720p TV for gaming?

Hey folks -

Looking for some monitor advice. Just bought myself a nice new gaming laptop, and happen to have two "extra" TVs kicking around. One is a 26 inch 720p; the other is a 32 inch 1080p.

I'd love to use the 26 as I can stick it on my desk - not an option with the 32 - but I'm worried that its going to look like crap at desk distance (say 2-3 feet). Any thoughts on usability for eg Total War style games? One plus might be that I can crank up some other options to compensate for lower resolution...

Additionally - little off-topic, but if anyone has an opinion on using the 26 as a dual display for productivity (excel, PowerPoint) that would be super helpful.

Thanks!

 

That's gonna suck. I use a 32 1080p at my desk which is awesome. Will never use anything smaller again. In my bedroom I use a 32 768p which is great for lying in bed and gaming with a controller. If you get really close to this screen it's easy to spot the pixels so I would never use it at my desktop, but if you have a little distance it's great.

I don't see much difference from playing on the 1080 at my desk or the 768 when I am in bed, because I bed I get better distance from the screen.

Your 26 tv is smaller but so is your resolution so in the end I would not recommend it at close distance.

 

Gaming is different, since it's always moving, but generally speaking, TVs suck as monitors. Text looks terrible, and a 26-inch, 720p display is going to be weird all around for productivity tasks.

 

That depends on the TV and monitor. My 32 samsung tv looks better than my old 27 Samsung monitor. Especially the black levels. It is however a quite low res to be so big so when 4k TVs come Il get one of those as pc monitor

 

What it really comes down to is the input lag on the tv. When you shop for monitors, you see things like 5ms GTG (Grey to Grey) that refer to the lag time it takes for the signal from your computer to display on the tv. Ideal response time is 5-6 ms (milliseconds) The type of games you play will determine if this is a problem for you. If you play anythign that requires fast reflexes (think any shooter) then it could be a problem. Check out the article below for an explanation better than mine.

Game mode on: CNET tests TVs for input lag | TV and Home Theater - CNET Reviews

I am a big fan of using dual displays - i have my sager hooked up to my 42in vizio. However, i only use the tv for playing movies, web surfing, etc but not gaming.

 

I wouldn't go 720p at the distance you are looking at (desktop). 1080p is where it's at from a pixel perspective. Plus I don't know if you plan on using a next gen console with that TV as well which will be 1080p. The real key was pointed above and that's response time. Get displays for your PC. I'd never hook up my notebook to my 60inch plasma as the visual fidelity is just not there for my liking. It's great for TV, Blu-ray and console playing. However the best PC gaming monitors are smaller, have very small response time 4-8ms (hardly a visual trace) and have a rich color gamut.

 

Thanks all for the recommendations. Just to clarify:

I have a separate big-screen 1080p TV with console setup that I might occasionally hook the new laptop up to for certain games; this specific decision is between keeping a 32" 1080 (that can't really be used as a monitor) or trading it with a family member for a 26" 720p (1366x768) that I'd use as a monitor and maybe for some gaming.

I don't have a wireless keyboard/mouse setup ( just re-entering the pc gaming world with this purchase) hence the need for the "monitor" as opposed to a "pc as gaming console" style setup with the 32". Plus, I do a ton of spreadsheet/powerpoint work so would love the flex of having two screens in the home environment.

Sounds like the consensus is that the 720p is going to be dreadful, though? Guess I'll either have to shell out for a real monitor or ditch the second-screen idea...