Help choosing a large screen TV for PC gaming

UAFcommander

Hi,
I want to get a 46" TV and connect it to a gaming PC in my living room (And start using Steam's Big Picture).

I'm trying to figure out what I need from my TV, and find a model that'll supply that.

Now from what I understand, seeing as I'm not going to play in the dark with no light on, I should get LED over Plasma. Almost or just as good performance in most things,
consumed less power, longer lifespan, etc.

The main issue I'm confused about is the Hz aspect of the TV set. I also suspect I should check the refresh rate...

Many TV sets that I saw boasts 100Hz . But I understand they cheat and interpolate frames. This might (or surely does?) add lag because of the processing time it'll take,
and in turn make games unplayable.
But every thread I saw that talked about that (over the whole friggin internet by now...) always include one or two guys that swear that games are just over 9000 more awesome with higher Hz.

Many TV sets also have a "game mode", that I understand disable this extra frame interpolation. But does this reduce the display to 60Hz? Shouldn't it remain the same Hz and just display the
same frame more times?
But I thought LCD screens already do display the same frame until the next time shows up (unlike old CRTs that flashed black between frames in lower Hz)...
This is so confusing...

To make things more specific, at first I was interested in Samsung UE46EH5000 or Samsung UA46D5500. The latter is a Smart TV which is a feature I obviously don't need.

But then I got into the whole Hz mess, and I'm not sure if I need to find a 200Hz set, be happy with 100Hz, find 60Hz somewhere or only get multiplies of 60Hz (or 120Hz).

In the end I'm still not exactly sure how this works with FPS...
FPS in games can drop as the computer get more strained, and be 54 or 39 or any other number. So the computer will send 39 frames per second to a 100Hz monitor that can refresh its display up to 100 times per second - how will it deal with that?! (How does my current 60Hz computer monitor deal with that? Should I care?).

So if anyone is willing to help, I'll be grateful...

Madpanda

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/141038/the-tv-thread-more-for-less

Rotting Meat

Something the tv thread might not tell you: TVs only accept 60hz input, regardless of what they output. Those 120/240hz TVs are doing internal frame doubling, and not actually displaying 120/240hz directly from your computer.

Sterica

Moved to H/A, as you'll probably get a better response here.

bowen

You're probably going to want a large format display monitor to have a reasonably good picture. If you don't, text may be unreadable (at least, in games where there's in-game chat).

If that's not such a big deal, you'll just want a Video card that outputs HDMI, and can support running your games at 720p/1080p

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-UN46EH6000-46-Inch-1080p-120Hz/dp/B0071O4EKU

Bendit

I have the 1st Vizio 55" model , it runs 240Hz. At work, we just bought the new Sharp 70", model LC-70C6400U.

My 3 year old Vizio kicks the Sharp's butt. The Sharp just lags as if it cannot paint the screen fast enough for the game being played.

I do not know how it works internally, but you can compare the specs from those 2 TVs. It seems that the 240Hz makes a difference, in this case.

Great Scott

You're going to get a better picture and less lag (from a given budget) with a Plasma TV. Whether the extra energy cost is a problem depends on how much gaming you plan on doing (I've calculated that at 8 hours a day or less Plasma makes more sense for me). Newer (<5 years old) Plasma displays don't have burn-in or lifespan problems (at least, more problems than alternative technologies).

More importantly, is there a small or independent TV vendor near you? Not necessarily to buy from, but to check picture properties and quality. I prefer to see the differences myself, but if you can get reviews that you can trust, that might be enough.

Edit: This is a no-ghosting gaming-capable set for a similar price -> http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/PN51E530A3FXZA-specs

Pantshandshake

I'm not sure if this is the exact model (I'm at work and my gaming stuff is sadly at home. Alone. And cold.)
But I quite enjoy http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIERA-TC-P55ST50-55-Inch-Plasma/dp/B00752VKSC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361461734&sr=8-2&keywords=viera+plasma.

