HDTV as monitor

I am looking at buying the Bravia 32EX500 to extend my desktop to for videos and games. I was wondering if it would have problems with cutting the edges of the screen such as the taskbar.

I use my 42" LG with 0 problems. As long as you have inputs, your good.

Hi, what do you mean inputs? I am planning on using a dvi to hdmi converter. Would that make a huge difference with using vga?

I was only saying that you should have at least a Video Card input as well as sound. My TV for example only has a 3.5mm input for sound, although it has a Digital Out. My PC has a Digital Out. So I get kinda screwed for the sound inputs. I instead run the out to my Stereo Receiver.

i went ahead and bought the Bravia TV today. only problem is it has quite a bit of input lag. i'm not talking about gaming. i'm not usually picky about this kind of stuff because i hardly game, but the input lag is quite noticeable that it throws me off just moving the mouse pointer.

is there anything i can do to help improve the input lag?

ok, i think i solved the input lag by using the TV's VGA input rather than a DVI to HDMI adpater cable. although with the VGA cable, i can see ghosting with black text against white background, but given the choice, i'd rather have a slight ghosting on texts versus having a noticeable input lag, especially since i bought the TV mainly for videos anyways. a slight lag is still there compared to my NEC monitor but it is much reduced to the point that moving the mouse cursor is not confusing anymore.

another thing. my computer has 2 8800GTS in SLI. initially, i plugged both monitors on one card. my computer has slowed to a crawl. memory usage is showing 90% usage of the system's 4GB RAM. when i plugged the monitors on each separate video cards, it seems everything went back to normal.

i found a better solution! i put back the DVI-to-HDMI cable. i then set the TV to "Game" mode and it has reduced the lag to the same level as when using the VGA cable.

Not sure of details using two monitors, as I only use my two GTX 260s in SLI. I don't have any lag or ghosting. Does your computer recognize the TV as your primary monitor?

Also make sure your video is set to the correct resolution for your monitor. Resolutions vary, so you might have to try a couple out if it doesn't recognize it.

Also make sure your Sync is correct. 60MHz for a 60MHz TV or 120MHz.

i ended up returning the Bravia. the TV itself is awesome for pictures and videos and the viewing angle is very good, but for what i want to use it for (with a computer), it's not very good.

what's happening with the input lag is when i can set the TV to game mode, it will reduce the input lag to the point that it's actually usable but i lose the setting to turn on the 120hz processing.

i have to set the TV to custom mode to be able to use the 120hz processing. the only problem with that is input lag. if i am in custom mode, even if i turn off all the processing and enhancements including the 120hz processing, the input lag is still there. this tells me that the TV is still doing some picture processing in custom mode that it's not doing with the game mode.

i just went with a dual monitor setup for now. i got the Samsung 20" C-PVA. for now, i really just need another screen for when watching movies or playing games. i'll just get the Bravia again later on when i need a dedicated TV. i guess that's the key word. "dedicated".

Been using a 42" Sharp Aquos for a few years now.

Set the TV to "Dot by Dot" which basically turns off overscan and displays the signal without stretching it. Set the resolution to 1920x1080@60 Hz, DVI -> HDMI dongle and a regular HDMI cord, and not an issue for any game I have played.

I have computer speakers on my desk with the TV on a stand in front of my desk, so sound is not a concern for me.

I do not know the Bravia's settings, but are you set on that TV?

i really like the Bravia and i know i can improve the input lag by changing different settings. but the problem is, apparently, Sony has locked a lot of the internal processing from the user and that has reduced the TV's adjustability to make it perfect for what i want to use it for.

Instead of starting a new thread i'll jump on this one...
ive been thinking of giving up my 2 monitors (22'/20') and going for a 32inch+ HDTV as my monitor. I tried my my GF's 40inch and noticed the games looked great but the desktop was not as crisp. Any drawbacks over my 2 dedicated monitors?

Check that the resolution/hz is an exact match, and the the TV is not doing any overscanning. When I first hooked mine up I had much the same thing, games etc were good but the text and stuff was bad, I set the mode to dot by dot (overscan off, for an Aquos) and it was clear as a bell.

I think the main thing for me, going from a TN panel computer monitor, to a 32" HDTV is definitely the input lag. There's probably better displays than the one I'm using, but I think that would be the main issue with most TV's you would buy today. Color and clarity are good, dot pitch won't compare to some of the pricier large computer monitors but it's more than good enough to live with.

It's just when you play those twitch shooting games and such, the input lag on my TV isn't bad for anything else (I have used both PC and Game mode with similar results).

I wouldn't worry about 120hz processing for a TV used as a monitor unless you're watching movies. If it's easy enough, you can just change your settings off game modes to watch videos from your computer. I wouldn't want 120hz processing for any games, fast moving stuff would probably produce artifacts.

But definitely, if I were buying a display now (I got my current one as a gift), input lag would be my number one selling point. I'm pretty sure the Samsung B650 or A650 series are decent when used in Game mode.