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Gaming on a Plasma
So next year I will be building my high end pc for my basement and have really been considering a 50 inch Panasonic G20 Plasma. I have done a fair amount of research on it so far, and burn-in with a bit of precaution won't be a problem. I am a bit concerned whether or not things will look too stretched out or not or if I will even like the feel of it.
I'm curious as to who else uses a big plasma or lcd tv as their pc monitor and how it is for them.
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Dont bother with plasma, stick with LCD or LED...
And if your using an HMDI cable and not an Analog/Digital/s-vid then you will be fine and it will look ok.
Maybe you could buy the TV in-store, so if you don't like it, you'll have the option to return it. And you can also buy it online and have it delieved it at the store, this way you'll save on the tax (i think), and shipping, also for this you'll have the chance to be able to return incase you don't like it.
That is if you're in USA.
Guild Wars 2's 50 minutes game play video:
http://n4g.com/news/592585/guild-wars-2-50-minutes-of-pure-gameplay
Everything We Know about GW2:
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/287180/page/1
Actually I like plasma over LCD. Even though ghosting is very minor on LCD's these days it's still there, and not there on plasmas. Makes moving text (like floating names) easier to read while running. It also has better color representation than cheaper LCD's.
One thing to consider is how close you sit. With a large screen like that on your desk and you in your chair in a usual setup, you will literally have to turn your head up or down or left or right to see something. Not so bad if you sit further back.
I will be sitting about 8-10 feet away in most likely a lazyboy type chair. With some sort of adjustable playing surface for my mouse and keyboard that I still need to find.
There are some things that you should be warned of:
1) Plugging a TV into a computer through an HDMI cable doesn't necessarily just work, the way it does if you plug a real computer monitor in through a DVI cable. It can generally be made to work, but you might have to fuss with it.
2) Make sure that your video card has an HDMI port, and can pass audio through to the TV if you're going to use the TV audio capabilities.
3) Check the frame rate on the TV. A lot of TV manufacturers list crazy high "frame rates" like 240 Hz or whatever, but they can't really display 240 real, independent frames per second. Since the frame rate for television shows and movies is much lower than the 60 Hz and higher that is standard for computer monitors, some televisions can't display that high of a real frame rate. It's not going to be good if you pay a fortune for a TV that caps you at a very low frame rate because you're using it for something it isn't intended for.
4) Make sure that your chair and the surface where you put your mouse are solid and stable. If you use a mouse aggressively fron a chair that rocks somewhat, or with the mouse on a surface that wobbles some, that's a repetitive strain injury waiting to happen. Mice are ergonomically bad enough as it is, even with a proper chair and mouse surface.
I occasionally PC game on my 50" plasma. It doesn't stretch or look weird or anything. It hurts my neck more than anything after a few hours, but I don't have a legit setup, I am usually just on a stool with some boxes to hold my keyboard/mouse lol.
I will add that you can't go wrong with Plasma, much better technology than LCD IMO. Looks great and is awesome for gaming!
I pc game on my 52 all the time, but I always return to my desk set up when I want to play serious. I always feel removed from the game when I’m sitting farther back and getting a decent setup to use a keyboard and mouse in a recliner or couch can be a pain. I also favor the taller 1920x1200 that I use on my monitor's compared to the 1080 of a TV. ((Plus the multiple monitor setup is ten times more convenient than a single tv)
Overall the picture is good enough as to not bug me, but I feel more capable at my desk and feel kind of sloppy when using the TV. (Mainly because of the mouse keyboard setup)
I will most likely use a 6970 which has an HDMI port.
The refresh rate on the TV is a 600hz sub field drive, I am not certain how noticeable or what that means for PC gaming, but I'm guessing it may cause a little input lag being that it has to convert to 60hz.
My chair and playing surface are unknown at this point, but I will definately make sure it's is a comfy non-rocking recliner, with a solid playing surface, (which I may need to construct myself).
I have never tried a multiple monitor setup, perhaps If I found a DVI cord long enough I could route it through the roof and have it next to my chair. My chair will be very close to a support beam with a wood cover over it which could be quite usefull.
600 Hz is not the frame rate. That sort of deceptive advertising is why I brought this up in the first place. I don't think there are any products on the market that can do over 120 Hz, and few can do even that much. You should probably make sure that it can do at least 60 real, independent frames per second, with each frame having nothing whatsoever to do with the next.
A lot of the stupidly claims that look like frame rates come from interpolating between consecutive frames. If they have a 60 Hz TV that, for each pair of consecutive real frames, interpolates four "fake" frames between them to try to make the transition from one to the next look smoother, then might advertise that as 300 Hz. But it's not a real 300 Hz frame rate.
That sort of interpolation might well be a problem for computer games, if it means that it can't show one frame until the next has been fully rendered and sent to the TV. It might well turn this feature off entirely if the TV is used as a computer monitor, in which case, it wouldn't be an issue. (I'm just guessing, as I haven't used a huge TV as a computer monitor before.) But you should find out before buying the TV, not after.
