCD cost me just under 10k in Nov'07.
 
Get a 22 in. . . Your options are
viewsonic 2235-5 at around 11.5k
dell ultrasharp at around 12.6 to 14.5 k
benq e 2200hd - price unknown as it is to be availiable from today or in comin weeks
samsung t 220- around 15-17k
pick any one of above
 
If you got the money to throw choose the samsung or benq. Otherwise the vs which is a great vfm. And if you are picky on the warrenty or you get it at the lower end of price range then the dell.
 
Thanks Jith77.

As I said in the beginning, this is my wife's gift and she has a budget of about 15K. She started with 5K and I pushed and prodded her to 15K and lost a lot of other purchases of mine she usually funds. I have already spent a ransom on the MB (Asus P5B Deluxe) and CPU (Core2Duo). I will also be blowing some more money on a few Terabytes of hard disk space and a SAN to put them all together. Plus high end sound card, GPU, DVD Writer, Blu-Ray writer, etc. I was actually quite ready to live with my Samtron 75E CRT, but my wife felt pity for me, and suggested I elevate myself to a LCD monitor.

Sigh I wish I had money to blow!!! Don't we all?

Cheers
 
Whoa. . . I think i should make my wife read your thread. . .
I was looking to get a 22 in as well. . . But am short of cash as i just got an amp and speaker
 
hi

but pls stay away from the cheap monitors that cost 10-11k for 22inch.
I have seen LCDs going dead in less than year.
See that the monitor has 3yrs manf warranty as given by Viewsonic,Dell.

regards
 
hi

but pls stay away from the cheap monitors that cost 10-11k for 22inch.
I have seen LCDs going dead in less than year.
See that the monitor has 3yrs manf warranty as given by Viewsonic,Dell.

regards

well u can get 22inch monitors from reputed companies like viewsonic for 11k.
 
hi

but pls stay away from the cheap monitors that cost 10-11k for 22inch.
I have seen LCDs going dead in less than year.
See that the monitor has 3yrs manf warranty as given by Viewsonic,Dell.

regards

I would say that around 11K is the going rate for most 22" LCDs now-a-days. Viewsonic, BenQ, Acer are all around 11K, and IMO all are excellent products - and I think they too carry a 3-year warranty.

However, I did see a 22" being advertised for 9.5 in my local paper under the brand name Nexia or something. It was being marketed by the local Zenith PC dealer who also pushes Intec products. I did go and have a look at it and came back unimpressed. The build quality was poor and the screen looked dull even at maximum brightness & contrast. Now, this is the kind of thing to stay away from.

I would also recommend to stay away from the overpriced Samsungs, HPs, Lenovos and some Dell models. IMO you are just throwing money away - as they do not offer much extra in terms of features of quality for the premium they charge. I usually prefer BenQ for my office (I have 9 BenQs now) as it is the only one who has a local service center in my town. Apparently Acer is going to setup one soon. But I never had any troubles with the BenQs.

Cheers
 
Got my Viewsonic Vx1932wm replaced recently.. it took them 4 months to provide me a replacement....that too after making a complaint with the consumer forums..
problem: 1/4th of the screen had gone dead

Viewsonic products are really good but thr may always be 1 bad apple in a while...but service is pathetic.maybe the worst After sales service..
 
I just remembered that I had a red dead spot on my 19" viewsonic, somewhere near the center-lower part when I had first got it. The dealer took it back and the company sent a new one in about a week's time.

The funny thing was that I had only returned the monitor and not returned the cables, but they sent me a new sealed set. I now use the additional cable to connect to the new LCD TV :)
 
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