TV as a computer monitor?

[Canada 02]

can i use an flat panel 21" LCD TV as a computer monitor?

is there any reason not to?

alternatively, suggest a good 20"+ computer monitor for me. I do alot of image manipulations (photoshop); powerpoint presentations; fairly large spreadsheets; some video and gaming wouldnt hurt. TIA

[CubicleGeek]

The dot pitch and pixel size tends to be much bigger on TV's so text would appear blurry. Should be fine for video or gaming though.

The best 20.1" monitors are the Apple and the NEC professional monitors because they still use a panel technology called S-IPS. You're obviously going to pay the premium for it. S-IPS has far superior contrast ratios and color reproduction than other technologies (at the cost of refresh rate), which is important if you're doing any photo-editing professionally or if you take the hobby very seriously.

You can pick up something like a Dell 2009W or the HP w2007 for a reasonable price, but unfortunately, both of these companies who formerly used S-IPS panels in their 20.1" monitors have moved their new product lines to TN based panels (which IMO, is the worst of the 3 technologies IPS, MVA/PVA, TN).

[Vulcan]

A lot of these small TVs are just computer monitors with a few more connections, possibly an ATSC tuner and a remote. You should be good to go as long as it has a DVI, HDMI or an analogue computer connection.

Dell Days of Deals has a great 27" monitor on sale today that I've been drooling over.

[ken0042]

I think once you get down to that size it shouldn't be that big of a deal. A 37" TV used as a monitor does in fact look blurry, but it's also 2-3 times bigger than a 21".

In the garage I have a 15" LCD TV which doubles as the computer monitor out there too. It just an Insignia (Best Buy el-cheapo) but it works fine as a montior; partly due to the size.