I don't know if there is a way to test the fps. Perhaps there is a way to guess what the screen fps would be based on the refresh rate? I had just assumed as long as the video card can allow 60fps or more then so could the TV.
A good place for research on TV's is the AVS forums. There is some feedback on console use with the G20 in this thread here and here overall.
I have a LG 47" LED LX9500 that we got not long ago and sometimes game from it. Picture quality is excellent and I see no ghosting whilst gaming. This thing I like about this TV is that you can calibrate it professionally as the "ISFccc" settings are unlocked. I noticed with the G20 you can not get into this and are stuck with basic control setting. I previously used the AVS forums linked above some research and setting which really help before splashing out the $$$.
One piece of advice if you choose an LCD or LED is see if you can get an IPS panel. Often makers will sell the same panel for the same price and if your lucky enough to get an IPS panel you will be all the better for it but it can be a lottery of what you get. Samsung and Sony, although make good TV's for gaming can suffer from high input lag. With the LG I got I actually found out if the 4th letter of the box number is a W it is an IPS model so I took a trip to best buy I made them stick all the TV's I was interested in next to each other for a demo :P
If you are really into the G20 then I would recommend a trip to a store for visual comparisons of models.
This review here gives the G20 21ms of input lag: http://www.avforums.com/review/Panasonic-TX-P42G20-Plasma-HDTV-Review.html
Good luck!
Oh jeez, once you go multiple monitors you will never go back. I cant help but harvest on one monitor while i play another game on another monitor. Maybe im crazy. Maybe Im use to staring at 10 screens at a time because of work. I just dont see how a person can limit themselves to one monitor these days lol
Plasma uses a technology that behaves similar to CRT in that phosphors are lit up by thermal reaction so there is no backlight or anything. In a plasma it lights up the phosphors 600 times per second (600hz) to keep the image bright, or 10 times per frame @ 60hz.
The actual 600Hz number isn't a measure of its frame output rate. Marketing has hijacked the term 'refresh rate' here to say the phosphors are refreshed 600 times per second but that doesn't mean the signal rate is 600hz. If it tells us anything it just tells us the picture will be bright, and that the phosphors have near instant response time and therefore no ghosting, but this has always been true of plasma and doesn't need a gimmicked number to confuse people.
LCD works differently in that a backlight provides the light and the color on the LCD panel is static until changed. How often the color of the pixels is updated is more true to the original meaning of 'refresh rate' and is a measure of how many independent images per second are displayed.
However LCD TV's that are advertised at 120Hz but *not* advertised as 3d Ready are only able to take a 60Hz signal and interject "made up" frames between each source frame. These made up frames are useless for a computer which is capable of sending real frames if the TV could accept a 120Hz signal or a 3D source which needs true 120Hz input (60Hz per eye).
A 60Hz plasma will still have less ghosting than even a 3d Ready 120Hz LCD though because the phosphors can provide instant color change (whereas liquid crystals require several ms to adjust to a new color) so the best you can get would be a 3d Ready 120Hz plasma.
But LCD or plasma, if it isn't advertised as '3D Ready' it's only a 60Hz input, and at this point there's no reason not to buy a 3D Ready TV to get 120Hz input if you plan on using it with a PC, even if you don't plan on using 3d.
Yeah, I read about the 2011 models today and decided to not get the G20, so ill just wait for the spring as im not buying my PC until then anyway. The 21ms input lag you mention is also a dealbreaker and would stray me away from the G20 for sure. I've been doing quite a bit of research as of late on what kind of TV is best and they all seem to have their faults. I may just end up getting an LED or LCD though a part of me is really stuck on the plasma.
Interesting, 3D is quite the step up on price atm though.
Another thing to keep in mind is that sitting 8-10 feet away while playing PC games on a TV text will be difficult to read and in some games it's not adjustable. I could never read my quest log from my couch on my TV.
Ah I have no idea what the prices of 3D Ready plasma TV's are. For computer use I would rank them:
3D Plasma > 3D LCD > Plasma > LCD
So if you aren't going with 3D and plasma isn't much more than LCD I would go that route.
I play on a 42" Plasma. It was the only monitor available to me at the time so I had to make it work. Now I can't live without it. It's got a standard VGA input and a component input with BNC plugs (It's an older plasma). The VGA always looked a little grainy so I ordered a specialty cable with a DVI for the GFX card and the five-way component split on the other end. It looks beautiful. The resolution can go up to 2048x1536 on a GTX 460 but I run it on 1280x1024 which is the native resolution of the display. Anything bigger looks too stretched out and wierd. I love it.
I just noticed visions is selling an LG 47 LED 3D LX6500 for $1488 CAD the sale ends on the 5th. Seems like a pretty good deal, if I could get an IPS panel I may consider it. I am curious as to what the 2011 models will be like though.