UAFcommander

Well the Panasonic P55ST50 is 4 times the prices of the UE46EH5000, so no...
The PS51E530 is about $250 more though. Will the difference between the two will be very big?
I can also get LG 50PK550R for $190 more.

But I noticed people mention reflections problem with Plasma when the room is lit, and I want to play with the lights on.
This is why I thought I should get LED and not Plasma.
So the question is if Plasma's adventages are worth the extra money and will still look good with lights on.

From all I read online I understood that Plasma and LED picture quality are similar. Is Plasma noticebly better?

bowen

Great Scott wrote: »

You're going to get a better picture and less lag (from a given budget) with a Plasma TV. Whether the extra energy cost is a problem depends on how much gaming you plan on doing (I've calculated that at 8 hours a day or less Plasma makes more sense for me). Newer (<5 years old) Plasma displays don't have burn-in or lifespan problems (at least, more problems than alternative technologies).

More importantly, is there a small or independent TV vendor near you? Not necessarily to buy from, but to check picture properties and quality. I prefer to see the differences myself, but if you can get reviews that you can trust, that might be enough.

Edit: This is a no-ghosting gaming-capable set for a similar price -> http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/PN51E530A3FXZA-specs

Did they fix the issues with altitude and plasma displays? Like, if you live in Colorado or the Swiss Alps or something?

Great Scott

I didn't know it was an issue, Bowen. I've got a friend in the Colorado high country and he's never mentioned a problem. But then his set is only a few years old.

UAFcommander, the real difference is in lag and color definition; I've seen really good LCD sets, but in my experience a really nice low-lag LCD sets are very expensive. Whether a TV has a glossy or matte screen is a concern, but that's different for every TV; it depends on whether the manufacturer wanted to let more light through or not.

bowen

Eh lag with LCD hasn't been an issue in 5+ years. I guess they did fix the plasma thing with altitude though.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57569926-221/plasma-tv-altitude-how-high-can-they-go/

I guess don't live on Everest with a plasma TV still.

Bendit

Eh lag with LCD hasn't been an issue in 5+ years.

Not my experience, quite the contrary with a recent experience. I have here a brand new Sharp 70", model LC-70C6400U that lags like a mofo.

Pantshandshake

UAFcommander wrote: »

Well the Panasonic P55ST50 is 4 times the prices of the UE46EH5000, so no...
The PS51E530 is about $250 more though. Will the difference between the two will be very big?
I can also get LG 50PK550R for $190 more.

But I noticed people mention reflections problem with Plasma when the room is lit, and I want to play with the lights on.
This is why I thought I should get LED and not Plasma.
So the question is if Plasma's adventages are worth the extra money and will still look good with lights on.

From all I read online I understood that Plasma and LED picture quality are similar. Is Plasma noticebly better?

The plasma I linked you to is the family of the one I use for my gaming needs. It looks very crisp, either in a lit or dark room. Obviously, when your crazy yellow sun shines directly on the screen, the same thing will happen with any make of TV.

I've never used or really watched an LED get put through its paces, so I can't really compare the two. I will say that the plasma looks much better compared to the more reasonably priced LCD in my living room.

At a certain point, this is probably going to come down to a You Get What You Pay For situation. If you want the bestest picture ever, you might need to spend a little more monies.

bowen

Bendit wrote: »

Eh lag with LCD hasn't been an issue in 5+ years.

Not my experience, quite the contrary with a recent experience. I have here a brand new Sharp 70", model LC-70C6400U that lags like a mofo.

Weird. That TV is speced at 4ms response time, with a 240Hz. I guess sample&hold might produce issues, but that seems like it'd be fine.

Bendit

Yeah, right? I am using it with default settings. Perhaps I need to change some settings, remove the "green" feature? I have no idea. At this point, I am bringing my laptop next time I am shopping for a TV. Hook up the laptop at 1080p via hdmi and see if it works out without any lag problems...

bowen

Sound is desyncing?

Might be simulated surround sound causing that issue. I've had this issue before and usually you need to do something with the device itself it's out of sync. For instance, Rockband on the PS3 will let you adjust the timing.