Using TV as PC Monitor. Text is a little fuzzy.

I wanted a monitor larger than my 22 inch Samsung but reasonably priced 23 inch or 24 inch monitors wouldn't have made much of a difference and a 27 inch monitor was more than I wanted to spend.

I had read lots of articles about using a TV as a PC monitor so I was forewarned about the text issue but went ahead anyway, figuring I could deal with it if it wasn't exactly perfect.

I bought a 32" LC 32LN5300 (IPS panel) and set it up.

And, of course, the text is not perfect but it's passable unless I'm sitting at the computer for long periods.

I used the Clear Type tuner with no improvement.

I'm wondering if there are any other methods of tweaking the text to make it sharper.

I'm running Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit and my video card is ATI Radeon HD 2600 Series.

Oh, I still have my old monitor running so the difference in text sharpness is rather obvious.

Hi there

Text should be fine if the TV is a full HD model (1080p = 1920 X 1080). Even poorish integrated video cards on the MOBO should handle these resolutions.

Change the Font to another one is also an option.

Use also HDMI as input if it's on the TV (they all should have HDMI these days).

If the screen doesn't exactly line up you'll usually find most TV's have on the remote controller via the menu an "Auto Adjust" which "Squares" the picture up or corrects the aspect ratios.

Don't get conned into buying an expensive HDMI cable though --the amount of people making huge money on unnecessary expensive cables is really amazing these days.

I always remember what my Grandma told me years ago when I hated going to secondary School --

"The price of Education is Expensive --but the price of Ignorance is ASTRONOMICAL". -- Very true and I see it more and more these days --God rest her Soul.

Cheers
jimbo

fireberd said:

A better video card might help. Also, if your video card is capable, use the "native" resolution of the TV as that may help too.

Already using the native resolution.

fireberd said:

Then again, it may just be the TV set. How does it do on regular TV?

I only have it hooked to the computer. Shows on network websites are fine. Youtube videos are fine.

jimbo45 said:

Hi there

Text should be fine if the TV is a full HD model (1080p = 1920 X 1080). Even poorish integrated video cards on the MOBO should handle these resolutions.

Change the Font to another one is also an option.

How do I do that?

And how do I determine what font I already have?

jimbo45 said:

Use also HDMI as input if it's on the TV.

Did that.

jimbo45 said:

If the screen doesn't exactly line up you'll usually find most TV's have on the remote controller via the menu an "Auto Adjust" which "Squares" the picture up or corrects the aspect ratios.

The screen lines up just right.

jimbo45 said:

Don't get conned into buying an expensive HDMI cable though --the amount of people making huge money on unnecessary expensive cables is really amazing these days.

I've been around the block a few times.

I got a pair of HDMI cables for about $7 from Amazon a while back. They do the job quite well.

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
Is this it,
LG 32LN5300: 32" Class (31.5" Diagonal) 1080p LED TV | LG USA

Yes, that's the one.

AddRAM said:

HDTV's make horrible pc monitors, I only use my 40" to watch movies or play games from my pc.

It's not exactly horrible.

Other than the text issue, it does everything else fine.

And I sure do like the big screen.

But I'm running dual monitors now. The new TV side by side with the old monitor and there is a noticeable difference in the text sharpness.