Monitor Vs LED TV

Hey,

I figured with so many users on here someone is bound to use an LED TV as there gaming monitor for Guild Wars and other PC games.

I was going to get the U2711 from Dell, ( 27" IPS screen ) but i can get an LED 32" 3D ready TV for nearly half the price here in the UK,

So my question is, which would be better for gaming in the long run, do the LED TV's stand up to the gaming, or does it burn the screen out, as technically there not exactly designed for that, what about resolutions the Dell can run at a 2560x1440 whereas the TV is 1920 x 1080 what if a game does not support that?

My other concern is viewing angles, i hear the LED's are really restricted on there angles, not that its a massive thing for me, as i tend to be sitting in front of it, but it might be nice if im across the room that i can see it.

First it's only plasma TVs that can have burn in. LED/LCD TVs today is very much the same as the monitors. If you set the TV to gaming mode it would be just the same as a normal computer monitor. Here comes the difference if you sit at a desk with about 1meter(3 feet) from the screen i would take the 27inch because the higher screen res will make a better picture. If you are playing alot of FPS games like call of duty or battlefield 3 then the dell monitor might be to slow to respond. But at close range on a desk you will see the pixels in the screen on the TV for sure i nearly do it on my 27inch.

For a break down

U2711
+High screen res
+DVI connection , some graphics card don't have hdmi for tvs
-Long response time

LED 32" 3D
+Better black level
+short response time
+3D if you are into that
-Low resolution to the screen size (bad enough to see it if the tv is on a desk)
- No DVI (Guessing the TVs still have VGA for computer in)

Yea the TV would be sitting about 3 feet in front of me, i was looking at a 32" one today, its primary input from PC, is VGA or HMDI either will work, and you need to set the TV to game mode, like you said.

Im wondering would the restricted res be a problem.

Be a problem like
Highly unlikely!
1080 has been pretty mainstream for awhile now.

As for viewing angles i have no personal experience.

Monitor is the better option ~ what if you want to eyefinity or something down the line ? (Three monitors add some peripheral advantage on some games)

TV Tuner cards are cheap some are under $50.00 US and you can turn your computer into a record unit etc... It’s awesome to play and watch at the same time. Also if you have an antenna you can grab free signals of High def if they are offered in your country.

Just an opinion

Let's clear up one thing right away. The term "LED TV" is a misnomer. It is simply an LCD TV with LED backlighting instead of CCFL (fluorescent). The backlight is the source of white light the shines through the LCD screen. Other than the backlighting, the TVs can be the same.
LED and CCFL have their good and bad points, but for the normal home user LED has the advantages of lower power, thinner displays, and better dynamic contrast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVJvd4LIIUk

You are comparing apples to oranges - a high-quality IPS screen to a common-dog TFT screen. A 27" TFT monitor would be more equivalent price-wise.
(IPS LCDs are better than TFT, but much more expensive.)

They are the same - the TV is a monitor with a tuner.

1920x1080 is the HDTV standard. Every new game, and most games from the past few years, support it. You would have more trouble with 2560x1440, which is not so standard a rez (although 16:9), but most new games should scale to it. It would, of course, require more GPU (video card) power to push 2560x1440 pixels than 1920x1080.

As I said above, the LEDs are just the backlight. It's the design and construction of the LCD panel, etc., that determines the viewing angles.

Well i know if i go with the monitor, it would be the IPS as they are alot better than the standard TN panels.

I was curious as games that support the 1080p would be running in HD, and i figured a TV display dedicated to HD may have been better than the U2711.

The Samsung i seen today does have the game mode which moved the input lag down to around 32ms.

Don't get impressed with the term "HD" - HD is just TV marketing speak to separate newer digital TVs from old analog "standard definition" ones. Computers have been running "HD" resolutions for a long time. The standard for larger computer displays used to be 1920x1200, but these days, because of mass production and the convergence of TVs and computers, 1920x1080 has become normal for both.

A TFT panel will perform the same in a TV as it does in a monitor, so if you are willing to accept a TFT panel in a TV, you are just as well off to accept one in a monitor. Conversely, if you want an IPS panel in a monitor, you should want one in a TV as well.

games will support the screen res it's aspect ratio that's mostly the problem. Given that some old 4:3 games sometimes don't have the res to fit the hight of your screen. Screen ratios for went from 4:3 to 19:10 but to same money computers screens became the same as TV which is 16:9. So aslong as you go with one screen i don't see how there resolutions well be any problems. Unless you count the graphics power needed to power 1080p+.

I'd say the reason was more to match the aspect ratio of 1080P content without stretching or letterboxing.