Monitor vs Television, Help Me Decide

[1BRAVO9]

I asked this question on the PC Gamer forums but I thought it would be prudent to ask here as well as the main focus of my gaming is DCS World.

 

For about the last 10 years I have been gaming on a PC exclusively.

Prior to that it was about 70 -30 ratio console to PC.

The reason for the majority console play is that I played mostly BF and some racing games.

Then I found MMOs like WoTs and War Thunder and completely abandoned the console.

About a month ago I got the itch to play some racing games and decided I would get a PS5 so I could play GT7.

When I got the PS5 I decided I would get a "gaming" TV as well.

The only one I could find locally was a Samsung cu7000 43 inch at Best Buy. From what I could see it was considered a "gaming" TV, or one that was favorable for gaming.

Being that I've played a PC exclusively for so long I sit at my desk and play the PS5 just like I would my PC.

So when I play my PC I play on a Dell 32 inch 4k gaming monitor, G3223Q. And when I play my console I play on the TV which is also 4k.

I'm wondering if it would just be better to use one monitor/TV for both.

Right now about 70% of my gaming is DCS World and when using my HOTAS it moves me a little further from the viewing source. Therefore the TV and increased "real estate" would be nice.

But I know right out of the gate I would be sacrificing FPS. Would it be worth it?

What else should I consider? What would you do?

Any advice or opinion would be greatly appreciated.

Just FYI, here is my PC specs.
 

AMD Ryzen 9 3950X

32 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
Windows 11

[kksnowbear]

Broadly and generally speaking, TVs are made for viewing from across a room, where monitors are designed to be viewed much closer (desktop).

Generally, the only real reason people buy/use TVs as monitors is because it's cheaper - and there's a reason. 

That said, there are some very high quality-image TVs out there.  The distinction at that point will be features, for instance, good gaming monitors are going to support features suitable to gaming more so than TVs will.

Me personally I'd go with a monitor.

HTH

Edit: Further to the above comments, I found specs for the Samsung TV mentioned.  It's a 4k 60Hz model with no variable refresh rate (this is among the 'features I alluded to above, and where gaming is concerned it's an important feature at that).

At 43", it's also much larger than the 32" monitor - and that's not necessarily a good thing when viewing up close.  Since the resolution is also 4k, it has the same number of pixels horizontally and vertically as the Dell.  And because those pixels have to fill a larger space on the Samsung, the pixels themselves will be larger.  So, up close, it won't look nearly as sharp as the smaller screen will.

Of the two choices given, I'd strongly prefer the monitor.

Edited December 3, 2023 by kksnowbear

[SharpeXB]

If you aren’t adverse to going larger than 43” this might just be the best monitor and price available today

https://www.amazon.com/LG-48GQ900-B-UltragearTM-Monitor-Anti-Glare/dp/B0B356KYJ6/ref=pd_ci_mcx_mh_mcx_views_0?pd_rd_w=5XHcG&content-id=amzn1.sym.225b4624-972d-4629-9040-f1bf9923dd95%3Aamzn1.symc.40e6a10e-cbc4-4fa5-81e3-4435ff64d03b&pf_rd_p=225b4624-972d-4629-9040-f1bf9923dd95&pf_rd_r=TXRJC7BSWXFTA5NM6VDF&pd_rd_wg=zm7WV&pd_rd_r=d1c69a96-1b61-468a-9013-ae684046731c&pd_rd_i=B0B356KYJ6

[72Stu]

I use a 55" tv and it is fantastic for PC gaming.

It runs at 60Hz so I won't be playing competitive FPS shooters on it, but for simming and general gaming, it's great.

[Scott-S6]

When I built my cockpit I threw a cheap 40" TV that I had lying around on it. It was... Adequate. Everything moves pretty slowly in a flight sim, even with a head tracker, so a poor display isn't as big of a problem as with other games.

Upgraded a couple of month's later to one of the LG monitors linked above and the difference is huge. Massive improvement.

Edited December 3, 2023 by Scott-S6

[SharpeXB]

Yeah if I had to choose between a small 144Hz screen and a big 60Hz I’d choose the bigger screen. After playing on a 48” monitor, a 32” screen seems like trying to play games on a smart phone

With the LG OLED above, no compromise is necessary though, you can have it all. The price is even better than all those others. 

Edited December 3, 2023 by SharpeXB

[kksnowbear]

High refresh and variable refresh rates are not just good ideas for competitive shooters.

And, again, the bigger the monitor (at a given resolution), the bigger the pixels are going to be and thus the picture cannot be as sharp as a smaller screen with the same number of pixels (just plain physically impossible).

These are the biggest (and most important) differences between monitors and TVs.  As I said above, the only real reason for buying/using a TV as a monitor is cost.

However, and speaking of cost - the LG linked above is huge, so the pixel count is still a factor - but it is a proper monitor with a high refresh and variable refresh support.  And just as discussed above, those two features make a huge difference.

And it doesn't seem like a bad price, either

Edited December 3, 2023 by kksnowbear

[SharpeXB]

1 hour ago, kksnowbear said:

the LG linked above is huge

Yeah it is. I think it’s just about the largest screen you could set on a desk and not have it be set too high. But it works. I also have it set farther away than a smaller screen would be, that’s a big eye strain relief too. Mostly the reason I wanted a bigger screen. As far as the pixels go it’s still “small” enough to look razor sharp. 
With that price there’s almost no reason to get anything else. 

1 hour ago, kksnowbear said:

High refresh and variable refresh rates are not just good ideas for competitive shooters.

Agree that’s a good feature. There are TVs with G-Sync or Freesync too so that’s not necessarily a limitation. Again, no compromise necessary with the LG

 

PS here’s a fantastic pit setup with this screen from that other thread. Totally worth having.

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by SharpeXB