TV as Monitor help plz

[Sup3rB4d]

Instead of going on vacation this year, I have decided to upgrade my in home entertainment situation. I will be looking to buy a full 1080p television or monitor within the $1500 price range and 40+ inch size range as well as building a new gaming/media center PC. My questions are pretty simple. I would like to use one monitor/tv as the primary screen for my PC and I would like the picture quality to still be crisp, as well as have readable text and good frame rates for gaming. I would like to know what specs for both video card and television/monitor I should be looking at, and how they affect my picture. What do you suggest as far as LCD vs Plasma or DLP? Keep in mind I would like to mount this on my wall.

[Spekkio]

dlp are generally freestanding i believe due to the mechanics and i believe that while they are improved, burn in is still somewhat of a problem for plasmas which will be a major issue for gaming/computers as huds, menu bars, icons, etc can easily cause this burn in as they are static images. many higher end TVs can be used by a computer as an output easily enough, just wire a vga or DVI cable into the backside and fire it up. it's just like any other monitor at 1080 lines across and however many down (i forget and it's late) and should be easy enough to set up in windows which i assume you intend to use.

[Xanthe]

I use my Samsung 7 Series 52" HDTV as a computer monitor and it works great. I have it connected to my PC via my receiver using HDMI, Sapphire Vapor-X RADEON HD4890 graphics card. The only two complaints I have are that if I am running PC applications at full resolution (1920x1080) the text becomes too small to read at a distance, and that HDCP causes sound to cut out during lapses between audio streams meaning very short sounds can be lost altogether. The readability issue can be fixed by increasing the text zoom in applications such as web browsers, and the sound issue is only a problem if you are using HDMI audio. All in all I've found it to be a great setup.

[Sup3rB4d]

I planned on using just HDMI, what do you suggest? Also, I was actually planning on getting 2 of those sapphire 4890s and going crossfire. Is this a bad idea this early in the technology? Anyone know if crossfire or SLI is stable?

[Calina]

I planned on using just HDMI, what do you suggest? Also, I was actually planning on getting 2 of those sapphire 4890s and going crossfire. Is this a bad idea this early in the technology? Anyone know if crossfire or SLI is stable?

sli/crossfire has been around for a while and it works fine iam running tri sli and have had no problems

I have a 40" sumsung series 5 550 running as my monitor text looks fine nothing wrong with it and over all its great.Have it running threw HDMI.It also has 2 more HDMI slots avalibale to you can hook up all your stuff as well as a VGA if your looking to hook up an older systm.

40" seems about right to me for a monitor id suggest staying around there depending on how far your planing on being from it while playing.At 40" sitting 3-4feet back from it i dont have to turn my head to see the screen but when i was plaing on my friends 60" i either had to sit back further or turn my head.So just be aware of that when chosing a size.

[wyrmtung]

I use an HDMI cable and a DVI-HDMI adapter. Works just fine if you are looking to save on buying a new video card.

[Xanthe]

You should be fine running the 4890s in crossfire. Like Calina said the technology has been around for quite some time, it's just a new card. HDMI is the connection of choice these days so that is fine as well. I'm about 10'-12' back from my 52" screen and according to THX specifications that's outside the recommend viewing range (though still quite visible). I can take in the entire screen from my sofa. You should primarily pick your size based on budget, but try to get something appropriately sized for your room and viewing distance. Viewing Distance Calculator may be helpful.